Home Sweet Home

I made it home yesterday at about 4pm. 18 hours of travel later and I finally got to see my two pups and the hubbie. It was so great to see them! The girls are as cute as ever and my husband is my favorite of all time! He got me an anniversary present (I didn't get him anything, I feel like such a schmuck) and it was a cute little clutch Coach purse. Erin helped Charlie pick it out, but I think he made the final decision. Mostly, he researched and found out that the 3rd anniversary is represented by leather, so he thought a purse would be appropriate. It was very, very sweet of him :)

I guess I could say more about my climb to Mount Fuji, but it's slowly becoming just a memory. I can say that the climb started out with the group of us 10 as one pack and as expected we sort-of all split into separate groups from there. Todd, Steve and I were in a team named the "Strawberry Seahorses", after Steve's fantasy football team. I was Seahorse Two. We had "Seahorse Status Checks", "Seahorse Down" and "Breaker Breaker" times (for when we needed a break). It rained on and off throughout a good portion of the night, but never really lasted all that long or rained all that hard. When we reached the 7th station, we had our photo op and then I vomited. Love it!! We kept in contact with the other climbers in our group via walkie-talkies and I can honestly say it was maybe the best decision we made all climb.

After the 7th station the climb got much more technical than anyone ever let on that it would. We used our gloves extensively to literally pull ourselves up this mountain. It wasn't "Oh, I'll use my hand to balance myself or just push a little here," it was "Holy crap, I need to grab onto this rock and use all my might to heave my heavy body and backpack over this next hump."...and still use my walking stick to balance myself. Jinkies people! I threw up 3 more times before I had to stop for the night at the Original 8th. The trail was very full with people, but for some reason I expected it to be like getting into a crowded metro car, which it wasn't, so the crowd didn't bother me all that much. It did slow my progress, but considering my bouts of altitude sickness, I didn't mind taking it easy.

Steve and I stayed in one of many little huts with rows of giant bunks (double-decker) where people could rent a a slot (think sardines crammed next to each other) to sleep for a few hours or a night. It cost 3000 yen or ~$30 for one person. Since we were both sick, we stopped until sunrise and slept almost 3 hours. Todd continued on to the summit of the mountain to meet the5 other people who were already there or on their way. At sunrise a voice came on over a loudspeaker system and said (in japanese) what we assumed to be "It's sunrise, get up!" Steve and I rolled out of bed, I was feeling much better - he was not, and watched the sun peek out through the clouds. It was absolutely breathtaking to be above a velvety sheet of clouds watching the sun slowly climb through each next layer of white.

After a brief moment of trying to convince myself to climb to the next summit 2 hours away, Steve and I ended up staying put and waited for the troupe to climb down from the summit. We met the rest and started our climb down the mountain. It was about 6 miles to the bottom. 6 miles of a very steep grade of lava rock switchbacks. My walking stick was invaluable for the way down - holy moly! It was sprinkling and the ponchos went on. It was sunny and the layers came off. Clouds rolled over and cooled us and then the sunshine warmed us right back up. It was a long trek down, but we finally made it to the 5th station where we started.

I was exhausted and split between being disappointed about not making it to the top and proud about how far I did make it while feeling so crappy. In the end, I sided with proud. I am also so proud of the other people I climbed with - those who made it to the top and those who did not. I think we did a spectacular thing!!

Likely I will never try to climb Mount Fuji again, but if I do I will certainly take the time to stay on the mountain overnight and then finish the climb the next day. That should help me take care of the ol' altitude sickness.

Two days later, I must say that I am not really sore at all. I worked my buns off to climb where I did and I am pleased that I am not feeling it very much today. Yippee!

That is all from here for now. I plan on posting some pictures soon when I get them uploaded (I'm still waiting on pix from friends) - so stay tuned!

ps: Word on the street is that Todd said I was a "quiet puker" - apparently he didn't even know I threw up 3 times out of 4. Hellz bellz baby - that's pretty pimp. I can 100% guarantee I tossed my cookies 4 times. What a talent...