When we arrved at Camp Zama outside of Tokyo, we barely made it in time to go to the travel agency to get details on how to get to Fuji. They told us that they thought it was still closed due to recent snows, but directed us to the Outdoor Recreation office. They were very helpful, and explained the train/bus route to the 5th Station on the Kawaguchi-ko route. They also told us the top would be closed but I figured we would at least go to the 5th station and hike around so we can at least be able to say "we hiked Mt Fuji." Since we were not going to be able to summit anyway, we slept in at Zama and started out about 0700, after having a great continental breakfast provided at the lodging. Since no cabs were allowed on base, we had to walk to the train station. After going the wrong way on one of the trains, we finally reached the bus station 10 minutes before the next bus left for the 5th Station. We arrived at about 1145, and the last bus left to go back at 1540 (3:40pm). So we had about 4 hours to tour around. We finally stared up the trail at about 1155. When we got to the first marker in about 10 minutes (it was supposed to take over 20), we realized our pace was pretty fast and had not come to a "TRAIL CLOSED" sign yet. Then we passed someone running down (yes, running!) who told us the summit was open. Damn! We could have done it after all! SO...... since our pace was fast (the "usual"time in the books was 5-7 hours up and 3-4 down, but we were making it in a third of that time!), Benjamin and I decided to leave Steph and Morgan behind and try to make it as far as possible. We took no pack, no water, and no MONEY (to be explained in a bit) and started jogging up.......
That lasted about 200 yards and we were quickly winded (we were already over a mile up in elevation). We kept a quick pace, though, with no stops. We soon shed our shirts, which were drenched in sweat already. As we kept passing people and reaching the stations much quicker than expected, we realized we might actually be able to make it! We finally broke down and put our shifts back on when we reached the snow level. We realized that we forgot water AND money (water is NOT free on the route) and Ben was feeling dehydrated. So, the ever resourceful Eagle Scout that he is, he found a sink to drink out of (hopefully it WAS drinking water, and not just for "washing.").
Time was running out if we were going to make it (I only had 2 1/2 hours left before the bus left!) so we picked up the pace. Ben actually fell behind and told me he was not going to keep pace with me. I left him at station 8 and kept going. At 1345, I thought I could see the top and passed some hikers with packs coming down. I asked if what I could see a couple of hundred yards ahead was the top and they assured me it was the rim! They also had to make the bus and assured me they would hold it for me. By this time, at almost 12,000 feet of elevation, I was really struggling to breath and keep putting one foot in front of the other, as it was like going up a steep staircase of gravel and rock. I was practically "bear crawling" by the time I reached the rim! I stayed for about 90 seconds to take a couple of pictures, then realized I had only an hour and 40 minutes to reach the bottom!
I started at a quick pace down, and realized my knees would really be hurting but had no choice. I caught up to Ben at the 8.5 Station, and we continued our fast pace. I realized we were cutting it close, so we were jogging on the flatter switchbacks by the end. We made it! I could tell I was going to be VERY sore tomorrow, though! One more item off my bucket list.......
We made it to the bus, but did not make it back to Camp Zama until 8pm! We had a great Mexican Fiesta of taquitos and chicken and bean burritos in our rooms. Delicious!
Off to Tokyo in the morning......
LCDR Butler
