Mount Sinai

We started climbing around 2:30 am on Friday. It was pretty black, as there wasn't much moon. The stars were absolutely gorgeous. I managed to get away from the mass of people with flashlights and just walk with one friend who knew how to keep the light where he needed it and turned it off when we stopped to look up. I carried the water and whatnot and had to stop and wait for him several times...
Every fifteen meters or so you're assaulted and asked if you'd like a camel to go up. At one point I was playing "Camel Frogger" as I got caught up in a large pack that was going too slowly.
They allotted three hours. The first group got up at 1 hours, 7 minutes. I was there ~1 hour, 30. (Geesh, Cameron, slowing me down...) We had a lot of time before sunrise, but it was really nice to climb up on a comfy rock and stare at the stars.
The hike itself wasn't bad at all. Any easier and it would have been boring. Any harder and I might have broken a sweat...but the stairs at the top were not the easiest thing I've ever done.
We saw the sun come up and some friends and I shared an extremely unorthodox Communion of rolls from dinner and a can of Coke. Going down to see what you had hiked up, unable to make anything out, was really fun. As usual, I hated going down. The camels on the way down were so tempting...