Armed with pointers from Dylan, I took three buses to the fifth station of the Subashiri trail to start my assent up Mount Fuji. The fifth station is at 6,562 feet above sea level and the summit of Mount Fuji is at 12,688 feet. I arrived at about 6pm on the last bus. Dylan recommended waiting as long as possible so that I wouldn't have to wait around on the top for too long for the sunrise. I got a bowl of ramen at the station but at about 7:30 they started closing the place down, so I decided I would set out and just take it really easy. I felt pretty safe going up alone after having been in Japan for nearly a month and getting a sense of it.
It was foggy, steamy and drizzling. I had about 15 feet visibility and was the only one on the trail in the pitch dark. Until the next station, pine trees tightly surrounded the trail. I felt okay at first but started feeling pretty freaked out being there alone. It was like a creepy scene from a Kurasawa film and I kept expecting to find a blind old witch or someone around the corner. My adrenalin kicked in and I ended up sprinting up the hill to the next station to catch up with other people and get about the tree line.
There were a handful of people of other people also hiking up, so after the sixth station we kept seeing each other. Above the tree line it was clear and I could see the stars and below all of the clouds covering the valley. There were lightening storms all over the place below that kept flashing through the clouds. The clear weather changed shortly after and a torrential rainstorm started a few hours later just as I was approaching the eighth station.
When I reached the eighth station, my pants and shoes were completely soaked. It was only midnight and it would only be another 2 hours to reach the top. I was starting to get cold so I decided to stay at one of the huts. I had heard that they were loud and crowded, pretty much a futon shared with a stranger with people coming in and out all night. It ended up being great. I had 3 futons and 4-5 down comforters to myself and had a chance to warm up for a few hours before my final assent.
I left the hut at 2:30am to start for the top. At the eighth station the Subashiri trail meets another trail from the other side - a more popular one - and suddenly becomes a crazy traffic jam. Between the mass of people and high altitude, people were moving at snail speed. There were huge tour groups being guided by leaders with bright yellow suits and flashing red lights. I was nervous I'd miss the sunrise luckily made it by 4:50am. It was amazing to be up there with all the people and in a place I never thought I would be!
I was initially relieved to begin the descent...until I hit the scree (small loose volcanic rock about the size of a walnut). The trail down went straight down, steep with loose rock the whole way. By the time I reached the bottom about 2 hours later, my legs were just like rubber. I felt like I could hardly use them without the flopping around! 
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