Bimberi Peak, ACT, Australia (west approach)

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2009 December: Climb Bimberi Peak from the west
                            Start from Currango Plain at north-eastern tip of Tantangara Reservoir - NSW, Australia

Other trips to Bimberi Peak

- 9 years later, in 2018-12, I'll climb both Bimberi Peak and Mt Murray as a day-trip. Photos and trip report are in my blog:
https://mntviews.blogspot.com/2018/12/bimberi-peak-and-mt-murray-act-australia.html

- An alternate and longer route is the east approach - start from abandoned Orroral Tracking Station in ACT and camp out at Cotter Flats. I'll do it about a year later in 2011-01. Photos and trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com/2011/01/bimberi-act-australia-east-approach.html


Prolog - List of named peaks in ACT above 1700 meters

I have compiled a list of named peaks in ACT above 1700 meters.  There are 13 of them.  And I have climbed them all ... Yay !

•  01   1913 m   Bimberi Peak - Photos and trip reports are in my blogs:
           - From east: 2011-01  http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/bimberi-act-australia-east-approach.html
           - From west: 2009-12  This trip report
                                2018-12  https://mntviews.blogspot.com/2018/12/bimberi-peak-and-mt-murray-act-australia.html
                                               (including climbing Mt Murray)

•  02   1855 m   Mt Gingera - Photos and trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/mt-gingera-mt-ginini-act-australia.html

•  03   1845 m   Mt Murray - Photos and trip report are in my blog:
https://mntviews.blogspot.com/2018/12/bimberi-peak-and-mt-murray-act-australia.html

•  04   1829 m   Mt Kelly - Photos and trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/kelly-burbidge-nsw-australia.html

•  05   1798 m   Mt Scabby - Grid Ref 676 411
          1805 m   Unnamed peak just east of Mt Scabby - Grid Ref 681 410
           Trip report is under construction.

•  06   1791 m   Mt Namadgi - Photos and trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/mt-namadgi-act-australia.html

•  07   1766 m   Ginger Ale - Grid Ref 601 586  (between Rolling Ground Gap & Blackfellows Gap)
Photos and trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/little-ginini-ginger-ale-act-australia.html

•  08   1762 m   Mt Ginini - Photos and trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/mt-gingera-mt-ginini-act-australia.html

•  09   1739 m   Mt Gudgenby - Photos and trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2017/11/mt-gudgenby-act-australia.html

•  10   1738 m   Little Ginini - Photos and trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/little-ginini-ginger-ale-act-australia.html

•  11   1727 m   Sentry Box Mountain eastern peak - Grid Ref 721 338
          1696 m   Sentry Box Mountain western peak - Grid Ref 714 338
          1673 m   Sentry Box Rock - Grid Ref 713 346
Photos and trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/sentry-box-act-australia.html

•  12   1724 m   Mt Burbidge - Photos and trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/kelly-burbidge-nsw-australia.html

•  13   1711 m   Mt Mavis - Grid Ref 722 493  (just north-east of Mt Namadgi; east of Big Creamy Flats)
Photos and trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/mt-mavis-act-australia.html

Data source:
    - First, from LPI maps from Department of Lands
    - Then from 1:50,000 scaled Rooftop's map called "Namadgi - ACT South Activities Map" 2011 edition
    - Finally, in Google we trust  :-)


Today's climb - Bimberi Peak from the west

Bimberi Peak, 1913 meters, on the border of ACT & NSW, is the highest mountain of ACT. Ever since I came back from Aconcagua early in the year, I had been trying to climb it. But the weather forecast over that area was always cloudy. I often wonder whether the weather bureau ever bothered to update the details over there!

Anyway, today, Dec 6, the weather forecast is sunny, so Matt, Will, Tom, Thea and I are going to climb it.

First, some information on the climb:


Route

From the north-eastern tip of Tantangara Reservoir, to Oldfield Hut, then eastward to Murrays Gap, then bush bash northward to the summit.


Book

Best is to follow the description in Tyrone Thomas' book "120 Walks in NSW".


Maps

If you don't have the book, then the 1:100,000  8626-Tantangara  map is good enough. If you wish, you can arm yourself with even finer detailed:
- 1:50,000  Rooftop's "Namadgi - ACT South Activities Map"  2011 edition
- 1:25,000  8626-1S Rendezous


Hiking distance and time

19.5 km return
Day trip
In his book, Tyrone Thomas said the return trip would take about 8 hours with minimal breaks.


