Mt Fuji 富士山

So I’ve lived in Japan a total of 20 months and decided it was about time I climb Mt Fuji. A few of my Japanese friends hadn’t climbed it either and agreed to go with me. We ran out of time over the summer and ended up going the last official weekend it is open in August. I will warn anyone, that the crowds are ridiculous, so be prepared for waiting in line with the masses, just to get a shot at the summit.

We arrived shortly after midnight 3.2 kilometers below the 5th stage parking. 5th stage was completely full, thus we had to park and hike the extra 2 miles just to get to the trailhead. We chose the Fujinomiya route, as we’ve heard its good for beginners on the mountain. The trailhead guide warned we couldn’t move at our own pace due to the crowds,  so he highly doubted we’d make summit by sunrise. This wasn’t the best news, but we’d traveled 5 hours in a car, and we weren’t about to turn around.

The moon was almost full and cast a beautiful blue light over the mountain, making the climb breathtaking, and reminding me how much I love getting outdoors. The zigzag lines of headlights could be seen almost all the way the 8th station. I was tired and worn out from a busy day before, but the cool air kept me motivated to keep moving to stay warm. Fuji has it’s own weather system, like most big mountains, so as my family was sleeping hours away in 70 degree weather, I was close to 10,000 feet in 40 degree weather.

At the 7th stage, one of my friends had gotten a severe headache and was out of breath. His girlfriend decided she would stay back with him and try and rest. I volunteered to stay as well, but they both ushered me on to attempt the summit. I downed some water and high carb energy bars, and kept going. The city lights lay far below, blanketing the valley in a warm glow.

At the 9.5 stage hut, the summit was in sight, and dawn was coming soon so I quickened my pace. I rounded the bend to see the last kilometer to the top crowded with people the entire way up. The sun started coming up so I took a few shots with my Nikon of the amazing blues and pinks painted in the morning sky. I was still 30 minutes from the summit.

Finally a little after 5:30 I summited and immediately grabbed my camera to take some photos and enjoy the view. At 12,388 feet, Fuji is the tallest mountain I have yet to climb. It’s funny, as big and dangerous as it looks it is relatively easy to climb. I didn’t have any problems with headaches or anything related to the altitude like I was prepared for. Breakfast consisted of  cinnamon raisin bread and Wonda morning shot coffee, as I gazed watched the sun rise over the bed of clouds.

I made it back down to the 7th station where I joined my friends and we began the long walk back the car. As we descended thoughts flooded my mind to return to Fuji during the winter, for a proper winter mountaineering ascent. At the local sento, we relaxed our muscles and cleaned the lava dust that had enveloped us over the last day. Thankful to God for the beautiful weather, the sunrise and a beautiful world he created.

I’ll surely return to Fuji again…

Much needed day date with the wifey…

Carly and I haven’t had much time together to get out since Hudson has been born. A few of our friends made it possible for us to have a day out together. We really enjoyed the time away, talking, hiking in God’s creation, and enjoying each other’s presence. We hiked up Riprap trail, a suggestion from some friends, and really enjoyed it! We didn’t make it all the way to the top, because of time but we had magnificent views on the way up. Here are a couple photos that just don’t do it justice.

St Mary’s Wilderness Daytrip

Josh, Tyler and I headed up to St Mary’s Wilderness to get some fresh air and test our manhood strength enduring the 47 degree water. It was a beautiful hike, crossing over the streams several times before we reached the waterfalls at the end. After a quick dip in the almost freezing water, we built a fire. I wish we could take credit for it, because Josh and I were trying to do it the Man vs Wild way, then found a pile of coals that hadn’t been properly put out from someone there before us. So we just took advantage of them, and sadly the Bear Grylls way will have to wait until next time. Josh broke out some Cubans and a pipe, so we all enjoyed a smoke and quick lunch, while enjoying conversation concerning our marriages, theology, etc. I’ll be back to St Mary’s again…

On a tech/gear note, it was a great day to try out my new Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultra GTX Trail shoes. They were perfectly comfortable and waterproof (main reason I bought them). I hate paying a lot of money for shoes ($140), but they were payed in full by my credit from my REI Visa so I thought they were a good investment. I’m interested in seeing how they hold up over the next 5 years, because I plan on getting a lot of outdoor use out of them…

