The Israel Trail

Day Twenty Five

David — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:26:09 +0000

Morning comes after a cold night and there is frost in the tent. This means it will be a lil before we can head out. The tent needs to dry out. As soon as the sunrises it will take less then a half hour. I make some coffee and do some yoga to get the day started right. After breakfast I pack up and we head out. It’s about a five kilometer hike until we reach the base of the Karboloet. Karbololet in Hebrew is the top of a roosters head. This red up and down thing-a-ma-jig. Its an appropriate name, for that is what this hike is all about. The Karbolet is the outer rim of Machtesh HaGadol. When we first arrive we see what we think is a short cut, we climb up the outer crust of the machtesh only to find a dead end and a waste of 45 min and a lot of energy, but it was fun. I recommend just staying on the trail! The hike leads us into a deep ravine filled with swimming holes and we take a quick dip in one of them. We hike all the way up until we arrive at the edge of the crater, its literally a few hundred meters down on either side of the ridge and the wind is blowing strong. We stop for a break and enjoy the view. David is the perfect guy to hike with. He understands the beauty of being alone in the desert and to walk with G-d. We split up for the day to meet back up at night camp. I go first as I am a faster hiker. The trail is just breath taking but as the hours go by and the kilometers stack up I get tired and find myself cursing the mountain every time I get down on hogback, just to find there is another one to ascend! This happens about seven or eight times!! At the end of the hike I arrive to a phosphate factory were you can re-up with water from the faucets there. I was beat down by the days hike. I had blisters all over my feet and my whole body was in pain. Just then I meet a man by the name of Yitzy who invites me into the factory for some coffee. We get to talking and the next thing I know he’s cooking me up a steak. Awesome. I ask to use the facilities shower and enjoy my first hot shower in two weeks! I leave refreshed and full just in time to meet up with David, who I saved some steak for. We hitchhike a few kilometers with a Bedouin to a place were one of David’s friends company is providing food for a 100+ high school kids out in nature. I eat even more food and drink a few glasses of wine that was there for the staff that they offered me. Needless to say I slept great that night.

Day Twenty Four

David — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:24:59 +0000

When David and I wake up the sky is blue and there is water everywhere. I have never seen the desert so beautiful. Everywhere you look there is water and the ground is so clean. Good thing about the water too cause David and I are close to being out. We refill our bottles in a few puddles and clean the water with chlorine pills. We hike all the way out of Nachal Hava to Nachal Tzin. When we arrive there we see a flash flood in action. Nachal Tzin is the main drainage channel of the northern Negev. The Nachal is usually dry except for after rain. Now it was bigger then the Jordan River. I couldn’t believe it. A big river in the middle of the Negev Desert!! We hiked along the river for about 8 kilometers crossing over it many times. It was said to say goodbye to the ol river but we had to move on. Destination point, Mador night camp. Along the way we saw an oasis with a camel feeding. Cool. When we arrive to the night camp there are two other groups camping there, one with three boys who had just finished the army, the other a group of three dudes amd two chicks. We all chip in some food and cook a feast. We don’t stay up late because tomorrow we will be hiking the great Karbolet. Tomorrow’s hike is known as the most difficult in the whole trail. I need some sleep.

Day Twenty Three

David — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:23:35 +0000

I wake up this morning bright and early ready for a great day. I make some coffee for the group pack up my gear and get ready to head out. Most of the others are still rubbing there eyes. I realize that they are not as serious as I am about doing the hike. I head out with one other and agree to meet up with the others later. Guy and I hike to a spring in order to re-up with water. On the way we run into some guys in the army who were on a retreat. They hook us up with some chocolate pudding. Yum. We meet up with the others right around lunch and we all sit down for some tuna fish and tehina. After luch we sit down and try to map out our course. Four of us have a different idea about where to go, no worries, Ill go own my own, David another hiker my age decides to come with me. Its David and David. He is also adventurous and we decide to leave the trail for a few days and navigate using out topographical map. As we are hiking out of Ein Hava into Nachal Hava the whether takes a turn. To my surprise it looks as though it will rain. We look for safe ground against flash floods, collect wood and set up camp. Rain it does, all night long. Fortunatly I have a good tent and we stay dry.