Water

You should carry 2.5 litres of water. But if you are prepared to drink from the creeks, then 1.5 litres is sufficient.


To get there

On the Snowy Mountains Highway, half way between Adaminaby and Kiandra, turn north into the unsealed Tantangara Road. Don't drive too fast, as there are the occasional kangaroos and brumbies who love to cross the road right in front of your car. The road leads to Tantangara Reservoir where it changes its name to Pocket Saddle Road. Keep following it till you reach a locked gate at the crossing of Gurrangorambla Creek in Currango Plain at the north-eastern tip of Tantangara Reservoir.


Description

The locked gate is where we park the car and start walking northward along Pocket Saddle Road. After a bit over a kilometer, we turn eastward into Murray Gap Trail. A further 2 kilometers along the tail, we come to an abandoned cattlemen's hut called Oldfields Hut. This is a good place to take a rest and explore around. The hut is still in good condition. Hikers sometimes spend a night inside or camp on its grounds.

Back on the Murray Gap Trail ... after another 4 kilometers, we reach Murrays Gap and come to a sign post marking the border between NSW and ACT.

Murrays Gap is a saddle point between Mt Bimberi to the north and Mt Murray to the south. Being the saddle point, it is a flat area where water doesn't drain away easily, thus forming a swampy treeless marsh. If it had rained a few days earlier, you would need a good pair of ankle-high waterproof hiking boots to walk through it.

It is quite interesting to stand alone in the middle of this large open swamp. It gives you a creepy eerie feeling of millions eyes watching you, even though no one is there. Just as well I have this creepy feeling, otherwise I would love to piss right there in the open and let half of the water flow down to Corin/Cotter Dams, then down the water pipes of Parliament house to let our politicians have a taste of an ordinary citizen. The other half of the water would flow westward to fertilize our western plains ... the farmers would love it.

Bimberi Peak is just north of Murrays Gap. There is no trail up there. Furthermore, because of the topography and the trees, you couldn't see the summit for a very long while, hence it is heavy duty compass navigation all the way to the peak.

Also due to the absence of a trail, it is scrub-bashing all the way too. It can be fun for people who have never tried it. But otherwise, it is a real inconvenience. It slows the pace down to about 1 km per hour. Thus the 2.5 km from Murrays Gap to the peak takes about 2 hours.

Once you reach the top, you are rewarded by a magnificent 360 degree panoramic scene. You can see Corin dam to the northeast. To the south is Mt Murray and the swamp at Murrays Gap.

We have lunch there. Then explore around a knoll south west of the peak. There we get a clear view of Oldfields Hut. Pocket Saddle Road can be seen winding its way to Tantangara Reservoir.

Then it is time to leave. The return trip is by retracing the steps.


Here are the stats

06:25  Leave car and start walking
07:15  Arrive at Oldfields Hut

15 min rest

07:30  Leave Oldfields Hut
08:55  Arrive at Murrays Gap

20 min rest

09:15  Leave Murrays Gap
11:05  Arrive at Bimberi Peak

1:40 rest, including an excursion to a knoll south west of Bimberi Peak

12:45  Leave Bimberi Peak
14:00  Return back to Murrays Gap

no rest

14:00  Leave Murrays Gap
15:25  Back at Oldfields Hut

35 min rest

16:05  Leave Oldfields Hut
16:50  Return to car

Summary:
Hiking time -  7:35 excluding lunch time exploration
Rest time -  2:50 including the exploration
Total time -  10hr 25min


Pictures - To Oldfields Hut

1: Start of the Murray Gap Trail. It leads east, past Oldfields Hut and then to Murrays Gap.

At Oldfields Hut

2: An abandoned cattlemen's hut called Oldfields Hut. The hut is in good condition and there are some interesting fruit trees around its garden area. Often hikers camp out here for the night.

3: Sombre looking Bimberi Peak (from Oldfields Hut) ... doesn't look inviting!