Winter Mountaineering in the White Mountains of NH

12/27/07-1/1/08,  some of the coldest days and nights I have ever spent battling the elements in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Thankfully, all five of our climbing team had the right gear to do it in. We arrived that Thursday night stuck in what we thought was the parking lot, but ended up being the front lawn of the Lafayette campground. Even Jon’s trusty Pathfinder in all its glory was sunk deep into the snow bank, tires spinning, trying to free itself. My snow shovel ended up being the savior that got us out safely, however, there was always the option of the tow truck driver who watched us for a few minutes after freeing someone else and offered to pull us both out for $100. We passed on that, confident that our shovel and a few good men would do the job. We set up camp in 10″ of fresh snow and slept soundly as the snow continued to fall on the tent. The next morning we awoke, broke camp, ate a quick breakfast, and were on the trail by 10 am with our 40lb packs, ready to ascend 3,500 more feet. Carrying a load like that even over 4 miles of steep terrain isn’t easy, and quickly seemed to be the result of injury. Jason, had reluctantly gotten sick and stayed back at basecamp, while Jon, Zach, Tristan, and I moved up the mountain. Not even halfway into the ascent Jon’s knee started to bother him, the same problem last year he had on Mount Washington. Tristan seemed okay but noted that his hip was giving him some pain; something he hadn’t had problems with in years since he injured it in high school. Memories and flashbacks of my accident two years ago couldn’t be avoided as I listened to my friends describe their pain. Nevertheless we pressed on, determined to make the summit of Lafayette.

We passed only a few climbers that day, and none that could tell us of good news on the summit conditions. They described it as cold, cloudy, and windy with no views whatsoever. We made an executive decision to try and summit, even though the conditions weren’t optimal. The last group we passed on the way up had good news. “The clouds broke and we could see for miles, absolutely amazing,” one guy said, “we could even see Mount Washington and the Presidential Range”. There was hope, and with that we worked our way up the mountain further as it grew late in the day. About 500 feet from the summit, the clouds broke, and an awesome view of the Franconia Ridge came into view. Twenty minutes later, Zach and I were on the top of the world, gazing out at the higher summits, the sun bouncing off the sea of clouds below. It was truly an amazing alpine moment to glory in the creation and creator of it all. I was blessed with a moment to reflect on how beautiful it really was…

The next day we decided to rest, so everyone could recover from their soreness and be prepared for our next challenging summit, Mount Adams at 5800 feet. We ended up spending some time in North Conway at the climbing store, grabbing lunch, and enjoying the atmosphere of the small New England town. Zach and I made the obligatory stop at a small coffee place to enjoy the local brew. We went to bed early that night, 8pm I think, to get strength for the toughest day ahead.

Jon and Jason still weren’t feeling up to climbing the next morning so Zach, Tristan and I were on the trail by 8 to get a good start. The trail was a non-stop steep climb until we hit the sign for the alpine zone. We broke for a quick snack and put on our heavier gear to brave the elements. While were strapping on the crampons, another climbing group caught up with us and we chatted about their routes. Turned out they were going for a much easier route than we were, not tagging any summits and heading down the Valley Way Trail. We all agreed we weren’t going down the Air Line Trail, which we ascended due to the steepness and probable cause for accidents on the way down. The other climbers agreed the Valley Way was much more gradual, but still plenty of grade to glissade if we wished. We wished them well and headed up the rocky ridge covered in ice above the tree line. Sure enough, as the lady at the AMC lodge had promised, we were rewarded with beautiful views of the gullies and ravine on our entirely exposed ridge. We took our time as Tristan and I had little accidents tripping over our crampons causing gashes in our gators. We made the summit on Mount Adams as the wind howled, I’m guessing 40+ miles an hour with much greater gusts. We found a huge rock on the top to take shelter from the wind and ate lunch with haste. I was the only one who had something hot to drink I had brought. Steaming hot mint medley tea hit the spot on the summit, so I decided to share some with my fellow adventurers so they could get some enjoy it, too. We were rewarded with grand views of Mount Madison to the North, and clouds pouring over the Presidential Range between us and Mount Washington to the south. Again, God had given us a beautiful barren landscape to stand in awe of His beauty in creation. We’ll be back again someday; we’re already planning our next climb for Mount Katahdin in Maine…

