Climbing Mt. Fuji is no walk in the park

After talking the talk for a good few years me and an ex-colleague decided on a hike up Mt Fuji. I'd been in training in the months before up are 3000 metres but had pulled a leg muscle 10 days before so wasn't feeling to great. My colleague on the other had never climbed a mountain in his life, though he did go jogging for about 6kms quite regularly.
Still, you hear all the time of grannies clomping up there no problem so for us it seemed like a whole load of fuss..
Anyway, we got the morning bus from Shinjuku - we were lucky we went early as the bastard was stuck in traffic so it took 3 hrs+ instead of less than 2. We got to Fuji's 5th station where we had a hearty lunch of noodles and meat, took some photos of Fuji as it came and went through the mist, then wandered out through the throngs of tourists and gawpers and headed off to the start line.
We both took: full waterproofs, maybe about 5 layers, including sweater, t-shirts and long sleeved shirts. Also combat style trousers with lots of pockets, and walking boots with very thick socks. In our bags we had lots of biscuits and energy bars, and maybe 3-4 half-litre bottles of Pocari sweat, a sort of isotonic energy drink. And cameras, and hats, and I took walking sticks whereas my colleague bought one of those huge long wooden Gandalf the Wizzard walking poles, which he was able to get stamped at each stage of the climb. And finally, torches that can be worn around your waist or head, painkillers for headaches, plasters for blisters. Finally a bit of courage and a positive outlook. Oh, shit, and sun cream for coming back down.
We had planned to set off at 2 but the bus ruined that so it was more like 3 pm when we started.
Our plan was to hike from the 5th stage to the 8th, stay in a hut - reserved beforehand - then wake up at 2am then walk to the summit for the sunrise. It did not go to plan but we bloody did it anyway.
It was mid September so it was less crowded, colder and there were less places open on the climb.
OK, 5th stage to the 6th really is a walk in the park. From Kawaguchiko you can see the bare mountain - but the walk round to the 6th means that the zigzag to the summit with all the ugly huts on the way comes into view. Only then does the scale of this mountain give you a lump in the throat. Still, we were in fine spirits, we took loads of photos and headed on.
The 6th to the 7th is more uphill though it's plain sailing, not slippy or treacherous, just monotonous. By the 7th you feel you've done something and start to think, shit, I can really do this.
The 7th is where the real climb starts - instantly there are big volcanic rocks to climb over and you need to take it slowly and take lots of breaks. Also, the last hour of this was in the dark so we had to put on our headlight torches which strap around, well, your head. Brilliant things - totally essential.
Where we were staying was at the bottom of the 8th stage so when we arrived there at 8pm we were a bit knackered, but rather happy that we'd done well. I had a nagging headache by the middle of the 7th though it wasn't major - I'd had altitude sickness a little a month previously in the Japan alps so thought it was OK.
The hut we stayed in ended up being packed and after dinner of curry rice when the lights went out the snorers started. I've never liked sleeping in big groups - I don't like the smells and the noise. This was worse as the worst snorers were next to us. I woke up about midnight feeling sick and ill, like I was dying to vomit. From about 1:30 people started getting up and heading to the summit - I on the other hand just felt shit so eventually had to go in to the toilets and induce vomiting around 3am. I told Darrel to give me an hour to feel better and drank some cocoa. Miraculously I did indeed start feeling better, and so we were out of there, me still a bit fragile, at about 4am. We were somewhere between the 8th and 9th stage - at the Fujisan hotel - when the sun came up, beautifully it has to be said = we were very lucky with the weather - so we had more cocoa and joined the throng of people welcoming the day.
We then trudged slowly for another 2 hrs 15 to the summit which felt like a long time coming. The last part was tiring as energy was low, but it was exhilerating to keep stopping and looking round at the amazing view of being above the clouds, and for me it felt great as I wasn't vomited any longer and my head had calmed down. To be honest I started to feel brilliant with the sense of achievement at coming at all + not having let my friend down.
We reached the summit at about 8am, and to be honest, seeing the sunset from slightly lower down was great as we missed the stupid rush to the summit and the queues had already gone back down. Also, it had rained during the night and we missed it.
We then walked to the crater seeing as most things like shops and post office were closed. The crater was misty but it was bizarre to look inside it when it started raining quite heavily. We had our waterproofs on already so we were fine. We stood around, made a phone call to wives and girlfriends then started the descent.
This was - barring the vomiting - was the worst part - well, back down to the 8th stage wasn't so bad - we stopped there again for sandwiches and drinks, bit it was from there back to the 6th that was the worst - an interminable zigzag across this barren landscape, over gravel and stones. Boredom got to us and our feet hurt like hell from being pushed up to the ends of our shoes. I even walked down backwards for part of the way.
When we reached the 6th we felt relieved as the last part is mostly on the flat and it gave our legs a break. Darrel gave up near the end, sitting on a log and refusing to move until he was forced to by the need for a piss back at the 5th and my desperate desire to have an ice cream.
We went up in about 7 hrs, down in 4.5, with many stops for breathers and photos. Between us we probably took 300 shots, some of D's skies were amazing.
We hung around, chatted to some people we'd talked to on the way up, then got the bus back to Tokyo. I then got a taxi home as I couldn't walk very well. Ten minutes later I was in the shower then on the sofa, exhausted but sort of delirious.
The next day was OK as I spent it mostly on the sofa. The day after was hellish as I had a busy day at work - particularly painful was going up and down stairs. The day after wasn't so bad, and by the 5th day I was more or less back to normal. Weeks later we both found it hilarious to think that we actually did it, and I still do.

On the way down we talked a lot about never doing it again - especially the monotonous part between the 8th and the 6th. Now, a month later, I have changed my tune - I definitely WANT to do it again, though maybe from the opposite side, and maybe followed by a Japanese hot spring bath. What I wouldn't recommend is getting up in the middle of the night and following the queue to the top for the sunrise - that must be crap. Wait and see it from slightly lower - it's still an amazing sight. You also get more rest that way.

I am already looking forward to doing it, maybe in early July when the huts open for the new season. One person I know here is a hiking fanatic and has climbed it about 10 times - 4 times in one summer.... I will settle for 3 and call it a day.