Climbing Japan's Highest Mountain - Fuji!!

This year on "Mountain Day", I got to climb Mount Fuji with my 2 friends - one of whom was my English student. I was really grateful to have such amazing company during the 2-day trek, especially on the way down when my energy was at its lowest.

Let's start from the beginning...

6 a.m. - I caught a train from Chiba to Shinjuku station 🚆

7:55 a.m. - I got on the bus from Shinjuku to Fuji 5th Station (Yoshida Trail).

12 p.m. - Arrived at the 5th station a little bit later than planned due to a traffic jam.

12 p.m. - We started towards the trailhead.

1 p.m. - Reached the 6th station. The path was really slippery and covered in fog, so it was a bit hard to see in front of me. At this point, I was hiking at a faster pace than my friends, so we decided to split up and meet at the mountain cabin later.

2:15 p.m. - Reached the 7th station and ate my first onigiri (my favorite food!) and drank 1 bottle of water. It was really hot, so my goal was to drink 3 liters of water.

3:30 p.m. - Finally made it to the 8th station. The hike from 7 to 8 was very rocky, and I had to use my hands to scale the rocks. It was difficult, but I found it really fun. At this altitude, it was starting to get colder, about 10 degrees.

4:15 p.m. - Made it safely to my mountain cabin for the night! It felt so good to take off my hiking boots and be inside. I was given curry rice for dinner and made myself comfortable in my sleeping bag.

Unfortunately, people were coming in at all hours of the night, and it was very noisy, so I did not get much sleep! If you do climb Fuji, I recommend bringing earplugs!

2 a.m. - Our group woke up and ate breakfast in preparation for the push to the summit. Many people around us seemed to be suffering from altitude sickness, and some had to give up the trek to the top due to their health. Luckily, my friends and I were not affected by the altitude, and our spirits remained high.

The outside temperature dropped to around 2 degrees in the early morning, so we all put on our down jackets and fleece wear to stay warm. Looking up above me, I could see a huge trail of lights leading to the top.

As there was a traffic jam of people all wanting to make it to the summit before the sunrise, we had to hike very slowly. This gave us time to admire the starry night sky, and we even saw some shooting stars ⭐.

4 a.m. - We made it to the summit!!!

The sun rose at around 4:45 am, and we all eagerly waited with our cameras out to take the perfect photo! We were really lucky to have such good and clear weather. ☀️

5:30 am - We got some much-needed hot breakfast. I ordered the miso ramen 🍜 As you can tell, I was very happy.

It is amazing to think that there is a restaurant at the top of the mountain and that the food is really delicious.

Everyone needed the warmth of the food and to rest their feet, so the restaurant was packed.

We planned to descend from the Fujinomiya trail, which was on the other side of the mountain, so we pushed on and hiked around the volcano's crater.

On the other side, we were met with the most amazing view - Fuji's giant shadow!

7:30 am - We started our descent back down to the 5th station. The path down was very slippery and steep, so we needed to heavily rely on our hiking poles. We slipped a few times, but no one was hurt.

1 pm - We made it back to the bus station! We had done it!

Extremely tired and dirty, we hopped on the bus and parted our separate ways back home.

I have never slept so deeply before in my entire life, hahaha!

-Maya Bennett -