It was another day of some peculiar clouds, Mount Fuji really does cause the weather around Kawaguchiko to be so interesting. Instead of heading up the mountain we went for a walk along the lake shore, and enjoyed the fresh morning. We also got to see the local cats playing along the canals, they are quite shy and won’t let people get close, but they are lovely to watch.
After getting back to the house and stocking up we decided to drive up to Tenka Chaya to see what the weather was like, it was getting misty, and the clouds were getting thicker above Fuji. As the tunnel and tea house were closed we were, once again, the only people up there so it was time to fly the drone.
On our way we stopped off at the Fuijsan World Hertiage Center, which has had such a revamp since the last time I visited in 2010 (unsurprisingly). There was a museum aspect of the center which explored the history of Mount Fuji, both in terms of religion and geology, and there was an enormous Mount Fuji in the middle of the building. On your way out there is a great gift shop where we got a lot of bits and bobs for family back home.
We drove back to Naka no Chaya and parked there to make our climb attempt, it wasn’t snowing yet, but we got out thermals and waterproofs on, and donned our crampons as the path was covered in old ice and snow. There are a few key spots on the hike up from here, including stations 1-4 which most climbers do not see. Before we got to those historic spots we can across an abandoned area, with a tumble down building and abandoned little truck.
At this point it started to snow, and snow quick heavily! It was lovely walking on the crunchy ice with the snow falling, and made it a more enjoyable hike that it might be. For those that have climbed Fuji you will know, the incline is quite a slog, and there are no switch backs on this route so it is straight up!
We made it up to the torii I really wanted to see, which looked beautiful in the snow, before we reached the half-fallen-down remains on the old first station. It was so interesting to see this part of Mount Fuji history, especially the old metal sign out the front.
By this point the snow was heavy, and looking back on our route our footprints were already covered. From where we parked to the 1st station we had already travelled 5km and gained 460m in elevation, as the snow was heavy and we didn’t know if it was snowing by the car we made the decision to turn around and go back down. I would have loved to get all the way to the 5th station, but safety always comes first.
Thankfully it was drizzling at the car and we hadn’t got stuck, and were able to make it back. As we were getting our boots off someone arrived to start their hike, at 3:30pm! We wished him luck and warned about the snow, he was only aiming for the 1st station.
The rain continued all evening, and we crossed our fingers when we went to bed for a winter wonderland when we awoke.
My Nihon 