Wadi Rum looks like a desert landscape on another world, like the setting of a Star Wars scene. Across an orange sand desert, a dozen blocks or spikes of tan and black striped mountains rose 1500m out of the otherwise flat vista. It looks like horns piercing a placid surface from the back of some enormous sand monster.
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I found Petra a strange combination of a UNESCO heritage site, a circus and Yosemite Valley. It is truly a special place with dozens of impressively constructed stone entrances, beautiful rock, hundreds of abandoned carved homes and great views. This co-mingling with the loud Arabic shouts of men managing donkeys, tourists boasting excited screams as they rise on camels, kids asking me to buy trinkets or post cards and clopping donkey carts pushing through a barely wide enough canyon. In reality, I understand this my own perpetual conflict between popular tourist attraction environments and my own pristine wilderness ethics. Local people are simply trying to make a living and give the average tourist the experience they expect. I try hard to push past this so it doesn’t hamper my enjoyment of these really unique and amazing places of the world.
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Jordan may be known for Petra, but within an hour of the country’s capital of Amman sits many fantastic archeological sites stretching back thousands of years. A few desert castles to the east, a massive Roman settlement to the north and even an ancient citadel and Roman theatre in the city center.
Each destination worthy of a couple hours walk with plentiful guides and historical description placards in both Arabic and English (the second official language). Better even with the great deal from the Jordan Pass which provides access to all these sites, waives the traveler’s visa fee and includes entrance to Petra. Let me take you on a tour.
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Living on the road. Spending every day pursuing outdoor activities. Possibly without a job, definitely with little income and a life cornerstoned on little responsibilities. This is the idealic description of the nomad lifestyle that many millennials are dreaming of these days whether it be in a car, van or bus.
The reality of Nomadic Life is that it comes with its own set of tradeoffs and challenges to enable such freedom to explore the outdoors. I have just wrapped up five months into that experience and can vouch that all that novelty has and idealism wears away rather quickly. I truly appreciate not having to worry about cramming in all my fun into a weekend or a short trip.
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After reading the sign marking Golden Dome I walk down an asphalt trail one hundred feet until I reach my destination: a steel ladder protruding out of a 3 ft wide opening in the ground. Looking down into the hole, there is nothing but darkness outside the small bit of visible rock floor illuminated by the entrance sunlight.
Spry Canyon (3B III) feels like an off-trail slab approach and then starts as a wide forested canyon typical of Zion. However, it’s charm are the multiple narrow, dark and wicked cool slot canyons, each a couple hundred feet long. These slots contain sometimes unavoidable pools of water (even in October), however there are typically alternate rappel options to avoid those sections of the canyon to keep dry if you look around before rappelling in. Super cool canyon, I think I liked it more than Behunin.
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The sky is just lightening with a touch of pink as we dropped off at the top of The Narrows, one of the best hikes in the world. It is cold, in the upper thirties so I’m wearing a light base layer, fleece and waterproof shell over wetsuit. After walking a couple miles on road, past a dilapidated cabin. were started by bounced across the rocks across the Virgin River in a dance to keep our feet dry.
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Behunin Canyon (3A/B III) was a very straightforward canyon with two fun, longer rappel sections and two slot canyon rappels. In those sloty parts there were small pools in early October but that added to the fun by bridging around them. Overall, the canyon offers a variety of sandstone, a long hike and an easy, straightforward day. Also, about half the rappels could be downclimbed instead of you wanted.
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Leaning hard into my harness I positioned my feet firmly and nearly perpendicularly against the blank gray, white and black speckled wall as I began my full sprint towards a granite ledge. Not quite reaching it I pendulum back in the other direction, pulled by gravity and directed by the rope clipped 30ft above me to a bolt. I embrace the new direction, pumping my legs and jumping over my lead line to gain as much elevation and speed as possible in the opposite direction before I turn back towards the ledge for another attempt. The pendulum occurs and I again thrust forward with as much force as possible. My legs feel like I am futilely attempting to push a car up a hill as I try to gain inches of height towards the end of the pendulum. I desperately reach forward with my hands for the ledge lip only to come up inches short of being yanked downward and away. Tired and breathing heavily, I let the pendulum bring me to a rest several bolts from the start of the bolt ladder.
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It all started one day when I happened upon this description, “longer, more sustained, more exposed Matthes Crest”. Wow, Matthes Crest is THE favorite climb for many people and I just stumbled upon a similar route that could be its superior! The lacking description, amazing photos, wilderness setting and few ascents for Saber Ridge only added to the allure of the adventure. What I would find was the most sustained exposure since Mt Sir Donald on a wild backcountry route so committing and long that it took an unexpected overnight ledge bivy to finish.
Note: I provide a detailed, technical description of the climb in another post, while providing a general description below to keep the story moving.
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