Mt Fuji (off season)

I was kind of on the fence of whether or not to post my climb of Fuji. Any novice or greater skilled mountaineer would find the climb to be much more akin to a hard hike (which is a sentiment I also hold.) I can't help but just marvel at how huge it actually is. It's also been a while since someone's posted something with just such magnificent jut that I couldn't help myself.

The climb itself took 7 hours round trip, a bit slow but it was my 3rd day out of bed from COVID and day 1 I did a 10 mile hike to Mt Mitsutoge so give me a break alright. The easy descent trails were mostly closed off for maintenance so we had to retrace our steps up the scramble bits of the Yoshida trail all while getting to look at that pristine sandy volcanic gravel that was within arms reach but untouchable.

I was a bit sad I wasn't well enough to hit it while the huts were still open and the crowd shuffling up it's slopes. I'm mostly pretty glad when I don't see anyone else when I'm climbing but Fuji is such a cultural experience that I've heard it just brings a magical energy to the mountain that makes it unlike anywhere else. Still it was great fun and sometimes it's nice to take a break and do something easy that doesn't have a decent likelyhood of ending with loss of life and limb. I want to go back to bag it in the winter, but it'll be a little while before I see these shores again.