Har Meron – June 4th-6th 2009

Most of us slept over at the Har Meron Field School on Thursday night.

After breakfast at the field school, we met the guide, and a few people who joined us just for the hike, and started walking.

The first leg of our hike took us to the top of Har Meron, the highest peak in the Upper Galilee at over 1200 meters. Most of the way was under cover. We saw many interesting plants, unique to the area, including Moss and Cedars.

Towards the end of the climb, the view opened up, and we say the whole north eastern part of the country, including the Hermon, the Golan Heights, and the northern part of the Upper Galilee. We also had a view into Lebanon. From this point we walked along the last part of the summit trail (A trail that goes around the peak of Har Meron. We rested for a bit at the parking lot, where we met a group of soldiers who were cleaning up the area.

The next leg of our hike took us from the peak of Har Meron down to the beginning of Nachal Kziv. Our first stop of this leg was an ancient threshing floor. We then walked through the ruins of Chirbet Bek, a Jewish settlement form the beginning of the 19^th century. Here we say an example of secondary use. A mill stone was being use as a trough for the local sheep and goats. We continued down the hill. The last part of the decent was on a road built by the residents of Beit Jan to access their fields.

One reaching the bottom of the hill, we stopped for lunch under some peach, or was in plumb, trees.

After lunch, we continued along Nachal Kziv. Our plan was to connect with the 'Road of Contention', but construction of new fields and orchards had moved the trail. After looking for a path for about halfan hour, our guide led us over some fences and through some fields towards the 'Road of Contention'.

The 'Road of Contention' was built through the Meron Nature reserve by the residents of Beit Jan and Hurfeish to shorten the trip between the two villages.

Along the road there is a memorial to the 73 soldiers who were killed in 1997 when two helicopters collided in mid air over Shear Yeshuv. One of the soldiers was from Beit Jan, and this is his memorial.

Towards the end of the road, we left it, and started walking up Nachal Moran, which would take us back to the field school. Along the wat we passed Einot Neriya, a group of springs that flow all year round.

On Shabbat, several groups took a walk to Nachal Neriya. One group encountered a large herd of goats that were on the way to graze.

Many thanks to Craig who coordinated the hike, and to our guide Michael.

Nachal Yitla – April 24th, 2009

Originally, we planned to hike in Nachal Tzeelim, but the guide determined that we would not be able to complete the hike and return before Shabbat.

We met at the Paz gas station at the entrance to Jerusalem, and from there drove to the beginning of the hike at Har HaRuach, The windy hill, on the road to Nataf.

Three of the drivers drove to the end of the hike and left two cars there. While waiting for the drivers the guide explained some things (I wasn't there, so if someone can fill in the blanks I would be thankful). Once the drivers returned, we started walking.

Since the purpose of the hike was to collect some garbage, we each received two garbage bags, an orange one for trash, and a green one for recyclable items.

At first, we walked west towards Har HaRuach. We climbed towards the hills summit. After a short explanation about some of the flora, we continued on our hike. Our guide, Mati, led us off the marked trail down the side of the mountain. It was a bit challenging, but not to difficult.

Once at the bottom of the mountain, we rejoined the marked trail and continued along Nachal Yitla. Along the way we were met by some rangers who relieved us from our trash bags.

We stopped a few times for some more explanations about the scenery and various plants and animals.

At one point we all stood around a pile of Gazelle droppings and heard an explanation about Gazelle scent stations.

The next point of interest was Nachal Yitla's Black Canyon. We had to scramble down into the canyon, where we found the remains of an ancient Monks Cell. Many participants climbed up to the Monks Cell.

After climbing out of the canyon, we continued up the hill, and then down towards Shaar HaGuy.

Along the way we saw a collection of old Roman Mile stones that once marked the road from Emmaus to Jerusalem.

Our end point was the Paz gas station in Shaar HaGuy. The drivers were dispatched to retrieve the cars from Har HaRuach.

Thanks to Michael and Aviva for organizing the hike and to Mati for being a great guide.

Pictures:

Gadi's Pictures

Nachal Chazuri – March 19th – 21st, 2009

We met at the Golan Field School in Katzrin on Thursday night. Since there is not much to do in Katzrin, most of us went to sleep fairly early.
We woke up to an overcast day. After breakfast at the field school, we drove north towards the Hermon. We drove along the Syrian border, past the volcanic hills of Bental and Avital, and through the Druze Villages of Bouq'ata and Mas'ada.

After passing Nimrods castle, we dropped off our passengers, and the drivers took the cars to the end of the route. Two cars brought the drivers back to the beginning of the route.

Nachal Chazuri is one of the few running streams on the Hermon. It runs from high on the Hermon to below Nimrods Castle where it joins Nachal Govta and flows down to the Banyas.

Our route started near Nebi Chazuri, A Druze holy place.

At the beginning of the route we saw the remains of two flour mills, which utilized the height difference to grind flour up until about 100 years ago.

