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We set off at 11pm taking an hour long nap among the boulders near the 8th station (3250m) and it was cold... but not cold enough to stop me from sleeping! Reaching the summit at 4:45 we made our way to an area free of people to enjoy the rising sun. It was an incredibly clear morning with views all the way to Tokyo in the east and Hamamatsu in the west. The Izu Shoto islands were clearly visible as was the Izu Peninsula... it was stunning. I don't think I could have imagined better conditions.
To get back to the car we had to retrace our route back down the Fujinomiya side... even though it is the shortest route to the top the descent on this side is probably one of the most difficult because of it's steepness. We made it down in under 3 hours wobbly knees and all and already at 9:30am it was scorching hot. Considering the day I'd had (Friday morning 6am wake up followed by 5 hours of meetings and last minute prep. for the hike) I felt surprisingly good... Would I do it again? ...
Gotemba City with some torch lights in the foreground.
Slept on the cold cold ground not far from here... a sleeping bag would have been a fantastic idea!
Light starting to invade the horizon. View from the 9th station.
At the top waiting for the sun.
Still waiting
Sun hits the horizon
Almost there!
Yatta!
I caught it!
View of Numazu (if you look hard you can actually see my house!
)
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