It took us about 4.5 hours to reach ９合目 and by then, my thighs were hurting and my stomach was flat. The first batch of our group (including me) checked into the lodge (the
highest one on Mt Fuji) at around 6:30 and a bento was served right
after. Nothing fancy and I suspected that they used beef for the
hamburger platter but it was not the kind of occasion that I could ask
for a substitute. After the meal we were immediately led to the sleeping area which
is so small that i can't even turn around without waking the person next
to me. Interesting still, the bedding space was not separated by genders so I was
sleeping next to a male groupmate. It was a little bit after 7pm when we were asked to go to bed and naturally, none of us could really fall sleep despite a rather long day and knowing that we had to wake up at 2am the next day to catch the sun rise. There was no shower and we were not
even allowed to brush our teeth since toothpaste is prohibited so I was quite disgusted by myself.At something around 1:30am, people are already starting to get changed and I, still exhausted, followed the suit of the others quickly put on my skiing jacket. (too tired and my nose is bleeding (why?)... to be continued tomorrow, hopefully I won't forget the details and my emotional status)
Continuing from last night...It was still completely dark outside when we were about to took off at around 2:30am. Most people have equipped with some lighting device while I was not prepared at all. So I felt quite uneasy climbing in complete darkness, fearing that any misstep would kill myself. The mist did not help either as the rocky trails got quite slippery in midnight. Following as closely as the person in front of me as possible, I held my head down the whole time and just wished that we reached the top already. The memories of K2 kept coming back to me on the way as I imagined maybe 20 years ago, you walked on the same path to the top and I was just replicating your experience. The fact that I have not let go of him yet bothered me a lot but all I can do now is to comfort myself that at least I had invested in real feelings and it was never easy for me to fall for someone. So to have this mere experience was worthwhile. Anyhow, at around 3:30am, we finally made it to the tori of the peak!! やった!!! we all congratulated each other, high-fiveing and taking pictures. 
We were told that the sunrise would happen at around 5:20am so we were just hanging around before then. It was very foggy and extremely cold at the peak so when the stores opened, all the climbers flooded in to get some warm air. They served some hot food like curry rice and ramen, but I did not want to spend a fortune on midnight snacks. So I was just chatting with a friend that I met on the trip and we were just talking about the culture difference between the States and Japan. My broken Japanese has helped to facilitate a pretty interesting conversation so time passed quickly. At around 5am, we stepped outside to the cold and were waiting the sun to come out. Shivering, we hid our face behind the jackets and stared at the watch. It was getting bright but the sun never appeared. We then finally realized the fog was too thick on that morning and we would not be able to see the sunrise. At 6am, the group gathered again we started heading back to the lodge. I guess, precisely because we did not see the sunrise this time, it has given us a reason for me to come back in the future. It is inevitable that we run into some regrets in life and things are not always within our control. As we walked down, the mist disappeared suddenly and we saw that the sun was already high above a sea of clouds. It was only a few seconds before the mist came back again but that very moment was worth all the sweats and pain. After that, the mist was on and off and I was just in awe with the postcard-like view from the top. The very view has captured and boasted our imaginations and I was just grateful being able to witness this natural wonder.
This concluded my two-day trip.
