Escarpment Escape

Tuwayq pale stone escarpment close to Ar Riyad, Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia, 07.12.21#033. This west facing escarpment was formed during Jurassic times and vertical cliffs of limestone are tall around 250 m. http://www.flyart.biz/meteo/climate/desert/

I went on my third HASH run with the Riyadh Third Herd yesterday (January 20). The weather was perfect, if not a bit cold, on the edge of the Tuwayq escarpment, just to the north west of Riyadh.

The panorama is spectacular, looks like a small version of the Grand Canyon. There are three hike options available: a short walk, a long walk, and a run. I tried the run for the second time, and this time finished it. Last week's was crazy long, up and down, for about 7 km. I could only make half of that one, and then joined the long walk on the back end. This week I finished the run, but it was abbreviated, as we could only get about halfway down, and found the second level of cliffs too steep to negotiate. So we climbed back up again. The rest of the walk was over relatively flat ground, so much easier than last week, shorter and cooler. The wind was brisk, and the temp about 22. By sundown, it must have dropped to 15 or so. Beautiful sunny weather though. Next time I will need to bring a coat/some layers of clothing.

The sedimentation is breathtaking, makes you wonder just how old that geological formation is. On the plateau, the landscape is littered with what looks like burnt corpses of coral. In fact, almost all of the dark brown outcroppings showing on the surface were associated with a coral shoal. There were also regular pieces of rock containing almost whole bone structures. I took a whole rock specimen, which seemed to contain a largely intact bone fragments. I am soaking it in water now to see how much of the sediment can be shaken loose to reveal the layer. I also found an old shell casing; not sure if it is a war-time relic, or merely target practice leftovers.