Jabal Harun, Jordan (plus links to The High Place & Wadi Rum Docs)

Apr 2002

The highest peak in the Petra area of Jordan is Jabal Harun (or Haroun), the summit of which has “Aaron’s Tomb” situated on it in a white building atop the summit crags. The mountain is steep sided and has a plateau running from south to north with an area of large crags on the north end and a breach running up the middle of the terraced area on the east side of the mountain. The north side is also terraced but much steeper – there is a way up those terraces too but much harder.

Kilimanjaro – a Trek up the Machame Route

August 2007

This trek was with the same group as on my Mount Kenya report and followed on immediately after it…

After a glorious night’s stay at the Keys Hotel in Moshi, Tanzania, we met our porters and Tanzanian mountain guides (this was in addition to our British Guide from the trekking company, Neil). I wasn’t feeling too optimistic as I’d just failed to summit on Mount Kenya due to altitude sickness a couple of days before – and this peak is a couple of thousand feet higher! Also, even back as far as when I’d initially read the itinerary when it was mailed to me, I’d seen that, towards the end of the ascent, we had a very improbable couple of days lined up – but we’ll come to that later…

Mount Kenya – or not as the case may be…

July 2007

To escape one of my birthdays which ended in a zero (I won’t give away which one it was), and taking advantage of a break when I left one job and was about to start another, I had the bright idea of escaping the country altogether and challenging myself even more than usual. I was hoping it would take my mind off the impending date of doom (I hate my birthdays).

Wadi Mudhlim – Alternative Route into Petra, Jordan

Don’t think of using this as a free route into Petra – you still have to pay as it’s past the gate!

When I was in Jordan on one of my many trips in 2001/2, I read about an alternative to The Siq route into Petra from Wadi Musa. That is via Wadi Mudhlim – the dry river valley of the Moslem. This starts at the entrance to The Siq and begins with a 90 yard Nabatean tunnel immediately to your right. It was a little tense when I did this route the first time as I couldn’t be absolutely certain of the route, especially as there are some forks in the wadi. Also there are 2 waterfalls to jump down off which would be extremely difficult to reverse, I was alone, pretty sure I was in the right Wadi but not absolutely certain, and of course your mobile doesn’t work in such a deep gorge!