Wadi Howar

Every adventure has it's story right? But the story is also different for every participant. For Brigham, it was almost perfect. He wanted to go, he got to go. He felt pretty good getting up at 5am, he slept in the car, he was with his family and good friend whose company he enjoyed. Samuel was tired but a similar story. Matt, REALLY wanted to go but understood that we needed to balance other responsibilities but he left it up to me to decide which responsibilities would be deemed more important. So, for me, there was a lot of debate and frustration and guilt and prayer. Our car was freshly out of the shop. The only friend that was coming was our dear friend and fellow wadi lover Lauren. The girls would be home ALL DAY without parents and somewhat stuck. I really didn't want to ask Saeida to entertain them again. I also didn't feel like driving 7 hrs to hike 6 hrs in a Wadi and then get home tired and jump into the week. BUT, Brigham wanted to go so badly. He almost needed to go. Matt would've been grumpy in spite of his best intentions and heaven knows Samuel REALLY needed to get out. Matt wouldn't have gone if I'd bailed and it would've been a little odd for Lauren probably she also would've bailed so then, I would really ruin the whole weekend actually. I decided the boys needed me to go more than the girls needed me here and sucked it up. It especially felt hard when I was wide awake at 2:30am. But we made it. And truthfully, I might've gotten more out of it than anyone else. 

I rode over with Lauren and we had so much conversation going that I didn't even feel like I'd been up since 2:30am. She's wonderful. Unfortunately as we were getting to the start of the hike I got a migraine which is a first for me in many years. Here we are starting the hike by looking at a beetle haha. Lauren is amazing at loving my kids passions.

There were tons of plants in this Wadi including cat tails and water plants which was so picturesque in parts.

This happy wadi boy among some of the most powerful boulders. In person it boggles your mind to imagine them crashing down separating from their mother-walls. Sometimes you can see exactly where that happened and sometimes you know they were rolled down the wadi by powerful flash floods.

You don't go far before you get to this 30+ food waterfall. While you can hike to the side and get around it, Matt and Brigham were anxious to jump it. Matt never assumes or trusts heresay. He goes down, checks the depth of the water and the presence of rocks underneath and then climbs back up for the leap of faith. This one was high and it took him some minutes before he got the courage to jump. 

While I love this pictures and the wadi is just so beautiful, I see my hair getting so thing that it's hard to see myself looking so different.

That scoured white rock look telling the story of a thousand floods rushing through rushing boulders, trees, sand and even cars along the sides.

There were a couple of spots with ropes or chains to assist. I think maybe 2 or 3.

The scale.

I need to find some more photos of this section. I have a lot of videos but I'm not sure if they'll load or not.

The end of the the hike/swim was a falaj. It appears out of nowhere at just the right time to avoid a difficult, dry and therefore HOT hike. It hugs the side of the mountain and leads you on a tour of the local cultivation with the tallest, oldest mango trees I've ever seen. Also goats.

 I wish I could help you see the old fortress tower, the oasis that these date palms are, and the city in the distance. It's magical after driving through sand and rocks for hours. Wadi Howar is our new favorite wadi hands down.