Night Hike on Mt. Fuji

Getting prepared for the night hike! {Sept. 7}

At the summit of Mt. Fuji {Sept. 8}

It was quite the adventure!!! We took the shuttle bus from Shinjuku to Mt. Fuji 5th Station.  We arrived around 19:00.  We looked around the shops and what not to kill time before we hiked up around 20:30.  We did not reserve a hut, and we did not stay in a hut.  We stayed up all night!  We stopped at different huts along the way.  It started off as a beautiful night! After we passed the 7th Station it was pouring rain, and super windy.  It was like that the rest of the way up.  We stayed about 1 hour in one hut to get warm.  I was shivering and tired!  I felt better after we stopped in that hut. Then we continued up, and there were tons of people.  It was literally a line going up the mountain.  Every time we stopped, I had to keep moving in place to stay warm.  We made it to the summit around 04:50.  Sunrise was around 05:00.  We couldn't see anything because of the clouds, rain, and wind.  Once I was inside this small building I wanted to stay.  I wanted the shelter from the wind & rain.  We eventually went to another hut for some food.  There we stayed until 07:30.  We were advised to hike down the path we took up, the Yoshida Trail, because of the weather conditions.  It took us about 5 hours to hike back down to Mt. Fuji 5th Station.  There was still rain and wind that we had to fight on our way down, but as we got closer to the station the weather was better.  I had my hiking stick where you can get stamps at different stations on the way up, and at a certain point I stopped getting stamps because my hiking stick was too wet!! haha.  It was funny.  We were so tired and cold we forgot to get our certificates for hiking Mt. Fuji!  Well, we wouldn't have had a dry place to keep the certificates anyways... haha.  It was quite the adventure.  We spent 15 hours on Mt. Fuji!!!  It was a spontaneous trip, and I am happy to have shared this memory with my sister and brother-in-law.

On our way back home. {Shinjuku Train Station}