Wadi Feid, Jordan, summer 2010

[boxbarr]

Since we've been asked to do a trip report of a canyon in Jordan, here is a report on Wadi Feid, the last Wadi we did in Jordan ("wadi" suppose to mean in Arabic a river which doesn't have a perennial stream, even though some Wadies - like Wadi Feid - do have perennial stream).

Wadi Feid is located approximately halfway between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea (Eilat / Aqaba), and like most of the canyons in Jordan (and Israel - our home country) it goes down from the mountains to the Great Rift Valley (geological depression that stretches from Syria, along the valley of the Jordan River and the Red Sea, to Mozambique).

The canyon has 11 waterfalls, 2 of them can be bypassed, and 9 must be rappelled. It goes down from app. 1,350 meters (4,500 ft) above sea level, to (more or less) Sea level, into the Arava Valley (the valley that goes form the Dead Sea to the Red Sea, and forms the southern border between Israel and Jordan). Most of the "elevation fall" is in the waterfalls section, which is a mile long.

OK, enough talking. here are some pics.


Going down the canyon, before the water emerge from the ground:

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Walking alongside an old Nabatic aqueduct (400 BC - 100 AC):

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The highest waterfall in the canyon - 60m (200ft):

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and here are some pics of the canyon itself:

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Going out of the canyon, the water disappear and the air becomes hot.
Needless to say, it gets ubbelievebly HOT once the canyon is fading into a shellow dry "river" (a Wadi), with tempratures between 40-45 C degrees (104-113 F):

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A look to the Arava valley:

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THE END

[Pelon1]

Great trip report, just never imagined canyons like that in the Middle East:clap::clap:

[dbaxter]

Nice pix! Thanks for sharing! :clap:

[oldno7]

Very nice canyon! Looking forward to other canyons you have done.
Thanks for sharing

[nat]

Wow, beautiful looking canyon! How long did it take? It looks like you brought camping gear. Are there any red tape/bureaucratic barriers to canyoneering there, or permits required?

Nat

[boxbarr]

Thanks everybody.


Wow, beautiful looking canyon! How long did it take? It looks like you brought camping gear. Are there any red tape/bureaucratic barriers to canyoneering there, or permits required?

Nat




Yep, we slept between the waterfalls. Actually, it took us a bit less than 24 hours, so it can be done in one long day, but because we have to cross the border twice in normal hours, we didn’t try that.

About the permits – there are few national parks, in which you have to obtain a permit from the RSCN (the official authority in charge of the parks) in order to hike there. Getting such a permit is not easy (we never tried). All other places don’t require permits, even though the Jordanians always afraid that something horrible will happen to tourists, so sometimes, when they see our ropes in the border checks, they make us sign a written obligation that says we are not planning to hike in any river. Well, we sign these obligations and everybody is content with that.

[Sombeech]

Excellent! Feel free to post more reports about the canyons over there. :cool2:

[Cirrus2000]

Wow, those are gorgeous photos! A really beautiful place. Thanks for sharing that! :2thumbs:


Do they use helmets much, in the Middle East?
- (Channeling Tom :moses:)

[Brian in SLC]

Wow, really great TR!

Got invited a few years back to do a climbing trip to Wadi Rum and also did some research on the canyons that flow into the Dead Sea. There's a British (I think?) guidebook available for canyoneering there? Also found a number of guides who do trips to the canyons? The gig I was looking at was guided by a friend of a friend who was Swiss. Hmmm...

A couple week trip, climbing, canyoning, seeing Petra, would punch my ticket for sure!

Cheers from the other River Jordan flowing into a Dead Sea (ha ha).

-Brian in SLC (Salty "Dead Sea" Lake City)

[trackrunner]

awesome TR :2thumbs::hail2thechief:

maybe we need to trade. I've got family property that boarders east Zion NP and the Grand Staircase NM. You can come stay and I'll show you some of our canyons if you show me some or yours. :mrgreen:


Do they use helmets much, in the Middle East?
- (Channeling Tom :moses:)

does his empire go that far?

[DWayne27]

Very cool trip report and pictures! Keep them coming. I would also be interested in knowing where someone could find information on canyons in the area...

[jman]

Looks like a fun trip! I always love the water pics...

I hope your trip to Zion and Escalante go well! By the way, did you work out your canyon list while you are here? I'm curious to see what you have planed.

And one last question, you mentioned how most canyons go into the Great Rift Valley, and so, how many other canyons are in this area that are similar to the Wadi Feid?

Thanks!

[qedcook]

Are my eyes tricking me or do I see the reflection in the water of a person at the top of a rappel in this pic

http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=36114&d=1281436173

Bottom right you can see the red shirt. That's pretty awesome.

http://www.bogley.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=36114&d=1281436173

[northernoutpost]

Pretty awesome report. I had this canyon recommended by a local (well, Israel local, anyway) when we linked up for a trip through Das Boot a couple of years ago. It's great to see the mentioned scenic values.

