How to get there:
The starting point is the town of Amaro.
In Amaro, slightly uphill at the left side of town (when looking uphill) the trail
begins at location N05.83226, E037.89328, elevation close to 1700m.
Route description:
The trail is well established being used by the people living on this mountain every day.
First along the river, then downhill and across a bridge.
Next, a pretty steady uphill to location N05.81521, E037.87763, at this point there is a trail fork,
it is important to observe that the correct route goes right here.
At this point you see the mountain up front,
however the highest peak up there is still hidden behind.
The route continues with contour
on the right side of a small hill to arrive
at a local col with a nice tree.
From here, a steeper
uphill section followed by a long ascending travers (to the left) that will reach the main crest.
Here, for the first time you will see the summit across to your right. The best route now crosses
and descends into a local valley in order to climb the very
clear summit ridge that could be seen as
soon as you see the summit. A track is posted on Peakbagger.
The summit is a smaller, flat area with a small cross. Comments:
The plan had been to drive from Robe to Shashemene, then south to Amaro.
However, we were informed that there was a tribal "war" (two tribes fighting) in
the area north of Amaro. We therefore changed the plan and drove to Arab Minch.
After 2 nights there, we drove to Kolso, then a nice local road north to Amaro.
We stayed overnight in Amaro at a small, local restaurant. As soon as the guests
had finished dinner, they cleared the floor and I pitched my mountain tent inside
in the small restaurant floor.
The map had strongly suggested that we could drive up to the base of the mountain,
but this was not true. The "white road" on the map was indeed a pretty rugged trail
that could be used by mules and people. This news added about 1000 meter of ascent
to my original plan. Thus, an early start would be needed.
The local woman running the small place was very friendly and helpful.
When we asked if there was a local man that could go with us, she quickly
located Misale, a young, strong looking guy. We agreed to start at 0530.
The hike was pretty intersting. Today was Saturday and people from the mountains would
all come down to the market in Amaro. We almost immediatly could see lights coming down
the trail we ascended. Many people, men, women and children, some also with mules.
A nice sunrise followed,
I had turned off my light shortly before.
After about 1.5 hour, we reached a trail fork. My driver, Ayu and Misale wanted to have
their breakfast. I had already taken breakfast before starting out.
The good news was that a nice trail climbed all the way to the ridge at location N05.81196, E037.84636.
From here, we could see the peak.
It was pretty clear that we had the choice of 2 routes. Curving up to the highest
connecting saddle and ascend from there, or descending into the valley and climb the
south ridge. This ridge looked pretty straightforward, the other ridge was out of
sight, possibly bush, but summit ridges are often fairly open.
I asked Misale his opinion and he agreed that we should avoid loosing elevation and go to
the east ridge. We walked over there, a pretty good trail all the way to the final, small
col. There, a small trail went into the bush. We followed this, unfortunately, it got
worse. Eventually, we crossed a distinct gully and scrambled up some loose, steepish
ground on the far side. Getting onto a local ridge with almost no vegetation, it was now
easy to get to the summit.
Ayu joined me after about 10 minutes, however Misale was nowhere to be seen. I asked Ayu,
but his reply was that Misale, quite possibly did not want to climb the summit. I asked if he
had made any agreement, negative. If he would find us even if we returned down the south ridge?
Absolutely. I said that going back the way we had come did not seem very tempting, we should
rather return the other way. As it turned out, this was far easier.
Before we left the summit, we noticed some kids not much below. They seemed shy. I waved
to them and extended my arm to show that I wanted to shake hands.
They eventually came closer.
We took a few pictures before they decided to leave.
Ayu and Misale should have exchanged phone numbers, but this was not the case. Misale was
nowhere to be seen. I told Ayu, that all the natives around would notice us (me!) and inform
Misale that we descended. Ayu was slightly unhappy. Given the situation, I said that Misale
would descend after us. We should not waste time trying to search for him. I was a bit critical
of his behavior, we had hired him to follow us, then he should not have left us, at least
not without making an agreement.
In any case, we descended back to Amaro. Ayu purchased about 5 kg of local coffee beans.
We then paid for meals and lodging as well as for Misale to the nice woman. She had
contacted Misale on the phone. He was ok and descending.
We left and drove back to Kolso where we spent the night.
