Carmel - March 28th 2008

I know it's a bit late, but here is my take of the Carmel Hike.

On Thursday, some of us met in Zichron Yaakov for a snack before going on to Ramat HaShofet.

After breakfast on Friday morning, we drove to the gas station at the entrance to Ein Carmel to pick up our guide.

From there we drove up to the carmel on route 721. we took the turn towards the Carmel Forest Spa and ended up in Chirbet Rakit. This would be the start of our hike.

The drivers took the cars to the end of the hike and came back so we could start the hike.

At the begining of the hike (after everyone went to the bathroom), we saw the remains of a wine press and a burial cave.

Next we climbed to the top of Har Shokef, which is one of the highest peeks of the Carmel. Along the way we past some cyclists going down the hill.

As anyone knows, what goes up must come down, and we started down the hill. The descent was a bit trickier than the climb. Along the way we past a few European Redbud trees (כליל החורש, Cercis siliquastrum) with their brilliant pink flowers.

When we got to the bottom of the hill, we came upon some cows with calfs.

After a short explanation about how the valley was formed, we made our way towards a large oak tree. The Quercus boissieri usually found at much higher elevations and is therefore unique in the carmel.

We stopped under the tree and had some lunch.

After getting back on the trail, we made our way along Nachal Oren. We passed a few springs on the way.

We also passed a Druze Holy place. At this point the guide explaned some things about the Druze and their treditions.

We ended our hike at 'The Pond'. The pond is a damned section of Nachal Oren that can sometimes be used for swimming, if enough water flows.

We drove back to Ramat HaShofet for a rest.

On Shabat, some people took a walk down to Nachal Hashofet.

Thanx to Craig and Natalee for organizing the weekend.

Pictures from this hike can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/gadi.ben.avi/MosaicCarmelMarch28th2008 (Gadi's Pictures)
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CatmTVs0aNNG (Craig's Picutres)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035930&l=c77ca&id=12201107 (Beckys Pictures)

Wadi Kelt - February 22nd, 2008

We met at 8 am at the shopping center in French's Hill. When everyone arrived, we got into the cars and drove to Anatot, where we would begin the hike. Most of the drivers took the cars to the end of the trail at Ein Mabua.

When the drivers returned we started walking east along Nachal Prat. Because it had rained and snowed during the week, there was plenty of water along the route. We had to cross the stream many times. Some of us even got a little wet.

Along the way we found a turtle, who was a little scared by all the people and urinated on our guide.

Further on trail we met up with a goat herd. Our first indication of the herd was loud bleatting of one of the goats. Next we saw a doe (female goat) with a young kid. Some of us, who closed, said that they thaught the kid had just been born.

Further on we met the rest of the herd along with the shepards.

After crossing the stream again, we saw an Ilanit which is a type of small frog about 4cm in length.

We ended our hike at Ein Mabua.

Thank to warren for organizing the hike and to Bar, our guide.

More pictures can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/gadi.ben.avi/20080222MosaicWadiKelt

Eilat - January 18th 2008

We started arriving at the Eilat Field School on the afternoon of Thursday, January 17th. A few of us went out for dinner at the Achla restuarant.

On Friday morning, the plan was to leave at the ungodly hour of 6:30 am. We managed to be on the road by about 6:45.

We drove through Eilat and then up route 12 which goes along the Egyptian border. After about 45 minutes, we turned off the road and drove on a bumpy road, following the green trail markers, to the start of our hike. We got off the bus where the road intersects Nachal Botem and started walking east, following the black trail markers.

After about a kilometer and a half we stopped for a snack. It was still very cold and windy.

The black trail ended, and we turned south onto the red trail.

We followed the read trail for about 2 kilometers, crossing Nachal Timna. We almost missed the next turn because our guide, Roni, was caught up in conversation with the hikers around her.

Our next turn was on to another black trail. After about another kilometer on the black trail we came to a lookout over the Timna Basin. We could see Solomon's Columns and many of the other sites in Timna.

