weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Oman's highest mountain, Jebel Shams (Mountain of the Sun - 3009 m) is best known not for its peak but for the view into the spectacularly deep Wadi Ghul lying alongside it. The straight-sided Wadi Ghul is known locally as the Grand Canyon of Arabia, as it fissures abruptly between the flat canyon rims, exposing vertical cliffs of 1000 m and more. There are some well-established hikes here, the most famous of which is the "Balcony Walk" below the canyon rim.

I look forward to your comments and questions and recommend viewing the downloads.
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1 - Slanted rocky high plateau, at left the top end of the sheer cliffs of the Grand Canyon's western flank

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2 - View of the rock layers of the canyon: note the white "Balcony Walk" footpath in the center-right

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3 - Rock layers of the south crest with the small river at the bottom, at rear in the haze other mountain formations

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4 - Detail shot of the "Balcony Walk" footpath wending its way amidst the sheer cliffs

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5 - View of the plateau above the north-end of the canyon, at the lower center the abandoned previously cultivated terraces

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6 - Vertical view of the canyon's north-end

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7 - Substantially the full view of the canyon's north-end with the white strip of the "Balcony Walk" at bottom leading to the previously cultivated terraces at the center

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8 - Detail shot of the previously cultivated terraces, at center left the white line of the "Balcony Walk"

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9 - Contorted structures of the north-eastern flank

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10 - Clearly visible structure of the layers at the north-eastern flank

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Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Very good series, Mark.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you very much Earnest, good to see you looking in again! Joe

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Great canyon shots, Joe, #4 gives me pause about using those trails.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thanks Mike - and I can understand your feeling: I was thinking of you when posting these pictures - the walk is quite a feat, but sorry, unfortunately no flowers along the way. It is interesting how barren this place is, that you don't even see a single flower!

Murex Loc: Bainbridge, Georgia

When I downloaded #8 and then magnified it, I could not help but wonder what mineral gives those beautiful blue rocks their color. These shots have to spark the imagination of all of us who love canyons and cliffs. Thank you. I had no idea that Arabia had a landscape like this. I thought it was just a big sand pile. Thanks for making my world a bit bigger. ...jean

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you very much Jean for looking in on our tour and your kind comment, I am very happy to hear that you like this set on the Grand Canyon. Yes, Oman and the entire Arabian Peninsula have plenty of sand (did you happen to see my posts #21 & 22 earlier on with the sand dunes?), but it is also extremely rocky, with many of the hills we passed looking more like giant rock piles than hills or mountains as we know them. And the rocks do come in all kind of colors and formations, actually tomorrow's post will have a couple of interesting rocks in there, and then the following days as we descend this mountain and on the next mountain pass, we will see all kind of rock formations and also again some "blue" rocks, in better detail than on this long shot. Thanks for your interesting observation! Joe

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Outstanding, Joe. If there was some vegetation it would look much more like our Grand Canyon. The colors are spectacular and the views are really nice.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Ken for your kind comment - I really did like this place and the different views from high up at the rim.

NMGal Loc: NE NM

A rugged place for sure, Joe. The balcony trail does not look like anything I would attempt. Really not much green at all. Was the temperature any cooler than Nizwa?

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Barbara. Definitely a rugged place and when I was (much) younger, I am sure I would have been very tempted to do that Balcony Walk, but no longer at my ripe age. We reached the canyon at about 2:30 pm, so sort of at the height of the day's temps, but while I cannot exactly remember, it would definitely have been quite a bit cooler up there at 2000 m then down in Nizwa at about 500 m. I remember it got sort of chilly in the evening as we went for a sundowner hike, looking at the photos of my travel companions they were wearing light sweaters and then even cooler when we had our camp fire, so I would say it probably was in the mid-to-upper 70's in the afternoon, and then in the 60's and 50's as the evening progressed. You will see those pictures tomorrow.

Tdearing Loc: Rockport, TX

Joe, these are all gallery quality images. Truly magnificent, and what an off the beaten path journey you are on. Thanks again for documenting and sharing these beautiful pictures.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Nice job, Joe, of showing us the rugged qualities of these mountains.

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Enjoying your series a lot! Thanks for posting.