20-Dec-2002 -- After reaching Confluence 27N 36E we headed north to Ḍubā, then up into the Ḥijāz Mountains east of Šarmā'. We drove through the rounded granite peaks of the mountains and into a sandy wādiy valley where we camped for the night. The night was rather cold and we slept in tents and vehicles to keep warm. Before dawn we set out again without breakfast, and just as the sun was rising, we entered a large wādiy with a dry lakebed. The wind was blowing fairly hard, and swirling clouds of dust were being lifted into the sky from the lakebed. Beautiful, multi-colored clouds floated over the book-like jabals of Cambrian Saq and Siq sandstones, which glowed reddish in the morning sunlight. We stopped for breakfast and admired their beauty.

After passing through various wādiys and mountain passes, we came to a tarmac road, which lead us almost to the 28N 36E confluence. The Confluence was located about a kilometer off the highway behind a large petrol station and near a small Bedouin camp. The Confluence itself was situated between a small outcropping of Cambrian sandstone and a larger cliff face of the same.

Continued at 26N 37E.