Our Tales of Two Cities: Discovering Mount Fuji.

Before I go into our climbing story, I should mention that Matt is home for a short time. Even though it isn't for long, I am loving having him home with us!

One of the things that we wanted to do while he was home was climb Mount Fuji because the climbing season is only 45 days long. Since our future is never certain, we had to take advantage of it now. We joined a group of eight other friends, rented a van and some hiking gear, and hit the mountain. We did the sunrise climb; meaning that we started climbing around 9 pm and climbed throughout the entire night to reach the summit for the 4:40 sunrise. It was one of the hardest things that I have ever done, but it was also one of the most amazing.

When I think back to my climb, my thoughts are all over the place. There were good ‘I can’t believe we are actually doing this’ moments and not-so-good ‘what the hell were we thinking?’ moments (sometimes within a two minute span). Here are just a few of those moments.

Good: Sharing this experience with Matt. In all honesty, I wouldn't have been able to make this climb without Matt. There were times when the mountain tried to get the best of us, but we didn't let it. Luckily, we hit our lows at different points and always kept the other person going. If this isn't a great metaphor for life, I don’t know what is. We have been through a lot, but now we can actually say that we have conquered a mountain together.
Not-so-good: The wind. The wind was out of control. I asked Matt how fast he thought the wind was blowing, and he estimated 50 knots. There were times when I found myself holding on to rocks so that I wouldn't get blown over.
Good: Sense of community. There were people from all over the world climbing together with one goal in mind – reach the summit. At one point, about halfway up the mountain, I looked down into the night and all I could see were the headlamps of the hundreds of other climbers still making their way up. It looked like fireflies on a summer evening.
Not-so-good: The oxygen levels. A couple of the people that we were with did get altitude sickness and it was no joke. We were lucky that we escaped with a little nausea and headaches, but nothing serious.
Good: Finding safety goggles. Because the wind was so bad there was ash and rock bits flying everywhere. It was hitting me at such a high speed that it felt like bees were stinging me. The worst part was that the ash would get in my eyes, which was incredibly painful. Luckily, about half way through the climb we were able to buy some old school science safety goggles. Even though I felt like I was back in eighth grade science lab, they were lifesaving!
Good: The walking stick and huts. At different points along the mountains there are huts where people live and work throughout the climbing season. They are great because they offer a flat place to sit down and catch your breath for a few minutes. At the huts they sell water, snacks, oxygen, and other items you might need for your hike. But one of the coolest things that they do is burn a stamp on your walking stick for a small fee. When we started our climb, we purchased wood walking sticks and at each station along the way they will burn stamps, the final one being at the summit. It was so cool sitting on the mountain in the middle of the night and watching these men brand your stick.
Good: Reaching the summit. I am not an emotional person, as most of you know, but when I reached the summit I almost started crying. I was so happy and felt so proud. It was such an indescribable feeling and one that I will never forget.
Not-so-good: Did I mention the wind?! Believe me; it certainly didn't get any better at the top of the mountain.
Good: Cup of noodles. Once we reached the summit, we had to wait awhile for the sunrise. It was around 4 am. Luckily there were two huts at the summit serving food. We were herded into one of the restaurants and ordered ‘cup of ramen’ which turned out to be cup-of-noodles. It was the best cup-of-noodles that I have ever tasted – like a gourmet meal.
Not-so-good: The walk down. When describing the walk down someone said to picture a cartoon character walking on marbles and constantly falling down. I can’t think of a better way to describe it. You are walking down a steep mountain on ash that is slipping out from under you. Everyone is just falling down all around you and all you can do is to get up and keep walking.
Good: The walk down. The best part of the walk down is the view. It was magnificent –that is the only word I can think of to describe it. The sun was rising and we were above the clouds. You know those dream sequences on television shows when someone starts daydreaming and they are surrounded by clouds – that is what it felt like.
Not-so-good: The wind. Yep, still happening.
Not-so-good: My boots falling apart. About half way down the mountain I realized that my boots were flapping, not exactly what you want to see on Mount Fuji. I made it almost all the way down without them falling all the way apart. Needless to say, they didn't make the trip home.
Not-so-good: Ash everywhere. Everywhere! Matt was still finding ash in his eyes two days later.
Good: Being able to say that I climbed Mount Fuji. It was freakin' hard as hell and I think that it is awesome to be able to say that I did it.

Overall, it was exhausting and painful and hard and dirty, but it sure was beautiful. Don’t think for one minute that I don’t know how lucky I am to have had this experience – the good and the not-so-good moments.

Here are some pictures of our climb. Some are from my camera and some are from my friend, Brian.