Dream Hike Near Mt Fuji at the Peak of Fall — Japan at Its' Finest | Life in Japan Episode 134

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The bags are packed and we're heading to what will be a dream hike at the very height of of fall near Mt Fuji.
In seven years living in Japan, this may be the most amazing thing I've seen yet.
It's not just hyperbole, get ready to experience Japan at it's finest on this episode of Life in Japan.
Yeah! Yahoo!
All right! Let's do this! Let's do this.
[Life in Japan Theme Song]
We've come out near Lake Kawaguchi to climb a nearby mountain peak at the height of fall.
Lake Kawaguchi is one of 5 main lakes around Mt Fuji, famous for its' fall colors and views.
Look at this!
Fall colors galore.
We waited for the best weather, and we sure got it.
There it is, our peak right in front of us, huh?
We were super excited to hike, but had no idea how awesome it really was going to be.
Oh that's nice!
We've got some nice little walkways here. Yes, they do. This is awesome here.
I've never been over here. Kawaguchiko, I'm your fan.
Enjoy it while you can.
It's gonna be off this way. Oh, yeah.
In researching for this trip, we found an ideal parking lot on the other side of the mountain,
and from there we would hike a 10k loop, up to the main ridge facing Mt Fuji,
climbing to Kurodake, the tallest peak along the ridge,
and then swinging back around to a peak that promised 360 degree views of the whole area.
Look at that! Oh yes.
Oh dude, look at that helicopter. A helicopter up here. What?!
That would be a cool place to take off and then you go and see Mt Fuji on the other side of this mountain.
Here we are. We made it to the parking lot.
Yes! It is a beautiful [day].
Oh dude, let's just drive to the top. Ha, yeah. What is that?
There it is.
Alright, so we are parked at the top at that red place.
And so the peak we can go right to the top and then we come back down the left side.
And down that red trail. Right?
Yeah.
Well we've hit our trail head here and we're about to take off and it's chilly.
It's only a couple degrees out so, we're ready for this though.
I think we are at the middle peak. Yeah.
Look at that path, it just beckons! It says "Common, let's go!"
Well, we've started and is it ever just perfect, gorgeous.
And the toilet. That is important.
So John, what time do we got here? What's the plan?
Yeah, we got going a little after 8:30, now we're gonna head up. The first peak we're gonna get to is Kurodake.
Oh yeah.
Beautiful views of Fuji looking over Lake Kawaguchi.
Oh yeah. Let's do it! There's the trail.
So we had a bit of a detour here because the path we were going to take had all kinds of signs on it.
Yeah, earthquake recently so there was a land slide.
Yeah, so look out
Proceed at your own risk, it's dangerous so we were like, ah, I think we'll just take the street.
Look at that.
We've reached the top of the road, only to find there's a parking lot here. We could have parked here!
Look at this. This is going to be awesome.
There's the peak we are going to head over to.
But, we gotta climb up here. We're going to get an awesome view in just a moment.
We're reaching the ridge.
What?! Look at that!
What in the world!
Holy cow. How awesome is that.
Oh man. How about this?
God's country up here. This is God's country here.
The lake is gorgeous.
Right down there, that's where we drove up before we went in the tunnel.
And this is totally doable with the kids. It was right on that...
This right here, yeah. It wasn't dangerous.
That's the bridge we went over.
Oh yeah, and up there you can see Yamanakako where we like to go
That mountain right there, that's called Mt Fuji.
The fall colors.
Yes.
This is just awesome. We've got another couple views, we're going to go to, is it Kitadake?
No, before that its Kurodake, for some great view there.
Then we are going to swing back around to Kitadake. No, no, no.
First we are going to Kurodake, then Shakagadake
So, we've made it to the top here then we are going to Kitadake.
Ok, so we're up here with this amazing view. We are going to continue to hike up the ridge to. . .
Kurodake!
Then after Kurodake, its.. Shakagadake.
Wow. I tried saying it a couple times and was like, forget it.
Wide angle.
If we just had some Starbucks and some wifi up here.. Hahaha.
Put a Starbucks here and it will make a killin'.
There it is. 1.8 km to Mt. Kurodake.
Dude, let me tell you what. The wind is sure different on the ridge, huh?
I'm about ready to put gloves back on. And maybe the hat.
