Kawaguchiko and the Grand Mt. Fuji

Hi again!

I'm usually such a planner, of trips, daily tasks, lifetime goals, but one Thursday last month, I decided to book a room in the town of Kawaguchiko, at the base of Mt. Fuji, for the upcoming weekend. Why the sudden spontaneity? I'll tell you why! Because I had never seen Mt. Fuji. You may be asking yourself, "what the heck are you talking about? Didn't you climb it in August?" The answer is yes, I climbed it. Let me tell you, my feet saw that elusive mountain, but I had never seen picturesque Mt. Fuji in it's grandness because the weather that day was so cloudy/foggy/rainy. I needed to "see" this mountain I climbed. This mountain that made such an impact on me.

My first sight of Mt. Fuji, from the train

So, off we went to Kawaguchiko, which was about an hour and a half away by express train. To be honest, I booked a room because I was nervous that the weather was going to be bad once again and I wouldn't be able to see Mt. Fuji... again. Turns out, that was unnecessary. Guess what I saw from the train? The beautiful, the grand, the majestic, the not-so-elusive-anymore, Mt. Fuji. I was so overjoyed that I finally got to see it, and also so proud of myself seeing how tall it is and knowing that I stood on the very top of it. With a huge smile and tears streaming down my face, I said to Joe, "we can go home now".

Have you ever had one of those days that no matter what happened, nothing was going to bring you down? After seeing Mt. Fuji, I was on cloud nine. I'm so happy we didn't go home. We arrived in Kawaguchiko after I was able to stare at Fuji san for another 30 minutes, it just got grander and grander the closer we got, and after a lunch consisting of a delicious hot pot of noodles exclusive to Kawaguchiko, we walked 15 minutes to Lake Kawaguchiko where my three boys proceeded to throw rocks into it for a good two or three hours. I found such joy in seeing them have so much fun doing something so simple. As dusk was approaching, we walked across a beautiful bridge (see the photograph above) to the other side of the lake where our hotel was located. Mt Fuji was behind us so it probably took twice as long as it would have to walk that distance because I had to turn around every few feet to "see" it, just because I could.

Enjoying our time at Lake Kawaguchiko

The next morning, I decided I was most definitely going to go for a jog around the lake so I could admire Mt. Fuji some more. I woke up bright and early, put on my running shoes and off I went while Joe and the boys slept. I was breathless before I even started. It was somehow a clearer day than the day before and I was in awe of this great volcano. I didn't make it far when I could see the reflection of Mt. Fuji in the lake. Some people might think, 'wow, that's pretty cool, but it's kind of like all the other mountains I've seen' but to me, the coolness was on another level. Not only is Mt. Fuji beautiful, but it represents a personal journey for me, in so many ways, so this one is so very meaningful to me. I practically sprinted back to the room to get the guys so they could also share in the awesomeness that was Mt. Fuji on that morning. We are all so glad I did.

I was riiiiiight... there!

Such a beautiful sight

I can't wait to go back to Kawaguchiko again to admire and get some photographs of snow-covered Mt. Fuji.

Thank you so much for reading. I love you.

XOL