Wadi Rum 1

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Wadi Rum

Another pot of hot, sweet tea brewing on a fire.


The next handful of days were spent on climbing, backing off climbs (too hard, too scary…), and enjoying our time with Khaled and his wonderful family in their encampment. We were once again reminded of the depressingly efficient passage of time by seeing Khaled’s elder son Zaid – he was barely a toddler during our first trip while now he was practically helping Khaled in driving us out to the desert. Unlike in 2012, when we camped by the Rest House and used their adventurous bathroom and shower facilities, this time we stayed in Khaled’s charming desert encampment, The Milky Way, far from the village. No more filthy toilets, dark, cold showers, and tent life. We stayed in a comfy canvas cabin complete with beds; enjoyed the hot tea sessions in the communal “tent” (more like a living room under the stars) as well as solar-heated showers and ate delicious breakfasts (including our favorite staple, Bedouin bread baked in the desert sand) and dinners in the family tent. This warm hospitality was in fact the big reason why we went back – really the only destination outside of North America that we have revisited to date.

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Wadi Rum

East face of Jebel Rum.


Our first climb of the trip was a 6 pitch route called Flight Of Fancy (6b) in the lower portions of the east face of Jebel Rum directly above the village. The highlights of the route were the long dihedral pitch as well as the foot shuffle traverse at the top of the route – easy in retrospect but quite memorable. We were surprised to see two other teams of climbers: a pair of Israelis and a mixed French-Palestinian team. Practically crowded and quite a change from 2012.

Photos

Frankfurt

If you have a longish layover in Frankfurt, bring your rock shoes and you too can send some plastic sickness..


Jordan

90 minutes to San Francisco, 10 hours to Frankfurt, 5 hours to Amman (8pm arrival), and a 4 hour taxi ride down to Wadi Rum. This is a roadside coffee stop halfway through the drive for our chauffeur to refuel (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

Another pot of hot, sweet tea brewing on a fire on a cold, desert night (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

Sprinkling of spring flowers in the desert (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

Shirley walking through Khaled’s desert camp. If our first stay camping out near the Rest House was a bit adventurous (cold dark showers etc.), this was the lap of luxury!


Wadi Rum

Beautiful Jordanian desert (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

On our way to Khaled’s tent for breakfast before heading out into the desert for some climbing (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

East face of Jebel Rum above the village (Feb. 2016).


Flight Of Fancy

Hiking up to the base of the east face of Jebel Rum and the Flight Of Fancy route (obvious, right-facing dihedral in the lower third). Severely jet lagged but excited to be back in the beautiful desert (Feb. 2016).


Flight Of Fancy

Shirley charging up to the base of Jebel Rum on our first day back in Wadi Rum. The Rest House is in the background (directly above Shirley’s head; Feb. 2016).


Flight Of Fancy

Shirley on pitch 2 (Feb. 2016).


Flight Of Fancy

Pitch 2 top out (Feb. 2016).


Flight Of Fancy

Leading pitch 3 of Flight Of Fancy (Feb. 2016).


Flight Of Fancy

Shirley on pitch 3 of Flight Of Fancy (Feb. 2016).


Flight Of Fancy

More pitch 3.


Flight Of Fancy

The French-Palestinian team climbing Mad Frogs And Englishman route next door to us (Feb. 2016).


Flight Of Fancy

Leading the money pitch (#4).


Flight Of Fancy

Shirley starting the spectacular pitch 4 dihedral on Flight Of Fancy (Feb. 2016).


Flight Of Fancy

Near the top of the pitch, you exit the dihedral proper to avoid a hard-looking wide crack section (Feb. 2016).


Flight Of Fancy

Shirley walking the plank on pitch 6 of Flight Of Fancy (Feb. 2016).


Flight Of Fancy

Almost done…not hard but certainly awkward and the gear is a bit iffy (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

More Rest House sights (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

The Rest House (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

A camel by the Rest House (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

Cheating on Blondie with a very sweet girl at the Rest House in the village (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

A hitchhiker in the village (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

The climbing shop in Wadi Rum Village (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

An unknown party topping out on the Goldfinger route (higher party on the right; Feb. 2016).


The Beauty

View of The Beauty from the village – the left facing dihedral (Feb. 2016).


Wadi Rum

Shirley enjoying an afternoon in the communal/living room of Khaled’s encampment (Feb. 2016).

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