Travel With Phie

Like I stated in yesterday’s blog our goal was to start the hike at 3am. We arose at 2:30am as planned and were out the door a little after 2:50am. We dropped our luggage in the car, and were to the trailhead right around 3:05am. We were very proud of ourselves for actually getting there when we stated we would. 

We checked in at the information booth, got our wristbands/permits to hike and continued to the start of the trail. We started hiking up with our headlamps in the dark about 30 minutes later we started to see the beginning of the sunrise. As we continued to hike it was one of those things were we just keep looking out and being like, “OMG look at that!” Every corner, turn, or couple steps up were cooler and cooler. It was hard to believe we had actually arrived and were hiking. 

There were multiple aid stations on the way up, however, most were closed during our hike up as it was 3:30-4am when we started passing them. We took a couple photos & family selfies and then continued our way up. We were cruising up, but also making sure we took in the views around us. We ended up submitting just before 6AM which is crazy! The hike on the way up was just about 4.5 miles and 5,000 feet of elevation gain. It was a challenge, but man was it fun! 

Once we arrived at the top, we took our time enjoying the views especially of the crater. We took photos of our accomplishment and just chilled for a while. We then went to do the full loop of the crater, but that section was closed as it was too early in the season, but the views were still awesome! The boys played some Bruce Springsteen (“One Love” ofc) and we had a little dance party at the top. 

We then started to get a bit chilly and decided to make our way down. The way down had a rope across, but no signage so we were debating if it was closed or not. As we were standing there a random man goes, “it’s open” as he climbs under the rope, so we were like if a random man says it is, it must be. The way down was fun as you would take a step and the rocks would move you another couple inches. After awhile we realized that running it was actually a bit easier especially because there were ‘runaway truck ramps’ at the corner of every switchback. The other fun thing about the hike was that you took a different way up than you do down. We continued hiking and running down the mountain and reached the bottom around 8AM. 

We were expecting to be down around 5pm given everything we had read online, so were a bit confused and unsure of what to do for the rest of the day. A few ideas had arisen, but we decided to stay in town at the base of the mountain and find some things in the area to do. 

The first step of this was driving down the mountain and finding breakfast. We had loads of snacks, but nothin super substantial so were pretty hungry. Nick had found a place for pancakes which everyone agreed sounded amazing, so we made our way there. The drive down was a bit tight as Claire had since joined us, but we made due and arrived at Kodachi Cafe. When we walked in there was one women working and she said it would be 40 minutes. We agreed and split up into two groups to fit within the space. There was a super obnoxious group of boys at the only other table within the restaurant which was making all of us so annoyed. But whatcha gonna do lol. 

After about 15-20 minutes, we ordered our food and drinks I apparently ordered a dessert and everyone made fun of me, but man was it absolutely delicious so I didn’t even care. I also got a Matcha and it was one of the top ones of the trip for sure. Another 10 minutes later our food/drinks arrived. We were pleasantly surprised that it took less than 40 minutes as we were expecting the worse. While at breakfast we were all trying to come up with a plan for the day as we now had practically a full day to fill in a very small town. We decided that the girls were going to get massages, while the boys were going to grab beers at a USA bar for the 4th of July. 

We (Claire, Laura, Ashley, and I) all tried to find a place to get massages, but every place was book the rest of the day, so we pivoted and went to the park by the lake instead. It was extremely hot, so we quickly found a place to get ice cream inside. We sat, chatted, and hung out until the boys arrived. Once they got there, we decided on our next plan which was to try to check-in to the hotel and then go to the nearby amusement park – Fuji0-Q Highland.

We parked at the hotel, attempted to check-in which we were not allowed to, and headed to the amusement park. The Park seemed completely empty when looking in from the outside. We got a half day ticket as it was already 2pm and the park closed at 5pm. When we arrived we realize that the amusement park was actually quite famous. It had the 4th fastest roller coaster in the world as well as a roller coaster that had the Guinness world record for the Steepest roller coaster in 2011 – Takabisha (the record has since been beat). This coaster included a 141 feet free fall at 121 degrees. The fastest coaster was sadly closed for maintenance on the day we were there. 

We entered the park and every line was about 40-60 minutes long it was like Disney Land. The lines looked short, but did some twist and turns before you actually arrive to the enter the coasters. We started on one of the interactive game rides. We wore 3D googles and had to shoot down the people coming at us and man was it a workout. John got first, myself second, Nick 3rd, and Ashley 4th. 

The next ride was Zokkon. This was a very fast ride that looked a lot scarier than it was. It was very fun, but John did indeed get very motion sick (big sad). The last ride that we had time for was the Takabisha that only Nick and I had opted to ride. This was the one that had one steepest roller coaster in the world 14 years back. It was crazy!! The whole ride was honestly so freaky, but soo fun! I think it was the best of the three rides for sure. 

After the amusement park, we went back to the hotel to officially check-in before dinner. We checked-in, quickly showered, changed and headed to dinner. We had decided to go dumplings for dinner as Nick & John had walked pasted a place earlier that looked good. It was also one of the only places open past 5pm in town, which worked out very nicely for us.

When we arrived we were the only people in the restaurant and it stayed that way the entire night which was shocking cause the food was amazing and we got a beautiful view of Mt. Fuji. We ordered our first round of dumplings which was in total probably 60 dumplings and after that we probably ordered an additional 30. They were so good and we were all starving as it was our first meal since breakfast at 9am. After we had finished eating the two waitresses came over and simply just said, “you guys ate a lot.” We weren’t sure if that was a good or bad things, so we took it as a positive.

After dinner, we headed to grab a dessert at 7/11, walked around a little and then we headed back to the hotel to go to the Onsen. We felt like while in Japan we needed to experience it. The water was extremely warm, so I only lasted about 10 minutes before heading back up to the room to pack up and get ready for bed. Once we got back to the room, Claire and I chatted for a while before heading to bed. 

Cheers & Goodnight!