Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Climbing Mount Fuji and Restoring the Soul





I will be chronicling my way to summit of Mt.Fuji(富士山) , the tallest point in entire Japan. Its a dormant volcano which is perfectly symmetrical in its cone shape which is worshipped and viewed with awe by it's majestic look and mystical aura surrounding it.

Total Height of Mountain : 3,776 mts
Crate size is around 800 mts.

Date : 02.09.07
Time : 00:52 Hrs.

Ascending time : 5 hrs 15 min
Descending time : 2 hrs 55 min

Total people started : 10
Those who made it to the summit : 6


Some Info:
Hailed as a goddess, revered as sacred mountain and the country's national symbol,12.390-foot Mount Fuji is Japan's highest peak, a perfectly symmetrical volcanic cone that's spellbinding when not shrouded in clouds, and is particularly beautiful when reflected on the mirror-calm surface of Lake Ashi-no (Hakone).Famous throughout the world, the dormant volcano has always exuded a strong pull on the Japanese, who believe that to experience goraiko (sunrise) on its summit is one of the most moving of all natural experiences.They also admit that while everyone should climb Fuji-san once, only a fool would climb it twice. I saw a lady from Chiba prefecture, (same as my prefecture) who was climbing Fuji-san for the 5th time! Still, judging by the huge number of gung-ho climbers who show up every summer-an impressive number of grandparents in their seventies and older among them-a good many of them must be return contenders.Six Mountain paths, each with ten stations lead to the summit, but most climbers begin a five- to six hour climb to the top from the fifth station (8,250 feet), at either Gogome on the north side or Shin-Gogome on the south.The descent is a breeze!
富士山 is a combination of three kanji - 富 means wealth,enrich,abundance 士 means Gentleman, samurai and finally 山 means Mountain.
The name Fuji means "fire" in the Ainu language, and in the resort area of Hakone within the Mount Fuji National Park, intense volacanic activity can be observed from the funcicular that passes above the Valley of Great Boiling (or Ojigoku, Big Hell) and its steaming sulfurous gorge.Public baths tap into searing -hot, mineral-rich onsen (hot springs, which abound throughout Japan) and promise to cure everything from stress to rheumatism to muscles sore from climbing the mountain.Despite the modernization and Westernization of Japanese cities, onsen are a tradition that refuses to die, and on weekends the wonderfully scenic area of Hakone fills with Tokyoites who come for a long, hot soak. Of the handful of traditional ryokan inns with their own indoor and outdoor onsen, Gora kadan, the former summer residence of the Kan-In-No-Miya imperial family, is one of the nicest in the country.
Mount Fuji: 44 miles/71 km south of Tokyo.
Best time: July and Aug. After 9 A.M., clouds obscure most of the view from the summit.