Ras Dejen Attempt, Ethiopia Highpoint

Ras Dejen attempt, Ethiopia highpoint

Feb 21-23, 2026

Eric Gilbertson

Feb 21 – fly to Gondar, drive to Chiro Leba, hike to Ambiko 3200m
Feb 22 – summit attempt to 4535m, return to Ambiko
Feb 23 – hike out, drive to Bahar Dar, fly to Addis

Ras Dejen, the highest peak in Ethiopia, is located in the Simien National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site in northern Ethiopia. It is above treeline at 4543m and is cold enough to occasionally have snow.

To access the peak you are legally required to go with a licensed tour operator and register with the park. This will include a guide, scout (armed guard), cook(s) and mule person.

Most groups sign up for 5-10 day treks through the park that include Ras Dejen. The shortest allowable tour to climb the peak (as far as I’ve heard) is three days. Though this will still be billed for five days.

Before 2020 hikers made the summit without issue as long as they went with the official tour operators.

Starting in 2020 a dirt road was extended to just below the summit and military began continuously occupying the area. This was during a civil war when Eritrea was involved. Tourism in the area dropped from 30k per year pre COVID to 1k per year and still hasn’t recovered.

In 2022 a peace agreement was signed in Pretoria South Africa. The military still stayed near summit, but allowed hikers to reach the true summit.

Late in 2025 tensions rose again between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Ethiopia wanted access to a port in Eritrea, but Eritrea refused and tensions built.

In late Sept 2025 the military stopped letting hikers reach the true summit.

In January 2026 some hikers were able to bribe the military to reach lower West summit but not the true summit. The west summit is 1m lower as surveyed by Rob Woodall and Richard McClellan with Abney levels in 2019. The true summit has a concrete post on top with Ras Dejen inscribed.

I had started emailing tour operators in fall 2025 about Ras Dejen, and they informed me the military was occupying the summit and hikers were only permitted to a point 10m below the top, and no higher. So I planned to hold off on trying until the situation improved.

In early January, though, peakbagger William reported that his guide had connections with the military and was able to secure permission in advance to hike all the way to the summit. William gave me the contact info of his guide.

I had a last minute change of plans with a layover in Addis Ababa, so I decided to go for Ras Dejen. On Feb 20 while driving to the airport in Djibouti I called up the guide and set up a trip starting the next day. I tried to request the shortest duration possible, and he said that was three days, though the park mandated that a five day minimum fee still be charged. He assured me he could secure permission to reach the summit, so I agreed.

I flew to Addis that evening, slept a few hours at a cheap hotel within walking distance of the airport, then took the first flight out the next morning for Gondar.

I arrived at 745am and my driver met me at the airport. We drove north in a land cruiser and met my team at the park headquarters. The team was a guide, scout, cook, assistant cook, and mule person. It would certainly be no problem to just hike the peak as a day hike on my own if that was allowed, but I guess this policy ensures lots of local employment opportunities.

We signed paperwork, then I paid the full fee in cash and we started up. The road started around 2500m and climbed to over 3000m on a large plateau. Views were amazing across cliffs on the sides to the valleys below. We crossed into the park, and their were still many villages within the park. We drove past Chennek, where some groups start, then over a 4000m pass and down the other side.

The road dropped back down to its lowest point at Chiro Leba village, and we stopped there around 1pm for lunch. We waited a while for the mule person to get all the gear organized, then started hiking around 3pm.

The trail dropped down to 2800m, then ascended back up to 3150m on the other side, where we stopped at Ambiko village for the night.

My guide said summit day is usually at least 12 hours, and teams start at 3 or 4 am. He said I was fast enough so we could start later, at 5am.

I camped out with a tent, sleeping bag, and mattress provided by the guide. Then we started up in the dark the next morning with the scout along with his Kalashnikov.

We made good time up to a 3800m pass at sunrise, and walked through fields of giant lobelia. I’d seen these before on other high elevation peaks in Africa like Mt Kenya and Mt Stanley.

We soon hit an old road grade and generally followed that up higher, occasionally cutting switchbacks. By 8am we crested a high plateau at 4300m, and the summit was in sight. Apparently before 2020 the road ended here, but in 2020 it was extended to a point just 10m below the summit.

We made quick progress towards the summit, but then my guide started beelining for the shorter Western summit. I pointed out the true summit location, and he agreed we would go there. There were a bunch of military tents at the base of some cliffs below the summit, and some sort of radar dishes installed on the summit. I put my camera away and didn’t take pictures so the military wouldn’t get mad.

We hiked up to below the tents, then the scout and I sat down while my guide went up to talk to the military. The boss was very angry and said we didn’t have permission and had to leave. He wouldn’t take any money as a bribe. My guide tried negotiating a while but it was no use. So we reluctantly retreated.

Back at the 4300m crest we decided to hike up a nearby peak with cell service and try making some calls. My guide called a bunch of contacts, and eventually said one soldier would take me up to the shorter west summit for $200. I tried to negotiate to go to the true summit and offered more money, but he said that was impossible.

From my understanding, the previous hikers that claimed to have gotten permission to reach the summit actually went to the shorter Western summit. The military is ok with this because it doesn’t have any radar installations on top. But there is equipment on the true summit. And they don’t want hikers going near that. The situation with Eritrea is currently too tense. I think there will have to be another peace agreement before hikers are allowed back to the true summit.

I told the army person I wasn’t interested. I really needed to get the actual true summit, and anything less was not worth that price.

So the three of us descended back down. We took a direct scrambling route down the cliffs, and made it back to camp by 1pm. I think this was pretty quick timing, about 3hrs up, 3 hours negotiating, and 2hrs down. My guide said the usual timing is start 3am, return 6pm return.

It would have been easy to hike out the whole way, but that wasn’t part of the schedule. So I rested in camp and went to bed early as it lightly rained.

The next morning we hiked out at sunrise and drove back to Gondar by noon.

 

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