"One who never climbs Mount Fuji is a fool, and one who climbs twice is twice the fool..."

Mount Fuji is the second largest mountain in Japan with an elevation of over 12,000 feet. After a crazy trip to mainland on via a SPACE-A C-130, Gina and I headed up the Kawaguchiko Trail to do a night-climb to the top on August 14th.

We started around 10 pm, which was a little later than we had hoped, but to be expected during the ever-busy Obon week. The purpose of doing a night-climb was to see the sunrise from the top of the mountain around 4:45 am.

Gina's body hit a wall around the 8th station. After being tested at the First Aid Station, her oxygen levels were really low and the volunteer doctors recommended she head back down the mountain. Since we had previously discussed what would happen in the event one of us was injured or sick, Gina allowed me to continue, guilt-free to the top, while she was a trooper and headed down the descending trail.

The sunrise was beautiful! The view from that point forward was simply heavenly.

Except for when you look up and you still have a L O N G way to go before hitting the summit!!

A Sengen shrine, dedicated to Princess Konohanasakuya, the Shinto deity of Mount Fuji, sat at the top of the mountain. Another Sengen shrine sits at the foot of Mount Fuji. Some hikers chose to leave the bells from their walking sticks on the torii poles, and other chose to slip coins in between pieces of split wood. I stuck two lucky 5-yen pieces in the wood for mine and Gina's sake!

After getting the summit stamp burned into the wood from my walking stick and taking pictures of the volcano crater and collecting "samples" of the dirt for Jared's collection, I headed back down. But not before making a stop at the 9th station bathroom. Yes, I paid nearly $2.00 for the privilege of urinating in a hole, and squirting my waste down it with a water gun.

The descent took me 2 hours and 49 minutes, but if I could go back, I would do a more leisurely pace on the way down... I was mostly hauling myself down as fast as I could go in order to ensure Gina was alive and well.

The little ants below are people on the trail ahead of me!

I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for the beautiful things He has created for us to explore and enjoy here on Earth!