Let me tell you what. This ridge is windy and it's chilly.
I might need to put a hat back on and some gloves back on.
It sure is beautiful.
Perfect fall colors right now.
We're out enjoying some beautiful fall views.
In a little place near Mt Fuji.
This is just absolutely beautiful. You couldn't ask for a better fall day here.
Beautiful fall colors. It's chilly, but perfect.
When you're on the trail you get to just have awesome conversations with the guys.
Can look at the awesome scenery as you go. Its just super special. It's really cool.
There's the trail guys that we almost came up, and someone's coming up it!
There's the sign we saw
The river was washed out. There's a little bit of a dangerous spot.
We probably would have been ok, but we didn't know, so.
So we took a detour but... The detour gave us some amazing views of Fuji.
So yeah. It was well worth it.
We have wife and kids at home, so.. That's right. We don't need Kurobe part 2 here.
Look at this. There you go Ben.
Its a walking stick. Yeah, really huh?
John, are you going to pull your pants back up now you think, or?
It's a little chilly, huh?
I had to zip up the chest hair though.
The man factor went down a little bit, but hey, staying warm now.
Awe dude. Sorry, as I jump in front of your view.
The wind was fierce on the ridge making us glad we brought our warm clothes.
But the views kept getting better and better.
In fact, the views we were about to get would be even more epic as we pushed to the summit of Kurodake.
That right there is the top of Kurodake. I think so.
Yes! And I think we are going to have an awesome view up there.
I just gotta ganbaremasu a little more.
A little more. Ganbate.
Oh! Hallelujah-gozaimasu!
We made it!
Well, there's a place to launch the drone here.
We've reached the summit of Kurodake.
And, what time is it? 10:42?
And now we are going to go, grab a bite to eat, and early lunch/snack and look out at Fuji.
Maybe fly the drone a little bit before heading on the trail.
Oh, here we go.
Common now.
Beautiful.
Wow. Wonderful.
I only brought 2 bottles of water. What???
Man, this is like a gorgeous view man.
This is awesome.
Gotta do a selfie. Yeah, this is the selfie location man.
Those are the southern alps way over there. You see they have a little snow on them too.
There's the whole ridge we hiked up there.
Looking over to Fuji and on down, wow.
Time for the giant lunch I brought up.
The detour gave us beautiful views, but also set us back about an hour in our hike.
It was time for us to decide if we could still do the rest of the planned hike or not.
Thirty? So I don't think we'll have any problem getting back to the car by 3:00 or, even if we took our time, 4:00.
Rock and roll.
4:00. But then we'd be home by 6:00.
So we had an awesome lunch here and I got to fly the drone and now we are going to Shatagadake. Did I get it?
Yeah? Shakagatake.
Ok we had a great lunch and now we are going to go to Shakada...hahahah.
ShakaGA.. Here, you guys say it.
Shakagatake. We are going to Shakagatake.
It's the behind the scenes, bro. That's right.
Shatagadake.
No, did I say it wrong again? yeah.
Shakagatake.
Yeah, its this way. That's the way we are going.
Trying to figure out. Yeah, that's where we are going.
Wow. That washed out sign.
Another change for me to mess it up. I mean, get it right.
As if this helps.
Yeah really. Oh yeah, well seeing that I know exactly how to say it.
Oh, that's how.
Our decision to push on and do the rest of the hike turned out to be a great one,
for even though we thought we had seen the greatest views, the best was yet to come.
The path there would not be easy though, especially after already hiking so much with all the weight in my backpack.
Doesn't help that I slightly overpacked.
I have enough food for probably 3 days in here.
Enough water for 2 days.
And enough cameras here to last the rest of the week.
Feeling good?
Oh yeah. Actually it's pretty flat.
How are those legs after that long descent? It felt good going down. Mine are shaking a little bit.
You're shaking? After all the downhill, yeah.
Yeah, me too. My legs are like, whoa. Not used to that.
We are looking back to what we did and it is, it almost looks like a wall from this angle. Just straight down.
It wasn't but it kinda felt like that on the body.
This is a, we're in a really beautiful area. This is incredible. Look at these leaves.
I won't lie, it feels pretty good to go uphill a little bit.
Oh, Jesus, thank you.
Look at this view here.
Hello!
Oh man.
Oh guys, why didn't we park here.
My goodness.
