This view is the same as the one above The white line represents Wadi El Arbein (blue arrow)
This map is the same as the one above but from another view and showing the distance in Km.
I climbed Mt. St. Catherine in one day journey.I had to detour the police station so I took the parallel valley called Wadi Sharig (marked with a red arrow on the picture). At the beginning of this valley there a camp called Fox. The whole trip took approximately 12 hours all together including the resting stops that we took.
I had to carry approximately 4 liters of water in my back pack. In a situation like this, a walking stick would be very helpful. Getting to the foot of the mountain would take not less than 2 hours. There would be found a Deir, meaning monastery named like the valley, Deir El Arbeine. After half an hour or 45 minutes climb, there is a small bridge. Seen from its side it would look like a wall. It is built out of mountain rocky stones, so it may appear camouflaged. It is actually a water reservoir which is designed to block the water coming down the narrow valley and would also be a path to the other side. Crossing this bridge, would lead to an obvious dead end which is in shade most of day. This place is ideal to rest and also has a water hole which has natural drinkable and cold water called Bir Shennan.
After a long hike through the valley it will eventually end with a western view of the other side.
At this point you will find two tracks. At the right hand side would be a down hill track. At the left hand side would be the uphill track to take. This would not be hard to notice as the St. Catherine's pick would be clear from this point. When this point is reached it is best to stop and look around.
Look behind at the view of the valley that should be taken on the way back down. A tip would be to mark this place with stones. Putting small stones over bigger ones and furthermore making a small noticeable unnatural stone tower.
This would be as a reminder of that intersection point. From there, 2 km of one and clear track would be upcoming. Look at figure 2.
On the decent:
If you are descending the mountain without a guide, make sure you know what you are doing. Remember that the descent is harder than the climb. That is because not many ways lead to the top but in the contrary when going down, many are leading to different places.
My first advice is that Mt Moses should be seen and identified and used as a land mark to follow. Have a good look at Mt. Moses when you are at the bottom at the Monastery in which you will find Bedouins living who can help you identify it. From the top and starting to descend, make sure to have more than at least 3 hours before sunset.
If the situation doesn’t go that way, make sure you have a good flash light.
The key for not getting lost nor disoriented is at one intersection point described below.
This intersection point should be reached before sunset. It is on the map as "the before sunset point". After finding this point, there are no more worries of getting lost because it is the start of a down hill valley which will lead you back to the monastery.
Furthermore you will certainly notice this point when hiking up the mountain. It is the end of the uphill valley and the beginning of a new sort of a plane track with a panoramic view of the West.
When this point is reached it is best to stop and look around.
Look behind at the view of the valley that should be taken on the way back down.
Also and very importantly, you will be looking towards Mt. Moses (direction North East).
Keep in mind that this is the view that you will be looking for when going back. At this point while going down the montain, you will find another down hill track which will leads you North West further away from the monastery. This track can be mistakenly taken because it is the continuity of the downhill track, so keep in mind that at a point you will need to turn right. On the way down as shown in the figure 2, when the track starts to be straight, that's where the tricky point is. That is where you should start looking for the valley that will take you back the way you came. This vally should be at the right.
Finally my last advice would be; if approaching low level of the mountain be sure that your direction is North East, towards Mt. Moses. If not, then it is always recommended to go back the track you took and try to see where the missed turn was. I called this point as the Before Sunset point as I believe it would be very hard to locate in the dark. If this point is crossed before sunset then the rest of the long serpentine track inside the valley can be done without worries on a flash light.
Tip:
Walking to the mountain from the less traveled track, Wadi Sharig; i Spotted a dark colored snake from 5 meters distance. Walking noise may not be enough to scare away danger that's why i would highly recommend a waking stick.
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