A Hike Interrupted By History

Written By Hope Teague

Neither of us are “hikers”, to the shame and chagrin of many of our PNW friends. Nate actively hates hiking but usually appreciates the view at the top of the trail. That said, we are both generally willing to take a reasonable walk with slight elevation gain, as long as we have lots of water breaks and a few protein bars. We both always grumble along the way though. Nate especially detests switchbacks. Hope despises inclines.

After a few years of persistent invites, we finally said yes to joining a Canadian  colleague and her husband for a weekend in Furjairah. The emirate of Fujairah is in the Northwestern part of the UAE, facing the Gulf of Oman. While most people picture the UAE as a sand-filled desert , this part of the country is lined with the Hajar mountain range. A key feature of hiking in this region is hiking a wadi, a dry river bank or narrow valley of sorts. 

From the easy highway driving to the meandering through one-store towns and finally arriving in the port town of Fujairah, we were posed for a relaxing, laughter-filled weekend. And it was just that until midday Saturday. 

The morning started out uneventful enough. Camelbacks brimming with ice water and our favorite protein bars at the ready, we drove out to Wadi Al Ghuna. The terrain was supposed to relatively easy and it was until about 40minutes in when we noted the steep incline. 

Nate and Rob are the “get it over with” type of hikers so they headed up at a steady pace. Christine and I prefer the “stop and survey the scenery” which we did until we made it to the top of the mountain. As you can see from the pictures, it was worth the climb. Having never hiked in the UAE before, we didn’t know who else would be on the trail. Two European dudes looking lost lagged behind us. A 30 something solo hiker zoomed past us, clearly familiar with the trail and ready for her mountain top meditation moment. A group of 15 or so super-hyped hikers in crop tops & Hokas, blaring club music, high fived us as they descended the mountain, assuring our beet-red faces (okay, Hope’s beet red and Nate’s sweaty faces) that the view was worth it.

You decide.

Our weekend away was abruptly interrupted, when Nate’s phone pinged with reception. “Is McCain cheering or rolling over in his grave?” the text read. He knew immediately the US had bombed Iran. 

The rest of the weekend was tainted by a strange feeling of dread , eyes scouring the internet for updates, and frantic texts in various group chats. The retaliatory missiles and drones from Iran were almost immediate. Do we shelter-in-place? We’re already at a resort and there are no warning alerts going off (turned out they were location specific), and the Russian families at this resort were still in vacay mode, taking yoga on the beach and drinking by the pool. Thankfully our traveling companions have lived abroad for decades and offered some excellent perspective on the whole thing and honestly, we enjoyed the rest of the weekend until we drove back to the city. The duality of this conflict really comes through when thinking about that weekend. Everyone in UAE is largely living life as usual but there are dozens of drones and missiles being lobbed at the country on a daily basis. Since that weekend the Fujairah port and surrounding  oil refineries have received some missile attacks, but that’s for another day. 

Most of you know the rest of the story. But in case you don’t, check out the articles and podcasts below to hear and read about different aspects of our experience since the US started bombing Iran. 

Hope Teague https://www.hopeteague.com
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