Mutrah Mountain Hike

 

I swear, not until I was well over the first mountain and into the valley, did I realize that this could not be the correct path. It was way too difficult and few people would be willing to go up it, nor did I feel would the Oman government be promoting it. Somehow I missed the correct entry to the mountain walkway track.

 

I knew the mountain walk was somewhere around here and then I saw the signs in the distance. I walked up and the one with the map was pretty much illegible. Then I made a decision and, as is so often the case, it was the wrong one. I probably should have walked between those two signs, which would have taken me to a break between those mountains, toward the left, and to a more acceptible hiking path. It was noon, very hot, and I had no water. I figured I'd hustle over this thing quickly and would be fine. I used a water station at the park, you can see from above, to drink and wet my cap. The path I took seems to have been some sort of utility path, and you can see it go up that mountain to a small gap at the top. Not a hiking path. So let me bore you with the story, as you follow along.

 

At this point I was starting to have some questions, but being stubborn, I knew I could handle it

 

And the views were definitely stunning, and that kept me going

 

 

Things were starting to get a little ugly around me and brutally hot

 

By now I was getting pretty thirsty and then the path went up yet again

 

But those views (Sindbad's old port), I tell you, whenever there was a gap toward the sea, it was beautiful
What I finally just now noticed did not hit me at that time at all, there was a dam in my way, although, had I seen it, I would have figured that there would be steel rungs on it to let me (and maintenance people) get up on it and down the other side. But the view totally distracted me. The heat was much greater than I thought because of all of the secondary radiation from the rocks. My cap was only wet with sweat by now, the water having long evaporated. Still, it helped. At least I had that.

 

 

I was finally descending. There was a lot of loose rubble here making the descent quite treacherous. I slid lots of times, always protecting the camera.
Looking back up. By now I had seen the obstacle, the dam, but knew that going back in that heat was not a good option.

 

As I saw it from here I thought, 'not too bad', besides, there'll be steel rungs imbedded. No problem.
Up close this was all very different. I tried going up the concrete, since the rock had little to hold on to, but that was slick like ice. I immediately slid back down. Not the way, that's for sure. By then, seeing no ladder, I was still hoping for one on the other side.
I strapped the camera behind me, so that it would not hit the rocks, and worked my way up that crumbling lower part of the rock wall. It took a while, but I did make it. I actually had to climb higher than the dam, I remember, off to the left, because of that dished out, hard and smooth surface, then work my way laterally toward the rail. Once at the top, I looked down and knew I did not want to fall. That side was even steeper, smoother, but not crumbly. I guess it was never subjected to water. No ladder, btw.

 

 

Made it! It was quite a job and mental stress, because had I fallen, I don't know if I could have gotten help anytime soon. And there you have it. Another boring travel story behind us. You survived again.

 

A welcome sight. Watch out for those Arab girls, I hear they are very temperamental. For me it was making a b-line to the nearest water station. It was Friday afternoon, and all stores were closed

 

 

Oman 2011

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