Three Ridges/The Priest Trek

Levi, Fonzy, and I all decided to spend an entire weekend hiking and camping in the Three Ridges Wilderness. It took us 2 days of hiking 26.3 miles, with over 7,000 feet of elevation gain to realize we bit off more than we could chew. The final miles of the trek was quite possibly the hardest my body has ever worked. We left Friday evening and hiked for 3 hours, to reach the summit of Three Ridges where we set up camp under the stars, no tent, just us and the sky. Keep in mind it was in the 20s that night. I can still see Fonzy making his bed in the center of a pile of leaves…Levi made a campfire and we ended up eating two packages worth of brats, all the calories we’d need for the next day. We awoke the next morning to glorious sunrise, ate breakfast, and proceeded to break camp to get an early start. Saturday was mostly comprised of hiking, where we ran into a maximum of 7 people on the trail. By the time we got to the shelter on the Priest we were exhausted, dehydrated, and hungry. We thought we were dead when we realized the spring we were counting on our water supply, was dried up almost completely. After praying that God would have mercy on us and grant us water, Levi stumbled across another spring (not on the map) that was 200 south of our campsite. Praise God for keeping us alive! We ate a hasty meal then crawled into our sleeping bags for an 11 hour slumber. Awaking the next morning, we made the long grueling trek back to where we had started, half the time in the rain, but nonetheless perfect crisp, cool weather for the fall. We all agreed on the way back in the car that, our next outing would be a 2 mile hike, camping, then hiking back, not to exceed 4 miles!

Big House Mountain Hike

Last weekend we were able to visit my parents in Lexington and take Drew and Daniel along for the fun. After felling a few trees on our property we ended up hiking up Big House Mountain (3,675 ft) overlooking the valley. The day was perfect. The crisp fall air, and rustling leaves under our feet as we hiked reminded me of how much I enjoy the Autumn colors of Virginia. We stopped for lunch at the saddle between Little House Mountain and Big House Mountain  with excellent views and surveyed the optional camping area. Dad and I are hoping to get back up there when it snows this winter…

Overlooking Little House Mountain

My sis and I on the summit

On the way down…

Queen’s City Brewery

So our good friend J.D. decided to take us down to Staunton and check out one of finest little microbrewerys in the area. It used to be an old 7-11, now it’s a place where guys spend their time pouring over recipes of different beer while experimenting with their own ideas. Josh, Levi, and I know little to nothing about brewing beer, so the entire experience was very enlightening and gave us a greater appreciation of the work that goes into it. After we sampled several of their choicest brews, it came down to the Imperial Stout and the Celtic Rabbit. We all agreed, well most of us did at least, that the Imperial Stout was outright amazing, but we decided on the Celtic Rabbit, due to the fact that we were going to be drinking this beer A LOT over the next month. The Celtic Rabbit, is an amber ale, pretty smooth, but a nice hoppy flavor. We ended up brewing 6 cases (roughly 144 12oz bottles of beer), so if you’re reading this and you know any one of us, call us in three weeks so you can taste the Celtic Rabbit yourself…over a game of Risk or cards, of course.

J.D. mixing the grains

The many choices of microbrews offered @ Queen’s City Brewery

Our two main hops, fuggles & williamettes

Overnight on the Rocks

So Levi and I decided we need to get out more often. We’re always talking about going camping, but the weekends come and we’re sucked into the complexity of asking our wives for time away, football, and all the other wonderful things that weekends bring. So we just decided to leave midweek just for a quick overnighter,  and wake up early in time to be back for work. So we decided to hike up to Humpback rocks, and spend the night on the rocks, no tent, just sleeping pads and bags under the stars. Plus, I got to put my new Primus Omni-fuel stove to the test. This sucker will burn ANY fuel. Jet fuel, butane mix, diesel, even kerosene! I used whitegas and was very happy with the results. Levi made fun of me because it took me a while to get it lit and primed properly, due to the high winds that night. My mistake was not bringing a windscreen so my matches were getting blown out quicker than they would light. Finally I reaped the benefits and enjoyed a feast of pilaf rice and meatballs, while Levi was enjoying his baked beans and bacon strips over the fire. Needless to say it was an enjoyable evening until some pyschotic locals decided to crash our gathering, but that is another story…

New Blog Coming Soon…

So I’ve been working on a new blog, which is primarily why I haven’t been keeping this one updated. Carly and I have decided to have a family blog, where we can keep people updated on what God is doing in the life of our family as we prepare for long-term ministry in Japan. I’ll keep you posted on that…

Liam Waking Up

I made this short video this morning, trying to capture some of Liam’s best moments when he wakes up. Since he has just started developing his little smile, we are trying everything to get him to smile all the time! What a gift from God to see him smile everytime he does!