Running down Mount Fuji (part 1 of 2)

An old story I'd like to share with the steemit community as I have many happy memories of my time in Japan.

One fine day in the summer of 1998, my then-girlfriend ('Yoko') and I elected to climb Fuji-san, Japan's highest mountain. So, with a pair of friends, we caught a bus from Tokyo centre to the 5th stage of the mountain. The half-way mark. Yoko and I set off as tortoises. Our friends lost patience and raced off. They were not to reach the top. They gave up, paid for a very expensive bed and turned back the next morning, they told us the next day.

As Yoko and I climbed into the night, we could see countless stars once we were above all the pollution. We could also see an electrical storm heading our way and so picked up the pace as a result.

Half way up, Yoko fell ill and puked at a rest-stop. But she wanted to carry on - it meant so much to her, it being a national icon for her as a Japanese woman - and so when she recovered, we pressed on with the climb.

To help her along the way though, I slung her rucksack over my right shoulder so I was then walking with two rucksacks on my back. Hours later, as we missed arriving at the summit for dawn by around half an hour, we could see what looked like a great fried egg in the sky, enshrouding our destination.

When we finally got to the top, we sat down with great relief and I took the rucksacks off. I posed with Yoko for the photo below as I realised I had developed an unexpected problem. I could no longer move my right arm comfortably.

Top of Mount Fuji the inscription reads in Japanese

Link to part 2: https://steemit.com/japan/@zool237/running-down-mount-fuji-part-2-of-2