To Murrays Gap

4: Goodradigbee River which flows into Burrinjuck Dam and thus is a tributary of the Murrumbidgee River

At Murrays Gap

5: At Murrays Gap ... It marks the border between ACT & NSW. It is called Murrays Gap because it is between Bimberi Peak to the north and Mt Murray to the south.
(Left to right: Matt, Thea, Tom, me, Will)

6: Murrays Gap is a large flat open swampy plain. Standing in the middle of it gives you a creepy eerie feeling of millions eyes watching you, even though no one is there. Up to this point, we have been following a well defined track. Now we turn north and start scrub-bashing up hill to Bimberi Peak.

7: Plenty of wild flower growing in Murrays Gap - I think this one is called Grevillea Lanigera, a dwarf Grevillea.

Bushbashing up Bimberi

8: We are scrub-bashing up Bimberi. There is no track. And you can't see the peak ... being obstructed by scrubs/trees. Compass and good navigational skill is required for this part of the climb.

Bimberi Peak summit

9: Bimeri Peak summit ... We are almost there ... You can just make out the summit trig.
(The area is much open now because we are at about 1900 meters, above the tree-line.)

10: Made it!!!

Views from top of Bimberi

11: View from the peak ... The clearing in the middle of the photo is where Oldfields Hut is.

12: Zooming onto the clearing. You should be able to see Oldfields Hut ... to enlarge the photo, click on it.

13: Looking south at Mt Murray. At its foothill is Murrays Gap, the flat swampy area mentioned earlier. In the photo it shows up as long and narrow and in light green colour ... see also photo #14.

14: Zooming onto Murrays Gap.

15: Towards northeast is Corin Dam, the main reservoir for Canberra residents.

Climbing down Bimberi Peak

16: A wind-beaten Snow Gum growing horizontally near the peak ... quite amazing!

360-degree panorama from Bimberi Peak

A video of 360 panoramic view from the summit of Bimberi is in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUrtGxnDAeo

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Yasur Volcano, Tanna Is, Vanuatu

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2009 June: Evening tour to Vanuatu's Yasur Volcano

I saw a documentary on ABC TV on Yasur Volcano few years ago and had been itching to visit it for some time. With the Swine Flu now on full swing, decided to go now to take advantage of the discount travel and accommodation rates.

The volcano is 361 meters above sea level. It erupts continuously all year and is easily accessible. Just get to Tanna Island in Vanuatu. Once there, all accommodation sites will organize a trip there. The eruptions are best seen at night when you can better see the red fireworks and lava bombs.

My flight from Port Vila (capital of Vanuatu on Efate Island) to Tanna Island was in a 15-seater noisy propeller plane and took about an hour. There were 10 people in the plane, half were tourists; the others were natives. Some of the natives had never been in any vehicle before, let alone a plane. So I became a flight attendant and taught them how to buckle up the seat belts. And when the plane landed, helped them to unbuckle. That was my one-kind-act-a-day for the day.

Tanna is an unspoiled beautiful island, no shops, no bitumen roads, no public transport, no taxis. Nonetheless, for such a tranquil island, it boasts a variety of accommodations, called lodges or bungalows, all catering for the volcano tourism.

We were supposed to be picked up at 3pm for the Volcano, but the driver didn't turn up until 4pm. This is known as Tanna time ... always add an extra hour to whatever time has been promised. For example, the next day's breakfast at the lodge where I stayed was supposed to be available at 6am. But the restaurant didn't open until 7am. It was too late for me as the return flight to Port Vila was at 8am; so I had to miss breakfast since it was time to head for the airport. And you guessed it, the plane was an hour late, so I could have had my breakfast if I had stuck to Tanna time like everyone else.

I side tracked ... back on the trip to the volcano ... it hadn't rained in Vanuatu for weeks. And would you believe on the day the sky opened up with buckets of rain!?! As already mentioned, Tanna has no bitumen roads. Whatever roads they have are narrow, winding, one-laned and full of bumps and pot holes. But our driver could still manage a speed of almost 100 kph on these muddy slimy roads on such a rainy day. It was a feat that Evel Knievel himself would be proud of!!! The ride was more thrilling than a roller-coaster in any amusement park.

It was all very exciting fun until Mr Evel Knievel tried to overtake a slower car. He misjudged the width of the road and we came to a sudden dead stop with half the car in a road-side mud ditch. I thought, oh oh, that is the end of the tour and how the hell are we going to get back to the lodge? Or worse, we may have to help push the car out of the ditch ... and as I had already done my one-kind-act earlier on in the plane, I was definitely not looking forward to do another kind act. Fortunately after some deft wheel spinning backwards and forwards, Mr Evel Knievel managed to get the car out of the bog and out of the ditch!!! He is my hero of the day!!!

