...because I can.

I SURVIVED!

So....this weekend was amazing and long and tiring and grueling and freezing all at the same time. After driving from 11-9 we finally got to the base of Mnt Fuji to begin our climb. There were 2 groups...one that left at 9:30 and one that left at 11:00pm. I left at 11 because there was no way I was about to sit on the top of the mountain, freeze my butt off and wait for sunrise.

The beginning was all smiles..

I was wearing a sportsbra, tanktop, long sleeve, t-shirt, another long sleeve, sweatshirt and THEN a jacket...and I was still freezing! There was a major chance of rain so I took a whole other outfit to change at the top. Needless to say, my bag was heavier than most of the guys! not a bright idea on my part!

Standing at the base, I really had no clue as to how difficult this climb was actually going to be. I actually think that I underestimated it. I figured that if a 96 year old man could do it, I would be able to do it without breaking a sweat! WRONG! I not only broke a sweat, but I was exhausted to the point of not remembering the entire middle portion of the hike. Only 1 hour had passed and out of 10 stations we were only 1 station further than we began. I think that I also wanted to prove that I could be in the front with the guys...I definitely didnt want to be in the "girl" group!

This is the 5th station...At most of the stations along the way, there are huts where families live. Usually you can wake them up any time of the night and they will brand your walking stick with a stamp saying that you made it to ___ station... the farther up you go, the more stamps you get. Of course there is a fee, but well worth it in my opinion. This is the station where a few people decided that they couldnt go any farther and stayed here for the night.

By the 7th station...I lost all ability to think. There is a time when your brain loses ability to function and motor functions kick in. It seemed like my legs moved independent of my brain...one foot in front of the other...left/right/left/right. Overall, I think it was my pride that forced me to keep going at the boys' pace...Ill be damned if they beat me up the mnt..This is what I thought of for 5 hours.

So this is my hiking group...This is the 8th station! Only 2 more to go. I thought that it would be all downhill from here (not literally, but figuratively) but NO! This was the hardest part of the treck. There was no path, but rather huge boulders in front of you with arrows pointing up followed by another blouder with another arrow pointing up!

This is me delirious after 5 hours of hiking..by this time I had stripped off all of my warm clothes because I was sweating in below 0 weather! Lets also just say that Im glad we hiked up at night because: 1. the cold weather felt refreshing after a while 2. You couldnt see how far down the fall actually was while you were clinging onto the side of a boulder at a mile above sea level!

9th station:
Seriously...the hardest part! At the beginning we were practically charging the mountain taking a break every 1/2 hour or so...by this time we were so exhausted and the air was so thin, we were taking a break every 5 minutes..or as we said, every 2 zig-zags...no joke! We were actually sucking on Oxygen tanks to catch our breath.

These are 2 random Japanese guys we picked up along the way because they had no head lights/no water/ and no food!

I barely have any photos along the way because it was honestly the furthest thing from my mind..I was concentrating on 1. breathing 2. staying warm 3. one foot in front of the other 4. not falling off the side of the mountain (which actually happened this year to a 25 year old)! 5. I wish I had more chocolate 6. how much longer???

FINALLY WE MADE IT! and just in time for sunrise, which I almost missed because I fell asleep! Time: 5:24 am ..it took us about 6 hours to get to the top.