Fuji

Its now 4:45. I am going up the mountain at a grandmother`s pace. The tour group stops at the next 8th station and bids me farewell.. I am not happy to continue on my own, but I have no choice. Here is the view looking down from this 8th station (about 3,200 meters.) The sun is starting to go down and the air is getting colder! I am looking forward to this "hotel" that I found on the internet. Funny thing was their site did not have any pictures. I will find out why soon.

Its now 5:00 and I have reached the middle 8th station at 3,250 meters. I am cold and hungry and looking forward to the end of the journey for the day at my "hotel". Its getting more and more difficult to climb without getting winded. I am stopping more on the path up. I ask the people here how long to get to my hotel. They tell me another hour. I want to jump from the ledge after hearing that!

I have now used up on of my cans of Oxygen. I all of a sudden felt like I was going to pass out. That was a good sign that I was getting altitude sickness. So it was time for a break and a hit of Oxygen, which did help get me going again. This picture was taken after I had my Oxygen fix. I was not smiling before that!!

Its now 5:40 and I made it to my hotel at 3,400 meters!!! I could not have been any more happy! The last steps up to this hotel were the hardest ones of the journey. I do not think I could have continued on after this hotel, it was a good idea to stay here for a few hours before sunrise. It was hard to believe that the word "hotel" was used to decribe my lodging for the night. No running water, two outhouse style restrooms outside, and a very small narrow bed to sleep in. If I had seen this in the beginning of my climb, I would have never wanted to stay the night! But now at this point, this was more of a Ritz Carlton Hotel than a Mount Fuji Hotel. It was perfect!

Here is a shot of the bed arrangement in the hotel. More like a camping trip style or military setup. But after the climb, it did not matter since I could have slept on the side of the mountain at this point. After dropping my gear off at my little narrow bed, I went down to the "lodge" area to talk with other climbers and see if they were as beat up as I was.