I climbed Mount Fuji from the 5th Way-point of the Yoshida route. Although it was a business day, I expected a lot of climbers. But there was no one. Soon after I started climbing up the trail, a Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) showed up to greet me, so I waved to him. The weather was partly sunny. Over the 7th Way-point, part of the trail was covered with snow. Some parts were extremely difficult to cross. Looking down from the slope, the clouds were magnificent and beautiful. At some point, I caught up with three Finnish climbers. Since the trail was treacherous, I decided to climb with them. Because of the snow, it took a lot more than I anticipated. Yet, we reached the Kusushidake Peak (3,710m). The top of Mount Fuji was extremely windy and cold. The crater was clearly seen but the trail to the highest point of Mount Fuji, Kengadake Peak (3775.6m), was covered with snow, and it was getting late. So, we did not go there. We took the Yoshida descending route; however, the downhill was all the way covered with snow. We had to traverse the slope to return to the ascending route. It was dangerous. Some part under the snow was icy, so it was slippery. Yet, some part was soft, so we easily got stuck in the snow. It was a long day. I was relieved when I had arrived at the parking lot. (Concerning Mount Fuji, refer to GALLERY; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Fuji) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_serow)
Welcoming Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) and the views from Mount Fuji, Narusawa-village and Fujiyoshida-city, Yamanashi, 5/24/2017