Shaka... Look it's spelled out in English here.
Mt Shakadake.... I still can't say it!
Mt. Shakagate.
Shakagatake
Alright, from here to the car, it's 30 minutes down that trail.
Or we can keep going. Or we can keep going 1 hour to the top of....
Shikaga... Shakagatake.
Shakaga.. ...Take.
Yeah, there you go.
Hey, don't make fun of me. You try saying it. Hahahaha
We don't see much wildlife out here. Look at that.
Man. There's a bird.
1:00 on the ridge.
We are almost 1/2 way with only 100 more meters to go.
For the last epic 360 degree view from...
Shakagatake.
Yeah! Woohoo!
Now that I can say it, I can see it.
It's the password to get up.
Meanwhile, back at home, the kids were also enjoying some time with friends thanks to momma chan.
You guys should do a funny dance to be on Life in Japan.
Joshua, do a funny dance with Aiden. Ready?
Its a good little hike to get up there.
Oh man, there's the mountain peak. And it looks pretty steep right next to it.
I hope we saved enough gas for it.
We got this.
Sometimes you have to talk to your body. And say, you got this body.
You got this legs.
You're not tired yet.
You got this.
As we slogged on, the body was not happy and I started to wonder if we had indeed made the right decision.
I do wish I would have brought my polls though.
I think that would have made a big difference.
What we discovered next didn't help.
Oh boy.
Oh boy.
Oh boy. Here it comes.
It's about to get real guys.
Yeah baby. Climbing into the sunset, well, it's 1:30 right?
So it's not quite the sunset.
Wow, cool huh?
Is this the trail? Yep, I think so.
Better be.
On a video this just doesn't look as steep as it actually is.
But you need a rope so that should tell you something.
I like when you get to a wall of rock and there's a sign there like,
Careful!
It's like, thanks, I see that.
Here we go.
Look at this view from here
A little taste of things to come.
Wow! I hadn't looked that way.
You know its steep and serious when Ben gets out his phone to take a video of if.
Yeah, I gotta show Debbie.
That's when you've reached it.
That's when you've done it.
John's talking about critical care insurance while we climb the riskiest part.
This is Ben's style right here.
This last part of the climb has been intense.
Rocks to climb up. Ropes to use.
Wrong path, oh no. Turn back.
They say it's a 360 degree view up here.
That is awesome.
I heard John say we made it.
That gives me hope.
We're almost there.
I'm almost there.
Wow
Here's the last little bit.
You can do it.
Tell you what, when I get to the top, I'm going to celebrate with some water and a snack.
Take this pack off
Get some awesome footage from up here.
And enjoy the view with some good friends.
What an experience.
What a climb here at the end.
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
I can hear their voices in glee.
Holy cow. The view does not disappoint.
Whoa, I hear something in the brush!
Ah, it's a wild YouTuber.
It's a wild YouTuber in his natural habitat.
Carrying way too much equipment.
Oh, here it is. He emerges.
He emerges. From the darkness.
With GoPro turned on and Sony camera ready
Here is comes, he's going to get the view. We're going to see him!
Let's get him. Look at his face for the first time.
Last step
Last step.
All the world is watching. You can do it.
Yeah, this is like the Truman show.
Ohhhh dude!
He made it! What?!
And look what's over here man.
The craziness.
Lugging all that gear up the mountain was worth it, because now I get to show you this…
We've made it to the summit
And have views. Got the views!
This is good views. I'm impressed. Got the views.
I thought maybe I had seen the best view already but,
This is, this is the best right here.
Look at that.
I think it's so great because it's all nature.
Oh yeah. Incredible fall colors
The guys are gonna eat.
This morning I was waiting for John to come pick me up and I get a telephone call and John sounds a little bit flustered.
And he's like, Dude. Can you come over? I need you to jump my car.
So 5:30 I went over and jumped John's car.
What are you gonna do? We got it working.
Happens to the best of us.
It's a good thing that Nate was coming today or else,
If he wan't awake.. You'd be like, uhhh...
Oh so, You know Nate's always awake.
Nate's always awake at 5:00.
These are the moments that are just hard to catch on video.
It is man. It is true.
One of the marvels of Japan, coffee in a can.
That's right, coffee in a can
What about a bottle? Coffee in a bottle coffee in a can, Japanese invention.
