Sunrise @ Mt Fuji

Mt Fuji is officially open for climbing from July - August, although you can climb throughout the year if you like a challenge. More than 200,000 people climb Mount Fuji each year, and approximately 30% of them are foreigners. It can take anywhere from four to ten hours to ascend the slope, and two to six hours to descend. If you decide to go, you’ll have your choice of trails to the top. Mount Fuji is divided into ten stations, with station one at the foot of the mountain and station ten at the top. Paved roads reach up to the 5th station, and many decide to begin their hike from this point for the convenience. There are four 5th stations, on different sides of the mountain. The most popular of these is Kawaguchiko 5th station but no live chat there.

Most people time their climbs so they can view the sunrise from the top of Mt. Fuji. There are two ways to do this: climb at night, or sleep part way up the trail. If you plan on hiking at night, make sure you take a flashlight and extra batteries. You’ll likely leave the 5th station around 10:00pm, hike through the dark, and arrive at the summit in time to greet the sun. If the adventure of a night hike is too much for you, you could also hike to the 7th or 8th station and sleep in one of the huts. Then you could finish the walk early the next morning to reach the top for the sunrise. Don’t forget… sunrise comes pretty early up on the mountain, so you’ll want to be in place around 4:00-5:00am.

Breath-taking is the sunrise.. and even though we had to sleep in sardines in the sardine cans.. it was worth it.

Exhilirating ! does not even describe how one can feel when you are up there.

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