Jabal Katrina 2642m
In the heart of the Sinai desert lies an area known as the High Mountain Region, an inevitable lure to anyone suffering mountain madness. Here also lies St Catherine's Monastery, situated at the foot of Jabal Musa (also known as Mt Moses or Mt Sinai) which is supposed to be the mountain on which Moses was given the ten commandments. We had been searching for many years for a deal which would allow us to climb both Mt Sinai and its neighbour Mt Catherine which is the highest mountain in Egypt. However every package which we could find spends only one night in the area and climbs Mt Sinai only, usually for sunrise. This time we were staying in Eilat in Israel close to the Egyptian frontier but once again only one day or one night trips seemed on offer. At last we found an agent willing to organize a special two night trip (see below).
The approach from the coast to St Catherine is a beautiful journey through classic desert scenery of sand and camels. Eventually the road winds up out of the sand into an area of red rocks and high mountains. On our first afternoon we climbed Gebel Musa. Because we had booked a full package we were provided with a local guide for this climb although this is not really necessary. He led us up the easy way, a camel trail which winds around the southern side of the mountain. The famous 3000+ steps of repentance were apparently considered too hazardous for our advanced years. The last 700 or so steps must be climbed by all however and camels cannot continue all the way to the top. At the summit is a chapel, padlocked and sadly being allowed to decay, and a hut with a very friendly keeper who sleeps on the mountain most nights and dispenses welcome hot drinks to tourists at a very reasonable price. The view from here is quite magnificent, improving every moment as the rocky hills around glowed ever richer red in the light of the sinking sun. As we walked down the full moon was rising, a stroke of good fortune for us, giving a romantically memorable descent.
For the ascent of Mt Catherine it is mandatory to register with the police and to take a local guide who is quite useful as there are no decent maps and a number of confusing trails. This is organized by El-Sheik Mussa who lives in the village of St Catherine. His English is limited but this was no problem for us as our tour guide organized everything.
The way starts along a valley below Mt Sinai which has some walled gardens with beautifully blossoming trees. Beyond Ramadan's house, where Rock Hyrax are bred in captivity, the route becomes much wilder, winding up on an excellent trail amongst spectacular rocky scenery. It reaches a spur from which the rocky summit with its chapel comes suddenly into view. The path zigzags up an open hillside to the foot of the final rocky cone. It is a little disappointing to see at this moment a jeep track which comes up from another direction and terminates in a wide basin below the mountain's twin summits. The higher top is soon reached from here up some rocky steps. It is crowned by St Catherine's chapel which, like the one on Mt Sinai, is locked and falling into ruin. This commemerates the fact that when Catherine died her body was carried by angels to the summit of this mountain where it was found by monks three centuries later. The monks also built the trail to the summit of the mountain.
The scenery throughout was spectacular so please don't miss my pictures of the ascent
We were staying in Eilat in Israel and this side trip into Egypt was arranged by Thelma Booker of Thru Us Travel who most helpfully provided a 2 night trip instead of the standard one night package which ascends only Mt Sinai.
Our tour guide in Egypt who organised our most enjoyable and hassle-free trip was Sherif Omar
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