Ras Al-Feid to Ghbour WhedatAfter breakfast the next morning, we took a 2-hour drive (mostly on bumpy roads) from the Feynan Ecolodge to the start of our 10-mi hike (Ras Al-Feid) to the Wilderness Camp in Ghbour Whedat (i.e., in the middle of nowhere). Our driver dropped us at the bottom of a valley (photo below). This leg of the hike is very remote – there are no Bedouin camps and no water sources. We met Mohammed and his donkey Maguz at the start. They were our insurance policy or "rescue helicopter." Maguz carried extra water in case we needed it. She was also with us for safety, in case one of us took a tumble or sprained an ankle (no helicopter to ride out of the wilderness!).
We were a group of 5: Ayman, Mohammed, Maguz, David and Sally. David and Sally trailed the men, and the donkey trailed us. After 45 minutes the donkey behind us turned and headed another way. At first we thought it was taking a well-known short cut, since Ayman had told us, “The donkey knows the way.” After about 20 minutes the donkey was across the valley still heading away. Finally Mohammed turned around, “Maguz!!!” He took off after the donkey, who was apparently headed home, not to the Wilderness Camp. Over the course of the day, Mohammed rode the donkey about half the time and led/followed it half the time. We never got to ride the donkey!!
The landscape started fairly tame (not rocky) although the hills were substantial. We started uphill at 1200 m, gradual uphill then gradual downhill. Ayman had us take a number of breaks for water, nuts and dried fruit. Lunch was apple, tomato juice, falafel sandwich, cheese sandwich, wedge of cheese, slice of pound cake, and candy bar. The landscape got more and more rugged. We got to an area called “Bader” with rounded knobs of sheer rock on fat round bases and many other strange shapes with evidence of wind and water carving them.
We learned a few plants. “Seesquill” (left) is a 2-ft, single stem (paper-white stalk) plant with a vertical row of small dried empty seed cups . The new shoots (below) are bizarre. They seem like a different plant with fat green sprouts like the sprout of a tulip, looking juicy and full. Ayman says where seesquill predominates, it indicates overgrazing. We also saw other sporadic shoots and flowers coming out from the dry soil.
We hiked 10.5 mi over very rocky ground, up and downhill in dry windy conditions (no rain!!). It was probably the most strenuous leg of our trek (10 miles; ascent 2,450’, descent 3,020’). We lost an hour of daylight as Jordan just changed from daylight saving time to standard time that day (Oct 27 Saturday). Furthermore we did not start hiking until 10 in the morning since it took two hours to drive to our starting point. So we have to hurry (fewer rest) to get to the camp before it got dark. Sally stumbled once and fell on her hip – possibly bruised but no worse than that. David looked tired as we reached Wilderness Camp.
Louis and Hussein greeted us with sweet tea. Three tents were set up – small ones for Ayman and us, and a large one that served both as cooking and dining tent and sleeping place for L and H. After serving us tea at the outdoor fire of local branches, he tended the coals for a while and Ayman showed us the stars using “Skyview” App. Then they brought the whole trough of hot coals inside to make us cups of coffee, then served us a delicious dinner of meatballs in a fresh sauce of tomatoes, onions and a few chilies. Also a buffet of several salads, and oranges for dessert. We talked for an hour about various treks Ayman has done – Mt Kenya (hallucinations with no altitude medication at the top), the Anapurna Ciruit, Everest Base Camp, helping at an orphanage in Kenya, helping orphan baby rhinos in Kenya. It was still just 7:45 pm after all this dinner and talking. But we were tired and it was easy to call it quits, brush our teeth, use the outdoor latrine - a little enclosure with canvas walls and go to bed. The wind howled. We did not hear any dogs (Ayman had warned us to keep our boots inside our tent because of dogs from nearby Bedouin camp.) Sally got up at 11:30 pm to go to the latrine and found the canvas walls of the latrine had blown off. They formed a little pile around the pole structure, like a guy dropping his pants. She took toilet paper and walked over the next hill and down to a juniper tree for her business. David and Sally got plenty of sleep (9 hours). Even though windy and cold, and the tent was very airy, we were snug under huge polyester blankets with optional sleeping bags to cover if needed.
|
