The two of us and the ukulele player from the contest music group started out at lunchtime with a bowl of "student discount" ramen--good carbohydrate fuel. We walked, walked, walked with periodic breaks--check out the size of the left pack--until sundown. Fuji's peak slowly drew closer.After going to a blessedly well-stocked supermarket for dinner, we began to implement our brilliant plan of camping out in a tent with plans of continuing the next day. However, we miscalculated about the weather. Specifically, the fact that it was bone-chillingly cold.
A real blanket instead of a space tarp and tent walls thicker than construction paper might have helped, though we were all wrapped up in several layers. What drove me nuts and prevented any real sleep all night was my one personal mistake: forgetting an extra pair of socks. Nothing like feeling your toes freeze to while the hours away, trust me.
Between shivering and the not-too-comfortable ground, which had probably frozen a few nights ago, none of us caught much shuteye. We woke when the first train rumbled into town at 5:30 AM and hurriedly packed our gear up to catch the 6:05 back home; plans for continued hiking weren't exactly feasible under sleep deprivation conditions. I was able to get rested back at home and miraculously didn't catch any major diseases, save the inability to resist turning the dorm shower to 'Hot' every morning.
At least we had a nice view of Mt. Fuji (which we were smart enough to know we couldn't climb yet anyways) by the time we called it quits. I left the shot uncropped to better illustrate the 'country' environment we hiked through that first day.Happy to stay inside the daily grind for now, and I think my toes agree.
1 comment:
Hiking up Fuji-san sounds so amazing. It's unfortunate you couldn't make the climb, but at least you got nice views of it. I actually have never even seen Mt.Fuji in person. Every time I would pass by it on the shinkansen it would be cloudy or misty. lol.
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