UAE 51: Highlander 2022 trail. 1 day hike. (12 hours )

If at all you followed my trail, referred my detailed text and if it helped you in achieving your goal or not,
Kindly leave a comment / review after your hike.

It will be helpful for fellow hikers.

Highlander 2022. 1 day hike.
We clocked 12 h 20 minutes that included 1 hour long lunch break at Puro Express !!

Overall really enduring, challenging, tormenting and testing trail that keeps on challenging you every kilometer and you will win it with fitness, preparation, determination and perseverance.

I rated this hike as "Moderate" based on my experience and it can differ for others based on their own factors.

'IF YOU WANT TO ATTEMPT THIS HIKE IN 1 DAY,, PLEASE READ FULL TEXT OF THIS DESCRIPTION"

For best experience, this trail can be hiked in 2 segments of

(1) Wadi Shah to View Deck Park 16 Kms
Camping
(2) View Deck Park to end point. 20 Kms.

Please consider the weather and carry suitable attire.

Kudos to Highlander UAE and Adventurati for this excellent trail.

My personal FB Page dedicated to UAE Hiking.
Please like/follow for hiking related updates.
https://www.facebook.com/Patricks-Hikes-101251445547970

The Actual Highlander UAE 2022 event was held from November 21-23 of 2022.

As an early UAE 51st National Day tribute, ( I will be out of UAE for the National day )
We 4 friends today (27 Nov 2022 ) hiked the full trail of Highlander 2022 with almost 38 Kms distance with 2300 meters elevation gain.

It took just above 12 hours for my age / my body / and my average fitness.

2021 UAE Highlander started from Wadi Litibah - STH Right Bank - Jebel Bil Ays - Camp 1770 - Ghaf summit - View Deck Park - Jebel Rahabah and then all the way to Haqeel village and then to Wadi Haqeel plateau.

2022 UAE Highlander trail has been mapped to start from Wadi Lahsah (near Wadi Shah ) to Musaibat village - Shah summit - via abdandoned villages - above Shahhah village - Zipline parking - Ghaf summit - View Deck Park - Jebel Rahabah and then all the way to Haqeel village and then to exit towards Jais road via a newly laid trail..

Please note that this is a one way hike, meaning you need to plan logistics.

You can park cars at the end of the hike here, very close to Jais road, near the recently constructed new Round about.
25°50'47.5"N 56°05'51.0"E
25.846531, 56.097512
https://goo.gl/maps/ia5F5whd6G2UbjS87

The hike starts here at Wadi Lahsah, neat Wadi Shah.
25°54'12.0"N 56°08'29.2"E
25.903323, 56.141431
https://goo.gl/maps/465QgA4svoYntQF69

The trail is well laid, very visible and you can not get lost unless you want to.

Keep checking this wikiloc as and when you feel the need.

The path leads you via the Wadi, and some mountain surface all the way towards Musaibat village which is a part of Wadi Shah loop trail.
Once near the village, the trail leads to the Shah summit point.

From there, the trail leads towards the vertical cliff wall of Oman border and then traverses on UAE’s newly developed longest balcony trail.

Continuing from an elevation of approximately 1,100m towards 1,650m over approx. 8km you will traverse along the Jebel Jais Rim trail with gradual to short but steep ascends till you reach the Observation Deck at the top of Jebel Jais.

By now you will have covered about 11 Kms.
There are washrooms available here.

From here you turn left and connect to the Ghaf summit trail and start descending towards Ghaf summit 1640, then further towards the large flag of Ghalilah, Puro 1484 restaurant and finally to Jais View deck park.

You can buy chilled water at Puro express of View Deck Park for Aed 10 / 1.5 Liters.
There are sandwiches etc available too.

Here those persons who want to stop can easily stop and take RAK Taxi on 8001700 and return back.

Longer breaks means less daylight time, so please take short breaks.

From here, you get back into the view deck park ( no entry fees for hikers ) and join into the newly laid trial towards Jebel Rahabah (Visible Phone tower). The trail leads you well, zig zag at places, gaining elevation and finally you will reach the summit.

From here, you traverse over the mountain surface with great views of Western flank of Jebel Jais , Al Rams, RAK City etc.

At KM19, you will have an intersection.
Left path goes down to Wassab village and Jais road.
This is THE LAST ESCAPE POINT.

You can refer my hike Wassab village to Rahabah. (Reverse)
If you want to return from KM19, then you can hike down to Wassab village / Jais road and then call RAK Taxi on 8001700 and return.

https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/jais-road-wassab-village-jebel-rahabah-view-deck-park-119938074


The straight path takes you to Haqeel for 18 Kms distance with no more escape paths, so you decide what you want to do.

The Haqeel path is brilliantly made with steps and safety barriers and we should be thankful to Highlander organisers and Adventurati team.

This section goes up and down, ( you will definitely curse yourself ) but thats the way this geography is.

After a long walk, you will reach on top of Haqeel village to brilliant views of the plains on both sides ( Wadi Bih / Jais road and Haqeel )

Soon you descend towards Haqeel village.

Your troubles are not yet over, you ascend again to the mountain top and then finally you start descending down all the way to the new Jais road and your 2nd car parking location.

Overall really enduring, challenging, tormenting and testing trail that keep on challenging you every kilometer and you will win it with fitness, preparation, determination and perseverance.

Please do not take this hike lightly. You should be really prepared well.

If you are attempting this trail, please be well prepared with water, Electrolytes, energy gels, protein bars, food and good endurance.

The trail is well marked and Highlander has done an excellent job in this trail.
After 19kms point, there is no escape route so you need to be serious and committed while hiking this full route.

There are only 3 safe exit points.
1. Zipline parking at about 11 kms. (direct road access)
2. View Deck Park at about 15 kms. (direct road access)
3. Wassab village exit at 19 kms (6 kms hike to the Jais road access)

Afterwards no point of return.

It is a very serious elevation gain, long distance and very demanding endurance.
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Do Not Try Any Mountain Hikes If You Do Not Understand The Mountain Terrains, Dangers From Wildlife, First Aid, Hydration And Snacks, Your Own Fitness, Remote Activity Preparations, Communication Tools, Mountain Geography, Topography, Risk Factors, HSE Requirements, Hiking Risks, Fitness Level Of The Group Members.
Study All Above Matters Well Before Following Any Trails That You Find Online. Please Do Not Over Estimate Yourself.
Better Be Safe Than Put Yourself / Group In Danger And Regret Later.
Lately We Have Seen A Lot Of Unwanted Hiking Incidents That Could Have Been Avoided With Better Preparation.
Wish You All The Best.
Wikiloc, Only For Reference. There Can Be Errors On The GPS Recording Due To GPS Jumping In The Wadi Sections or Erroneous Recording.