I’ve decided to start honoring Throwback Thursday (#tbt)
on this blog by publishing things that I’ve written earlier in my life. I have always been an avid journal
writer – but never with the intention of publicly sharing (so this could become
interesting). I will
try to keep all original content as is, with the exception of changing names
when necessary. I also may provide
some commentary.
For this first Thursday, I’m going to share an email I sent
when I was living in Japan in 2000.
When I went to Japan, I had no idea what a “blog” was but I would have
had one then in a heartbeat. I
used to write long stories to my friends and family on a regular basis to share
my experiences. Whether they
wanted it or not, they got the email! Fortunately, a couple of good friends printed all of these
emails out and gave them back to me in an album when I returned home. I’m forever grateful that I have these
memories to keep. And, now,
without further ado I will share one with you…
Climbing Mt. Fuji
Written on Aug. 23, 2000
Hello!
Well, I did it!
I climbed Mt. Fuji! And how was it? Absolute torture!
So, here’s what happened:
First of all we didn’t start from the bottom. We started from the middle (as do the
majority of climbers). And I didn’t
quite make it to the top, I was about 420 meters short, but by the time I got
there, I DID NOT CARE.
Let me tell you why…
We started at the 5th station which was 7,606
feet (over 1 mile) up and climbed 2350 feet at first. Geez, I thought…less then 1 mile? NO biggee… IT
TOOK US 3 and ½ HOURS. It was very
steep and in some places it was very rocky, we literally had to climb rocks up
this mountain. Not to mention the
crowds! I could not believe the
amount of people! They warned us
ahead of time that we may not get to the top if we were bottlenecked by the
crowds on the trail, and they weren’t kidding! It was like standing in line for Disneyland! Climb up one rock…wait…climb..wait… As
the night wore on I felt like I was standing in line just to torture
myself. Oh, did you notice I said
‘night’? Yep – we STARTED the
climb at 6:30pm and spent most of it in the dark. At 10pm we got to a mountain hut to “sleep”.
Now, I’ve used the phrase “we were packed in like sardines”
before, but this time, it is LITERAL.
It was one room with futons laid out end to end. As soon as we got in it we were to hang
up our bags on nails in the beams above and lay down, head to feet next to
another person. We laid on our
back, crossed our arms over our stomachs and a Japanese man then PUSHED us into
the next person so there was absolutely no gap. Imagine lying next to the feet of two people who had been
climbing for 3 hours. Lovely
thought, isn’t it? I was next to
Maja so at least there was a friend on one side, but still – I’ve smelled her
feet on a good day in the apartment and never wanted to sleep with them! [No
offense Maja] Although, she and
the other woman at my feet got the raw end of the deal since I’m taller. My feet were in their faces, theirs
were at my shoulders. It was also
really loud at this place, people came and went all through the night. We slept (LAID) there for 1 and ½ hours
and were awaken to continue walking.
I think this break did more harm than good, because I was in
the mood to hike when we stopped to sleep but I was cranky when we started
again. So, we began again at
11:30pm. Climb a rock..wait,
climb… after the rocks it became a steep walk upwards on the switchback rail. Maja and I fell behind the others, who
were in better shape than us, and made our way up slowly. Around 4:30am we were still walking
upwards when the sky started to lighten.
Oh, before I continue, let me tell you the one thing I’m
grateful for: the weather. We were
so lucky! Fuji is famous for rain and wind year-round, but we had none of
that. There were clear skies, and
a bright moon. It became freezing
near the top but I had come prepared.
Anyway… as it stared to get lighter, we looked up at the top
and thought, “NO WAY”. Afterall,
the whole point is to see the sunrise and then were were told to walk down at
5:30am no matter where we were on the mountain. We would have just made it to the top at 5:30. So, instead we walked up the next
station (about 1380 feet below the summit) and waited for the sun to rise. It was beautiful to see the sun come up
above the blanket of clouds that were below us. At this point we were 11,550 feet (over 2 miles) up in the
air. But it was freezing, and we
were exhausted! 4 hours sleep the
night before, 9 hours on a bus, 10 hours hiking straight up (including 90
minutes sleeping next to feet) can do that to a person! So, as cheerfully as we could, we said
“Let’s go home!” But we had to
hike down…
If I thought the way up was bad, the way down killed
me. It was a different trail, no
big rocks, just steepish switchbacks all the way down. It was the kind of loose rock gravel
that is so easy to slip on when going downhill. Somehow, I, the UN-queen of grace, managed not to fall. We
must have zigged and zagged 100 times before we saw the last zag go around the mountain
towards the destination. “Hooray!”
we thought as we rounded the bend only to see the trail stretch on
endlessly. “Hooray” we though as
we rounded a bend again 20 minutes later.
This time we were greeted with the only sign on the trail telling us we
had over a mile left to go…
Have you ever done so much exercise your legs shake uncontrollably
when you stop? My legs were doing
this at the first zig, by the end they were shaking with every step.
After 4 hours of continuous walking (with brief breaks of
course) we made it back. It was
one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, perhaps THE most difficult
since I can’t think of anything more so at the moment. [I can now – and that is giving birth
to children.] I’m glad I did it,
it was an “experience” but I will never, EVER do it again.
And that, in a nutshell, is my hike up Mt. Fuji.
And that, in a nutshell, is my hike up Mt. Fuji.
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