Alright.
Who'd have thunk [thought] it.
Lot of people do Ramon at the top. We're doing coffee today.
Coffee at the top.
How about this hike though and this view?
This is an amazing hike. I'm super pumped to do this today.
This is some of the best views I've seen in Japan.
Yeah, I would say so too.
This is just 360 degrees of... Mountain.
This is Ben's first hike! First hike?
Right? In 3 years in Japan? It might be honestly, yeah.
One of the first. All right dude.
Way to start on top of it.
This is the way to do it.
So I have hiked Fuji, and I did it with John actually.
And, we were smart enough to do it during a typhoon.
Which I would not suggest anyone do.
But the advantage was, the following day it was beautifully clear. We had awesome views. It's worth doing at least once.
And Ben.. Ben's like I didn't get my nap today.
They woke me up early.
Like these crazy guys they wanted to hike at like 4:00 in the morning or something.
I was like, guys, let's wait until it gets light out or something.
Take a little nape here.
Into the woods. Here we go.
On our way back down.
I mean, the whole Kurobe Gorge was intense though.
That was an experience like no other too.
I feel like I've done this much rock climbing in my time in Japan, you know?
Well, we found what floats Ben's boat.
Yeah, I like this kind of hiking.
Ben was like oh yeah that's cool, nice view, yeah guys.
Then we got to the rocks and he was like, "YEAH"!
Dinner time, play time, some people are eating, some people are playing.
Some people are drinking...water. She's drinking water.
The nursing Mommy is drinking water.
Yoshiko is in the corner
Playing the switch. It's the girls' turn.
You really can't capture it but, we just descended it.
And, in one piece.
It doesn't. It doesn't capture it.
It's like skiing.
If you ever go skiing and you're like dude, this slope is crazy then, no.
It has been just the absolute perfect day for a hike.
We're so thankful for good weather,
Good friends,
And good experiences
And amazing wives who help make this happen.
Oh yes.
Yes, we've seen this sign before.
And the car is close.
Close. Getting close.
We're going to be sitting down.
Oh, here's the car. Here we go.
This is the sign we have been looking for.
All right!
That's right. Let's go guys.
Here we go.
The last, the last little bit.
10 minutes maybe?
Watch there be this crazy ladder rope.
Like rock-face... Danger area.
We got our first visual of the road.
The end of the day is near.
The hike is almost done. It's getting later.
So the sun is getting low in the trees, and we're going to end at just the right time.
So that it doesn't get dark out here on us.
Get to the car, take off these loads,
Enjoy sitting down and driving back home tonight and seeing the family.
Flat ground. Oh yeah.
The guys have patiently tolerated having a YouTuber with them
As I take my time taking cameras out and pictures and drone shots and all that kind of stuff.
Thanks John and Ben for being good sports.
We did it. We did it.
Oh man.
So John, scale 1-10, how was today's hike?
Oh man, this is like a 9.5 or something.
I can't give it a 10, but pretty good.
It was a 10 man.
Oh look at that dude!
Dude, alright, show him up, that's right.
What do you think? On a scale 1-10 how was the hike today? Comment below.
And if you haven't subscribed, subscribe to Life in Japan because we live by those subscriptions, no I'm just joking. But it does help.
Ok, we'll hit the conbini [convenience store] on the way.
Throw all this trash out.
No, you can just throw it on the floor in here. John doesn't mind. Yeah, right.
Ok! Here it is. There's my smashed dinner, but it will still taste good.
That was definitely worth a day trip.
We did it! Yes!
John has a revelation on convenience stores here. Hit us with it.
Ok. Family Mart has the best sparkling water
Because 7-Eleven only sells their own brand of sparkling water and it's only lemon or plain.
But Family Mart has flavors.
Like plum, and grape.
And Wilkinson. You can get the Wilkinson water's there.
Fuji Mountain!
Thank you for being ... Dude, it's been perfectly clear all day long!
That is just ... amazing.
Walked in the door with 10 minutes left to Life in Japan premiere. That is cutting it close.
Joshua! What happened while I was gone today?
I lost a tooth! You lost a tooth?
Open it up, let's see. Oh my goodness! Look at that dude!
Your first tooth that you lost! Big boy teeth coming in.
That's awesome.
Alright, Life in Japan is going.
Here we go.