BootsnAll Travel Community

i've been googling around, trying to get a sense of how cold it will be. and.. i can't tell! temperature, wind chill..

in terms of cold weather gear, i was only planning on bringing along a fleece jacket. will this be enough? also, my sleeping bag is rated to 35F. i figure if it's that cold, i could just sleep in my fleece jacket too. will this be enough?

also, from what i understand, it seems like light hiking shoes will be enough. does that sound right? seems like there's a bunch of stairs, and then a short trail.

thanks in advance!

Are you actually sleeping up there? That sounds a bit uncomfortable - it's barren rock with lots of pebbles.

It will be cold and windy, but not below freezing. Regular walking shoes will be fine, there are no technical sections. Just, lots of "stairs" at the end!

If you can, consider climbing for the sunset instead of sunrise. I've heard that there can be a carnival atmosphere around sunrise at certain times of the year, with many hundreds of climbers bussed in from the coast each night. Sunset when I went, in winter, had smaller crowds and was more of a personal experience.

i've read that there's some form of shelter up there that everyone camps out at. my friends and i are actually signing up for a tour for this, so it's going to have to be for the sunrise. anyway, thanks for the advice though! one less thing to worry about.

I don't recall any sort of shelter. There were some small chapels, but they are locked & not for camping. Not sure who told you there was a shelter that everyone camps at, but ... you might want to go back and double check everything that this source told you. It just ain't so, not even by a long shot.

There is an area just below the last set of steps that looked flatter, and which was definitely out of the wind. It might be a nicer place to sleep.

Anyway, your bag should be fine! And a sleeping roll would be finer!

Thanks for the great info!

ok, another question!

i have these really comfy sneakers that i'm planning to bring. they offer a little less support than a light hiking shoe.. will that be ok to wear on sinai? i could walk in these for miles in the city! i don't want to bring the bigger, heavier [light] hiking shoe only to just wear it once on the whole trip.

I did it in sneakers, no problem. There are no real technical or dangerous parts where you need boots. But then again, I do almost all my hiking in sneakers; hiking boots never seem to fit me right.

There's no real shelter available, but you should be able to find a place somewhere just below the top that is shielded from the ever-present wind up there. Also, while you'll probably be fine with just your fleece jacket and sleeping bag, you can also rent a warm blanket from some Egyptians with a sense of business up there. Be prepared to haggle for them. #8D)

You might want to stay on the actual top plateau when sunrise begins, since a LOT of day trip tourists will be arriving and fill the space. So make sure you get a good spot for photos, right in front. If you go up there expecting a spiritual experience in solitude, you had better pick a different mountain instead. Luckily, there are several good alternatives nearby.

If you like, you can see some of my photos from a sunrise at Mt Sinai, at http://www.pvv.org/~bct/egypt2/ . It starts at image 10 and goes on through image 24. You'll see for yourself that the terrain is steep, but the trail is good.

Bjørn
http://bjornfree.com/

They aren't stairs so much as rocks wedged into the shapes of stairs.

I'm fairly out of shape due to issues with my knee and a surgery last year, but I climbed Mt. Sinai in January on an Intrepid tour. I was the dead last one up, but made it.

The guide kept telling us we'd be cold, so we all went in multiple layers, but the exertion of getting up it meant I was sweating to death!

Honestly didn't see where you'd spend the night up there, but I can tell you climbing down in the dark (we went for sunset) is no fun, so might be better in some ways.

I wish I had more to offer in terms of advice, but if I can drag myself up there in tennis shoes with my out of shape self, you'll be fine!

It was an incredible experience I don't regret!

uspn, your photos are spectacular! (and your captions hilarious)

hmm i should double check the itinerary. to be frank, i don't really care about climbing mt sinai, but it's where we'll be spending one of the nights.. so i gotta deal with it! but ok, i'm now confident i'll make do with my slip-on chuck's.

I'm glad you enjoyed the photos, xoom.

If you mean that you're spending one night at St. Catherine's, there are other options than the sunrise climb. You could just walk along one of the other pats down in the more flat parts of the surrounding area.

