Wadi Shāh loop - through Musàibaat village

The hike begins at the Bear Grylls Adventure camp entry. There is an open parking lot. We started just before sunrise. Note that this is an anti-clockwise loop hike.

The hike begins fairly easy, with the regular Hajar mountain terrain/visuals. We soon were climbing over medium/large boulders within a span of 15 to 20 mins, which was good enough a warm up time for us. The wadi turns towards left and soon, we were walking along the balcony ridges on the left bank of the wadi and started gaining height.

Given the time of the year, we were anticipating foggy weather, however were greeted with beautiful, fog/mist covered happy mountain tops. The trail soon took us to the small village settlement. From the looks of it, it was apparent that these houses are occasionally inhabited. We continued left on the trail (we followed another hiker's trail on wikiloc), and soon the wadi was no longer visible. The terrain here (post WP8), was mostly flat with alot of fossilized rocks. We even saw a few fossilized sea shells!

Soon, we reached the summit and saw the biggest cairn ever. The view from here is stunning, and you can see almost the entire Jebel Jais Road from this vantage point. The Wadi Shah peak is slight further, however we decided to begin the descent. The descent begins fairly easy on the knees and you will soon enter the Musàibaat village. Here, we were lucky to meet a very forthcoming and helpful resident (Khan bhai, can be seen in the pictures) who guided us towards the donkey trail that leads down to the Jebel Jais road. He is an interesting person and gave us some beautiful and animated insights about the rugged life in the Hajar mountains.

The descent started getting steeper from this point onwards (WP11) and there is barely any shade. Remember to carry plenty of water (at least 3L). A part of the descent is gravel and hence, we had a slow descent.

Once we reached the plain ground, it was a short trail, running parallel to the tar road, and you soon reach the parking lot.

Recommendations for this hike - hiking poles, hat, sunscreen and plenty of water. And of course, determination.