I climbed Mt Fuji. It was pretty cool. 3,776 meters / 12,388 ft.

I brought a pulse oximeter out of curiosity. 98% SPO2 at the little base town where we were dropped off. 82% at one of the stops, compared to 95% of the woman working inside. 71% at the peak.

The peak was terrifying. I went up the Yoshida trail and down the Gotemba trail. The Yoshida trail is most populated. Plenty of people hiking and little stops up the trail that will brand your hiking stick for a few hundred yen each ($1-3).

Once at the peak, we had to walk around at the top through a storm to find the Gotemba trail. The storm was brutally cold. I remember there was a guy wearing his girlfriend’s dress cus it was the only dry clothes they had while trying to take shelter.

The clouds lingered the rest of the way down. It was insanely foggy.

Overall it was cool. I had the chance to hike it again the next year and opted out.

I tried climbing Ojos del Salado (6,893 m / 22,615 ft) but only got to about 6.300 m. We spend around 10 days acclimatizing staring at ~3.500m and staying at various shelters at progressively higher altitudes. On 2 days I felt like shit (hangover like symptoms), rest of the days I was weak but it was manageable. Before the attack day I barely slept (I was tired, stressed and in a tent with people snoring). During attack it was really cold (like even with all the high altitude gear) and going up was super difficult. The worst part is that going down is also really hard so you have to calculate you strength for both ways of the trip but it really hard to judge how much more can you take. Half of the group resigned after first hour or two. The rest resigned when it became clear the weather is not improving and it will not be possible to get to the top.

Three days later I climbed Pico Vallecito (17831 ft / 5435 m). I used acclimatization from the failed attempt and just hiked to the top alone. It was quite hard, especially above 5000m I was moving slower than I expected. I wasn’t very tired but I just didn’t have energy to move at normal speed. Going down was easy so I made it down on time after all.

Just got back from Boulder, did South Boulder Peak which was 8549’. The climb to Bear Peak just below South Boulder was the best part, it was so steep, we climbed 3000’ in two miles.

Here’s a cool pic from the top

Not a mountain exactly, but I hiked to Everest Base Camp which was 5,364 meters. About 2 days and 200 meters lower I had started having very strange dreams that come with that altitude. At Base camp, little tasks became more difficult, I had an ever present headache, and I woke on the hour every hour during the night. But fuck me, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Don’t remember the elevation, maybe 11,000 something… but I hiked to the peak of Mount Rose outside of Tahoe. It just so happened the monarchs were migrating through at the time and it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. There must’ve been millions of them everywhere. It was like a black cloud flying around us. So many were on the trees it looked like the trees were breathing.

The highest mountain I ever climbed was the two meter hill near my old home. I had to climb it whenever going to and from school. You could sometimes find me chilling half-way up the trek.

We climbed the mountain in Kandersteg, Switzerland. I was basically a young teenager, we were on a scout trip there, with various other troops mostly from England. A bit like a jamboree. 3/4 up the mountain we got pelted by hail, and you wouldn’t believe how painful it was even under the hood of my jacket to be pelted like that, especially against the ears. Some unfortunate ones with no gloves/hood had no choice but to cover their ears with their bare hands, and these were bleeding following those few minutes of the storm.

It was exhilarating. After getting to the warmth of the chalet we also got to go across the glacier, with yawning chasms in full view literally a yard or two away from our feet. Such things few youths have done, and I would recommend it for my own children if I could.

Himmelbjerget (Sky Mountain) in Denmark, it’s an entire 147m

Well, I’ve also climbed some baby mountains in Western Canada, like Grouse Mountain (just a short hiking trail) and the Columbia Ice Field (basically drove up there) but how can the compete to Himmelbjerget ‽

About 30-40 meters. Not sure exactly. It was a hard climb without a path. Just rocks and bushes. Quite steep too. But the view was terrifying.

I went up my Warning in NSW Australia, it’s about 1900m. I know it’s not that high but it’s hard to find people who want to go on long hikes.

I made it about 7000ft (~2100m) up the West face and North face of Mt Adams (12,274 feet, ~ 3750m) in Washington on multiple occasions. Any higher and I would have needed a permit that I didn’t have.

It was so nice up there, though quite cold even in late August.

They were beautiful hikes (Muddy Meadows and Riley Creek) that I do recommend, but I give a huge warning for sure as they both gain altitude really quickly and are quite difficult.

I was really winded really quickly once I passed about 6000 feet (~1800m) due to my crappy lungs (they’ve been through a lot of disease) but it was worth it for the views.

Here’s a pic from my first trip up the north face of Mt Adams. I sat next to that pond for almost an hour catching my breath because my face started to feel all fuzzy.

I’m going to do these hikes again and again until I’m ready to climb Mt Adams to the top.

Highest elevation so far Mt Whitney (14,505’, 4,421 m). Pretty uneventful climb since it was the end of over two weeks on the John Muir Trail. The previous 5 days was almost entirely avoid 10,000 ft. We slept on the shoulder of the mountain and sauntered up in the morning in about an hour.

Highest climb from the bottom to top was maybe Mt Williamson (14,379’, 4383 m). Trailhead is about 6300 ft, so at least 8,000 ft of climbing (2440 m). It was very difficult, climbed over 2 days. Not much time to adapt to the altitude. The hardest part was the realization that the top is exactly half way. I just wanted to paraglide down or get a helicopter ride. Some very difficult rocky terrain.

Honorable mention is Mauna Kea (4207 m). I had a magical elixir of coffee and Maca (REBBL Chocolate flavor), and powered to the top without altitude sickness. I haven’t tried it since, but I will try Maca again next time I’m going up in elevation above 10k ft.

Probably not all that high compared to some, but I climbed Half Dome. I thought the climb was quite easy compared to other mountains like Mission Peak in Fremont, CA. The view was stunning. We sat up there for what felt like hours eating snacks and playing card games.

All the way from bottom to top while hiking, the highest was probably Old Rag Mountain in Virginia. About 900 meters (2952 feet) at the top. Trail is moderate incline with a little rock scrambling at the top. Big boulders at the top to lounge on and great views. It used to be fairly obscure and you wouldn’t see many people but now it became popular with the Northern VA/DC/MD crowd and it got so crowded you have to pay a fee and I believe make a reservation to climb it now.

I have also climbed straight up a wild mountain with no trails in Grant County, West Virginia. It’s about 700 meters (2296 feet.) We crossed a river and went straight up, using trees to pull ourselves up the steep slope for most of the way. I’m not sure what the mountain is called, but it is rocky at the top and has a great view of a campground below.

The highest elevation was Cascade Canyon in Grand Teton (~7,000 ft and ~2,000 meters I think). Highest mountain however would Algonquin Peak in the Adirondacks (5,114 ft and 1,558 meters). Definitely my favorite mountain, it just looks like a huge slab of land. Lots of scrambling around the rocky peak with a great view of the surrounding mountains.