A Non-Traditional Hike Up Mount Fuji

Above, a bullet train view of Mount Fuji. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I am not a hiker or mountain climber, nor do I play one on television. But an article in Japan Today about three guys who hiked Mount Fuji caught my attention.

Many people hike Mount Fuji annually to catch the morning sunrise from the mountain's summit. They undertake their hikes from one of the Fifth Stations. But these guys hiked it in a non-traditional manner.

The article begins with:

TOKYO —I had climbed to the top of Mt Fuji twice before, but always from the 5th Station around 2300 meters in elevation like everyone else, not from the ocean. When my fitness-nut friend Andy came to visit Japan, for some reason that still escapes me, I thought it was the perfect time to up the ante. Instead of hiking from the 5th Station, we decided we couldn’t be happy climbing Fuji unless we hiked every one of its 3,776 meters. Of course, this meant our start line had to be at an altitude of zero meters, and zero meters meant the ocean. Together, Andy, our friend Axel, and myself Axel planned to start at Taganoura beach, the closest point of ocean to Mt.Fuji.

After reading the article, did it make me develop the desire to hike Mount Fuji? No.

Still, it was an interesting read.

To read more, go here.