Ras Dejen and the Simien Mountains...Part one

Day 32, November 7

Today began my 8-day trek into the Simien Mountains of the Ethiopian highlands. It started with a comfortable ride in a range rover from Gonder to the highland town of Debark. There I met my guide and we took on an armed park scout.

We drove for a while towards the first camp before the guide, myself and the scout got out an hiked. The mountains are very striking and unique in that they seem to begin where the land simply drops off for a kilometer or so down the side of the highlands. The highlands form a series of sloped plateaus that the hiking trail follows. Off the edge are tremendous cliffs and steep ridges that fall down towards the cultivated land of the lowlands.

We literally walked through the middle of a couple of Gelada baboon troupes. They have little fear of humans; though they are wary of our scout's gun.

Today's hike was relatively easy for about 2 1/2 hours or 7 kilometers. We were above 3000 meters and I found myself huffing a lot. We're now at Sankaber camp (3250 meters) for the night.

Day 33, November 8

Today was a strenuous uphill trek through some stunning countryside. We started off after an extended breakfast (our cook is amazing) and actually descended from Sankaber camp into a deep valley between two plateaus. After a couple of hours or so we came to a viewpoint overlooking the cliffs, ridges, and towering peaks that edge off the highlands. Central to the view was a 600-meter waterfall effectively linking the highland valley with the cultivated lowlands.

The next portion was straight uphill on the steep valley wall heading for the road. I was huffing like mad but I kept up a decent pace. We continued to climb on the road meeting a few shepherds and Gelada baboons along the way.

We lunched down in the valley at the river that lead to the waterfall. The final section was a steep climb up the opposite valley wall through barley and flax fields. After some time we came to a collection of large conical peasant huts that marked the village of Geech. Entirely Muslim, the village supports about 700 people.

We had made good time so we stopped at a family's hut for some coffee. The coffee preparation was from scratch and quite involved. First the woman washed the beans in water before cooking them over the fire on a flat pan. She then used a large mortar and pestle to crush them into a powder. She then added the powder to boiling water and served up. Even though I really don't like coffee I had two cups and found it strong and delicious. It was served with injera and some ridiculously spicy chili.

After the village of Geech we climbed past the tree-line into rocky, high alpine moorland. We reached Geech camp in record time at 3600 meters altitude. We had trekked about 12 kilomters in 4 1/2 hours. Other trekkers have made it to the camp now; the sound of Amharic is in the clean, cool air. There's a peace and tranquility in these hills that is sorely lacking from the mania of the cities. It is very refreshing. Mules are milling about (we've gone away from the road) and I find myself looking forward to dinner (last night's was superb).

Tomorrow, I have a feeling, will be quite a long, steep climb. My lungs have taken a beating but my guide says I keep a fast, strong pace. I look forward to the upcoming peaks.

Day 34, November 9

Today we started off at a reasonable hour and headed for our first summit. It was a steadily uphill journey for 5 kilometers through alpine moorland dotted with giant ilobelia plants.

As we neared the summit of Imet Gogo there were spectacular views of a kilometer deep gorge to the south where the plateau dropped off and equally stunning views of the towering peaks sprouting from steep ridgelines to our north. The plateau we were on tapered off into a small, rocky pinnacle that was the summit. There was a minor scramble to reach the top of the summit at 3926 meters. In spite of the altitude I wasn't huffing that badly.

We trekked to two more viewpoints along the plateau edge on the journey back to camp. They both afforded great views of both the lowlands and the peaks in between.

The cloud cover has rolled in right now and it's quite cold at camp. I'm drinking tea and, as always in these mountains, looking forward to dinner.