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We turned back and returned to the 5th station. Not sure where we made the wrong turn. May try to figure that out after a snack. One positive - we will make the last express bus back to Shinjuku and will be back at our hotel by 6 PM.
Sam was a real trooper. Once we realized that we had made a mistake that would cost us our chance to approach the summit, there were some tears of disappointment. But, then she said "we'll have to come back again so we can climb to the top." That's my girl!
We did find the correct trailhead at the other end of the parking lot. In hindsight, it's obvious. But, at the time, our nicely groomed and marked trail seemed like the main one. We did see about 7 people who made the same mistake as us.
I spoke to some guys who did climb today. They said that the trail was very rough after the 7th station. They stopped after 8. Sam admitted that she'd have to do some training in order to make it as she was pretty tired after only an hour.
In the end, we had a very nice mountain hike, with a picnic all by ourselves. The weather was much warmer and nicer than I expected. And, it looked like rain was coming soon by the time we left. If we had gone the right way as far as the 8th station, we would have probably got stuck in a downpour. So, we ended our day with a mixture of disappointment and happiness.
A beautiful mountain lies in the distance. Snow capped and immersed in clouds, Mt. Fuji lies innocently, creating a picturesque scene to any and all onlookers. Yet this mountain, belonging in a piece of art, shall prove to be evil. Making our start (the beginning of our mistakes) up the side, we thought we were on the right track. But we were conpletely on the wrong one. It's too painful to talk about, so I'll just let Dad fill you in. But I can say this: YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE LAST OF ME FUJI!!! I'LL BE BACK, AND WHEN I DO, I'LL GET YOU MT. FUJI!!!!!!
About 90 minutes into our hike, we started to think that we had gone the wrong way. The path, which had been well groomed and dotted with benches and signs (in Japanese) got very rough. And, we haven't seen any other hikers. We went down the rough path for a while, but have now turned back. We're going to explore one more route, but we may just turn and go all the way back as we have now wasted 2 hours on what looks like the wrong trail. With that much time gone, we don't have a chance to restart.
We're almost at the 5th station bus stop. The skies have cleared and the sun is poking through! And, the light rain has stopped, at least for now.
I'll do some mobile microblogging today while we climb Fuji-san.
We're on the express bus from Shinjuku to the Fuji 5th station where the climb will start. We probably won't make it to the top as the trail to the summit is closed due to excessive snow.
Today is the first day of the official climbing season. The bus is only about 20% full, and all but 2 are Westerners. It's ironic in this land of so many trains that the fastest way to the climbing station is by bus. But, this bus is direct - no transfers.
We'll have to return by a less direct route as we will finish after the last direct bus. Most people stay overnight to watch the sunrise, so there are few returners at the end of the day.
Next stop - Fuji!
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