Whilst we had a lucky escape and was able to keep driving onward to the volcano, the weather still didn't want to smile. It kept on raining. At 6pm, we reached the base of the crater. After a 10-minute climb up the crater rim, all we saw was thick white steam rising from inside the volcano - none of the red eruptions promised on the tourist brochures. Reason was when the rain hit the hot earth and molten lava inside the volcano, the water turned into thick white steam and mist, obscuring everything.

It was a big disappointment!!!

Not much pictures in this trip ... well, it was a rainy day and also very late in the evening ... too dark for proper photographs  :-(

1: Tanna is untouched by modern civilizaton. Here, a woman is washing her clothes by a stream.


2: The bungalow where I stayed for the night.


3: Yasur Volcano


4: Ash plain near Yasur Volcano


5: We had to cross this river. If the current is strong, a car can be swept away ... and many have suffered this fate. But we got through.


6: Near the volcano now ... hot steam rising from the earth.


7: A 10-minute path to the crater rim.


8: This is what we were supposed to see ...


9: ... instead, all we saw was white steam as a result of rain hitting the hot earth and molten lava inside the crater. In the photo, you can make out part of the circular crater rim.


10: A video.


By the way, Vanuatu's highest mountain is in Santo Island ... see http://www.tabwemasana.com/ Quite interesting. Is there any masochist out there interested in having a go at this mountain with me?

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Aconcagua, Argentina

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2009 January: 18 day adventure

Aconcagua - Argentina


Prolog

Aconcagua
- 6962 meters
- Highest peak in the Andes in Argentina
- Also the highest mountain outside
  the Himalayas.

2009-01-07
Finally!!! I'm going to climb Aconcagua.

I had been dreaming/planning for this adventure
ever since the Dec 2004 NZ trip
where I was huffing & panting
after only a few hours of walk
up the Franz Josef Glacier.

And today I am actually flying out to climb it !!!


Post Script

2009-01-27
Here is an account of the trip.

Couldn't reach the top ...
extremely disappointed ...
high wind thwarted the attempt on summit day
😭

But first, some random observations of
Argentina through my black tinted iris ...


Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is quite an interesting city ...
full of Spanish colonial architecture ...
if you like that sort of thing.

They like naming streets like
    - "25th May Street"
    - "9th July Street"
So cute !!!

There is a small China Town.
Outside of it, there are no Asians.

There are also
    - no blacks
    - no muslims
    - no little green men from Mars.

Small kids found me a curiosity,
like someone from interstellar !!!

The city is supposed to be dangerous.
The hotel staff warned me not to wear a watch
nor carry a camera on the street.

I did that for half a day,
then found it very inconvenient.

So back to the hotel
to wear the watch and took the camera.
Well, hadn't been robbed so far.


Mendoza

After a few days sightseeing in Buenos Aires,
it was off to Mendoza,
1000 km west of Buenos Aires.

It was there the Aconcagua trip officially started.

Mendoza is a small provincial town
where midday siesta is strictly observed.

From 1pm to 4pm, the town is virtually dead.
All shops are closed,
then re-open from 4pm onwards.

Dinner usually starts from 9pm onwards
which upset my stomach a bit ...
When on the road, I prefer having dinner early
and be in bed early.

San Martin seems to be Mendoza's patron saint.
Everywhere there are:
- San Martin Streets
- San Martin Plazas
- San Martin Buildings
- San Martin Statues
- San Martin Parks
- San Martin This and San Martin That.

After the trip, Elisa Galeri (Eli for short)
pointed out that San Martin was not a Saint.

He was an Argentine general and the prime leader
of the southern part of South America's
successful struggle for independence from Spain.


On the way

The company which organised the expedition
to Aconcagua had a trip up there every week
in the Southern Hemisphere summer.

So far, in this 2008/2009 season,
every trip succeeded in reaching the summit
except ours due to high wind.

Ah well, bad luck !!!
No doubt, it was all because I didn't visit
a San Martin Church earlier on.

But still, the scenery was fantastic.

If you ever visit Argentina,
but don't wish to climb Aconcagua,
it is worthwhile to fly west to Mendoza,
and from there, join one of the day tours
to the Andes Highlands and have a look.

