[468] Sunrise and a New Ordeal - 2007/09/14 (Fri)

'Uuu... Cold...' Half-way through the eigth tenths section, with the cold winds raging, my body and my mind were frozen.

It's Mt Fuji, so it's natural, but there is nothing to interrupt the wind. You're always exposed to the strong wind.

At this point, with my body already quite at its MAX limit, a 10 meter climb at last...

Bearing against the cold, with my heartbeat like an explosion, I had to stop and take a rest until my shortness of breath calmed down, and I began the climb again, a little more at peace.

When I looked up, at last, I could see the end of the light from the little huts.
'Is that the nine tenths mark...'
'There's no time until sunrise... I've got to hurry...'
With a flourish of feeling, I stopped listening to the whining of my body. (^^;)

Maybe I couldn't even walk another step... I was completely groggy, and I had barely arrived at the end of the little huts.

When I thought that surely I had struggled past the nine tenths marker, ACH!!! On the sign was clearly printed 'Eigth Tenths' ... 'A, are you serious... (*frightened*) How is this still the eigth tenths section... (T_T)'

When I looked at my watch, it was still before four o' clock... Plus, after the little huts, the congestion was horrible, with all the climbers tied together. 'It's over... Maybe making the summit before sunrise is impossible...'

With the emotional damage, the extreme fatigue, I was thinking I was truly in tatters. First off, in order to warm my cold-exposed body, I was going to take a rest in a hut.

I couldn't get in the little hut without some kind of explanation. (*amazed*) When I said to the old man, 'I'd like to see sunrise at the summit, but...' he replied with, 'It's impossible now. You can see the sunrise from here though.'

Climbing until the last moment would have been nice, but the mountain huts from this point on were all closed, and there weren't even any bathrooms.

When you're troubled by one thing or another, the sky is already spoiled. I got my courage up. 'It can't be helped, I'll have to view the sun from here.' Frankly, I was mortified, but. (^_^)

The sunrise I had waited for, shivering in the cold wind, was truly beautiful, divine, to the point that it blew away all the cold and pain I had been feeling. The view in the camera's viewfinder really didn't do it justice.
I was so fascinated that I forgot to press the shutter for a while. (^_^)

The darkness was illuminated by the light, and I could feel the temperature raising little by little on my skin, and I was struck over and over again by the sun's place as the source of all life. 'Every living thing needs the sun to live.'

Humans have such a small existance before nature... To say nothing of how small I am... But even such a small human like me lives a whole lifetime while being small... Everyone, even though you're small, put your feet down on this earth, and life your life to its fullest. Yes, I am alive----------!!

Mr. Sun, thank you. (*praying*)

The old man in the mountain hut said, 'Good. At this rate, you couldn't see all the congratulations at the summit,' and 'I've been many years in this business, but this is the first time I've seen a sunrise this beautiful.'

It's too bad I didn't get to make my prayers at the summit, but this injurous great achievement was surely a happiness in unhappiness. (^_^)

Then, having gotten some sunrise power and having come this far, I set my sights on the summit!!

Mm? Another 300 meters to the summit you say, and still four sections to go... (*ugh*)

To be continued...

P.S. Next time is the last. (^_^)


[note: =(>_)> ]