So here I am, in my apartment, packing up for the Fuji-meister. Notice my bag. It is stuffed. Stuffed solid. With what? Well, there's a bit of food in there.. but I'd say the bulk of it was warm clothes. Warm clothes that ended up weighing a tonne because they ended up being WET clothes. WET. But hey, don't I look perky? Um, ok no quite.

And here's Jon, doing the same as me. Except he looks like a goof. A goof with pink hair, of course.

This is us at the 5th station. We had to pay a $100 cab fare to get a ride up there since it was off-season. The station was pretty much deserted. We bought our walking sticks, took our last bathroom breaks, took some pics, had some pics taken... and then set out. Note: NO ONE TOLD US ABOUT THE TYPHOON. Hence, we were happy and energetic, and looking forward to a nice dry hike up Mt. Fuji. Little did we know..

Oh but wait, we're not off yet. One more pic to emphasize how cheerful we were *before*. This is because what pictures follow will show a completely different Jon and Alexa.. specifically, a very *wet* and *cold* Jon and Alexa. But to see THOSE pics, you're just gonna have to trudge on..

And this is the beeyootiful view from the 5th Station. Perhaps it is worth noting that this was probably the last view we had. After we left the 5th station, darkness fell. Then the rain began. Then the wind. Then the clouds moved in. Then we couldn't see a darned thing for the next 8 hours. We got soaked, we got wind-beaten, I even think we got hypothermia. Hey, at least we can say we were the only ones to make it to the summit that day.. and probably one of the few that can boast about the utter stupidity of climbing during a typhoon. Now, to see what this typhoon did to us, go to these pics...

On to the AFTER FUJI PICS-->