Hail March 2022

Loop in the stunning Hail mountains.

Mid-March.
Days - 16-22 degrees
Nights - close to freezing night 2.

Best way I can describe the Hail mountains is as if someone put a 150 KM circumference blob of plastic, 1500 metres high, in the hot sun, let it part melt before setting it hard again! Globules, globulets, broken off pieces have rolled off and left 'boulders' in troughs and gullies and wadis, odd-shaped boulders on bigger boulders. I love this type of landscape. Not too demanding at this time of year and a very cold second night at about 1300 metres.

Drive as close to the dam in Wadi Manchar as possible and park. Walk up and over the dam as inconspicuously as possible, then get the first boring KM across open space out of the way ASAP. Then another km in a narrowing wadi. When I was there the palms had been burned so the ground was thick with ash. Very dirty and uncomfortable walking. But there is rough 4WD track crisscrossing the wadi almost to the end.

Then head up to the saddle, down the other side and the fun begins out of sight of anyone who might be wondering where you are going! About 3 KMs in you see signs of humans (i.e. plastic, footprints, but you soon leave it behind. There are also gun cartridges from hunters. So BE SAFE!

The ground is fairly level for about 3 KMs, with some boulders and vegetation to negotiate, until a large clearing is reached, making an ideal place to stop and take in the Mars-like landscape. Head right and clamber-climb up over a distance of about 500 metres, over and under boulders and smooth granite rock faces, before you hit another wadi. After 500 metres more you get to another clearing at about 1250 metres ASL. The landscape here is truly magnificent, and lots of action can be had on the huge, smooth granite rocks slabs. The peaks around are approx 1500 metres ASL. Keep heading north for about 1 KM before taking a sharp right (east). I took a right wadi too early as I was planning to follow a wadi I had seen on Google Earth which would have led all the way back to the dam, but this one is very interesting and involves 2 steep climbdowns and some tricky bolder-hopping. It's not technical but care must be taken as in places, especially on the second down, which drops you into the same wadi which you started in, about 4.5 KMs from the dam.

No water seen even in March so be sure to take sufficient. I consumed only 3 litres due to cool temps. In summer at least double that for 2 nights.