But since you're already there, I think you might as well go up. It's not that difficult, and there are several places where you can stop for a cup of hot tea on the way up. Also, you can chose to ride a camel for parts or all the way up. It's an experience worth taking in, even if you do it just to see the annoyed faces of the deeply religious people who go up there, when they realize that most of the others there couldn't care less about the supposed history of the place. #8D)

Bjørn
http://bjornfree.com/

I'm going up Sinai next month, on a backpacker tour, and can't recall any huge warnings from the operator about super-coldness, nor a lot about camping options. This is all we've gotten so far from them:

Following in Moses' footsteps we have the opportunity to ascend to the summit in time for sunrise. This means a very early start (between 1-3am depending on the time of year) and involves a fairly strenuous uphill walk along a camel path and finally up 750 stone steps accompanied by your Bedouin Guide. The climb takes about three hours although it is possible to take a camel up as far as the steps or hire one halfway up if necessary! There are teahouses dotted along the way and one at the top so not only can you follow the glow of their lights but you can stop for a hot drink and a breather. The view from the top as day breaks is worth every step. There are two routes down the mountain. From the top you must follow the 750 stone steps back down and then can either return along the camel path or follow a winding route down the 'steps of repentance'. Neither route is difficult (particularly as you will no longer need your torch!) however the 3000 or so steps of repentance do have some steep sections and can take around two hours to descend.

gah.. ok, gotta pick up a knee brace. stairs kill my left knee.

Wow, you can still feel your legs, that's better than I was after the ascent/descent.

I think I was too numb for the pain.

;-)

Well, great...I have a bad knee as well...and am now contemplating bringing a long the knee brace (more of a thick spandex kinda' thingy than plastic).

I'll be doing this in about three or four weeks, near the end of a month in Egypt, & will try to post the "results".

Everyone seems to climb Mt Sinai for the sunrise and with all the photos Ive seen of that its packed with tourists. I climbed it for sunset-there was an amazing view, and way way less tourists. Plus less cold too! Id consider doing it that way around if you have a choice.

As for shoes-sneakers are definitely ok. The track is like sloping gravel for a while and then straight up stairs. It doesnt take long but itd be a bitch on sore knees, purely becuase of the stair factor. Its not long though so you can take your time.

For temp, I went in winter and wore one fleece jacket after sunset and was warm enough. It was cold, but that was enough! Enjoy it

thanks! ok, definitely need to grab a knee sleeve. or two.

skyehiker, it might be helpful to find out what exactly is making your knee hurt. i've been seeing a physical therapist about it.. it turns out that my kneecaps are being pulled to the side so some strengthening in my hip and inner thighs will supposedly help counteract that pull.

Just did the sunrise climb. We began "hiking" around 3am, and at no point did I feel "rushed" or hurried to get to the top, with PLENTY of pop-a-squat opp's to sit & rest en route. I got to the top around 5am, took a comfy nap in a Bedouin tent there until the sun came up an hour later. Yeah, there was a small crowd on the rocks at the top, but not a huge gathering. We did the hike under a full moon, with amazing views of the valleys below. In the shadows of the moutain above, when the moonlight was clipped, the stars were amazing as well. The sunrise over Sinai was absolutely, positively incredible, watching beams of sunlight burst thru distant clouds, watching stars fade to the surrounding mouutains being slowly painted in a zillion shades of orange & yellow. If you don't follow the whole Moses-the-children-of-Israel-stories from the Bible, you'll inevitably find yourself thinking "truly they were on to something--there's GOT to be a God up here somewhere."

I wore shorts & a t-shirt, and actually took off the t-shirt on the way, it was warm enough.

I was glad I took along a small flashlight, as the path gets a little rocky towards the top...and then, yep, there's those stairs at the top. And I was glad I took along some water.

Xoom--thanks for your concern! As for my knee, it's arthritis. I tore my cartilege there in a sports injury way back in college & it was removed (they didn't have the cool ways they do now of replacing those things). I will say that on the way down, it was definitely hurting but not "agony" or "I'm dyin' here" kinda' pain. And that's probably because I took an off-the-beaten path trail down. The main "road" down the hill is pretty gradual--once you get past all those stairs at the top.

i did the sunrise climb in january. i have never been so cold in my life!! literally.

ahh.. it's the stairs i'm worried about! my knees have been buckling lately. i should probably mention something to my pt next time. that sucks about your knee, skyehiker! although the hike sounded amazing.

well, i'll be going in oct.. hopefully it won't be as cold as it is in jan! i'm planning on bringing along a fleece jacket. that should be enough.. and if not, i'll just keep looking forward to the warmth of the bedouin tent.