Mount Fuji

Today’s tour, like yesterday, was on a giant tour bus. The difference was there were 58 other people on "our" bus. (Read yesterday’s blog for the joke here.) The good thing about being on a tour with other people is that, if you know us, we have "talk to me" written on our foreheads. We met  Sandy & Charlie from White Fish, Montana. They live in the only blue town in a red state...probably old hippies just like us.

Our tour guide on the bus was TK, explaining T as in Tokyo and K as in King. He said we could call him TK or Tokyo King😜. 

We’re on our way to The Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station, which lies at approximately the halfway point between Mountain's base to the summit of Mount Fuji. It is the most popular of the four 5th stations on Mount Fuji and the best developed and easiest to access by public transportation from Tokyo.
The road to the 5th station was opened in 1954, giving auto access to this station.
From here the bus climbed 1400 meters and the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees. This road is 29 kilometers long.

 

Mt. Fuji with cloud cover- our view today...

.. 

Mt. Fuji on a clear day...

Mount Fuji is 12,389 feet, the second highest peak of a volcanic island in Asia and the seventh highest peak of an island in the world. The last eruption was in 1707-1708. It is one of Japan’s three "holy" mountains.

It is thought that the first recorded ascent was in 663 by an anonymous monk. Since ancient times, the summit has been considered sacred. To climb to the summit was forbidden to women until the late 1860s.

Autumn is starting to arrive in the Park. 

From Mount Fuji we continued on to Mount Komagatake by way of Lake Ashi  for a possible distant view of Mount Fuji. Even though we were not able to physically see Mt. Fuji, we were able to "feel" the majesty of the Mountain. 

The boat ride on Lake Ashi, which took us to the lift up the mountain, was short with many nice views.

We saw beautiful panoramic views from the tram as we ascended Mount Komagatake.  

Once we returned to the base, we went to the Odawara station to take the bullet train back to Tokyo.

The Bullet Train - Wow! These trains go about 175 miles per hour. While waiting for our train, one passed the station, full speed, in a complete blur with a tornado sound attached. Again - Wow!

Once we boarded the train, although it was nighttime and could not see much out the window, the ride was unbelievably smooth and quiet for the incredible speed it was going.  Ahh, we do enjoy trains.

Back at Tokyo station by 6:30, we began our quest to find a snack for dinner and, of course, a small bottle of wine.

Tomorrow is a travel day - we’re off to Kyoto😄