Two minibuses took us and our gears
from Mendoza to a small skiing resort
called Los Penitentes a few hours drive
further to the west.

This was where the actual walk started.

After 3 days of hiking along
the beautiful Vacas River and Relincho Stream,
we reached base camp, Plaza Argentina.


Base Camp

Base camp was like heaven
after so many days on the feet ...
because we had a rest day there.

And because it had a hot shower ...
which was only a 1-star treatment,
but Geez, it had a 5-star feel about it.

But I also wondered why bothered,
because I put on the same dirty clothes
afterwards.

(I didn't take spare sets of clothes,
else I had to carry them !!!
So I was on the same undies for about 15 days.)

Base Camp also had internet service
Haha ... one just couldn't get away
from this modern contraption.

But after using it for only 10 minutes,
it went belly up,
because it was run on solar power,
and a cloud came over, obscuring the sun.

This was the start of our bad luck run,
because the cloud brought snow with it,
and it snowed almost every day from then on.

For us Aussies who hardly ever saw snow,
it was a wonderful beautiful experience ...
Well, at first.  Then we cursed it.

The snow got into our tent,
got into our backpack,
got into our nose,
and worse, got into our toilet business ...

Because after base camp,
all toilet business was done in the open !!!


High Camps

Past base camp there were three high camps ...
camp-1, camp-2 and camp-3.
To get to one of these high camps took 3 days.

- One day:
Carry and cache part of the stuff to a higher camp;
stuff like food & fuel for the rest of the expedition,
and warmer clothes not required at a lower camp.
Then straight back to the lower camp for the night.

- Next day:
The actual move to the higher camp,
taking along:
    the tent,
    sleeping bag,
    and sleeping pad,
    plus pots and pans required by the group.

- Third day:
Rest day.

At camp-1:
There was a stream where one can collect water,
but not in the morning as it would be frozen
overnight as I found out to my chagrin.

I had to break open the ice to get to the water.

At camp-2:
The ice was permanent.

Learning fast from my camp-1 experience,
to get to the water,
wait for someone else to break open the ice,
then you quickly move in after him.

To wait any longer, the water would be iced over
and you'll have to break open the ice yourself.

At camp-3:
There was no stream.
(It would be under inches of snow.)

Instead, you melted the snow for the water.
Best was to avoid collecting
yellowish looking snow !!!


Summit day

The day after we moved to the final camp-3,
the sky cleared.

At 4am there was no cloud,
and we could see the stars.
So we quickly dressed up and set for the summit.

Unfortunately, the rest was history ...
After we started climbing, the wind set in.

It was so strong,
it whipped up snow from the ground
and formed a cloud around the summit,
reducing visibility to almost zero.

Thus after 1.5 hrs of climbing, we had to turn back.
So close, yet so far 😭

The next day was similar ... high wind again.
And that was the end of the expedition 😭


Photos - To Base Camp

1, 2, 3)  We walked right through these
              impressive valleys on the way
              to Base Camp.

4)  Aconcagua (East face) !!!  Awesome !!!

Drinking Mate, a native tea

5)  Me ... Drinking native tea called Mate.
     (Pronounced Ma-Tay)

It tastes like green tea with a raw grass flavour.

The Mate leaves are put into a gourd.
Pour in hot water.
The tea leaves will float on top.

You sip the tea through a metal straw
which has a filter at the bottom
to filter out any errant tea leaves
which may drop to the bottom.

When the drink gets low,
top it up with more hot water.



Crossing a river

There is this one wide river we need to cross.

The water was freezing cold !!!
You could feel the blood gradually freezing up !!!
You almost couldn't move.
Ad your heart almost stopped beating.

This is one of those situations
you should experience once in your life time
to know how it feels.

But you wouldn't want to do it again !!!


6)  In the photo, the guy in white shirt was
     in trouble due to the intense cold of the water.

He almost couldn't move.

Our guide (in green shirt) went into the water
to help.

To the high camps

7)  From Base Camp to High Camp-1.

You can see a zigzag path up the mountain
through a field of penitentes (see next photo).

High Camp-1 is over the ridge,
ie the sky line at the top of this photo.

Penitentes

Next 3 photos are close up views of the ice fields.

The ice columns are called penitentes.
At some places, they can be as tall as a man.

Walking through them was fun,
like walking through a maze.

