W10-W9a: From Ras al Ḩaraq to Masjid Maillah

This is part 3 of my 5-day hike in westerm Hajar mountains from February 28th to March 04th, 2017.
The preceding part can be found here.

The trail follows the hajar ridge westward from the mountain Ras al Ḩaraq (رأس الحرق) to the ruined mosque
Masjid Maillah or Bayt Maillah (بيت معلة). It includes parts of the trekking routes W9a and W10 as recommended by the ministry of tourism of the Sultanate of Oman. See their official website.
The the trail is also described in the book “Adventure Trekking in OMAN” by Anne dale and Jerry Hadwin (out of print) as part of walks 7 and 9.
The track starts in the saddle in front of Ras al Ḩaraq where I spent the night before. As a precaution, I took plenty of water from there, although I expected to find some during the day. This was a good idea.
The ascent to Ras al Ḩaraq is strenous, but not hard to find since it has occasional old waymarks (white stripes). Don't confuse the waymarks with the occasional quartz inclusions in the rocks! The top of Ras al Ḩaraq is flat, with an antenna. The waymarks end there and there is no indication of the way down. You are on your own there.
In principle, as seen on the map trekking+routs1.pdf, there are two possibilities for descending: a short one and a long one. Both lead to the route W9a climbing up from Misfat al Abriyyin. Despite the warnings in the above mentioned book I had opted for the short descend. I found it, and it was ... challenging. The western slope of Ras al Ḩaraq is covered with rock bands forming impregnable cliffs, with only few passages suitable to a hiker. These are not visible from above, of course. In the end, I found a passage, but still the descent was pretty at the limits of what a hiker with >20kg backpack can handle.
Once reached route 9a, this leads easily, on a well-used mule track, to the pass and a place called Birkat Sharaf al Wādī Saḩtān (بركة شرف الوادي سحتان). Despite it's name (birkat = pool, waterhole), this is no place for collecting water. The deep and large cistern was almost empty, containing more algae than water, and fenced. The whole place was littered and not really inviting. Luckily, I had enough water ressources, and moved on.
After passing the pass, the trail leads 200-300m down the northern slope of the ridge. It then follows a track upon a bedding plane above the main cliffs, at an elevation of about 1900m. The northern slope is exceptionally steep, so there are always stunning views down to the villages more than 1000m below (and good cellphone coverage :-). You can even hear the call from the mosques. This is not for persons afraid of heights. The track is quite easy going, and easy to find, since it seems to be frequently used by people, and mules.
½ an hour before reaching Masjid Maillah, I found a good water source and filled all my tanks. This one is really a fountain, although running very slowly and collected in a basin.
I stayed the night at Masjid Maillah. There are plenty of good camping spots, and it is a scenic place.

The subsequent part of the hike can be found here.