SO I am wondering if anyone reading here has climbed Mt. Fuji. Would you be kind enough to share some details with us about that trip?

My plan is to climb Mt. Fuji next year. By doing some research I have found that August is a good time to climb the mountain as it is mostly free from snow and mild in temperature.

My goal is to arrive at the mountain around 6pm in the afternoon and start the climb up from base camp 5 at around 8pm. To the summit is is a roughly 6 hour hike that should not be done faster due to the risk of Altitude sickness. That should put us near or at the top around 2am. At that time we can either rest outside or rent one of the cabins on the top of the mountain. We want to be at the peak as the sun rises for what I imagine will be a spectacular view. Then we will hike around the crater (the mountain is actually a volcano with a crater at the top) which takes about an hour and then head down the mountain.

An alternative plan is to climb up the mountain during the day and watch the sun set, spend the night on the peak and see the sun rise before we begin our climb back down. This concerns me with the risk of Altitude sickness and potential expensive cost to stay in the cabin as it will be the busy season and will likely be very crowded.

Any thoughts?