curious_jp (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} curious_jp) wrote,@ 2007-07-10 10:50:00 |
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Mount Fuji
I climbed it yesterday with Cassie. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done.
The climb was fraught with problems. We started the ascent at around eight. After the third scrambling section of the trail, about station seven / midnight, I started to experience problems with altitude sickness, and despite using an oxygen bottle, couldn't get my head clear enough to competently climb. Even though we'd miss the sunrise on the summit, I had to sleep. We crashed in one of the huts. Cassie woke me at 4:30 so we could watch the sunrise together from the doorway, and then I went back to bed for another three hours of sleep.
After that, I felt much better, and we continued our climb. The low oxygen and hot sun made the climb very difficult for me, and although it was physically quite strenuous, the biggest problem was probably me stressing about falling off the mountain - the surface is very loose and crumbly in a few places. As a result of the air, I spent a lot of time leaning on my kongo-zue walking stick and panting like a dog. We were passed by many old grandmas as well as a patrol of soldiers that appeared to be hiking in full uniform with heavy packs.
Unfortunately, as I had expected to be climbing at night and then down in the very early morning, and am kind of stupid, I took few precautions against the heat besides some sunblock, and I got very, very sunburnt indeed. The summit was very beautiful, and Cassie took some photos that I will share later. We made our descent ( part of the descent trail is still closed - this was the first weekend of season ), and this would have been very easy except that I had my boots laced improperly or something and my toes were striking the front of my hikers on every step. They rapidly bruised into agony and as I look at them now, they're still blue/black and quite swollen. Cassie also hurt her knee.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to directly catch a bus back to Shinjuku. For some reason the last one leaves at 4pm, while they arrive much later, and after much transport wrangling, and with the pain starting to set in, I decided to take a day off work today. We arrived back at Cassie's house at around 11:30pm. What a day.
All this said however, I am very glad I did it, and it was an amazing sight and an amazing achievement. Photos soon!
edit: Note - available oxygen at the summit is 64% what you can get at sea level, but with acclimatisation, blood oxygen levels will not drop as dramatically.
I climbed it yesterday with Cassie. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done.
The climb was fraught with problems. We started the ascent at around eight. After the third scrambling section of the trail, about station seven / midnight, I started to experience problems with altitude sickness, and despite using an oxygen bottle, couldn't get my head clear enough to competently climb. Even though we'd miss the sunrise on the summit, I had to sleep. We crashed in one of the huts. Cassie woke me at 4:30 so we could watch the sunrise together from the doorway, and then I went back to bed for another three hours of sleep.
After that, I felt much better, and we continued our climb. The low oxygen and hot sun made the climb very difficult for me, and although it was physically quite strenuous, the biggest problem was probably me stressing about falling off the mountain - the surface is very loose and crumbly in a few places. As a result of the air, I spent a lot of time leaning on my kongo-zue walking stick and panting like a dog. We were passed by many old grandmas as well as a patrol of soldiers that appeared to be hiking in full uniform with heavy packs.
Unfortunately, as I had expected to be climbing at night and then down in the very early morning, and am kind of stupid, I took few precautions against the heat besides some sunblock, and I got very, very sunburnt indeed. The summit was very beautiful, and Cassie took some photos that I will share later. We made our descent ( part of the descent trail is still closed - this was the first weekend of season ), and this would have been very easy except that I had my boots laced improperly or something and my toes were striking the front of my hikers on every step. They rapidly bruised into agony and as I look at them now, they're still blue/black and quite swollen. Cassie also hurt her knee.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to directly catch a bus back to Shinjuku. For some reason the last one leaves at 4pm, while they arrive much later, and after much transport wrangling, and with the pain starting to set in, I decided to take a day off work today. We arrived back at Cassie's house at around 11:30pm. What a day.
All this said however, I am very glad I did it, and it was an amazing sight and an amazing achievement. Photos soon!
edit: Note - available oxygen at the summit is 64% what you can get at sea level, but with acclimatisation, blood oxygen levels will not drop as dramatically.
