Go back to Egypt.
Go back to Black Pearl.
Crack The Skye.
On the final day of our climbing trip we headed up for a trad route called Crack The Skye (6 pitch, 6b) on a face of Milehis visible from our camp. The first pitch of the route was a shallow dihedral with an irregular crack and sandstone flavor reminiscent of the better quality stone in Arches. The rock generally improved higher up though the crux overhang on pitch 3 was soft and crumbly and so it got aided. We ended up doing the route in 6 pitches but could see how a stronger party could logically cut out one intermediate belay. Very nice climbing overall and a spectacular position: we could see our Bedouin hosts most of the time and – as it would turn out later – they could see us.
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The Dragon.
After some sweet tea in camp, we packed up and drove 90 minutes through the desert to check out a rock formation that looks like a sleeping dragon. We did a fun scramble up and around the dragon and then drove to the top of a very tall sand dune (reportedly 150 meters though it felt taller). There the car dropped us off and we tumbled our way down the impressive dune to a wadi below. An hour and a half later, having made the long drive around, the car picked us up from the wadi and we once again drove back to Dahab.
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Adios Dahab.
It was a short evening in the same motel as before except this time we got the deluxe shithole suite complete with a lack of sheets or towels. When we asked the hosts in the reception for towels, an argument ensued between them. Though my Arabic is very rusty, I picked up the gist. One of them was asking why we would need the towels if we’re checking out at 1am. They’ll have more to wash. Finally the other guy reminded the first guy that they never washed the fucking towels anyway and, with the argument thus won, we got a pair. We were in Sharm El-Sheikh airport by 2:30am that night for our 5am flight to Cairo.
Photos
Breakfast in camp. Photo by our Bedouin host (Dec. 2020).
Racking up for Crack The Skye. Photo by Misha (Dec. 2020).
Starting the lead of pitch 1 of Crack The Skye – well covered by Shirley’s lens and Misha’s 2 lenses (Dec. 2020).
Crack The Skye – photo by Misha (Dec. 2020).
Bit soft – like a higher end stuff from Arches (Dec. 2020).
Misha’s take on pitch 1 (Dec. 2020).
Pretty engaging climbing (Dec. 2020).
High on pitch 1. Photo by Misha (Dec. 2020).
Shirley starting pitch 1 (Dec. 2020).
Shirley on pitch 1 (Dec. 2020).
Shirley making progress on pitch 1. Photo by Misha (Dec. 2020).
A closer look (Dec. 2020).
Shirley topping out on pitch 1 (Dec. 2020).
Pitch 2 (Dec. 2020).
Shirley on the second pitch (Dec. 2020).
Shirley nearing the second belay (Dec. 2020).
Starting up pitch 2 (Dec. 2020).
The overhang is the crux – pretty soft, friable rock and it got aided (Dec. 2020).
Views from the route (Dec. 2020).
Almost at our third belay on Crack The Skye (Dec. 2020).
More views from the route. Our camp is somewhere there (Dec. 2020).
Shirley starting up pitch 3 of Crack The Skye (Dec. 2020).
There it is (Dec. 2020).
Shirley on pitch 3 (Dec. 2020).
Arriving at the third belay (Dec. 2020).
Starting up pitch 4 (Dec. 2020).
Pretty splitter on pitch 4 (Dec. 2020).
Nearing our fourth belay (Dec. 2020).
Shirley starting pitch 4 (Dec. 2020).
Shirley on pitch 4 (Dec. 2020).
There’s a well-featured face and the crack mostly for pro (Dec. 2020).
Shirley arriving at the fourth belay (Dec. 2020).
Our camp from the route (Dec. 2020).
Shirley topping out on the fifth pitch. A shitty belay atop a rubble covered ledge (Dec. 2020).
Shirley taking us to the top via a long pitch 6 (Dec. 2020).
Shirley topping out on Crack The Skye. Photo by Misha (Dec. 2020).
On the descent from Jebel Milehis (Dec. 2020).
Misha almost back in camp (Dec. 2020).
Leading our camp for a 90 minute drive to some sightseeing (Dec. 2020).
Jebel Milehis from the drive (Dec. 2020).
Misha and Shirley plowing up a dune for some scenic scrambling on a sandstone formation resembling a sleeping dragon (Dec. 2020).
Not so easy (Dec. 2020).
Shirley scrambling barefoot into the eyes of the dragon (Dec. 2020).
View down to our ride (Dec. 2020).
Misha and Shirley in the eyes (Dec. 2020).
Two wankers in the eyes of the dragon. Photo by Misha (Dec. 2020).
Scrambling further up (Dec. 2020).
In the empty brain cavity of the dragon. Photo by Misha (Dec. 2020).
Misha near the head of the dragon (Dec. 2020).
Scrambling around on/in the dragon formation (Dec. 2020).
Inside the dragon (Dec. 2020).
Shirley on top of the dragon’s head (Dec. 2020).
More views from the top (Dec. 2020).
Happy Valentines Day (Dec. 2020).
Closer (Dec. 2020).
Even closer – hey baby!
Dragon’s fiery eye (Dec. 2020).
Does resemble a dragon (Dec. 2020).
Sleeping dragon (Dec. 2020).
Back at the car (Dec. 2020).
On the move (Dec. 2020).
Getting dropped off at the top of a huge dune. The car will take some 90 minutes to drive around and meet us in the wadi far below (Dec. 2020).
See you later man (Dec. 2020).
Hiking up to the tippy top of the dune (Dec. 2020).
A wider angle view of Shirley and Misha atop the dune (Dec. 2020).
Hiking and tumbling down barefoot of course. The sandy exit wadi is visible below (Dec. 2020).
Misha nearing the wadi (Dec. 2020).
Pretty fun stuff (Dec. 2020).
We had about 45 minutes of hiking in the wadi before being picked up by our ride (Dec. 2020).
Our last (& short) night in Dahab. The place was going off (Dec. 2020).