Enough with the Dead Sea luxury hotels ? Give Wadi Mukheiris its chance!

Summary:

• Lenght: 7,3 kms A/R.
• Duration:  1h to 1h15′ trail running, 3 à 4 h trekking 
• track of the Hike (.gpx.format) : https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=21444104
• Elevation gain: 340m D+. starting point – 381 m (that is right, below the sea level) , maximum altitude – 158 m (right, this is stille below the sea level ) .
• Difficulty :  easy for the first 1000 meters. Then, moderate, with tock shoulders and waterfalls between 2 and 6 metrs high which to have to climb or skirt.
• Round trip: no, you take the same trail back. Be aware it is impossible to exit the wadi for most of the way.

What we liked:

• • from the hotels area, a nice alternative plan to depuis les hôtels, alternative sympa au triptych  swimming pool-dead sea – buffet..

• • all the more  beautiful as you move away from the main road

• discovery of local aquatic fauna and flora

What we didn’t like:

• horrible blue paint markings on just about every big noticeable rock, whose guilty appears to be some “TJ”, standing from “trekking Jordan”;
• black water irrigation pipes, that however ends after approx 1500 meters;
• my cellphone falling into the waterstream after a jump, and that also takes poor quality photos 😉 . 

The debrief: 

This hike (or trail running, if such as me, you enjoy running in the water and on stones) offers to good opportunity to discover one of the numerous dead sea wadis from the Jordan side.

The rout is adapted for families with kids as well as for lonely runners.However, if you do have kids, you’ll have first to make them walk for rahter “boring” 1500 meters (irrigation pipes, flash flood defense system…), before entering the nice part of the wadi.

From now on, you’ll see green color. The stream, already nice until then, is now becoming bucolic.

Apart from the stream and its flora, please take time to look at the rocks and the cliffs around. They can offer surprising colors:

Very soon, you’ll discover your first waterfalls, and you will not be alone anymore 🙂  : observe, and see freshwater crabs and periwinkles. For some reason, I didn’t find any salmon however.

You just CAN’T get lost in this hike. Here’s why:

• wadi is very wide (more than 50 meters in some parts) – but its walls are mostly high and steep-sided. This is good, and bad for you at the same time. Easy navigation, but in case you have a phycical condition issue or if the weather gets bad, things can get tricky. That is why, lias usual, please make sure that the weather forecast is acceptable, and please take into account the weather until 50 kms to the east (the rocky plateau that actually captures the warer that goes to the wadi) ;
• thanks to  because of the “art work” performed by some  “trekking jordan” (“TJ”), which I really don’t do advertizing for –  , you’ll find here and there blue paintmarkings or painted arrows, just as shown below:

After 3 kms walk, waterfalls become respectable, you could probably have fun descending then in canyoning mode on your way back, if you are equipped for.

Après 3 kms de rando, les cascades commencent à devenir respectables, de quoi s’amuser en mode canyoning sur le retour si vous êtes équipés. The board backed tothe rock on the left is around 1m70 high.  From here, it becomes quite difficult for the kids, even if you can skirt the obstacles from the right or the left. Havinf said that, the basin is a very, very funny place for them to play, and this place is also a good spot for having a picnic before walking back.

After that, the path continues for around one kilometer, and some places are difficult for kids under 7. At the end, you’llface this 4 meters high cliff.

I lacked of time and had to get back, but I haven’t found any easy way to pass this obstacle, so the upper stream looks unreachable for a smooth family walk.

In the balance sheet, a nice walk suitable for the trail runners and the families, which I would divide into 3 parts:

• The first 1500 meters in mode “I’m leaving the civilization and my visual references are the black irrigation pipes”. This part is not boring but it is certainly not either the best one;
• Another 1500 funny meters, with good spots, waterfalls, fauna and flora. and blue markings;
• Around 1000m with higher and more difficult obstacles, more suitable for founds of water sports or trail runners.

Enjoy, share and…ask questions!