But first, it all began on Friday and as most weekends do! Went to see the new and last Harry Potter! It was awesome! All must see it! And at the Aeon mall in Kofu I managed to finally find the prettiest yukata ever and it was half price! So lucky! And… I had pizza and ice cream cake! Mmmmm melted cheese... So the movie was great and we headed back to Otsuki around midnight with plans of staying up all night and did we ever! Kevin, Tony, Rhee and I all stayed up to just see the sun slipping around the edge of the planet when we slipped off to bed. We entertained ourselves with an all night cafĂ© until 2:30ish and then went to Saruhashi to hand on the bridge and talk and watch the stars, do some yoga and wait until we felt it was okay to go to bed. We eventually slept around 4:30 and I awoke at noon when Otsuki rang there usually lunch time bells… (I wanted sleep…) Whether this was better or worse than sleeping normally a night before hiking I’m still not sure considering I almost fell asleep on my hiking stick while scrambling up lava rocks but more on that in a bit.)
So at five, we were reading for some carbs at the ramen shop and then it was off to Fujiyoshida while the sun set and the mountain loomed before us like a warning. We were on the mountain by 8:30 and began at nine just as the day old full moon peaked over the mountain and a lit the trail bright enough to cast shadows. We didn’t even need the head lights we’d brought. The first part of the trail was the easiest bit as it went downhill! After a bit we began to panic fearing we had taken the wrong trail until we passed some Japanese people who confirmed we were in the right direction with encouraging words of “up, up up, and up!” Oh yeah, don’t remind me!
I won’t bore with details of all ten hours it took to get to the top but I will say there were hundreds of others climbing the mountain with us and it was amazing to feel a part of such an intense group all aspiring for the same dream. Everyone was so friendly and it was easy to make friends! The trail never grew boring as it changed up with short steep switchbacks to literally climbing big lava boulders and scrambling four-legged between the mountain huts. The trail never stayed the same, but one thing remained always: the baseball sized lava rocks that slid under my feet causing me to lose six inches for every three feet I took…
About two in the morning we figured we’d made it just over half way up when we began comparing the trek to a video game. Every time we met some new hikes we’d say “the Finnish folk have joined the party,” or “the Brit has left the party,” and then Kevin just about killed me by saying: “You know what would suck? If we got to the top and the stupid toadstool said ‘I’m sorry but the sunrise is on another mountain’.” Oh I’m tearing up just remembering that! What would have also sucked was if the stupid volcano finally blew just as we were ten minutes from the top. It wouldn’t have the decency to put us out of our misery early on in the hike, nor would it even let us conquer it!
Regardless, we survived and saw the most beautiful sunrise for which there are no words and made it all the way to the top. Of course the coldest part of the night is right before dawn so we shivered and huddled as the sky lightened and then finally the bright red disc pulled itself from its blankets of cloud and sprang into the sky in a fury of dazzling rays. Nothing quite like it. And the colours! More than my camera could ever pick up! I have no idea how to describe the purples and orange that came with the sun so I’ll leave it to the imagination, just know my photos don’t quite do it justice.
On the ascent, we were each granted one complaint. For me: it was these intense hiccups that took all my energy and made it so I couldn’t breathe for the last third of the climb, Kevin was cold and tired, and Tony’s feet and legs were in pain, for Rhee (who was the genkiest person on the mountain that night with her steady pace and endless cheer) it was merely that the sunscreen was too cold! She pouted almost as much as all of us did over sunscreen! We all cheered to finally get a whine from her but it was all good because at that moment we needed a laugh more than anything.
The very last bit was the hardest but we made it there and Rhee, Kevin and I crossed under the final torii gate and on to the top together feeling very proud! After Rhee and traversed the crater (which took about another hour) dropped some post cards off at the post office (the highest in Japan) and branded our hiking sticks with bragging rights of making it to the top, while the boys slept (you wouldn’t believe how many people just fell asleep where they sat on the lava rocks. By now the sun was all the way up and by 10 am (way behind schedule!) we began the descent.
Many will say that the descent is far harder than the ascent but I would disagree in this case. The worst part of climbing up was that I couldn’t breathe not the pain so while going down, when I could breathe again, I almost enjoyed the deep rocks that kicked up dust as I slid down. The clouds began to roll in which was beautiful to see because they were so close to us and we could see them moving so fast and playing in the sky and they fell over the path cooling it and misted our faces (which was nice except it turned the dust to mud and coated our faces) it was actually almost pleasant going down. Kevin and I kept an even pace and talked for most of the way (yay for being able to breathe) so that made time just fly. It wasn’t until the very end when a sign read 60 more mins and then after over 45 mins we saw another sign that said only 60 more mins that I wanted to give up! And remember that spot where we had to walk downhill first? Well after sixteen hours on the mountain, now we had to walk up hill to cross the finish line.
Exhaustion. Half the mountain in my shoe. A long line for the bus. A lovely sleep on the bus. Back to the car. The expressway back to Otsuki. Lawson for a coffee. Home. Shower (the best of my life) and then the tiniest lie down. All I remember up until the next activity.
Who celebrates Fuji conquering by going to bed? Not I! No, far from it! Rhee and I put on our pretty yukata and took Kevin with us to a festival in Saruhashi!
It was so cool! The portable shrine that hangs out in our friends house in Saruhashi was brought out and lit with lanterns to match at least five others and men paraded them around as the sun set and the taiko drummers pounded the beat and then the dancing began. I love watching group dances, but there might be one little thing I love more! Dancing in a festival in my yukata with clackers at twilight. It was one of those moments, that you wish you could put into a little bubble to swim in later just to relive it. The beat was lively and Kevin and Rhee were on either side of us, the sun had just set and filled the street with cool blue light and the music filled the air as my yukata swished around me and we danced like baka not knowing the routine. But was it ever amazing! One minute we had just been standing sitting there admiring and the next we were dragged into the street! Our friend, Kei san from the Saruhashi shop was so incredibly kind and offer us drinks and festival food for free and then when all was over he invited us in for dinner of cold summertime noodles, yakitori and takoyaki followed by strawberry shaved ice. It was the most perfect day!
I slept eleven straight hours that night.
On Monday (it was a long weekend) Rhee and I returned to the scene of the crime and stopped in at the Fuji Sengon shrine to thank the mountain for the strength and the experience. We wandered a bit under the massive trees and enjoyed the peaceful air of this one shrine and then went and found an onsen to soak our somewhat aching bodies. We finished the weekend with dinner and parfaits!
Now, it is Tuesday. I don’t ache as much as I thought I would which is awesome but it all feels like a dream. I could have possible hiked all night to the top of a volcano to see the sunrise from the top of Japan. The very first sunrise of July 17th, as the first major land mass the sun hits is Japan, hence the land of the rising sun. I couldn’t have possibly nearly fallen asleep on my hiking stick, circled a crater, scrambled over lava and then danced in a festival in the same day. It all feels too sublime to be real!
No comments:
Post a Comment