One of the things I want to do before I die is touch the clouds... last saturday, July 29th, I did. Where else but up in the trails of the monster Mt. Fuji, I always liked climbing/hiking what have you.. I used to climb a lot when I was younger and less wiser, but nothing prepared me for what this famous volcano had in store for us.

We started at the 5th station, the farthest the bus can take us, that's where the gate is too, we got there at around 6:00 am and started walking to a seemingly easy trail, Chris and I were still talking and laughing mimicking Frodo and Sam in LOTR since we felt like hobbits with our wooden sticks we got from the gate so we went on.. after about an hour we reached the 6th station, we were now at 2,500 meters above sea level, I thought to myself "it's not that hard after all.." oh yeah... haha! wait till we started heading off the the 7th station, it was an endless, steep zig zag trail of loose volcanic rocks that made the climb a lot harder, I was panting and sweating like a pig, the rubbery taste of the water from my camelback didn't help quinch my thirst at all, good thing Chris spared me his water..

After almost an hour of that torture, we got to the 7th station tired as hell, but we weren't even half way yet.. argh! we rested for a bit, took pictures of the most amazing view I've ever seen in my life... then we moved on with our challenge, the trail to the 8th station was even worse, at almost 3,000 meters ASL, the air was getting thin and cold, and I swear the trail looked like the one Frodo and Sam took going to Mordor.. ok, a little bit easier but it was just rocks and rocks and more steep rocks reaching to the top of the mountain that never seemed to end... I didn't feel like stopping, Chris and I swore we'll try to make it to the summit.

3,350 meters ASL, 8th station. our walking sticks were getting crowded with the stamps we got at every station and huts we stopped by for a breath or two, that's how you show off, you show your sticks, the more stamps you have on them, the higher you climbed, two more stations, 9 and 10, the summit! this time we stopped longer, when you reach the 8th station, you can touch the clouds, it just dances around you like cotton candy, it feels like a fog but a bit heavier, cooler... I never thought I'll be able to do that.... wow....

2 more stations... after a much deserved longer rest, we headed to the 9th station, that's when it started raining, we grabbed our raincoats and kept heading for the summit, it was really hot when we started that the rain came as a surprise, this time you can barely see where you're going because of the fog and the rain... the trail got even steeper, the soil even softer making us slow down, we struggled for a few more minutes trying to make one more step to the top until I couldn't feel my fingers from the cold, the rain started to hurt my face, I moved on anyway, Chris was ahead of me and looked back to grab my hand and saw the painful look on my face and asked me if I still want to pursue reaching the summit, I said "we have to!, we're almost there..!" "that't the spirit hun!" he said smiling... 

A few more hard steps and I found him staring at me with a worried look, he gently said "let's go down..., you're tired.." at that point I was exhausted and freezing so we started descending holding each other's hand of fear of sliding to the ground faster than necessary hehe... I started feeling nauseated, we had to stop at every bend so I can take a breath and keep myself from throwing up, after 4 long hours of downhill climb, we reached the 5th station, tired, sore,hungry,damp from the rain... we stopped at the very first resto we saw and tried to eat, I didn't finish my food, I ran to the nearest rest room and threw up like there was no tomorrow... we want back to the bus where I passed out for an hour and the first thing I saw when I woke up was Chris' face.. saying "you want something to drink Hun..?"  that was all I needed after that long, hot, cold, freezing,hard as hell climb.

It's always worth it, when you have someone to share it with

We're going back next year.