It's certainly been a hard week and a half for all those of you who have been dying to learn about my trek from sea to sea. First, an introduction.
It was INCREDIBLE. The most amazing thing I have done in years. It was harder than I ever could have imagined, and painful at times (though worse for others than me. More on that later). There were times it was frustrating, and when I just wanted to give up. But, in the end, reaching the Mediterranean Sea was one of the best birthday presents I've ever received.
We followed כביש ישראל, Israel's national trail, which goes from the north of the country to the south. The path was anything but direct, but afforded us good terrain and many sites to see along the way.
The whole trek, we brought along Eddie (our Etrog). He had an excellent time.
Day 1: Thursday
Thursday was סוכות (a whole separate post is in order). After the end of the holiday, my friends Seth, Emma and Rachel gathered at my apartment. We went and enjoyed our last meal on Ben Yehuda St. - falafel and shwarma. Mmmm.
At 9 PM we were picked up by our sherut driver to leave for Tiberias. After a short discussion of which route to take, we were off. This was the first of four times on our trip when we almost died. We were promised by our driver, and received, a shlep all the way to the north of the country in two hours and 15 minutes. The drive should take closer to three. I have never been more nervous in a car in my life; not even when my mom is driving.
We left the sherut at Kibbutz Degania, and met our sixth man, Dan, at the junction there. After a short walk, we found the start of the trail and a nice field on which to sleep.
Day 2: Friday
As the sun rose Friday morning, we began to awaken slowly, when, suddenly we heard, "It's 5:35 - we're late!" Seth was yelling. Within an hour we had packed up, found water, and were off.
The terrain Friday was tough. Basically, it was a steep ascent out of the Kineret valley. We had 10 hours to hike in the hot summer heat, during which there would be no new water supplies. We each were carrying at least 4 liters of water, so we figured we'd be fine... that was until, one hour later, two of the female members had already finished their water. More on that later.
Highlights, pre-running out of water at 2 PM:
- Shortly into the trail we passed a Beduin shepherd and his flock.
- Around 11, we lost the trail, then realized where we were, and had to ascend straight up an unmarked part of the mountain to reach where we were supposed to be. Literally, straight up.
- About half-way up, the sole of one of Anna's hiking boots melted off. לא טוב.
- At the top, Anna got in a fight with a barbed-wire fence. Anna lost.
- A nice caravan of Israeli Jeep riders stopped and gave us water.
- We passed lots of farms with no water.
And so, around 2 PM, we were out of water, in the middle of nowhere.
This was time two that we almost died. Thanks to an ingenious shortcut found by Dan, on the wrong side of a river. That meant 1. crossing the river, and 2. taking water from the river to drink and using iodine to make it safe. Tasty...
At about 4:30, 22 km later, we found a place to sleep, further down along the same river. It was a quaint little spot, perfect for Shabbat. We set up shop, did a little prayin and eatin, then were asleep by 8:30.
Day 3: שבת
We took Saturday relatively easy. Though we certainly made some mileage, we also took some time for Shabbat מנוחה. Three hours in, we reached our first water source, a nice gas station, made friends with the patch of grass in the back, and Emma decided it was time for her to return home to Jerusalem.
And then we were five...
That afternoon, we were followed by a dog for a few kilometers into the coolest Arab town I've ever seen. The townspeople, all Beduins, all treated us like celebrities: we were honked at, waved too, offered water and a place to rest, etc. Pretty cool.
Coming out the other side of the village, Crossley made friends with the pavement and was rescued by Dan - could have been much worse.
Outside the town, we passed the trash dump. By dump, I mean the road leaving the town. And by trash, I mean random crap, and lots of smelly animal carcasses, including an entire camel. Yummy.
We made our way into the valley we needed to next pass through, and set up shop for sleeping in a tree-house-like alcove. We made a fire, did Havdalah, told stories, and slept.
Day 4: Sunday
We again arose with the sun, and were off early. Quickly we made our way out of the valley to find ourself at the base of the mountain that, on the other side, is Nazareth, and its Jewish equivalent, Nazareth Elite. A little up the mountain, the trail ended. Then, wild dogs started barking at us and coming in our direction. We took out beef sticks and each held one to ward the dogs off in the event that they attack us. This was time three that we almost died. Fortunately, we were not eaten.
At the top of the hill was two amazing things:
- The half-way point.
- A Homecenter.
I'm not quite sure which was more amazing. We used the opportunity to buy some food, replenish our stove gas, and unload the rice which I had been carrying that would not be eaten.
The rest of the day was mostly downhill, coming from Nazareth Elite closer to the coast. Along the way, we passed the grave of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the codifier of the Mishna. Cool stuff.
Before nightfall, we filled our water up at an abandoned gas station and then camped out in a small JNF forest nearby.
While the others were setting up shop, Seth and I walked to the bottom of the hill where we were camping to check out the small Wine and Honey store located there. Mmmm, honey. Mmmm, clean bathrooms. We showered in the outdoor sink there.
But, women always tend to be oh so much smarter than men, and so, accordingly, Anna and Rachel had the bright idea to shower at the gas station where we had filled up our water.... fun times, fun times indeed.
Shortly before going to bed, we found a shortcut in the map that would let us finish the next day. Morale increased quickly.
Day 5: Monday, My Birthday
The last day was all down hill. The first descent presented a slight problem though: more dogs. Again, we almost died, until Dan tamed the dogs and saved the day.
We crossed another river a few times along the way, and then reached civilization: Kiriat Ata, followed by Kiriat Bialik, both subburbs of Haifa. We treked long and hard on the pavement, with feet in pain and heads insane. Dan's feet were two large blisters - it was pretty gross. We felt bad. But he, and the rest of us, were all troopers.
At about 3:30 PM, on October 4, 2004, 80 km after beginning our hike, we arrived at the Mediterranean Sea. We were all a little loopy and ecstatic. The girls did cartwheels. Dan drank a beer. Me, a Diet Coke.
Life was grand, Eddie was happy.
That night we had dinner in Haifa and then took a bus back to Jerusalem, showered and slept. What an amazing adventure!
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