Hiking my Fuji at night

Hi everyone, I am hiking Fuji on the 3 or 4th of July and questioning if should hike through the night to be at the summit for sunrise OR should check into a mountain hit for the night and finish hiking the rest in morning before the sun is up

I haven't found any information about hiking though the night so any advice would
Be greatly appreciated,
Also if there is any place I can find hiking buddies as will be doing this alone

When I did Fuji, we started just before dusk and hiked our way up. I suggest starting early with no stops. You should get to the top just before sunrise.

We started at the level 5 station. With people constantly going up and coming down, it should be no problem to hook up with other climbers.

This is one of the pictures I took of the sunrise.

http://tinyurl.com/quof4q

Thank you so much for the reply,

I think I will do it overnight and go for it, but in all honesty the difficulty of seeing and fear of hiking alone, and difficulty of the hike is worrysome

Your picture looks so majestic, I honestly can't wait and hope it's a clear day

When i climbed Fuji a couple of years ago, I underestimated my speed and ended up on the summit at around 0:30 in the morning, having started around 7 pm. At that time, there was never really a point along the trail with a large amount of other climbers around. I'm not in super great shape, but I didn't have any problems. Although it felt like I was missing out on a lot of the view at night.

I realized that it's better to be early than to be late, because an hour or so before sunrise, I looked back from where I'd came from, and the last part of the trail was absolutely filled with people who presumably had slept in the last few huts. So if you do take a nap, it's probably a good idea to get up very early to beat the crowd.

Surprisingly enough, the descent was a lot harder on me than the climb up. I was tired, and most of the descent trail was the same way, constantly the same zig-zagging with large, uncomfortable gravel.

Don't worry about hiking up. The main trails are marked and cordoned off and there are always people around. Going up was like climbing stairs, lots and lots of stairs. Going down was harder, because of the loose gravel all the way down.

Things to pack:

Warm clothes - I don't mean arctic gear, but have the equivalent of a warm fall-type jacket. I saw two people who only had on shorts and a t-shirt and they were in a sad state. Japan in July is very hot, but remember that Fuji is a mountain and the summit is 4500 metres higher. It will get colder the higher you go. It may be summer at the base, but it is late fall at the top.

Rain coat or poncho - Showers on Fuji tend to happen out of nowhere. The only thing worse than being cold is being wet and cold.

Flashlight - Just in case. Also pack spare batteries. Also pack spare batteries for your camera. You will be taking a lot of pictures.

Toilet paper - This may sound odd, but there is none in any of the toilets at any of the stations.

Food bars - You will be surprised how much energy you will burn on an uphill hike. I finished off eight on the way up and three on the way down.

Water - Self explanatory.

Just an FYI, as you go higher and reach the various stations, items will become progressively more expensive to purchase. A 100\ bottle of water will be 800\ by the time you get to the ninth station, so you are better off bringing your own food and water.