Are taxis allowed on the road up to Kawaguchiko 5th station?
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Are taxis allowed on the road up to Kawaguchiko 5th station?

by Michi
(Austria)

Dear Gary,

we - 2 austrian honeymooners - are coming to mt. fuji in the middle of august. we are both experienced hikers and reasonably fit. we want to climb fuji via kawaguchiko 5th station.

2 questions:

we`re planning to do the climb in one day, taking a taxi from kawaguchiko (where we are sleeping)to 5th station at 5am, start at 6 am, take the bus back down to kawaguchiko at 20:10 pm and catch the last train to tokyo - so we have 14 hours on the mountain.

1) i`ve read that the mountain roads are closed to private vehicles in the high season. Are taxis allowed on the road up to kawaguchiko 5th station ? Is it possible to catch a taxi at 5 am in kawaguchiko or should we arrange it the evening before the climb?

2) we don`t want to be forced to run up and down the mountain, we want to take our time, take a lot of photographs, enjoy the experience. do you think 14 hours is enough time ?

Thank you very much for all the time you`ve invested in your great site and for answering our questions. Greetings from vienna...

michi and alex

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Aug 11, 2013
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We`re gonna tackle the mountain good old "alpen - style".
by: Michi

hi gary,

thanks for answering that fast...

we never really thought about climbing through the night to see the sunrise. must be awesome, i can imagine, but there are too many disadvantages: more people on the trail, and, well, climbing in the night itself - we want to see something! so, we`re gonna tackle the mountain good old "alpen - style".

our peak day is 20th of august, so obon should be finished. plus, the 20th is a tuesday, so we were thinking there probably won`t be too many climbers - right ? or is 20 th of august still peak of peak season ?

bad weather shouldn`t be a problem. we`re really experienced hikers, have good mountain gear, also do some winter hiking in austria ( - 20 degrees celsius) and generally know what we`re doing when in the mountains.

Altitude sickness: sorry to hear you had problems with it. i have also experienced it in iran in 2007 while climbing mt. damavand, it`a real bitch. on fuji it shouldn`t be too much of a problem though, because normally the human body needs a few hours to realise he`s up too high. so if all goes well we`re already on the way down before we should be developing symptoms of the sickness.

thanks again for your kind help, if you ever need tips on hiking in the austrian alps just send me an e-mail.

Greets,
michi


Aug 11, 2013
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Yes, they are.
by: Gary Wolff

Honeymooners? How cool is THAT? :-) I got an inquiry from an Austrian
guy just the other day.

You asked a tough question which I didn't know the answer to, :-) so I
called the Fujiyoshida City Intl. Affairs Desk and they said no
problem catching a taxi @ 5 am, especially from a train station where
they hang out. Only private vehicles are restricted on the toll road.

14 hours seems like plenty of time for folks in good shape, barring no
traffic jams (you'll be climbing during the peak of peak season, and
some sections of trail are too narrow or steep for you to pass slower
hikers), bad weather (see my postscript below), or altitude sickness,
which struck me last August when I climbed up Fuji via the Fujinomiya Trail,
the first time that ever happened to me after nearly a half century of
mountain climbing. :-(

You might also want to think about alternate schedules so you can see
the sunrise from the summit. Here are some other recommended climbing
plans: http://www.city.fujiyoshida.yamanashi.jp/div/english/html/climbing_plans.html

Have a nice honeymoon!

Cheers,
Gary

p.s. Be careful up there! Big accident on Monday in the nearby Chuo
Alps: http://www.whiotv.com/news/ap/military/3-south-korean-climbers-dead-1-missing-in-japan/nY7hn/


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