Yesterday my wife and I joined a group here in Saudi Arabia and journeyed out to a remote stretch of desert in the northwest of the country to see what many believe to be the actual site of the biblical mount Sinai.
We arrived early and parked as close as we could get to the forbidding 8500-foot mountain mountain, which appears to be burnt on top. We aren’t sure if the rocks are actually burnt but that mountain certainly has some weird geological things going on.
The hike up took 2hours. It was very tough due to the altitude and the fact there was no trail. Just scrambling over rocks the whole way. The strange part was that there were 13 people who left when we did but my wife and I never saw anyone from the time we left to the time we returned. The huge jumbles of rocks hide anything more than 100 feet away.
We came down by a different route and followed a stream bed which had a few cool, clear pools of water seeping out of the ground. By that time the sun was high and we were glad to take a dip in the pools.
In all the hike took us five hours. We were the first of the group to make it back. Throughout the rest of the day others trickled in in ones and twos, but by the time it got dark at 7pm there were still five people missing.
We were very concerned because to be on that mountain in the daytime was incredibly treacherous. To be there at night was suicidal.
Those still stuck on the mountain included a 72-year old man and a woman with a terrible fear of heights. They were still working their way down but the situation was critical.
Over several hours, we coaxed them down by the light of their cell phones until I could get to them with a proper flashlight. I was already smoked from my own journey up the mountain but had to go partway back up to get to the last pair of hikers and help them down.
Finally we all made it back to safety at 10:45 pm. What an ordeal. It is a miracle nobody was killed or seriously injured. I will reserve comment on things that should have been done differently for a later date. For now I am just grateful we brought everyone home alive.
