Mt Fuji

Grant has told us since the day we moved here that he was going to hike Mt Fuji. So the challenge was on, and we have been hiking this summer to get ready. As the day grew closer for hiking Mt Fuji the weather was not looking the greatest, and several people told me that it is just not worth it in the rain. I believe that, but I also wanted to make it possible for Grant to achieve his goal, so we stuck with the plan.

So the morning we were hiking we made sure we all had rain gear and extra socks, and we got up super early (2:30 am). We rode a bus with a big group of Jake's co-workers and friends. As we got closer to the trailhead we drove above cloud level and the weather was perfect. And we were blessed that it stayed that way for us. It really turned into a great day. At the bottom visitor center we bought our walking sticks and took a pre-hike photo.

The first mile wasn't too bad and we kept a good morale. Then it went uphill fast. The kids were a little grumpy at the begining, but then we started getting into the stations where they burned stamps onto our walking sticks and that provided incentive for our kids to keep going. There were plenty of stations for that and in some parts it felt like there were too many stamp stations (they got expensive), but our kids wouldn't let us miss any of them.

At the very end of the hike up Grant and I took the lead and Grant had a burst of energy. He was going so fast I had to ask him to slow down because I was having trouble keeping up. But seeing the last tori gate and then the shrine on to was such a great feeling and the view was amazing. Grant and I cheered the others on as we waited at the top. Then we all feasted on noodles, snacks, and curry rice. The boys lunchables actually puffed up because of the change in air pressure. We checked out the crater on top, and it was beautiful. Pace definately suffered from a bit of altitude sickness, but he was such a champ. And our friend Evelyn kept his spirits up as we hiked down.

The hike down was not easy. it was on vey loose gravel/volcanic rock and our feet kind of sunk in. The fog got really bad too. It was so thick you couldn't see far and it made even our eyelashes heavy with water. Toward the end Grant hit a wall of exhaustion and was crying for the last mile or so down the mountain. But we made it. We ate ice cream cones quickly and then took the bus home. Unfortunately Grant got a bit motion sick or just exhausted sick, not sure. So it was wonderful to get home and get a good night's sleep.

But we did it! We reached the summit and felt the majesty of Mt Fuji. It was really great to experience something like that with Pace and Grant.