At The Rim

When we woke up at 5 am, Nicolas had decided upon a new plan. He was not feeling too good either. He felt sorry for me having to wait with his bag for about four hours while he took his mother to Base Station 3, so he said he would remain at Base Station 3 with his mother while I make the ascent to the summit by myself. Again, Ryuri-san made all the necessary phone calls to rearrange our accommodation plans again.

So, at 7 am, I began to make my way up to the summit. It took me just over three hours to cover that final 766 meters to reach the 3,776 meters summit just after 10 am. On the way up I met a lovely little girl, about seven years old, climbing with her father. I was really impressed by her politeness, enthusiasm and the sheer pleasure she was obviously was taking from sharing this experience with her father. When we reached the summit he told me that he was going to post a letter from the highest post office in Japan. I didn't know about this, so I went with him to do the same thing. I bought a postcard, wrote a message to Kazuko, Valerie and Arthur, and then posted it outside the post office. I wonder when it will arrive?

After checking in my luggage at Fuji Sanchou Base Station at the summit of Mount Fuji, I went for a walk around the crater rim. The weather was glorious. Photographs fail to capture the unimaginable scale of the crater, although I have tried with the extra. It took me about fifty minutes to walk around the rim of the crater which has a diameter of 500 meters and a depth of 250 meters. Looking at that massive gaping maw you cannot help but be aware of how much devastation would be caused if that thing ever again erupts. Truly awe inspiring. The photograph shows the highest point of Mount Fuji on the edge of the rim.

As I was walking around the rim, I was amazed to meet one of my Year Four students, Tsuyoshi, with his mother. They had reached the summit a few minutes earlier. What are the chances of meeting two people out of a population of 127 million on a mountain with about 900 people at the top? Pretty slim, I reckon.

I sat on a huge pile of rocks while waiting for the Fuji Sanchou Base Station to open at 4 pm. That was pretty much it for the day. I had planned to watch the sunset at 6.53 pm but was told that would not be possible because they close the doors and put lights out at 7 pm. That makes sense, really, because the lights go on again at 3.50 am so I guess they want to make sure that everyone is quiet enough to try and get some sleep again shoulder to shoulder on the floor with barely enough room to roll over.