Seven Pillars of Love Traditional Cache
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The cache is located mid-way along a circular 5.8 mile (9.3 km) hike at a vista with fantastic views of the Wadi Rum desert. I proposed to my fiancé at the cache location and the hike begins at the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, hence the Seven Pillars of Love. It is a magical location so we decided to mark our special occasion with a cache.
If you have a spare film container, please bring it to replace the current cache container, which is lightly damaged (I won't have the opportunity to visit the cache for a while).
The hike takes 2.5-3.5 hrs. round trip and does not require a guide, special vehicle, or anything else. All you need to do is get yourself to the Wadi Rum Visitor Center and pay the entry fee (2 JD/person as of spring 2009). The hike is marked on a free map provided by the Visitor Center. Bring lots of water if you’re hiking in the summer and bring a pencil to sign the cache log.
After paying the entry fee at the Visitor Center, hike southeast across the open desert toward the Seven Pillars of Wisdom rock formation. Head into Makharas Canyon, just to the right of the Seven Pillars. Keep an eye out for the Sinai Agama, a blue lizard that turns partially brown to camouflage itself. About 1.5 miles (2.4 km) into the hike, take the canyon branch on the left (see posted waypoint). At first glance it looks like an impassable boulder field, but a nice trail can be found once you’ve scrambled over the first couple boulders. Failure to take this left will immediately put you in a canyon dead-end. Shortly after this, you will need to go right when the canyon branches (see posted waypoint). This right turn is obvious if you’re on the actual trail, which is easy to lose. The canyon narrows as you progress upwards until it pops out at a scenic vista at the cache location. Visible to the east are Jebel Barrah and Umm Nfoos. There are some interesting feet carved into the rock near the cache. It’s a beautiful, tranquil location with incredible silence. It’s a great spot to take a break or have a picnic.
After locating the cache, proceed northeast across the red sand dunes and continue circling the mountain to the left until the Visitor Center becomes visible again. Look around and you’ll see camel tracks crisscrossing the desert.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Orybj gur sbbg pneivatf, svyz pbagnvare va n ubyr oruvaq fbzr ebpxf.