Shvilist

The winter in Israel is definitely too short. So, once we finally have a few drops – one absolutely must set out and view the transformation of the land… it’s magnificent.

This Saturday, we did a fairly easy walk – from the village of Alma (through Katzyon wadi) to Dishon stream. This trail is a linear, ~7 km long and quite easy – with two remarks:

a. Katzyon wadi is quite a steep one. Should you loose the marks (not too hard a thing to do, given the new vegetation in the area) you might find yourself dozens of meters above the trail before you’ll notice you mistake… so just stay at the bottom at all times!

b. Dishon stream is full of water, after the rains. The water covers the trail at some parts, and you need to walk in a knee deep stream. quite fun, actually.

Those of you who have read this blog, know that I ended the INT at Nimrod’s fortress (see pic above) and the deep canyon around it (the Hazuri stream). About a month later, I continued the trip (in a trip which turned out to be one of the highest difficulty level I hiked in Israel) - starting from the parking lot of the ski resort. In this hike I completed the trail – for we started in Neve Ativ (which is ~3 km from the fortress) and climbed to the parking lot. Actually – it gets better : this parking lot is the starting point of the Golan Heights trail, and originally I planned on starting that trail from there, but was unable to (there were military exercises on that day, and the ascending was closed to civilians) . And so this hike – Neve Ativ to the parking lot of the ski resort then down through Gubta stream back to Neve Ativ – was my missing piece.

The trail is an easy to moderate difficulty level, circular,  about 10 km long with elevation gained of 500 m.
As mentioned, it begins in Neve Ativ (near gate 5). Note that the red marked trail starts at gate 4, which is always closed – but through gate five you walk along the plantations to the cemetery (about 5 minutes of easy walk), then head down the wadi – until you reach the red marked, 4X4, trail. This is also the connection point of the black marked trail, which could lead you to Kal’at Namrud.

From That point you have about 5 km of easy ascend – never leaving the 4X4 road. On some point  the red marked trail goes leftwards towards Kachal mount. – but we didn’t follow it, for it’s path looks really steep.  Just before you reach the parking lot, there’s a little natural pool – which is dry in the summer (was dry when we got there – and full of grazing cows). Crossing the parking lot to the other side, you connect to the GHT (it starts with the green marked trail – same one which goes upward and was described earlier) and then turn south – along the beginning of Gubta stream – towards the road which connects Neve Ativ and Magdal Shams. This is a 4 km long descend, in which only the fist 3.5 km are quite easy – but the last 500 meters are steep (and they are quite steep – you go down about 150 m’ ). The hike is completed by an easy walk along the paved road – back to Neve Ativ.

Mine is a long and a sad tale… (– Lewis Carroll , Alice in wonderland)

In April 20th we did a beautiful day hike in Dolev stream, which is located near Beit Shemesh. About two month later (29/6 to be exact), a great wildfire – the largest we had since one of the rockets that Hezbollah shot at us during the second Lebanon war ignited the most of the Hula valley – c0nsumed this region.  And so,this trail is unlike the rest of the trails described in this blog – for you cannot follow it (well, technically you can, but all you’re gonna see in the next couple of years is nothing but charred ground.

And it’s a real pity, because it was a very nice walk : a not to difficult circle, 9 km long, following the path of a beautiful stream It’s starting point is a picnic area, located on the road between Beit Shemesh and Nes Harim – right by the turn which leads to the stalactite cave. you go along a red marked, 4X4 road for 1 km until you reach the loop – marked black. You turn left for the stream (still a 4X4 road) and it enters the wadi.

The trail goes for 2.5 km inside the wadi – and then meets the original road (the red marked one) – and then you climb up that road all the way back to your car.
Along the way we came across an Ibex and many wild flowers.

Trail summery : total length : 9 km,out of which: up hill ~4, down hill ~5. Elevation gained : 400 meters. Best time to hike it : in a few years…

Along the dead sea there are several beautiful hikes. This one is definitely one of the best ones, offering both cool water in the desert (you have to swim in them, so come prepared!), a fantastic lime-stone canyon and – for those who seek the more challenging trails – many steep slopes, which must be climbed down with a rope. To be perfectly honest, the first time we hiked it we didn’t bring any rope (we didn’t know we needed too) – and we still managed to get along – but a rope will definitely make your life easier.