But it was actually quite a dangerous place.
There were lots of pot holes inside them.

I fell into one 😭

And in a reflex action to stabilize myself,
I used both hands to grab onto a nearby penitente.

This was a bad bad mistake as the penitenties
have razor sharp blade edges made of ice.

I cut 8 of my 10 fingers, sparing the 2 little fingers.

Normally, it is not a big deal.
But there, at such a high altitude
where oxygen level was about half that
at sea level, the wounds would not heal 😭

I had to wrap the fingers up with bandaids
and waited for them to heal
when I'm back down the mountain.

Again, normally it is not a big deal,
except when going to toilet to do big business 😭
if you don't believe me,
try to wipe your bum with 8 of your 10 fingers
all wrapped up in bandaids !!!


8, 9, 10)  Penitentes - the ice columns.

How are the ice columns formed ?

Refer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitente_(snow_formation)

(Don't ask me questions.
I don't understand the article myself.)



At the high camps

11)  A frozen waterfall at High Camp-1.

12)  Waking up on day 12 at High Camp-2.

Life is not measured
by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away !!!

13)  At High Camp-3.
       8 climbers + 3 guides sharing 4 tents.

There should be 9 of us.
But one guy dropped out earlier at Base Camp.

Summit day 😭

14)  Me ... All dressed up on summit day.
       But going no where 😭

High wind prevented us from getting
anywhere near the top 😭

The return journey

15)  Another view of Aconcagua
       from the west side.

We climbed up Aconcagua from the Vacas Valley,
and went down it on the Normal Route.

After Aconcagua
A dancing show in Buenos Aires

16)  I like this pic !!!

Attended a dancing show in Buenos Aires.
Afterwards, took this photo with a dancer.

This pic compensated for all the disappointment
of failing to reach the summit.

(Thanks to Norunn Kosberg, the photographer.)

Thank-you's

To Pat
Who bandaged up my fingers
when I fell and cut them badly
while going through the penitentes.

To Michael, Bart and Liz
Who washed a sand out of my eye.
Especial to Michael who poured the water.
Without you I would have to quit at High Camp-1.

To Bruce and Don
Who put up with my incessant snoring.

To Don again
Who mended my pants with duct tape.

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Fuji, Japan

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2008 July: 2-day trip

Mt Fuji - Japan


Prolog - Why I climbed Mt Fuji

"See this X-Ray picture here ...
here are your knees ...
you have arthritis !!!"
so gloated the doctor triumphantly
as if he had found some hidden treasure.

This was last year in mid 2007
when I found my knees were not good.

They hurt if I walked on stairs with some weight
in a backpack.

And why was I walking the stairs
with a backpack ?

Well, I had been training for
the big Aconcagua climb planned for Jan 2008
by walking the staircases of a multi-story carpark
in the middle of the night
when the carpark was empty.

The doctor's diagnosis was
a bitter disappointment.

Reluctantly, I cancelled the trip to Aconcagua.

Later on, a pharmacist friend suggested
glucosamine and fish oil tablets
may help the joints.

After taking them for a while,
I found the tablets worked wonders
and the knees didn't hurt anymore.

(It is probably a placebo effect ...
but it is good enough for me 😊)

Although now, I could only climb the staircases
one step at a time.
Taking 2 staircase steps in one go would still hurt.

But one step at a time should be good enough
for Aconcagua ... So I theorized.

To prove it, I need to find a decent sized mountain
for testing ...

Hence Mt Fuji !!!


Fuji in summer

Fuji is Japan's highest mountain, 3776 meters.
In July, the month I climbed it,
it was quite warm at the top,
a comfortable 5 degrees Celsius.

Having climbed Africa's Kilimajaro,
Fuji in summer turned out to be a disappointment.

Well,
- Scenery was no where as grand as Kilimanjaro.
- Its crater was tiny by comparison.
- The landscape near the top was brown dirt.
- No white ice to jazz up the scenes.

No wonder there is this Japanese saying:
You are wise to climb Fuji once,
a fool to climb it twice !

Hey, you really ought to see the Kilimanjaro crater.
It is HUGE !!!

It would take hours of walking on the crater rim
to circumnavigate it.

Whereas 30 minutes is more than enough
to walk around the Fuji crater.


Our group

Although Fuji was not an exciting mountain
to climb, I did have the good fortune
to meet 6 lovely ladies.