Very quickly we entered the wadi and started scrambling down small cliffs. The route was very slippery, and we had to watch every step.

There were quite a few slips, but no one was seriously hurt.

We left the wadi just before in joins Nachal Govta, and climbed up towards Nimrods Castle. It was a short (about 20 minutes), but very steep climb.

After a short break at the entrance to Nimrod's Fortress, we took a tour of the Fortress.

The Fortress was built in the 13^th Century by the Ayyubies, and was later reinforced by the Mamlukes.

Once we finished the tour, we realized that we would have enough time to continue down to the Banias. The drivers who had left their cars at the beginning of the route, walked back there, got the cars, drove back to the fortress, picked up the rest of drivers and took them to get the rest of the cars. Once all of the cars had returned, each car made its way independently back to the Field School.

We had Friday Night dinner at the field school, and most people went to sleep early.

After breakfast on Shabbat, a small group decided to visit Nachal Zavitan, which is a short walk from the field school.

Since there has been construction in the area , we had trouble finding the trail, but eventually found it. At one point, we had to go through a gate that had a 'beware of land mines' sign on it. Since, it was an obvious path, most of us went through the gate, but some refused and turned back.

About 10 minutes later, we got to Nachal Zavitan. We continued down stream for about 15 minutes, and came to a lovely pool, with hexagonal crystal cliffs on both sides.

We stays there for a while, and then started heading back.

We decided to follow Nachal Zavitan upstream towards the road. It was longer than we thought, but well worth the time. We were a bit late for Lunch, but as usual there was plenty of food.

Thanks to Naomi for organizing a great week, and to Achi, our guide for doing a great job.

Pictures:

Gadi's Pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gadi.ben.avi&target=ALBUM&id=5316811592662383521&authkey=Gv1sRgCOvQ36Ol59zdtQE&feat=email
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gadi.ben.avi&target=ALBUM&id=5316805755506408609&authkey=Gv1sRgCIXVod2wk-awTQ&feat=email

Eilat - January 29th - 31st 2009

Our anual trip to Eilat took place on the last weekend of January 2009.

Some of us started the weekend off with a visit to Mamshit, a Nabatean City just south of Dimona on route 25. Follow the links for more information.

During our visit, we took a walk along Nachal Mamshit. We saw two dams, one based on an ancient nabatean dam, and one built by the british. The dams collected flood waters to be used for agriculture.

After our visit, we continued south to Eilat, checked in to the field school.
Most of us met up for supper at a restaurant.
We found out that our original destination, Nachal Gishron, was closed by the army due to 'the situation', and that we'll have to do a different hike.

On Friday morning we drove towards the montains overlooking Eilat. We picked up our guide, Dan, at the back entrance (or was it the exit) to Eilat, and then continued up route 12 towards Har Yehoram. We left our cars at the trail head and started climbing towards the peek follwing the black trail. At the end of the first climb a vista opened up and we had a lovely view of the area, The black rocks of Har Shlomo in contrast with the light rocks of Har Yehoram.

At the peek there is a memorial to two soldiers who died while on an orientiering exersize in the area. After a short rest we followed the black trail down the other side of the mountain. At the intersection with the red trail, we turned left and continued downhill. The trail was very steep, and a few of us slipped and left parts of themsleves on the mountain.

The trail ended in Nachal Netafim. We turned right onto the green trail that took us down Nachal Netafim. At this point we had to scramble down some dry waterfalls.

At the intersection with the blue trail, we started climbing up Nachal Bat-Sheva or Nachal HaMapalim. During the climb, we had to use handhold bolted into the rock, and at one point, a hand rail.

At the top of the climb, most of the group continued down the blue trail, while most of the drivers took the black trail back to the cars. Along the way we heard some more explanations and saw a place where with one step you cross 500 million years, or at least that what the plack said.

We got to the cars and drove down to where the rest of the group was waiting. Drivers who had not come with the drivers group, were taken to get their cars.

On the way back to Eilat, our guide took us to an abandoned army outpost overlooking Eilat. From there we could see 3 countries (Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia) and all of Eilat.

After breakfast on Shabbat, many of us went to sit on the beach.

Many thanks to Judith who organized the hike, Dan our guide, and all the drivers for getting us safely to Eilat and back.

Pictures:
Gadi's Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gadi.ben.avi&target=ALBUM&id=5300102138082437937&authkey=qfgwEXq2GvY&feat=email
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gadi.ben.avi&target=ALBUM&id=5300097886480695361&authkey=UxMp9GVnpa8&feat=email

Fiona's Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/fvernea/TiyulEilatJan2009

Nachal Og and Ein Feshcha - December 19th 2008

We met at the gas station near Almog at the northern end of the Dead Sea. After a short drive, we parked the cars near the entrance to Kibbutz Almog and started walking.

Our hike started at an elevation of 260 meters below sea level. We walked along a blue trail to Mitzpor Og, a lookout over Nachal Og.

