Hey Jim,
That's great you did the climb from the Sengen shrine. Did you stay near the trailhead or get dropped off with a taxi/bus there?
Did you hike in the night or in daylight? How was the route in the dark? I was wondering how the route is in the pitch black if you did it at night, I want this to be my next climb.
I stayed at a AirBNB place near the trailhead so I could hit the trail early in the morning (7am or so).
I only did the final climbs for the sunrises in the dark from the 8th station. No real problem climbing in the dark, since there were a long line of people with headlamps to follow.
