Part of my new series of goals for 24 is to get out
and try to become more physically fit. All that walking down under made me
realize how cooped up and suffocating living in the greater Tokyo area is.
There’s no space to breathe-at least, that’s how I feel sometimes.
In honor of my birthday, I took the very next off and went
hiking with some teachers from my school. The day started out sunny, but we
went up to an elevation of about 3000 meters and ended up in the middle of a
cloud bank. Needless to say, there were no spectacular views, and some of the climbing
was a bit dodgy. Still, it was a nice way to finish the week and break in a new
year!
One of the teachers I went with was the rad I-sensei, the
guy whom I went skiing with last February.
Back in August, he
helped Sabina and I take on Mt. Fuji. The first time we went, with a larger
group of people, was not successful and rather disappointing. Conditions for my
third try were completely different.
To start with, I-sensei drove us in his car. Did you know
that there are grooves bored into the road that case your car to be filled with
a special “Mt. Fuji Welcome” melody? No? Neither did I, until we passed into
the park and car was suddenly its own music maker!
Second, the weather was perfect. It was slightly breezy and
was a cloudless night with a full moon. The moon was so bright, in fact, that
we barely needed our headlamps.
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| Somewhere around the 8th station, about an hour left to go! |
I-sensei had climbed Fuji several times before, so we set
off at a steady pace. The ascent was uneventful because there was no rain, and
we made it to the summit in about 5 hours- at roughly 3:30 in the morning. I
wanted to sleep so badly, and I was much colder than I had prepared for.
I-sensei ended up rousting us and making us walk the circumference of the
crater, which turned out to be awesome.
Have you ever seen the shadow of a mountain caused by
moonlight? The full moon was so bright there was a perfect, conical rendition
of the mountain laying across the sea of clouds beneath us.
Eventually, the sky started to redden and we scrambled to
find a place to perch and watch the sunrise.
People who have hiked Fuji often say that it’s the most beautiful
sunrise they’ve ever witnessed. I’ve seen some sunrises (yay, night shift!) but
they’re right-this one was pretty special. The way the sky changed colors as
the sun finally broke through was mesmerizing, even to my tired eyes.
The descent took a little over 2 hours. The trail consisted
of really slippery shale, so I ended up turning sideways and half sliding down
the mountain. Boy did my knees hate me for the next few days for that stunt!
Hundreds of people descending at the same time caused a lot of dust to get
kicked up too, plus the sun was bearing down full force now, so I pulled my hat
low down around my ears, tied my bandana around my nose cops-n-robbers style
and put my stunner shades on. I’m certain I looked ridiculous, but I didn’t get
sunburned or black lung.
And now I can finally say that I’ve conquered the beast.
Third time really was the charm!
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| Channeling Freddie Mercury for epic greatness |
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