Gich (Simien Mountains National Park day one)
We left Debark squeezed into the cab of a truck with a couple we had met at the hotel, Andrew and Alise. Our guides, cooks, and scouts crowded into the back, along with our provisions. On the edge of town we paused at the market so that Andrew could shop for a few last minute items. Children crowded around the truck for a peek at the tourists. The day was bright and clear and soon we were in the mountains. A guard checked our tickets at a checkpoint, and before we knew it we were rounding the bend at Buyit Ras, the first viewpoint over the park. A grand new hotel was being built just behind the ridge. We stopped to admire the views and then drove on to Sankabar.
As we unloaded the truck and separated our goods, our guide hired mules to carry our packs and food. Clouds had began to rise off the lowlands. By the time we set off for Gich, the valleys had filled with fog.
We hiked up along the road and then turned off onto a path to our left. We walked along the edge of the valley towards the escarpment to a promontory rising up from the valley floor. We were surrounded by whiteness. Our guide lamented the weather, and pointed off into the distance. If it were clear, she said, we'd have a dramatic view of the Jinbar Wenz waterfall. We peered into the clouds then turned away.
We climbed through woods and then into the Jinbar Wenz valley, pausing by the river for lunch before climbing up to Gich. At the river we passed Yee, a Malaysian man we had met in Bahir Dar. He had come for three days and was on his way back to Sankabar. That morning he had toured the viewpoints around the camp.
He told us that it had rained the day before and that their hike was miserable. Climbing up from the river was like walking up a waterfall. Fortunately, that morning had been clear and they were able to finally see some of the landscape for which the mountains are famous. He warned us that it was cold at night, and then wished us luck. They were meeting a truck at Sankabar to take them to Debark. We finished our lunch and then said goodbye to Andrew and Alise. They were short on time and were heading back to Sankabar where they would camp for the night.
An hour and a half later we were climbing through Gich village, past round mud huts with thatched roofs. The climbs were not difficult, but the altitude took its toll and I walked slowly up the inclines, breathing hard. On the edge of town, we passed grazing sheep and village children tending to their flocks. As soon as they saw us they began to call out, and cries of, "Hello! Hello!" greeted us from near and far.
Our cook and mulemen had arrived at camp before us and our tent had been set up. Our packs laid beside it. Our cook had prepared snacks by the kitchen hut, and I quickly availed myself to them. The altitude had sapped my strength. Gich camp rested at an elevation of around 3600 meters, and climbing back from the toilet made me pant. When we reached the camp, the sun was weak in the sky, but the day was still warm. As the sun sank, the night turned cold. Our dinner warmed me as I ate, and I climbed into bed right after.
The next morning we took our time getting ready. It had rained lightly the night before, but the early morning was clear. Unfortunately, fog had begun to rise from the valley floor on the other side of the ridge by the time we began our hike. Staring straight out from our tent, we could see the patchwork pattern of cultivated land laid over the mountains. On the opposite side, however, we walked through fields of wild grass dotted by giant lobelia. We were dwarfed by the plants and it felt as though we were walking on the surface of an alien planet as imagined by a 50's science fiction show.
By the time we reached the viewpoint of Saha, there was nothing to see but a thick moving cloud. We heard screeches, and our guide pointed out the endemic Gelada baboons clinging to the cliffs. Occasionally there would be a slight clearing in the fog and we would be teased by a glimpse of the mountains across from us.
We continued walking in a broad circle around the camp to two other viewpoints, but we had left camp too late. All of our views were obscured by fog, though at Gidir Got we caught a glimpse of the hole in the mountain for which the viewpoint is named before it, too, fogged over. Our day had been a wash.
