Part III: Me vs. Mt Fuji, Round 2

* times are rough estimates *

Midnight: we are woken up by one the hut guys. He wants us to leave now, probably because the weather is still bad. We get up, get ready, wake up the Dutch guys as well.

1:00 a.m.: We head out. It's still really bad outside, a lot colder now, still very windy and rainy. Actually the rain has gotten a lot worse, it's a downpour now.

1:15 a.m.: we are taking frequent breaks. One member of the party is fatiguing easily. I stay with her.

1:45 a.m.: Said member struggles up the mountain and says she can't make it the rest of the way. We take her to another hut where we told her to stay until we came back. We have not left the 7th station yet.

2:00 a.m.: We continue up the mountain. The trails have been and continue to be very sheer, many times just solid lava flows. It is pitch black outside and all we have are a few tiny flashlights. The rocks are very slippery.

2:30 a.m.: The wind is still blowing hard and the rain never lets up. We are and have been soaked. None of us had prepared at all for this kind of weather. Eventually, while breaking somewhere we encounter another human being, the first we've seen that night. He's an American from Missouri. We ask him to join us and he agrees. We continue up the mountain, taking frequent breaks again. Another member of the party is beginning to fatigue easily.

3:30 a.m.: We have reached the 8th station. We are soaked, tired and freezing. We huddle outside a hut and talk. One of the Dutchmen decides that it is not worth going to the top and wants to stay in the hut. Me and my 2 friends debate for awhile. The other Dutchmen and the American head out for the top. My party also heads out after them, but after 10 minutes, we decided that its not worth risking ourselves over. The rain and wind have been getting worse as we've gotten higher. We go to the hut our other friend is staying in.

4:00 a.m.: We get to the hut. They refuse to let us just rest and tell us that the only way we can stay is if we pay full price. We reluctantly give in. However, to make matters worse, they are very rude and tell us to put our clothes in numerous small plastic bags, which would not let them dry. Angrily, I head to bed.

6:00 a.m.: Massive commotion outside our beds. I look out and see tons of people packing. It is light out and I can see that there is still whipping heavy rain outside. Our Dutch friends and the American are in the hut. The two that went to the top said they never made it. Apparently a group of about 40 people barricaded the summit. Unbeknowest to us, a serious typhoon had hit southern Japan and a lot of the run off headed for Mt. Fuji. The typhoon had killed 9 people in southern Japan. It was said that know one was allowed on the summit because you would have been blown off. Being on the mountain was different because it provided shelter. After hearing this, I roll my eyes and go back to bed, while our new friends head back down the mountain.

8:00 a.m.: Time to go, 8 a.m. is the kick out time. I never really slept at all the whole time and since our clothes were soaked, we froze while we laid in bed. We put back on our wet, cold clothes and head out. Don't worry, I had a lot of clothes on to help compensate the fact that they were soaked through.

8:30 a.m.: We find out that the descending trail is different then the ascending trial. It's incredibly bleak and lifeless, and it's red. The descending trail, with it's red, dusty, lifeless appearance looked like Mars, while the ascending trail with it's gray, frozen lava looked like the moon. The descending trail was very hard to go down because it was steep, dusty and rocky, making us slip and slide all the way down. Plus it was very windy and rainy still.

9:00 a.m.: I think I spot the 4th member of our troupe who left at the 7th station walking up the trail. Excited I run down, yelling her name. I get closer and realize it's not her, just some lonely Russian girl. Disappointed I walk away and let someone else apologize for me. She was the last human we saw until we approached the 5th station.

10:00 a.m.: WE kept going down. We just talk, nothing interesting happened. I could never take out my camera because it was so rainy that I didn't want to ruin it. We also realize that the descending trial never hooks up with the 7th station, were our other party member. We hope that she walks down by herself.

11:00 a.m.: Back at the 5th station. Our 4th member is no where to be seen. WE get the phone number for her hut and call up. She's still there. She tells she'll walk down herself. We feel horrible. We go into a building, meet up with the Dutch guys and have lunch. I eat a pork ramen bowl and half a squid. It was exquisite.

1:30 p.m.: Our final friend makes it back down and we chill out in a cafeteria.

3:00 p.m.: We take a bus home. Still soaked and absolutely freezing. I've taken off a lot of my wet clothes and am now the coldest yet.

We get back to Tokyo and it's humid and hot out. Life's not fair. I stink too. The bus ride was 3 hrs. I have another 1hr 15mins home by train. I did not sleep for awhile. I was not in a good mood.

But it was an amazing time and I had lots of fun. There is absolutely no way that I can desccribe to you in words or pictures what happened on this trip.