Trident Canyon

AT A GLIMPSE
 
Activities: abseiling, hiking, climbing,  scrambling

Background

Although there is a multitude of dry canyons in Ras Al Khaimah, the following ones are generally considered to be the 4 Queens.
The trio of East Flank Jebel Jais (Jebel Jais Road)

Thunder Canyon
Wasat Canyon
Trident Canyon

And the fourth one located on the West coast. (Road to Musandam)
Rams Canyon  

All of these canyons offer spectacular descents and breathtaking landscapes.

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A two days overnight hike is possible starting at Thunder Canyon. Overnight on the plateau and next day, descent via the Wasat Canyon. 
All above canyons need 2 sets of 70 meter rope and the ability to abseil. 
With the lack of water and the weight of the gear, a group of 2 to 3 is advisable. Not recommended for beginners.  

Things required for trident canyon.

• Anchor bolts and Toque wrench
• ropes : 70 m x 2 – abseiling are pretty lengthy
• Safety harness – Each individual must have one
• ATC / Grigri with locking carabiners- each individual must have one
• Safety helmet
• Hiking shoe
• Water
• Food

These are the basic import stuffs you need to carry with you and also you need to know how to do anchor bolts. You cannot 100% trust the exiting bolts there. So you may need to carry minimum 6 bolts with you. 3 of the Abseiling points are very steep. Once you are in between, there is no easy going back. you will have to follow the trail down to reach your parking spot.

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Most of these canyons are bolted and have adequate abseil stations. Please do check the conditions of the bolts before trusting them with your weight? Some might need tightening after a long hot summer.

Direction & Short Description

This is the last one of the Big 4 Canyons towards Jebel Jais. Same East Flank.

Hike starting point. GPS : 25°54’20.1″N 56°07’49.5″E

With the new Jebel Jais Road, you don’t need to scramble up the 500 meter to the top of the canyon.

Car parking point: You can make an easy start at N 25° 54’ 11.00” E 56° 08’ 00.97” (car park here) From that point, head straight up the gully to the entrance of the canyon. or of you travelling in group hop on to your buddies car and drive up to the point by road as shown in the first pin. Keep one car down and take the other car up.

About 1.8 clicks upward hike, just past the house and the farms build on the top of the gully.

N 25° 54’ 18.85” E 56° 07’ 13.62” (canyon starting point) Once arrived here, you have 6 great abseils in front of you.

With a relatively easy downwards hike, mostly in the shade. It’s roughly 500 meter down till canyon end. Of this, 140 meter is rappel. 360 meter is scrambling down in rock chaos.No danger of flashfloods, canyon is very wide.Bit of loose rock but mostly solid boulders and breathtaking views. 

Hiking time from car park to canyon end : 4 hours.

For this canyon you will need two 60 meter ropes for abseiling. (or 2 x 50 meter will do) The canyon is fully bolted with Rap Chains.

The raps are 

R1  7 meter Possible to climb down 

R2  12 meter 

R3  20 meter 

R4  40 meter 30 meter spider wire rap 

R5  15 meter – possible to climb down 

R6  45 meter 

Stephane from climbing7 described the canyon as “Un Petit Canyon Sympa”. You can find nice pics on his website.