Wadi Bih, a not-so-common area for us as our hiking ground due to its proximity to the Oman border, is the subject of last weekend's hike, finally. With my FOX.AE Family, it's the hike to start the season, at least for me. Starting from the usual Wadi Al Far, we traversed and made our way to start descending to Wadi Bih.
DISCLAIMER: Most of the photos are taken and owned by me while the rest are taken by Sir Allan Tengonciang.
Wadi Al Far Trail Proper
To start our hike, we took the usual route of Wadi Al Far starting from Bear Grylls Explorers Camp side. If you want to know more about the full Wadi Al Far trail, check out my WADI AL FAR HIKING GUIDE.
Surprisingly, there is now a man-made structure at the end of the wadi. Since it's dark, I couldn't quite visualize the structure but I can only assume that it'll be a man-made waterfall. It wasn't there last year (month of October) though and I'm always surprised how fast they build structures here in UAE.
Off we go, we started hiking through the wadi to make our way up. The trail (Trail B as I call it) was much better today than what I remember (during RAKTRAV 2020). And because it's dark, it doesn't feel as daunting as it used to be back then.
After more or less 4 hours (too sleepy to remember), we reached the top of the Wadi and finally settled at the campsite.
Village Plateau as Campsite
Similar to last year's hike, the campsite we take refuge on is a village plateau with few stone houses. No presence of caretakers was felt. The place was empty and huge enough for us to rest. The largest tree at the center of the plateau covered us from the sun which gained us almost 3 hours of sleep. Quite enough to replenish our energy to last the day.
Despite quite the distance from the famous Wadi Al Far stone cairns, it's a comfortable place to settle in. As a reward though, a panoramic view opens up when you walk towards the edge of the plateau. A sight of different colors, lines, and textures, it's a vista I sweat for.
I can stare at this view all day long but we have to move, unfortunately. A long day awaits us, so it's time for us to break the camp and prepare for the next leg of the journey.
Traverse to the other side of the mountain
Now that the usual route is over of Wadi Al Far, it's finally time to walk to the unknown to reach Wadi Bih. With the help of coordinates and knowledge of the team (myself excluded), we started the traverse. It's not a challenging walk yet but the terrain is wide open with no shade to offer. Thank God for the breeze from time to time.
A small cut at the bottom of my pants (ripped last night when I sat at a sharp rock), eventually became bigger. Thanks to my black cycling shorts, my bottom looked like a black hole instead. Add the problematic pair of shoes from Columbia, it's a recipe that makes my hiking so uncomfortable. Sir Allan even tried his best to keep them intact with duct tape but to no avail. The soles were completely detached and I kept tripping on the dangling soles.
I can't afford to dwell on my current situation so I'm eagerly waiting for lunch so that I can finally sit and cover my a**.
And when we finally reached our spot for lunch, I wasn't really hungry but took all the liberty to rest. Although not very obvious, I'm still high-spirited compared to my previous hikes but I am worried about the descent. Will my shoes and feet make it back to the parking safely?
Downhill to Wadi Bih & a minor accident
I guess it's not only me, but a fellow team member Tito Gil (Uncle Gil) was worried hell about my shoes as well. In the end, he convinced me to completely remove the soles to prevent an accident. But after saving me from a future accident, an unexplainable energy engulfed us all of a sudden. I don't know about your belief in it but hear me out...
Right after Tito Gil removed the soles, just a few steps further, he accidentally tripped over and rolled down. Thank God it's not a major accident and all he had was a severe ankle sprain. No matter how minor it was, it was so vivid in my memory since I was walking ahead of him. And he overtook me by rolling down. Not only did he roll over the rugged wadi, but he bumped his head too.
The last stretch of Wadi Bih
After Tito Gil's accident, the team was split into two. The first one went ahead to explore and find the trail while the second team including myself were slightly close together as we walked with Tito Gil with his sprained ankle. By following the first team's trail down the wadi, we continue to hike down at different paces.
While I used to dread walking alone (with my thoughts) before, this time it hit me differently. I found myself so caught up between my thoughts which was not so bad. There were times I didn't even notice my pace anymore (too fast and too far) because of thinking. Thoughts like... 'Explore hikes wasn't something I was fond of back then, but I'm enjoying this moment.' Or 'I should join more often than before'. Last but not least, was the thought, 'I guess I've changed a lot, or at least, my perspective'. Things like that.
As we reached the last section of the trail, two team members (who didn't join us originally) met us halfway. As worried as they were about Tito Gil's condition, they also brought some drinks for the rest of us. We eventually scrambled down (or was it just me?) the loose rocks and not long after was the parking lot. The explore hike from Wadi Al Far to Wadi Bih is completely over.
It was a long day indeed full of surprises (good or bad), but in the end, everyone was safe including Tito Gil. Not sure how often I can do this as of the moment but one thing is for sure, I missed being in the middle of nowhere. The mountain still feels like a safe haven to me. It was, and will always be.
