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Summer Mount Fuji hiking trip

The best time to climb Mount Fuji – Japan’s highest and most famous mountain is during the summer season. The official climbing season is between the month of July and August. During these two months, Mount Fuji is free of snow, with good and clear weather, and most of the mountain huts or stations are open to climbers. Due to the over popularity of Mount Fuji, it is a common sight that not only Japanese climbers that will hike Mount Fuji, but even foreign tourists. The peak season is during the Obon festival, which is during the Mid-August. During the peak season, climbers may need to queue in line to climb to the peak of Mount Fuji.

As for the three of us, we decided to hike Mount Fuji at the beginning of the Obon festival. We departed from Nagoya at 8am 11th August 2007 using JR train and we reached Fujinomiya 5th Station at around 6pm. Fujinomiya 5th Station is the closest 5th station from Nagoya. At the altitude of 2400 meter, most of climbers will start from here at night and hopefully can reach the peak of Mount Fuji before the sunrise. With a walking stick that cost USD8, we started our climbing journey at 8pm. Throughout the whole night of climbing, my friend and I managed to catch 3 times of meteor showers, and I made 3 lucky wishes for myself haha. According to the news, on 12th August, the Perseid meteor shower reached its peak across Japan. Wow, we were so lucky!!. We finally managed to reach the peak, 3776m at around 9am. Facilities available at the peak of Mount Fuji are restaurant, post office, japanese temple, toilet, and a weather center. It is like a small town up there.

Sunset at Fujinomiya 5th Station

Mount Fuji at Fujinomiya 5th Station

Great Sunrise view at the peak of Mount Fuji

Ready to send a postcard from the peak of Mount Fuji?

Japanese temple at the peak of Mount Fuji

The peak of Mount Fuji

Three proud Malaysians with the Malaysian flag

We took almost 13 hours to reach the peak of Mount Fuji, but only 4 hours to descend back to Fujinomiya 5th Station. The sunrise view at the peak of Mount Fji was indeed one of the best view in Japan. In summary, the whole hiking trip was a great experience indeed. Even though we were totally exhausted after the trip, but we felt really great that we managed to conquer the highest mountain in Japan.

*For more pictures, check out my Mount Fuji flickr photo album

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14 Comments »

Comment by TipsoSaurus

2007-08-14 20:17:13

Wow that’s a collection of some wonderful pics. I’m sure you must have enjoyed every single bit of the whole trip

Hi TipsoSaurus,
Yeah, the whole trip was so fun indeed.

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Comment by yplow98

2007-08-14 20:22:50

I really like the “Malaysia flag” photo, it’s great and nice!!
I proud to be one of the members though hehehe……..

Haha yplow,
Hopefully we have more chance to show off our Malaysian flag

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Comment by Nirmal

2007-08-15 02:08:46

Wow! Great photos, wish I was also in the trip.

Hi Nirmal,
Yup, it was a great trip indeed.

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Comment by BeeLee

2007-08-15 03:50:57

Surprise to see that they have temple up there … I recalled the meteor shower I saw in the States, more than 50 shooting stars from 12am to 4am … and the thick clouds in the morning when I was at the peak of Gunung Ledang, although it’s so much lower compared to Mt. Fuji. I wish to climb Mt. Fuji one day, thanks for sharing the great photos

Hi Bee Lee,
It is not that hard to hike Mount Fuji. The sunrise view is the best view of all.

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Comment by 38kia

2007-08-15 10:42:42

Ye, I love the malaysian flag photos up there.
Should show it to Malaysia Government, or post to like those patriotic photo contests in malaysia since Merdeka Day is closer now.

The flag up there is so contrast with the negaraku-ku, although both are patriotic meaning.

Hi 38kia,
Yup, we are planning to send our photos to some newspaper in Malaysia.

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