After the cloudy day yesterday the weather report said the morning would be cloudy too, but when I woke up the sky was completely clear, and Mount Fuji was covered in snow! I was so happy!!! I practically ran to the lake with my camera and tripod as I didn’t want to miss it.

It was such a beautiful morning, there were a few other people at the lake staring in awe. It was the most perfect morning, the lake was so still and the sun hit Fuji and stained the snow pink.

We knew we needed to pack and leave our accommodation by 10am, but it was still before 7am so we quickly de-iced the car and drove up to Tenka Chaya, which was the best decision. Luckily, as our car didn’t have 4-wheel drive, there wasn’t much snow on the roads, but the trees and forests got a light dusting as we reached a higher elevation.

We were, as usual, the only people there at the spot, so after taking several (many) photos I put the drone up to look around the area. The morning sun had already touched the mountains facing east and the snow was quickly melting.

But the west-facing sides of the mountains were still looking beautiful, and I got some great shots of the winding road as it climbs the mountainside. As I was filming over the roads I saw a Japanese-style campervan heading up the road, and as I didn’t want to be a nuisance I landed the drone and went back to taking photos on my DSLR.

The campervan I’d seen from the drone wasn’t the only one heading up, a whole group of retired men were on their way with some absolutely enormous cameras! They all seemed to be firm friends and spread out along the roadside with their tripods and started shooting as well.

I managed to get the shots I had wanted the whole trip, of Mount Fuji with a thick layer of snow. I’d been disappointed so far, due to a warm autumn the previous year (thanks to climate change) Mount Fuji never got the usual snow cap that she is so famous for. Thank you to Fuji for making our last morning there so special!

We knew we had to descend the mountain and get packed, so begrudgingly we went back to our accommodation, warmed up, packed our, now much heavier, suitcases, and made our way back to Tokyo. We managed to return the car with no trouble and spent the evening with a friend, which was a lovely end to such a spectacular day.