Shortly after I woke up in my capsule hotel, my firend Yiting texted me that the Yoshida Trail—the route we’d planned to take to climb Mount Fuji—was closed due to bad weather. We met up near the bus stop. She told me I looked absolutely miserable. That made her laugh a lot. Me, not so much.

We went to the bus terminal to get refunds for our tickets to Mount Fuji. It wasn’t until we were on the train heading to Takao-san—another hike that served as our Plan B—that the authorities announced the roads were open again. So we had a 30-minute window to get back to Shinjuku Station, reach the bus terminal, pick up the tickets, and jump on the bus. A feat I never could have pulled off without her. It was quite an emotional rollercoaster.

They wouldn’t let me onto the trail because I was missing waterproof pants in addition to the standard gear. I hadn’t realized that specific gear was required for the climb. Luckily, I already had everything else since it’s part of the standard hiker’s kit. With no other options, I ended up buying a pair of pants at a tourist-trap price of 10,000 yen. I was pretty annoyed.

They also gave out a small wooden souvenir with the date of the climb to hikers who had downloaded their app—which was pretty useless for an experienced hiker. I would have loved to have the souvenir, but I refused to follow yet another silly rule. That really made Yiting laugh. She always thanks me when I make her laugh. “Thank you! Thank you!” It must be a Taiwanese cultural custom.