Fox Trail with Jayesh Saini & Kuruvila

It was the third day of Eid Holidays when I got a phone call from Jayesh Saini. Jayesh Saini who hails from Nairobi, Kenya but have roots in India is a good friend of mine. Even though we don’t chat or call regularly, we keep a good friendship between us for the past 10 years. Due to Covid protocol restrictions, the get together were restricted in Dubai and hence didn’t do much for the first 3 days of the Eid Holidays. So, when Jayesh Saini shared this great Idea of hiking, I didn’t have to think twice.

As usual, we made a detailed plan. He will join me at my Mirdif Villa and along with our common friend Kuruvila, we will leave by early morning 5.00 am. And as usual, he came by 5.30, I woke up and got ready by 6.15 and Kuruvila joined us by 7 o’ clock (he..he.. bachelor trip plans are always like this).

 

We took Jayesh Saini’s X-Terra as he had his company fuel card (being economicalJ). I deliberately took the steering as I wanted to enjoy the 3.5ltr muscular machine. As Kuruvila had already experienced the trail, he advised to carry some essential light food stuff. We stopped by a grocery shop and kuruvila himself did the purchase which included tiny bottles of water, badam packets, small Laban packs and some biscuits.

We took the newly opened exit road (D 83) towards E 611 (Emirates Road). After hardly 8 minutes of drive, we managed to enter the Maleha/ Kalba Road (E 102). E 102 is a beautiful route with deserts and mountains around. We passed the famous “Camel Rock”. Jayesh Saini has noted that the one side of the Camel rock seems to be eroded in the recent years. Even I felt the same. We had a wonderful trip in to the desert exploring Camel Rock and Fossil Rock before some 6 years.

After around 50 minutes of drive, we took the Munay exit and entered to a two way road. It was a calm and quite road with farm houses on both sides. On the way, we were fortunate enough to see a donkey crossing the road. Kuruvila told, if we are lucky, we will see more donkeys on the day.  

Google map indicated to take a kacha road after some 8 minutes of drive. We couldn’t drive more as the road was too rocky and parked the car under a small Ghaf tree. Ghaf tree is the national tree of United Arab Emirates. After taking the necessary food stuffs in a back pack (Water and Badam), we started for the trail. It was around 8.15 am in the morning and a little windy, hence the heat was not severe amid the summer season.

Jayesh Saini has managed to get a small piece of log as walking stick. He posed with that stick for some photographs. The trail was not that steep and the ground was with sandy soil and crushed stones. There was some rain before 2 weeks and that could be the reason for the deposit of that sandy soil. However, it made our efforts easy for the trail. It was like a depressed path inside the mountain. These are actually Wadis which is formed due to the flow of water from mountain to the lower terrains. So, these natural paths are formed inside the rocky terrain. We could see some shrubs in the bottom of trail while proceeding further.

Jayesh Saini became tired after some time and decided to take a small pit stop near a small rocky cave. Kuruvila checked the App and told that we have completed only some 300 meters out of total 7.5 Km trail. Jayesh Saini was looking at me like “Are you sure???” J…

We resumed our walk after a short break. Kuruvila was saying that he could see a herd of donkeys last time. There was a little steep climb in between. Kuruvila climber that rock with ease. Jayesh Saini and myself was looking at each other. After a look around, we found an alternate path in order to bypass that cliffy rock.

There were manures all around, mostly from Goats and Donkeys. We have seen some goats, but were not lucky to see any donkeys. There were some remains of goats too. Kuruvila winkled his eyes that told “might be by Leopards”. After some time he was saying that there are Leopards in the Dessert who make small caves in the sand for their shelter.

This time, not even Jayesh Saini, we all needed a small break. As per the App, we had passed around 2Kms with a 95 m elevation in 1 hr. Not bad… This rest area was a little shady with Ghaff trees and some rocks. And, Jayesh Saini was asking Kuruvila, why this is named as Fox trail? Kuruvila told this might have been a habitat for the desert foxes. Jayesh was throwing a look at me like “Is it true”? I was also not sure. Foxes? Who knows? With that conversation we again resumed the hiking.

This time we entered a different terrain. It was like narrow canal with comparatively higher rocks on both sides. For me, it resembled some Latin American National Geographic locations (too much J J? Anyways, it was a good sight). Jayesh Saini again started taking snaps and posing for some good FB profiles.

We reached a comparatively bigger valley after some time. I was saying Kuruvila that we could play some cricket or football here. The interesting thing to be noted is that there was a good climate due to wind and less humidity even though the time was around some 9.30.

After a small walk, we reached the “Lollipop” route of the trail. It was little steep as the loop was revolving around a small mountain. Jayesh’s walking stick was really helpful for him. Myself and Kuruvila took some efforts to reach the crest of that rock. We were really panting after reaching there. But the sight on the other side was mind blowing. We spend some time there taking photographs and resting. Jayesh Saini broken the packet of badam and chewed a few. We were keen not to litter any wastes there and put the empty covers and bottles back in the backpack as soon as we finished it.

We started descending from the crest and reached a plain land. The base of this mountain was wider than we thought. We had to walk around 2 Kms to reach the starting point of “Lollipop”. That was the most boring section of trail, I believe as nothing special was there in the path. Immediately after completing the loop, we took a rest. I was very much tired and literally lied over a stone.

 

Thereafter, we took a straight walk back to our car. Kuruvila’s App was showing 7.55 Kms of total walking distance. It was 1.00 o’ clock then. That was a nice trail and was definitely a good and comfortable option for beginners like me and Jayesh Saini. Even though brought up in Nairobi, Kenya, he never experienced a trekking before. 

Kuruvila took the wheels while I and Jayesh Saini had a small nap. It was 2.30 when we reached back at Mirdif.

Though was little hectic, it was a nice trip and after a long time, I could enjoy a good time with my pals Jayesh Saini and Kuruvila. One advise to those who want to experience this; it is better to start early (especially in the summer). We should commence the trail at least by some 5.30 in the morning.  

 

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