If You Can Get There...Please try.

This is a posting of the occurences of the past two weeks. What I really need to do is update just after I have a big excursion, or something close of that nature. I have been busy. Sometimes annoyingly so. You see, I am a person who alwyas wants more than I have. My date of September 10th for me moving into my apt/dorm room here in Tokyo was not coming fast enough, and I really just needed to settle down, and save as much cash as possible. Without a JR Pass or some other way of cutting down on travel expenses, Japan can be expenisive. Especially when you want to go far and wide. But as I had some time before the 10th I decided to two two fairly big treks:

Number 1 - The Izu Hanto

The Izu Peninsula which comes West Southwest of Tokyo is a goal which I had wanted to experience for quite some time. I wanted to hike the entire coastline. I had spent over 6 weeks hiking Shikoku in May/June that I thought "Piece of cake!" I couldn`t have been more wrong. Not to say that I didn`t have an amazing time there, but it was the hiking that essentially never materialized. The Izu Peninsula is a mega getaway for Tokyoites who don`t want to, or can`t afford to travel very far to get their swimming and beaching. Izu has tonnes of beaches and little nooks and crannies where you can while away the hours baking in the sun, or just lazying about enjoying the people and natural beauty of the area. I had stayed deep into the day in Tokyo at my friend Mariko`s place, and after a couple of really intense thunder storms, the sun came out and I took the Tokaido Line train into the city of Atami where I was to stay the night. Atami and Mishima are two cities which start and end the line of traveling the Izu coast. My original plan was to hike from Atami to Mishima in about ten days when I would have to meet my friend Josiah in Fuji-Yoshida.

I got into Atami around 8pm or so, and attempted to figure out where to sleep. As many of you know I have been rogue sleeping around Japan in order to save money on hotels, hostels and the like. In total of 4 months and 1 week I have only paid for accomodation 5 times. A not so easy feat let me tell you but rewarding nevertheless. I have saved a lot of money so I never minded the mosquitoes as much, or the slugs. Atami was cold. Fall weather doesn`t really hit here until October, but the warm summer nights begin to drop off and are erratic at best. The days are still 75 -80 degrees but the days can be as low as 65. Chilly and windy. I decided to walk just to the edge of the city in order to get my bearings on how to follow the coastline. After a few hours I did just that and was ready to get a little sleep since my number one rule is never to walk alone at night. I slept near the station in a few places. It was a little cold but I managed. The night was fairly uneventful except for my first ever run in with the Japanese Police.

I broke my main rule of rogue camping. Never, ever sleep near a police box. As a foreigner you stand out, therefore if the cops see a foreigner sleeping they will tend to ask a few questions. I was woken up by the sound of a male voice. Two police officers were looking down at me. Smiling. I have heard stories from foreigners who tell of the police being very serious and tough on foreigners. Not so in my case. For whatever reason, whether it was because I was groggy or whatnot, my Japanese got exponentially better. I understood everything the officer said, and I replied with the best Japanese I could muster. They asked me why I was there. I told them that it was because I missed my last train into Mishima. They also asked where I was coming from. Tokyo, was the reply. I only had to do a little lying. They asked for my passport which I obligingly gave them. Looking it over the older officer and I made small talk while his partner checked the essentials, jotting down a few notes. A third officer joined in. I told them I was walking the Izu Peninsula. They laughed good naturedly and said it was cool for me to sleep where I was. Then they walked away. No worries. I remember putting away my passport and going right back to sleep.

I began my hike in the early morning, around 7am. I noticed that there was a path that followed the highway down the coastline, riding the sea. This was what I had wanted for a long time. The views were spectacular, exciting and hot. I seem to be drawn to the ocean. I always felt relaxed and safe near the water. I noticed this trait walking Shikoku. It was only near the ocean that I was really secure. This is end of August so the heat was living up to its part of the bargain. I had to put on my self made turban, out of a long sleeve shirt, to protect my head. I have never been one for proper footwear. And as the temperature got warmer, the asphalt got hotter. This equals blisters galore. Here was the first signifier of the hike ending before it even started. As I have noted before I was a little tired of wandering and my body and mind screamed for a little bit of security in my travels. After about 17 km I got to my first (and only) stop, the city of Ito.

Ito is a fairly tiny city down the coast of the Izu Peninsula, noted for its fishing and really pretty coastal scenery. Here was to be my first stop, to recharge and to sleep. My feet were in agony. The shoes (my flat Fred Perry`s) the weather, and my all around tired attitude made me stay in Ito for two days. I decided that it would be in my best interest to take the train into Shimoda at the end of the train line therefore only allowing me to see half of the coast, before returning to Tokyo to catch a football match. I don`t regret my decision as it was a decision made with my body and mind in interest. I have pics which I will share when I can get them uploaded. During my stay in the Izu I witnessed some amazing fireworks displays. Hanabi is the name of the period of fireworks in Japan during the end of summer, usually most of August. I even witnessed a fire works display from Ito, on the Izu Peninsula all the way over the water about 100-150 km away at the Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture. Tiny fireworks. It was pretty amazing.

