Conquering the tallest mountain of Japan
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The peak doesn't look THAT far away. Pfft, I'll be up there in an hour, tops!
What to Bring
* walking stick!!! - I thought I'd be awesome and conquer the mountain on my own, but I regretted that choice within the first hour. You can buy simple wooden walking sticks at the stations (1,000 yen) or you can bring your own if you want something more high-tech. Wooden walking sticks have two great purposes. First, by using the walking sticks, you can utiliize a little more of your upper-body strength when climbing, allowing your lower-body to take it a bit easier. Having an extra "leg" really really helps you with your balance, too, especially on the very narrow paths you will encounter. Second, with the wooden sticks, you can get "stamps" at each checkpoint. They are year-specific station-specific marks branded on with a hot iron, great souvenirs to collect as you make your way up (200-300 yen a piece). I bought myself a wooden stick at the 7th-station, so now I have some tangible evidence of my climb.
* LED Flashlight - no matter when you start your climb (going at night is apparently the more popular time), you're going to have to deal with dim lighting conditions at some point. Having a handheld or head-mounted light with you is a necessity. And yeah, it more or less has to be an LED... a regular incondecent bulb light really won't cut it. Again, I thought I'd be awesome and go without a light, hoping to rely on the lights of others and the "provided" light there... I mean, if hiking at night is so popular, then there MUST be some spotlights or at least some trail-marking lights spread throughout the trail. But nope, I was wrong... complete darkness the entire time.
* clothes for warmth and dryness - having grown up in Boston all my life, I'm no stranger to terrible weather. Basically, when you're preparing for your hike, you want to dress how we'd dress up North on any given Winter day: a basic cotton t-shirt to pad your skin, a little heavier t-shirt for an extra layer, then either a wool or fleece sweater to hold in your body heat, topped with a heavier jacket meant for keeping out the moisture of the weather. Long thermal underwear might be good, but honestly, I was fine with just long socks and some sweat pants... but I'm a winter wonderland baby, so cold doesn't bother me. The others in my group needed extra layers, so if you're not good with weather, then layer up your legs, too. It starts to get chilly around the 5th-station, so if that's where you're starting your hike, you may just want to gear up right when you get off the bus. And it goes without saying, but you're going to want some sturdy shoes; sneakers if you must, but if you have hiking boots, then that's your best bet. Anything solid with a good grip underneath.
* Food and drink - you're hiking up a frickin' mountain!! There ain't no McDonald's or 7/11's up there!! Bring some cookies, some energy bars, some bottled water, some sports drinks!! I survived on a single bottle of juice and half a bottle of water, plus 3 candy bars and a small bag of crackers, just for measure.
* friends!!! - Don't go it alone. You will definitely need some hiking partners to watch your back... literally. If not just there to monitor your health and safety, you're gonna be out there for 10, 12, 16 hours, so may want some buddies to chat with, just to cure away the Mountain Madness.
The 5th-Station on the Yoshida Trail, this is what I had imagined ALL of the stations would be like. I was... not right...
The Stations
My expectations of what would be provided at the stations dotted all over the mountain were grossly off. I thought that the stations would be more like rest stops with shelter for anyone who passed through, providing restrooms, shops (with food), and places to get out of the wind and rain. But I was wrong. Though they did provide SOME shelter, space was very very limited and you had to PAY to use them. Japan isn't guilty much of price-gouging, but man, that is just heartless to the point of anger. They did sell snacks and food, but as expected, prices were greatly inflated... 300 yen for a Snickers bar (120 normally), 900 for a bowl of udon (300 normally), 400 for hot cocoa. I mean, I know it's a simple equation of demand and convenience, but ouch.
So really what the stations were were a place to sit down... and you're only lucky if you can get a spot not in the path of the wind. Restrooms were surprisingly easy to get to with no waiting at all, though they did have 200 yen suggested "donations." Only one had a mandatory pay machine. You are also asked to bring your own toilet paper, just in case, but of the 2 or 3 restrooms I used, there was paper in there.
As for the number of stations, the maps say there are "10 Stations" from the base to the summit, with some "mountain houses" in between, but pretty much every structure we passed through was labeled by its station series. So really there were about 4 or 5 buildings labeld "station 7." There is no "station 9" on the Yoshida Trail, save for a sign saying this is where station 9 is... probably just to keep in sync with the other trails, though if they're going to do that, might as well just change the name of the last building in station 8 to station 9.
Of important note, don't expect any professional care or guidance up on the mountain. There are no medical care facilities, save for one or two places that can hand out band-aids. And though many people working in the stations can speak English and I can speak enough Japanese, most of the staff was not helpful at all.
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Translation: Fujiyama 5th Station - elevation 2,305 (meters)
