On our second day in the Fuji area, we were excited to climb Mount Mitsutoge. We took a 9am bus to the Kawaguchi Post Office, and found the trail head just across the street and up a residential road. It started at a small shrine and wound up through the cedar forest to a small glamping hotel, where we stopped for iced coffee and soft drinks at patio tables under wide umbrellas with awesome views of Mount Fuji.
After half an hour of gazing at Fuji and the glittering waters of Lake Kawaguchiko, we continued on the trail to find a gorgeous waterfall, Haha-no-Shirataki, where we paused for a while (and lots of photos). The waterfall is tall and picturesque, with water flowing over large boulders at the base, and continuing on in a river down the mountain. Stairs on the left took us up over the falls and back on the trail.
The forest is like a Studio Ghibli dream, with sunlight dappling through the trees onto the path, the air scented with cedar, and the sound of the wind in the tops of the trees. The ground is covered in moss in many places, and the trees combine both tall red-trunked cedar and other, deciduous trees, with small, elegant leaves. There are apparently bears and wild boar in these forests, but the only wildlife we saw were small lizards, armoured beetles, feeding snakes, and large flying birds that chirped as we passed.
The hike was gruelling. Mount Mitsutoge is no joke. It’s 1,785 metres high and we climbed all of it over tree roots and through small gullies, up steps in some places, and scrambling over boulders in others. I thanked my hiking shoes at every step. The trail is clearly marked with red, blue, or yellow ribbons tied to tree branches, or with little wooden signs in Japanese pointing the way. Every now and then we saw a sign in English, just indicating the direction and “Mount Mitsutoge”, which was super helpful. Kevin also kept an eye on our progress using Google Maps and Apple Maps, to make sure we didn’t get lost.
Near the peak, there’s a small rest hut, that we bypassed, heading for the next rest stop instead, which included a vending machine, picnic tables, and a washroom. After that we walked up interminable (really, just 100 to 150) steps to the peak (but at the end of several hours of climbing, even 100 steps seem impossible!).
We were super happy to reach the peak! We took some congratulatory photos, admired Fuji in all her glory from this high vantage point, and rested for a few minutes before making our way back down to the second rest stop. There we ate a packed lunch and stocked up on water bottles and energy drinks from the (very expensive) vending machine, said konichiwa to some rock climbers who arrived for a rest, and then started our descent.
The way down was easier on our legs, but harder on our toes! We loved spotting familiar markers of our ascent, small boulders we’d scrambled over, trail markers we’d spied, and even old left over climbing gear we’d seen on our way up. They not only reminded us of our journey, but kept us certain we were on the right trail.
After about two hours, we found ourselves back at the trailhead, where we could use the public bathroom, buy more cold water from a vending machine, and wait a few minutes for the bus back to our hotel.
We were so tired from our adventure, we could only muster the energy to walk to the neighbourhood Lawson’s for some convenience store food for dinner. It was delicious.
Then, L and I headed back to the hotel onsen for a shower and a soak in the natural hot spring bath, before getting back to the hotel room and ready for bed. I only managed a few pages of my book, before I fell asleep, my feet (and toes!) finally happy to rest for the night.
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