Number 2 - Mount Fuji

I don`t know whether anybody I know has contemplated climbing this mountain. Please do so with caution, and a steady mind. I met up with Josiah, the dude I had stayed with in Busan, South Korea. He was beginning his own travels after living and working in SK for just over a year. He is starting from Japan towards the West, including China and Mongolia. He enjoys climbing the hightest peaks around the world. So this was an important climb for him. For myself it was a goal to climb this sacred peak. One of four holy mountains in Japan, Fuji is a place where you really need to be mentally prepared, not to mention physically as well. I was excited. Really, really excited and doing the trek with someone else was an added bonus. I don`t think I could have had the same experience or the help without Josiah being there for me. We started from the base of the mountain, wanting to climb from the very bottom. There are other trails to the summit but this one was the oldest with the most history. The Yoshidaguchi trail starts at Fujiyoshida city near the mountain. You climb through the forest, at times following a paved road. Josiah and I did get a little sidetracked which cost us some time but it was fun to walk deep into the forest, the wrong way.

After getting back on the path we moved on, meeting several other climbers along the way. A quiet lone Japanese climber; two young guys 19 and 20 years old; two French climbers (one guy who only wanted to speak in Japanese, a little bit condescendingly) We got caught with a little rain but nothing too hard. It was cold but nothing we couldn`t handle coming from Toronto and Albany. The mountain is separated into stations. Usually 1 - 10, with 10 being the summit. Little did I know that the 7th station is actually several 7 stations; as well as 8 having three sub stations. A confusion which added to the difficutlies for myself later on. We would end up resting in an abandoned rest area on the old path before it got to the 5th station where all of the paths lead. Many of the rest areas are closed at this time of the year as the climbing season officially ended on August 27th. But this didn`t look like the case when we re-entered the 5th station after our climbe. The place was jammed with people either going to climb or just finishing. The view from the 5th station at around 1700 m was amazing. We got real lucky with the weather since only a few nights earlier there was a lot of rain and wind. The moon was 95% full and illuminated our path. It was eerie and beautiful.

After the 5th station the tree line ends and the rest is rock. Like the surface of a charred, scarred planet. The wind kinda picked up but it never really got cold until the middle 7 stations. The climb was easy and direct until the 7th station`s. I haven`t had the time or real inclination to keep so much in shape but I`m not completely out of it, yet I didn`t keep in mind the altitude. I hit the wall at the middle 7th. It was amazing to see so many people with their head lamps climbing in lines up this mountain. It was amazing. Many were decked out in the most fashionable climbing attire. But this mountain is not super difficult, it is a gradual climb up, with some stiff peaks here and there. But it was at the so-called "real" 8th station that I wanted to really give it up.

I was a moving concrete slab. I had never felt so horrible in all my life. I could barely move. Josiah had to carry my bag, once up to the sub 7th station and another time so that i could get to the summit. By the 8th station I had decided that the sunrise would be just as beautiful here as it would be at the summit. I have pictures, as you will see. I ended up talking to this priest from Hamilton. It was nice to meet a fellow Canadian. As the sun rose and I enjoyed it I fell asleep in a bathroom stall for about twenty minutes. It was the only place heated and you aren`t allowed to rest unless you pay for accomodation, which is super expensive. Plus, you are cold and exhausted. And I was that...completely exhausted. When the sun was high enough I walked out onto the platform of the 8th station. I looked up and saw the top. SO CLOSE! Josiah was already at the top. What I had learned from walking Shikoku was that I always talked about giving up, but I never ever did. Ever. So i got some balls and made it to the summit. I would have to stop every twenty to thirty steps to rest. Josiah came down and saw me, told me he would take my bag back to the 8th station and wait for me there. I obliged and finally made the summit. Got to the highest torii gate on the top next to the crater, and laughed. I did it. Stupid fucking mountain! I did it! I was so exhausted.

After a nap on the rocks, Josiah and I climbed down the rest of the moutain. I was on 2 hours sleep in about 26 hours. One of the reasons i hit the wall so early i think. I had plenty to eat and drink, even buying some so-so expensive cookies at one of the 7 stations. Never had food tasted so good as at 3200m. The whole mountain is just over 3700 m. There is a different path to the bottom. I was in a pissed off mood. Tired and nauseous. Josiah thought we could hitchike from the 5th station. And we did. A nice man took us down to the bottom, even buying us lunch. We had an amazing bath and then got on a bus back into Tokyo. I am completely and utterly satisfied. I have never felt more satisfied in my whole life. So amazing. It was unreal. Any wise thoughts? Never say "aw, fuck it." Always try and finish what you start I guess. I got to see the mountain from town and it looked so majestic that I knew why it`s such an iconic piece of ground. Amazing.