As a matter of fact,
besides me and the mountain guide,
all the other 6 were female !!!
    - 4 from USA
    - 2 from Australia ... a mother & her daughter

I had no idea why they wanted to climb Fuji.

When in Japan, why didn't they go
and roam around the Ginza shopping district ?
Far more exciting there 😊


About the climb

It was not an easy stroll ... uphill all the way.

But in another sense, it was a comfortable walk ...
because the track was lined with shops
selling snacks and drinks.

If you were willing to pay 500 Yen
for a 250 ml bottle of water,
you didn't even need to carry any water.

And unlike toilets on other high mountains
which were stinking smelly holes in the ground,
the toilets in Fuji had seats, flushable, clean
and didn't smell.


How about my knees ?

My knees held up very well for the entire trip.
No sign of discomfort.

Aconcagua, I am coming !!!



Some pictures
Trailhead, Subashiriguchi 5th Station

1)  Subashiriguchi 5th Station.
- Starting point of the Fuji climb

2)  Group photo.
- Our guide Brent is on the right.
- I'm in luck, aside from me,
  this an all female group !!!

Branding hiking sticks

At the start of the trail,
you buy a hiking stick for 1000 Yen.

At each rest station such as the one below,
for a price of 200 Yen,
you have your stick branded
with the station's mark.


3)  My stick.
     Being branded right here in this photo.

Since there are many rest stations on the trail,
and if the stick is branded at each stop,
the total cost of the marks
far exceeds the cost of stick.

The Japanese are very smart at value adding.

I won't be surprised if they bought the wood
from us Aussies for less than 10 Yen.

And now I'll be out of pocket for 3000 Yen
for the stick and all the brandings !!!



The journey up

There are several climbing trails to the summit.

And not surprisingly, there are plenty of cases
where people went down the mountain
on the wrong trail
and ended up on the wrong side of the mountain
far away from where they had parked their cars.

To minimize incidences like these, all routes are colour coded.


4)  Here, red is the colour of our
     Subashiriguchi trail.

There are many encouraging signs,
like in this pic, throughout the trail.

Here the sign says "Do Yoer Best !"

5)  Closer view of Mt Fuji.
- Unfortunately we don't have any spectacular view
  of Fuji from this trail.
  This is the best I can do.

As mentioned already,
the starting point of the trail is 5th Station.

The summit is called the 10th Station.

And you guessed it ...
there are 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th Stations in between
where you can buy snacks, drinks
and visit the toilet.

These stations must have been quite popular,
because in between them, spring up
New 6th, New 7th, New 8th, New 9th Stations.

The previous photo
where my stick was being branded
was at the New 6th Station.


6)  Here in this photo, it is the Main 6th Station.
- I guess "Main" is an euphemism for "Old".

7)  Brent, our guide leading the fearless Amazons.

8)  On the way up, we met a couple
     with their dog on the way down.

The dog was wearing socks, so cute !
But the poor dog didn't look happy.

It couldn't understand
why it had to climb up a mountain
and then climbed all the way down again.

I could hear it asking, "Why ???"

9)  This view is fantastic !!!
- A perfectly cone shaped shadow of Mt Fuji
  on the clouds below.

Spent the night at 8th Station

10)  That night, we slept in the 8th Station
        in a dormitory styled bunk bed.
- No male / female section.
- Beautiful Barbara ...
  beckoning us to go to bed with her 😊

We woke at 2 am and trudged on upwards.


Mt Fuji summit

11)  Rreward at the summit 😊
- Greeted by this glorious view of sunrise.

12, 13)  At the summit
- Only 4 of us made it.
- 3 others were too tired to even bothered
  to get out of bed.
  They stayed back at the 8th Station.

A word to cyclists

One lady in our group was an avid cyclist.
She had reckoned she was fit.

Unfortunately, muscles used for cycling
are very different from the muscles
used for hiking.
Hence in the morning, her leg muscles were sore.

She didn't get out of bed
to go to the summit 😭

And on the way down the mountain,
her legs turned into jellies.

Brent, our guide, and I had to half-carry her down.

Now, she is a very lovely lady.
But to all other macho cyclists,
let this be a lesson to you
if you think you are very fit 😊



Return leg - Going down

14)  View of 8th station where we spent the night.

15)  A typical scree
       where we slide down the mountain.

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