The trail is not too difficult – I rank it of a moderate difficult level – but it is very long (at least eight hours). It is in one of the hottest places in Israel, so bring at least 1.5 litters more than you’d normally bring (and that means – no less than 4.5 litters per person! )

I should note that these pictures were taken on January 23rd (the first time we hiked it). On the second  time (in May) the water level was much lower…  and so I’d recommend hiking it in February (as long as you come early and fully prepared for it

Well, I should definitely increase the update rate – I’ve got about 10 more hikes to tell you about, and since i’m hiking at least twice a month, (more if I can help it), by the time that I’ll tell you about them, I’ll have fifty more

Besides the hikes, I’ve recently completed the Golan Heights Trail (I was thinking of naming it the GHT… care to comment?) – a 130 km long trail, going from the Hermon mountain all the way to Hammat Gader. It Took me five and a bit days – but I will tell you about it later.

Last Saturday we set out for a spontaneous hike in the Meron region. We changed the path several times along the way (It started when I decided to stop the car near the grave of Rabbi shimon Bar Yohai  – quite unexpectedly).

The final trail is about 15 km long, in the shape of the figure 8 (one small circle connected to a much larger one, to be exact). It is of medium difficulty level and the hardest part is in the first km.
Short version of what I’m about to write: from the parking , via blue marked trail to the INT, then head north along the INT till you meet another blue marked trail (this one is at Afaim mountain). Turn left to the blue marked trail, follow it all the way through. It becomes paved road, the trail markings become red, then blue again, then green (now you’re inside the village of beit-Jan, for those of you which are looking at the maps). Follow the green marked trail through. at the second fountain (Ein Hazaken) you turn left and continue along the green marked trail – till you connect to the blue marked trail again, then you turn right into the trail, and follow it till you meet the INT again – then you turn right and follow the INT back to the parking.

Since that was a little quick, let’s elaborate. As I said, the trail begins at the parking near Meron (the one located at the beginning of Amud river). This is exactly where my 38th day of the INT started, and this hike will meet the INT later on. From that point, the INT goes towards Sod stream, and so We took the other way – a beautiful unnamed wadi  (actually, I was surprised to learn that in has no name, despite the fact that it is quite tiny.You find in the map of Israel names for almost any curve of every mountain…. and a lot of places bear more than one name).
This ascend begins in a small fountain named Ein Meron, and climbs the beautiful wadi. I should mention that it is probably the most difficult part of the trail (I rate it : medium. The rest was easy, save for two more parts: the descend from Afaim mountain, and the ascend inside Beit Gan, which were also of medium difficulty due to their slope )

The trail then connect to the Israel National Trail (INT) at the fountain of Ein Zeved (there’s a tree planted on top of this fountain… remember this point, for we will come back to it – this is the connecting dot of the 8 that I’ve mentioned earlier.

From that point, we leave the blue marked trail, and follow the Israel National Trail northward – enjoying the views from mount Hen.

When the trail gets to mount Afaim, we leave the INT and follow the blue marked trail along the ridge. This part is one of the most beautiful in the entire hike (along with the ascend at the beginning  and – to a lesser degree – kziv river). This trail ends with quite a descend (going from the ridge side into the wadi) and then it connects to a paved road that leads us into Beit Gan. We’ve descended one ridge – and now we will climb the opposite one, circling mount Zeved and mount Hessed.

The same paved road is marked in three different colours : first red, then blue, then green. The marking here are not so good – so just keep on climbing along the road….
The green marked trail reaches the fountain of Ein Garna, and then descends into the upper part of Kziv river. Along the way, we were fortunate enough to see a wild peony, which is quite rare in Israel and could only be found in this region. Further more, this flower blossoms about two weeks per year – and we were quite lucky to catch the last glimpse of it.

Kziv river begins at a fountain called Ein Hazaken, and at that point we turn left, along the green marked trail. about 500 meters from that point, the blue marked trail (the trail that this hike started with) connects to the road – and so we turn right and continue for another 500 meters, till we reach Ein Zeved again. Instead of descending the blue marked trail, we now turn right – along the INT, and go around Sod stream – all the way back to the parking lot.

Summery :

The hike took us about 8 hours to complete – and it was definitely worth it

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve last updated this Blog, and it’s not like I didn’t hike all that time…. so now I’ve got a lot to tell you

We’ll start with a truely magnificent hike in Betzet stream, up in the north of the country. This trip began at the little village of Granot Hagalil, and is marked with a blue marks. It’s not a circular one, so prepare a pickup in advance…..

The trail enters the wadi, and follows it all the way to the village of Ya’ara. It’s a very easy trail (4 km long), well suited for families. There are several fountains in the wadi (which are being pumped up – all is left is a knee high pool, into which you can get in, as well as a trickle into which you’re not suppose to). There’s also a bat cave (but you can’t get in).