Day Twenty Two

David — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:22:36 +0000

Day Twenty Two:

I woke up today, said my goodbyes to the friends and people that I met and to my surprise found a few people who wanted to go along with me, about 5 others. So the six of us headed out. We hiked along the craters edge all morning which offered great views of this natural phenomena. Unfortunatly I found my camera gone. Bummer, but I still have my video camera. We were headed to Ein Hava but missed it by a few kilometers. We camped out in a beautiful place nestled in a few hills outside Ein Hava. Cooked beautiful meal and had a great sleep.

Day Twenty & Twenty One

David — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:21:00 +0000

Day Twenty and Twenty One:

Shabbat in Mitspe Ramon. I was sick the whole time. The whole two days I spent lying in the sun and sleeping. There was a Chabad guy there so I was able to have a nice meal and a place to pray, with a minyan. I planed my hike for the next week as I was going to separate ways with the hippies. It had been fun, but it was time to go.

Day Nineteen

David — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:20:04 +0000

Day Nineteen:

Todays hike from indside the Machtesh to outside the Machtesh was stressful. I was in charge of the caboose fro the group. That’s means that it was my responsibility to make sure that the group, which is close to a hundred people stay somewhat together. No just imagine a 100 hippies in one of the most beautiful places in the world not getting lost, lazy, or just sidetracked by some rock, bug, or imaginary fairy. The hike itself was packed with incredible beauty and the whole time I was wishing that I had been on my own. I decided right there and then, that I would leave the group after Shabbat and start hiking the rest of the trail on my own, or with few people. When we arrived to Mitspe Ramon and small city on the edge of the crater we made a lil parade through the streets and danced with kids, painted faces, and played music. It was great fun after a stressful day. I drank a delicious beer and a chicken sandwich. Yum.

Day Eighteen

David — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:18:36 +0000

I woke up this morning feeling the need for a lil quite time in the desert away from the group of Hippies that I have been hiking with for the last two weeks. I meander over to a few friends that I have made to let them know of my decision. Tali a girl from Yehud here in Israel feels the same. So we hike the day together. The day started off flat and curved through a wadi til we hit highway 40. We cross and proceed to climb a steep and big hill called Shen Ramon. It wasn’t easy but the top offers a beautiful view of Wadi Nekarot and the Machtesh Ramon. It looks absolutely magnificent. We descend Shen Ramon down to the Wadi. We’ve been hiking for a few hours and are clearly way ahead of the group. We deside to sit under a great big acacia tree for a bite to eat. Its so beautiful and peaceful here that we eventually dose off for a couple of hours. A group of four from the group pass by, wake us up and we continue together. The hike continues to be challenging but also offering great views of the Machtesh from the East, the opposite side of Mitzpe Ramon. Once in the Machtesh the hiking is easy. We regroup with the rest of the hippies by accident when we look for a shady spot to enjoy some coffee when boom, there’s the camp. Good thing to, I was in the mood for some hot soup.

A Sneak Peek and a Meeting with the Defence Minister

David — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 08:39:47 +0000

I don’t know what I did right in my life to deserve such fortune. It just seems as though everything is working out nicely for me on this hike. Nice=Exact. Now I know I have been a lil lax on my updates, I will fill in the blanks over Passover, but here are some sneak peeks on what has already happened on the trail, but that I don’t have entries for yet. After a grueling week of ups and downs through the Karbolet and down the small machtesh ( don’t be fooled by its name ) up again the next day and through the Judean Desert, I met someone on the trail who’s sister works at one of the Hotels at the Dead Sea. Walla, Shabbat at the Dead Sea. Then, I enter the Arab village of Drejat near Arad. I meet a friend there, we get invited by a family into there home for coffee and tea, after awhile I realize that they have slaughtered a sheep and a planning a feast. Amazing, sheep, hummus, salads, and a nargillah at the end of it all. I hiked through the Yatir forrest ( I am out of the desert ) and finish up in a city called Meitar. I took two days off and went to Tel Aviv for a fund raising event there.