After a short break, we started our descent into the Timna Basin. The descent was about 500 meters over a 500 meter horizontal distance, and took about an hour. When we got to the bottom, on shaky legs, we stopped for lunch.

We continued on the black trail until it met the blue one. We turned onto the blue trail, which took us around the northwest part of the Timna basin. Along the route we went through the white canyon, up a sand dune, and then through a small canyon. In the small canyon we found an ancient copper mine shaft. Some of the adventurous of us climbed up the shaft.

Further on, we came upon a cave. The cave had some interesting drawings on the wall, including an inscription on Greek.

We ended out hike at the arches, got back on the bus and drove back to the field school.

While most of us were hiking, another group had more pressing matters. Many shekels were spent on shoes and other important objects.

On Sunday, some of us took a day trip to Petra.

Thank you to Roni, our guide, and to Naftali who coordinated the weekend.

More pictures can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/gadi.ben.avi/Eilat2008

December 14th - From Qumran to Ein Feshcha

After meeting at the Qumran Parking lot and moving the cars to the end of the hike, we started walking towards Nachal Qumran.

As we were crossing the streem bed we looked down and saw a pool formed by the last flood.

We stopped at the base of the cliff for a short explanation, and then started the climb up. The climb was fairly steep and included some scrambling, but we all made it up.

We stopped for another short explanation looking over a view of the northern part of the Dead Sea, Qumran and Kibbutz Kalya.

After resting a bit, we continued on the climb. After another short climb we arrived at the top of the cliff and started making our way south on a dirt road. The road was far from flat, and there were many short ascents and descents. We took a short detour to to another lookout point.

After a few more ups and downs on the dirt road, we turned off the road, and started making our way towards Rosh Tzukim. After a short break, and some more explanations, we started our decent towards Ein Feshcha. During the descent, we had lovely views of the Ein Feshcha Nature Reserve and the northern part of the Dead Sea.

Ein Feshcha is the lowest nature reserve on earth.

Rosh Tzukim is at about -70 meters below sea level and the end of the descent is at about -360 meters below sea level So there was an elevation loss of about 290 meters over a distance of about 4 kilometers (as the crow flies).

The Ascent was a bit shorter. We started at about -330 meters below sea level and ended at about -100 below sea level.

Thanx to Elana who organized this hike, and to Amir who was our guide.

Masada - November 16th-17th, 2007

On Friday we met at the Masada Youth Hostel.

Our first part of the day was spent hiking the runners trail. This trail goes along the eastern part of the Roman siege wall. Just north of Masada the trail climbs to the west and ends up at the bottom of the Roman siege ramp.

After a short rest, we climbed to the top of Masada where we had a short introductory talk about Masada, and then a short tour of the site.

Some of us walked down the snake path, but most of us chose to take the cable car down. We met back at the youth hostel to continue to our next hike.

The second part of the day was a short hike in Nachal Yizrach and Nachal Rom.

The Nachal Yizrach trail starts near Meitzad Zohar in Nachal Zohar.

Meitzad Zohar is a small fort with Roman origins. The current fort is from the early Arab period. The roman fort was part of the Limus Palestina which was the border between the settled part of the land in Roman times and the wilderness.

We walked north along Nachal Yizrach until its origins and then down Nachal Rom which ends at the Dead Sea. The hike down Nachal Rom was a challenge since in was mostly scrambling down rocks.

On Shabbat, some of us took a walk through Chavarei Metzada. Chavar or Marl is a very soft type of limestone. We walked for about an hour and a half. The walk took us to the main road and back.

Later that day, we visited the relatively new museum at Masada that tells the story and displays various artifacts from the site.

We stayed overnight at the Masada youth hostel. The hostel is very nice and new. It was a shame that the pool was not open.

First Post

Hi Everyone,
I am starting the blog as an experiment.
My goal is to create a new entry after every hike.
Gadi