There are some truely impressive plane trees  which are fun to climb, and many oleanders – don’t drink the water…

As I said, it’s a very easy trail. I didn’t follow it all the way through – but instead I switched into a different one (marked red) after 2 km. It’s a bit difficult to find the connection, but once you’re out of the bottom of the wadi and you found the trail – it’s easy to follow it. This trail climb the northern slope of this wadi (about 300 meter. for any of you that had any doubt- this part is not for families…. unless the entire family are in a good shape). you have spectacular views of the stream and it’s surroundings, and it ends with the famous arch of Me’arat Keshet (literal traslated to cave of the arch, even though it’s not a cave at all – the arch was formed when the ceiling of the cave – collapsed)

A relatively short (8 km long) and easy (mostly downhill) trail. This one way trail takes you into the evergreen forest of the Carmel, enter a flowing fountain to cool yourself, rest in a huge cave (which turns out to be a natural tunnel to the other side of the hill)… but i’m getting ahead of myself.

The black-marked trail begins near Haifa university , and descends Neder stream – until Ein Kedem , which is located in a partially sealed cave – but you can climb into it – and a short (approx 15 meters), low tunnel will take you to the source. This tunnel is dark and water filled, so bring flashlight and bathing suit – and enjoy

From the fountain the trail continues for another 300 meters , till Galim stream is reached. from that point, a short (though a bit steep) climb to the other side will bring you to Oranit cave – one of the largest in the Carmel. In fact, one of its extensions  crosses the hill and forms a tunnel, through which the trail (red marked) takes you to Sfunim cave – the place to spot bats.

the trail ends at highway 4, near Mitle stream (little more than 1 km northen to the entrance to Megadim).

The Israel National Trail stops at Dan. However, Dan is not the northern end of the state of Israel (well – it is if you don’t go any westward. But after all the road that’s been covered, stopping in Dan just didn’t feel RIGHT). So I carried on. I already published the journey westward (climbing up the Golan Heights) and the beginning of the northward journey, towards the Hermon mount., BUT -  unfortunately, my dog died – and so i didn’t feel like carrying on, even though I was a single day’s journey from the end.

Accompanied by three of my friends, we took on the final stage of the climb. The trail begins at the parking lot of the ski resort, right at the beginning of the Golan trail (I’ll probably attempt it next spring. stay tuned ) but where the Golan trail veers to the right (and clims down the mountain, towards the heights) this trail takes a left turn – and began the climb.

On the map, it is quite a short trail, about 4 km (one way). But the trail is one of the steepest in Israel – reaching the top of the ski resort. It took us about five hours to climb up and down again.

The good thing about us being in such elevation (around 2000 meters) is that spring (and summer)  arrives later here than in the rest of the country – and so we were able to see some flowers, even though down it is the end of May.

The memorial in which I camped is located a few Km from Kalat Namrud – Nimrod’s fortress. This impressive place was built by Saladin’s nephew, but since I have been there many times in the past, I did not visit it this time.

The fortress is built on top of a hill, on the border between mount Hermon and the Golan heights. Geographically speaking – i think it’s part of the Hermon, since the hill is lime stone and not Basalt – but that’s not really my field of expertise. Anyway, on it’s northern side runs a deep canyon, which was created by Hasuri stream (the same stream is renamed Gubta at one point). The Hasuri is the upper part of the stream, and has water running in it – and then they disappear underneath the earth, probably to reappear in the Banias fountain. Thogh short, this is a very steep canyon, and it took me about 4 hours to climb down it’s 3.5 Km.

I started ascending the Golan heights by walking along Banias river – the third stream which will form (along with the Dan and the Hazbani) the Jordan river. The hike starts by the village of Shar-Yeshuv, with a relatively not very visited part of the river (i thought it was more impressive than the other, more popular part). Before entering the second part you are forced to abandon the trail, and walk through the official entrance of the national park.

By the end of Banias natural park you have the ancient city of Caesarea Philippi – which was built by Herod‘s son, phillipus. The city was built near an acient temple to the greek god of Pan, which in turn was built on top of an even older temple to the Semitic god of Gad.

After the visit to the city & the temple’s ruins, I hiked along Sa’ar stream (a green marked trail). Despite his name  (Sa’ar means storm) there is only a trickle of water…. guess that ten years of continued drought can do that to a stream. The trail, again, divides into two parts : one leading to the road to Ein Kania, a Druze village, and the other one is taking from the road up to what the map marks as a waterfall (and then you have to backtrack yourself all the way to the road again). I did hike all the way to the waterfall – but I cannot say that it was worth it, due to the small amount of water trickling in what used to be an impressive waterfall. Looks to me as a place to visit after heavy showers in this region…

I went along the road, through Ein Kania all the way to Egoz memorial (near Hazuri stream), where i camped for the night.