Jordan – Part 1

Wadi Rum.

Up until last Thanksgiving, the plan was to go climbing about 2K miles to the west of Jordan. Some kidnappings and even a sad murder of a tourist (& most importantly the refusal of the transport company to take us where we wanted to go) altered those plans and we found ourselves looking for an alternate destination that would work for the same time period. We quickly came up with Jordan’s Wadi Rum which would be just emerging from its relatively wet period of the year in the final weeks of February.

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Interesting sight at a rap anchor (Feb. 2012).

A series of flights stretching 20+ hours and a 4 hour cab ride put us and our 150lbs of gear in Wadi Rum which lies in the south of Jordan near the Red Sea port of Aqaba and the Saudi border. Here we met our friendly host Khaled who would be our “enabler” during the nine days in Wadi Rum. Even if being guided is not your cup of tea (not ours either), you quickly realize that a local Bedouin contact is almost essential. This is the person that will take you out to the more remote climbs in the desert (good luck hiking 10 km in the sands…have fun with that), get you bottled water and fuel at a tenth of the tourist cost, help you get cabs for trips to Petra and generally keep an eye on you during your stay there. Khaled’s two brothers (Attayak and Omar) are climbers with numerous technical rescues under their belts. We were also lucky enough to be invited by Khaled into his home on countless evenings where we enjoyed his family’s wonderful cooking in a warm and very welcoming atmosphere. We quickly got used to and would very much look forward to enjoying hot Bedouin tea with Khaled after a day of climbing out in the cold and windy desert. This was the normal preamble to dinner and would take place either in Khaled’s house in the village or in his mother’s camp in the desert. It’s hard to convey the joy of the simple act of sipping very sweet tea around a warm camp-fire on a cold desert evening.

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Shirley on approach to Goldfinger.

On our first day in Wadi Rum we made the short hike to the base of Jebel Rum’s east face and climbed a 4-pitch line called Goldfinger rated (French) 5+ (~5.9). One out of three quality stars seems about right. Our first feel for Rum rock was not encouraging: blocky sandstone terrain of a quality…well, imagine if Sedona and Arches sandstones ever procreated… The upper half of the route was nice however: a finger crack in stuff more closely resembling Castle Valley’s Wingate. On the way down, the upper (of two) pitch of Troubador caught our eye and so we climbed that as well: a beautiful looking splitter crack in a dihedral (6a+) that went from red to blue Camalots in size.

The following day, Khaled drove us out to the Barrah Canyon (30-45 minutes in a 4X4) where we climbed Merlin’s Wand, a beautiful 5-pitch long crack (6a+) nicknamed The Supercrack Of Rum. Though the terrain offered little in the way of true straight in jamming (mostly face climbing around the crack), the rock was almost impeccable and the climbing highly enjoyable. We were surprised to see drilled angle belays which we used to think were an exclusive specialty of the American southwest. After rapping off, we hiked out to look at the well reputed Star Of Abu Judaidah route. Indeed, the line looked stellar from below and we quickly prioritized it on our list.

Photos

A warning sign somewhere along a highway in southern Jordan (March 2012).

The entrance to Wadi Rum.

Semi-artistic (quarter-artistic?) take on the journey to the Rum (plus about a 4 hour drive from Amman; Feb. 2012).

Our home for 9 days in the back of the Rest House in Wadi Rum. The east face of Jebel Rum is in the background (Feb. 2012).

Goldfinger

Shirley on the short approach hike to the base of Jebel Rum's east face and our first climb of the trip: Goldfinger (a 4 pitch 5+ route; Feb. 2012).

Shirley on pitch 2 of Goldfinger (Feb. 2012).

Wadi Rum village and Jebel um Ishrin Massif as seen from the Goldfinger route on Jebel Rum (Feb. 2012).

Shirley leading the money pitch (#3) of Goldfinger - a nice dihedral crack to a beautiful (golden?) finger crack on the right (Feb. 2012).

Following the third pitch finger crack of Goldfinger (Feb. 2012).

Looking back at Shirley from the fourth and final pitch of Goldfinger (Feb. 2012).

Leading the final pitch of Goldfinger (Feb. 2012).

A view from the top of Goldfinger. Wadi Rum village is on the left and Jebel um Ishrin in the background. Beyond lies the interior of the Wadi Rum (Feb. 2012).

Shirley topping out on Goldfinger (pitch 4) with Nabataean temple ruins and the Rest House (beyond) in the background (Feb. 2012).

Interesting sight at a rap anchor (Feb. 2012).

Troubador

Leading the money pitch of Troubador: a beautiful corner splitter (6a+) in perfect rock that goes from red to blue Camalots in size (Feb. 2012).

Shirley climbing the corner crack of Troubador (Feb. 2012).

Exploring the Nabataean temple ruins just outside the village.

Welcome to Wadi Rum. You pass by a camel "pasture" as soon as you pull off the main highway on your way into Wadi Rum (Feb. 2012).

Shirley enjoying our first dinner at the Wadi Rum's Rest House. Though we had heard of the monotonous menu there before going we did not find this to be the case. The food was varied and solidly in the "very good" quality bracket (Feb. 2012).

Merlin’s Wand

The start of the desert track at the edge of the village. This is on our way out to Barrah Canyon in Khaled's truck (Feb. 2012).

Shirley hiking in to the Merlin's Wand route (5-pitches, 6a+) in Barrah Canyon (Feb. 2012).

Leading pitch 1 of Merlin's Wand a.k.a. the Super Crack Of Rum...maybe but it's mostly face climbing around the crack (stellar rock though either way! Feb. 2012).

Shirley following pitch 1 of Merlin's Wand in Barrah Canyon (Feb. 2012).

Shirley ready to "lock and load" (nice hat!) ...errr... to lead pitch 2 of Merlin's Wand (Feb. 2012).

Topping out on Merlin's Wand's pitch 2 with the North Gendarme Of Abu Judaidah visible in the background (Feb. 2012).

Leading pitch 3 of Merlin's Wand - this is the crux section of the route, the advertised 6a+ sandy overhang (Feb. 2012).

Shirley following pitch 3 of Merlin's Wand with the large pedestal atop pitch 2 visible below (Feb. 2012).

Shirley starting up pitch 4 of Merlin's Wand - a nice and steep 5+ pitch that starts out as a wide crack (Feb. 2012).

Views from high up on Merlin's Wand route. This is probably the North Gendarme Of Abu Judaidah (Feb. 2012).

Yours truly following pitch 4 of Merlin's Wand (Feb. 2012).

Topping out on pitch 4 of Merlin's Wand. Great rock and fun climbing (Feb. 2012).

Leading the fifth and final pitch of Merlin's Wand (Feb. 2012).

Views of Barrah Canyon from the top of Merlin's Wand route (Feb. 2012).

A rainbow we saw from atop Merlin's Wand route on a perfectly dry and clear day (Feb. 2012).

Shirley at the circular altar atop pitch 5 of Merlin's Wand (Feb. 2012).

Merlin's Wand (left crack) in all of its 5-pitch glory. Shirley can be seen on the right rapping down (Feb. 2012).

Shirley on the final rap from Merlin's Wand (crack on the left; Feb. 2012).

Looking back to Barrah Canyon from the drive out in Khaled's pick up (Feb. 2012).

Wadi Rum.

Go to Part 2
Go back to Jordan – First Trip