Now here’s the crazy part. I have been planning a trip to Sderot, a city in the south that borders Gaza that is getting rockets shot at it everyday from our Arab cousins. I wanted to be there to show my support for the community but also to be a spectator, to see how the people live with this constant threat. My friend tells me he knows someone there who could show me around. Great! I had no-idea this friend was the son of the former Defence Minister of Israel Amir Perez. His son’s name is Ohad. Ohad and I hit it off great. He shows me all the construction that is going on in the city, both from the municipality and personal. It appears as though the city is going through a beautification process. In every round-about there are wonderful sculptures done by a local artist here named Haviv Ben Abu. The sculptures are of musical instruments as Sderot used to be famous for its music. He takes me to a community center that he runs where kids can play music and record, to a yeshiva that was built recently that is completely bomb proof, so that when the sirens go off telling people they have 15 seconds to run for cover, the students don’t need to worry, to the police station where I view hundreds of Kassams that have landed in this great city ( I took a photo op with one ) to the city hall where his father as a young child would watch the charismatic Yitzchak Tricky who inspired Mr. Perez to be a voice for his community. So much so that Mr. Perez became the mayor of Sderot at the age of 30. We then rolled up to Ohad’s grandfather’s house. His grandfather had passed away many years ago and Ohad is taking over the house. But before he does there are many renovations that need to be done. Who is there doing the construction, none other then his own father, the former Defence Minister here is Israel Amir Perez. We visted the different neighborhoods, talked about the alliyot of the 90’s and the impact it had in the region, and of course we went up to the top of the hill that overlooks Gaza. It was a lil frightening to see how close we were.

Lunch did not fall short. Ohad took me to his family’s home where his mom who’s family is from Iraq ( his father’s family is from Morocco ) cooked up some delicious Iraqi Latkes. As I am leaving she asks if she should set an extra seat at the table for Shabbat. Shocked but delighted I accept the invite. I leave the house to do a lil wondering around the city on my own. I watch the people greet one another, do there shopping, wash there cars, work on the gardens, its appears that Sderot in many ways is just like any other city, even better then your average city, people here really no one another, care for one another and are happy when they see one another. Sderot is a beautiful, energetic, vibrant, thriving city.

Shabbat dinner was delicious. We ate many different Moroccan dishes that sent my taste buds into ecstasy. The conversation was good too. Mrs. Perez explained the early years of the family. Living on a nearby Moshav, farming. They mainly grew garlic and roses. Interesting combo. Mr. Perez spoke a lot with his youngest son Matan who was home for the weekend from the Army. All in all it was an incredible trip to Sderot.

It is great to see a leader of my country living a normal life, with a normal family.

Day Seventeen

David — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:03:51 +0000

The hike today was a good one. We saw a lot of fossils called ammonites, they are an extinct marine animal. Pictures will come. The most exiting part of the hike was Ammonites wall or the Harem of Karbolet. It was a beautiful ridge that looked over the machtesh Ramon, Israel’s largest crater. In a weeks time I will be doing the real Kabolet, when I arrive there I will be arriving to the hardest part of the trail. This is just training. Today was a lil longer then the last two. 22km. The hippies feel it. The night camp is a lil less then spirited. I go away from the group to sleep and camp on my own. I find a wonderful lil cove, set up my tent, make a small fire, cook some food, eat, and go to sleep

Day Sixteen

David — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:23:49 +0000

Today is another quick hike. Only 12km, so the group takes many breaks which is pleasant. Its so nice to take it easy and make coffee in the middle of the day with the sounds of the birds and the wind to send you into peaceful dreams as you take a nap under a big robust acacia tree. These are good days my friends, these are good days. We hike to a place called Holit Pit. It’s an average night camp. The hippies have brought a bunch of wood with them. You see, they have a logistic team that brings there bags everyday so they don’t have to carry them ( I choose to carry all me gear ) in addition they have volunteers who build and take down the camp everyday, and along with all that they bring lots of wood from beyond the desert in order to have big fires at night. Tonight the fire rages, somebody throws a whole pallet at one time and everyone gets real warm. People are playing drums, others flutes and violins, some people are dancing others are singing, but everyone is having a good time.