After a short explanation, we continued up the hill until coming to a dirt road marked as a black trail (Elevation 200 meters below sea level). This road goes along the tops of the cliffs to the west of the Dead Sea. We followed the road into Nachal Og, where it met the green trail that took us into Nachal Og's canyon (elevation 220 meters below sea level). After a short explanation about two desert plants, the Maluach and the Caper, we continued along the canyon.

The canyon has many small descents and three places where we used ladders built into the canyon walls to descend about 10 meters. These provided great photo opportunities.

After exiting the canyon (elevation 280 meters below sea level), we had a short explanation about Bedouin hospitality, and then continued back to our cars.

Our next stop was the Ein Feshcha Nature reserve of the shores of the Dead Sea. Ein Feshcha has a large concentration of fresh water springs and is a green oasis in an otherwise desert area. The reserve has three areas: An open area which is open to everyone, a closed part, where only organized groups can visit, and a third area where no one can go.

After a short break for lunch, we walked towards the closed area. On the way we saw ruins of a factory that produced the Persimmon Perfume during the Second Temple period.

The reserve suffered major fire damage in June 2008, and it was amazing to see how much has regenerated. It was also sad to see how far the Dead Sea has receded.

Thanks to Allan who organized the trip, and to Bar, our guide.

Pictures:

Gadi's Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gadi.ben.avi/20081219MosaicNachalOg?feat=email
Steve's Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/steve99il/MosaicDec192008NahalOgAndEinFascha?feat=email#
Alan's Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/alanmeerkin/MosaicNahalOg?feat=email#

The Hula Bird Park and Nachal Aviv - December 4th - December 6th 2008

We left Jerusalem at various times and converged on Kibbutz Malkiyah in the Upper Galille. After arriving we went to sleep in preparation for an early wake up call.



We woke up at 5 am in the morning. It was still cold and dark, but we managed to get ourselves in the cars and drive down to the Hula Valley. As we were driving down, we were greeted with the beginnings of the sunrise over the Golan Heights.



We arrived at the Hula 'lakelet' (Agamon) and met our guide Michael Even-Esh.



Michael took us on a short walk in the area, where we saw the thousands of cranes (19,300 to be exact), pelicans and other birds that use the area as a rest stop on the flight from Europe and Asia to Africa.


We also saw several Nutriyot, and rodent that looks like a muskrat.

Michael also explained the problems the local farmers have with the cranes and the various solutions to the problem.


After our short walk we sat down and had a very nice picnic breakfast.


After breakfast, we drove back up the hill towards Nachal Aviv. We left the cars at the end of our trail, and drove to the beginning where we left most of the cars.


Nachal Aviv starts between Avivim and Yir'on on road 899, The northern road - Kvish HaTzafon. We started our walk at a sharp bend in the road, where we jumped (well, climbed over) the fence and started walking down. There are cliffs on both sides of the river bed. Many of the cliffs form a Tznir (צניר), which is a geological formation resembling a pipe (צינור).


There were many caves in the cliffs on both sides of the river bed. These are the remains of a monastic community that lived here starting in the 4th century. Further down the trail we came to the Laura, the central complex of the community, where the monks would gather every Sunday.


We climbed up a steep narrow staircase carved out of the mountain and saw an Olive Press that was carved out of the bedrock. The view was spectacular.



After climbing down, we continued on the trail and came across a wine press with another great view. Those monks really knew where to build their presses.



We followed Nachal Aviv to its end where it flows into Nachal Dishon. Nachal Dishon is a huge valley that goes all the way to the Hula Valley. We followed it back to our cars.



On Saturday we rested and then came home.

Many Thanks to Phyllis, who did a great job organizing this weeknd, Michael, our guide, and all the drivers who got us there and back.

Pictures:

Alan's Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=alanmeerkin&target=ALBUM&id=5277839044715662353&authkey=_U6bvHo8ufM&feat=email

Gadi Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gadi.ben.avi&target=ALBUM&id=5278559085195550385&authkey=n1lFLP7btis&feat=email

Katamon Tour and Picnic – August 14th 2008

We met at the corner of Hagdud HaIvri and HaPalmach Street in Jerusalem.

After an introduction to the history of Katamon, the significance of this particular corner (This is where count Folke Bernadotte was assassinated) and a description of the various architectural styles in the neighborhood, we started our walk.

We walked down Hagdud HaIvri, turned right on Eli Cohen, left on Boustenai, right on Hizkiyahu, which took us to the San Simon Park.

Along the way we saw several interesting buildings. We passed the former RAF compound, the house where Benyamin and Yoni Netanyahu grew up, the Note House (Beit Hatavim), that has musical notes on its windows, and several other architecturally interesting buildings.

We ended up in the San Simon Park, where a fierce battle was fought during the War of Independence.

After finishing the walk, we set up the food and had a very nice Picnic.

Thanks to Maxine who organized the walk and all the food, and to our Guide Mike.