FWIW, Brian, the book you're thinking about was written by Tony Howard. There is a newer one by Itai Haviv that covers many of the canyons there, but doesn't deal with climbing at Wadi Rum. 2 weeks? In my long term plans, fer sure.

[boxbarr]

Do they use helmets much, in the Middle East?


Well, we do have helmets at home, but they are shy and don’t like direct sun light, so as considerate owners we give them a break unless they are really necessary.

[boxbarr]

Brian & Northernoutpost - There are 3 guidebooks that cover many of the canyons In Jordan (but not all of them, there are some canyons we've done, that are not mentioned in any book).



One is available only in Hebrew.



The second is Tony Howard's (the British guy) guidebook, which has a new edition (2009), but isn’t accurate nor detailed enough (quite the opposite of Tony's book about climbing in Wadi Ram, which is irreplaceable).



The third one is Itay Haviv's (an Israeli guy) guidebook, which is quite old (1999), but still great, and as Northernoutpost mentioned, it doesn’t cover climbing at all.




About guides, we know of one Jordanian company that does canyoneering, and several Israeli guides that take people into canyons in Jordan, but its not so common (strangely enough, Jordanians don’t hike, and most tourists don’t know about the (well kept secret of) the Jordanian canyons, so the canyons are pretty empty of people, except for Israeli who like to travel by their own).

[denaliguide]

those were very nice. i just knew that utah didn't have a monopoly on cool canyons. and i think the beautiful blonde needs to feature more prominently in your next trip report. but thats just me. :2thumbs::2thumbs:

[boxbarr]

Looks like a fun trip! I always love the water pics...

I hope your trip to Zion and Escalante go well! By the way, did you work out your canyon list while you are here? I'm curious to see what you have planed.

And one last question, you mentioned how most canyons go into the Great Rift Valley, and so, how many other canyons are in this area that are similar to the Wadi Feid?

Thanks!



There are about 25 canyons with perennial stream in Jordan & Israel which goes to the Great Rift Valley, like Wadi Feid (the 4 canyons in Israel are not a good choice - one is polluted, one in the Western Bank and therefore not safe, and the two others are closed reservations). There are off course dozens of other canyons in the area, part of them are excellent canyons with potholes (not KPH). All the canyons are going down through different layers - first limestone, then sandstone, and then igneous rock. In Jordan, in most of the canyons the sandstone section is the main one, but in some, like Wadi Feid, the igneous rock section is the primary section. In Israel, the main section is limestone.





Regarding our trip - it depends on too many variations (permits, weather, etc.) but the general idea is to start at Zion (Echo, Das Boot & Subway, The Narrows, Fat Man's Misery, Mystery (if we could get a permit), Keyhole & Pine Creek, and maybe also Behunin, Spry or Telephone), try getting a permit to The Wave sometime between the Zion canyons, and afterwards continue to Escalante (Neon, Choprock & Egypt 3). The rest I guess we'll have to leave for next time (it may be too ambitious as it is, we'll see).

[accadacca]

Awesome! Some of those pictures sure remind me of Utah canyons...amazing. :popcorn:

[ststephen]

Great TR and photos and fantastic timing to post it. I'm in the middle of planning a short trip over Christmas break to Jordan and Egypt! I've been studying the canyons there but I think the weather will make technical canyoneering not feasible? Instead I'm thinking of some trekking or rock scrambling. We'll probably make use of a guiding service to maximize our time. Can I PM/email you with some more questions?

[Don]

Agreed. Great trip report! I'm envious. :2thumbs:

[DaneDane]

Yeah, good grief--THAT's a trip.

[Iceaxe]

Nice Pics :2thumbs:

[boxbarr]

Great TR and photos and fantastic timing to post it. I'm in the middle of planning a short trip over Christmas break to Jordan and Egypt! I've been studying the canyons there but I think the weather will make technical canyoneering not feasible? Instead I'm thinking of some trekking or rock scrambling. We'll probably make use of a guiding service to maximize our time. Can I PM/email you with some more questions?

Winter is mild in our area, and there are good canyons without perennial stream, so it is possible to do technical canyoneering even in winter (and even without wetsuits). Plus, there are some canyons with hot water that we reserve specially for winter. Needless to say, in any canyon, simple or technical, you must be alert for flashfloods, they can happen even if the sky is sunny above you, so you must check the weather a day before.

Trekking and scrambling outside of canyons is possible, but we know of good places only in the Wadi Ram area (I'm sorry to say that the rule of thumb in Jordan is that if the place is negotiable, it will be full of litter - BBQ leftovers or just garbage).

Anyway, Wadi Ram area (between Aqaba and Petra) is a marvelous reservation with some of the best rock formation in the world, and there is a lot of technical trekking and scrambling to do there (as well as climbing - it is considered to be one of the best sandstone natural climbing sites in the world). Over there you can also find many local operators who organize guided tours, meals, and places to sleep in the middle of the red dessert. The only problem is that it can be quite chilly over there in winter - the valley is about 1,000m (3,300 ft) above see level, and Djable (Mount) Ram is app. 1,700m (5,600ft).

Off course you can email us with more questions (our direct email is boxbarr@gmail.com).