D. Larraine Andrews - Great Walks of the World

The view from the summit of Mount Sinai.

KENT KLATCHUK

This is a day hike with an altitude change of approximately 672 m, or 2,206 ft. The hike starts from just outside the monastery at 1600 m (5,249 ft.) and climbs to the top of Mount Sinai, which is 2272 m (7,454 ft.).

None, other than the usual risk of injury from turning an ankle or falling on the uneven steps and rocky path.

There are several alternatives for completing the hike up Mount Sinai, depending on the time of day you undertake the trek and whether you decide to watch the sun rise or set from the summit. Two well-defined routes exist: the camel trail and the Stairs of Repentance. Both trails meet just below the summit at Elijahs Basin. From there, all hikers must climb the remaining 750 steps to the top.

As suggested by the name, it is possible to hire a camel to ascend the camel route to the basin, but the trail itself follows a relatively gentle slope and can be easily navigated by anyone capable of walking up a hill for about two hours. Most pilgrims and walkers take this path up before dawn in order to see the sun rise over the magnificent panorama of mountain peaks that can be seen from the top. Be sure to take a flashlight with you to navigate the trail in the darkness.

The Stairs of Repentance are rough and uneven and should only be tackled in the daylight. Many walkers will ascend the camel trail in the predawn darkness and descend via the steps after sunrise. There are approximately 3,000 steps to the basin, where the two trails converge, plus another 750 to the summit, so you need poles and strong knees to navigate this trail. Our group ascended the steps in the late afternoon, watched the sun set over the mountains and then descended in the darkness down the easy slopes of the camel trail. A flashlight or headlamp is essential when coming down. Of course, it is possible to do both trails in the daylight. This alternative allows you to see the impressive scenery both ways, but misses the climax view of the sun rising or setting while at the top.

Mount Sinai has been the site of Christian pilgrimage for centuries, a place where the devout still come to do physical penance as they toil up the Holy Mountain to be closer to God. But the God-Trodden Mountain has also been a magnet for tourists, naturalists and scholars for hundreds of years. They were, and continue to be, drawn by the prospect of a wild and desolate land of red granite and stunning topography that has changed little in thousands of years.

English naturalist Edward Hull, writing in the late 1800s, exclaimed, Nothing can exceed the savage grandeur of the view from the summit of Mount Sinai, while French diplomat, artist and historian Lon de Laborde, obviously awe-struck by the great and terrible wilderness spread out before him, declared, If I had to represent the end of the world, I would model it from Mount Sinai.

Hyperbole aside, no other place combines a trek to the top of one of the most sacred spots of three great religions with the chance to stay in and explore the oldest Christian monastery in continuous existence in the world.

Remember that Mount Sinai is located in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula, which is essentially desert, so even in the summer it can be cold in the evenings. The Bible refers to the Sinai as this terrible and waste-howling wilderness, a land of fiery snakes, scorpions, thirst where the sun dominates the landscape.

The monastery is located at 1600 m (5,249 ft.). In July and August the mean maximum temperature at this elevation is 30C (86F) but can easily exceed this. Snow is not uncommon at higher altitudes by November. The best compromise if you are visiting other parts of Egypt, where the weather could be quite different than in the southern Sinai, is probably to stick with spring (March to May) or fall (September to October). I visited in January, and although there was no snow at the top, it was very cold, even during the day.

Mount Sinai is sacred to the worlds three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But while Jews and Muslims have no established custom of pilgrimage to the site, Christians have long felt the need to physically identify the actual Holy Peak that is so central to the biblical story of Moses.