Har Grizzim and Dier Kal'a - February 15th, 2013

We met the bus near the Hartman Institute, and started driving north towards Har Grizzim.
After picking our guide, Kuti, up at Ofra, we continued north and arrived at the Har Grizzim National Park.

The site is a the very top of the mountain, and it was very windy, so we moved the bus so it formed a wind brake, and the guide gave us a brief history of the site, and what we were about to see.

We toured the site, stopping at the remains of an olive press, and then went on to the Sacred Precinct where there have been various temples and churches over the last 2500 years.

Our next stop was the Samaritan neighborhood, where we saw the Samaritan Passover Sacrifice site, and a Tchina factory.

We also met a group of christian volunteers from an organization called HaYovel, whos mission is to help small farmers. Their leader, Tommy, explained who they were, and what their mission was.

We also had an overlook of the eastern parts of Shchem, including the Balata refuge camp, and Joesph's tomb.

We returned to the bus and drove back down the mountain, past Ariel to Pedu'el. We went out the back gate of Pedu'el towards Deir Qal'a, which is the remains of a byzantine fortified farm. It is a very impressive site.

After returning to the bus, we drove back to Jerusalem.

Thanks to Elana for organizing the tour, and to Kuti, our guide, for doing a great job.

Pictures:
Gadi's Pictures

Eilat - January 17th - January 19th 2013

Our annual trip to Eilat was a lot of fun.

We traveled to Eilat on Thursday by various routes. 

About half of the group met at the Rooster Restaurant for an all you can eat Chicken Dinner, which was very good.

On Friday morning we boarded the bus, and were taken to the beginning of the hike. We started our hike at the Har Yehoram campsite, and started walking north on the black trail. We used the red trail to descend into Nachal Netafim and then walked over to Ein Netafim for our first stop.

Ein Netafim is the only spring in the Eilat Mountains, and is very important for the animals who live in the desert.

We continued on the green trail down Nachal Netafim. We left Nachal Netafim to take a bypass that would the shorten the route, and met back up with it after a very sharp and tricky descent.

At the intersection with another black trail, we turned north, and climbed over the mountain to Nachal Roded. 

Our next stop was Guy Avood, the lost valley, a short sandstone canyon with lovely pink and white walls.

After the break, we started climbing up Har Shchoret. It was a long, and at times steep, ascent.

From the top, we had a great view of the Arava, and then we started our descent. The first part was very steep into Nachal Shchoret, and then we went into Kanyon Shchoret, for the last leg of the hike.

The canyon had some challenging dry waterfalls that had to be descended carefully.

Once we all finished the hike, we got on the bus for the ride back to the field school. We made it just in time for Shabbat.

The hike was about 10 kilometers. We started at an altitude of 622 meters and ended at an altitude of 220 meters. 

The last leg of the hike, from the top of Har Shchoret, started at an altitude of 480 meters.

A track of most of the hike (My phone's battery died), can be seen at http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/152302900?user=6115877

We had our, now traditional, Shabbat Dinner at the Orchid hotel.

After dinner, our guide Ro'i, had a presentation about the wild life in the desert. 

Thanks to Havi for organizing a great weekend, and to our guide, Ro'i for doing a great job. 

Pictures:
Gadi's Pictures

Nachal Og - December 7th, 2012

We all met at the gas station near Almog Junction.

After making sure that everyone had arrived and payed, we drove to the beginning of the trail near the entrance to Kibbitz Almog.

We started be walking down in Nachal Og, and then started walking up the canyon. It was muddy in some places, evidence of the rain earlier in the week, and possibly a flash flood.

Along the canyon we had to cross muddy areas, and climb up cliffs using had and foot holds in the rocks.

We all made it in one piece.

After exiting the canyon, we walked back to the cars along a jeep trail, stopping for a quick food break while looking over the northern end of the Dead Sea, the Jordan Valley, Kibutz Almog, and Jericho.

Thanks Joel and Simcha for organizing the hike, and to Uri, our guide, for doing a great job.

A map of our hike can be seen at http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/111922748

Pictures:
Gadi's Pictures

Nachal Betzet and Nachal Sarach - October 18th, 2012 to October 20th, 2012

A group of us did a hike on Thursday.
We drove from Jerusalem to Tel Yodfat. We went on a hike from Tel Yodfat, down to Nachal Yodfat, up to Har Atzmon and then back to our starting point. The hike was a little over 6 km, and we got back to the cars, just as the sun was setting. Pictures

From there we drove to Nahariya  and met with some other hikers for Supper at the Galil restaurant on the Nahariya Beach promenade.After supper we drove the the Achziv Field School.

After breakfast on Friday morning, we drove towards Adamit.
We parked and then some of the drivers took the cars to the end of our route.
Once the drivers came back, we started our hike.

Our first stop was the Keshet Cave. After an explanation, we continued along the ridge, descending slowly towards Nachal Betzet.

Once we got to the bottom, we walked a short distance towards Einot Karkara, where there was a bit of water. We stopped there for lunch.

After lunch we continued up Nachal Betzet. When we arrived at the fork, we took the right path, and continued up Nachal Sarach.

We stopped at the Sarach Cave. Those who wanted to, went on a tour through the cave, while the rest waited outside.

After the visit to the cave, it was about half an hour to the end of our route.

The drivers of the cars that were left at the beginning of the hike went to get the cars. Those who could, went back to the field school, while the rest waited for the cars to come back before going back.

Thanks to Rachel Gold and Ephraim King for their hard work organizing the weekend, and to Israel, our guide, for leading us on a great hike.

Pictures:
Gadi's Pictures

The Hadassah Trail - August 31st, 2012

We met at the entrance to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. After everyone arrived and parked we started walking along the Hadassah Trail.

The trail runs along a black trail, the Israel Trail and the Jerusalem Trail. It goes around the hospital, visiting some interesting sites along the way.

We visited Ein Sarig, Ein Chindak and walked along the remains of a roman road.

Unfortunately, we made a wrong turn that cut our walk short.

For a map of our walk, visit Endomondo.

Thanks to everyone who came for a nice, but short, walk.

Stargazing in Makhtesh Ramon - August 16th, 2012

We drove down to the Beerot campground in Makhtesh Ramon.

After a short walk, we spread out for our guided tour of the sky by Ira the Star Man.

We learned about the various constellations, stars, galaxies, and other things we can see in the sky.

The lucky ones saw some shooting stars, part of the Perseid Meteor Shower.

We also had a chance to look through a telescope at objects that are not visible through the naked eye.

We also had the opportunity to hold space rocks in our hands! A 5 kg iron-nickel meteor from Argentina, and a piece of the raw material of the solar system, with microscopic diamonds, Amino acids, and space goulash.

We returned to the camp ground to sleep. Some people saw a fox come in to the tent looking for food. Reports of missing pretzels were filed.

In the morning, we had breakfast, and then made our way back north.

Thanks to Phyllis, for organizing the event, and to Ira, for making the sky come alive.

Beir She'An - May 4th-5th 2012

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