nothing to do with getting from point A to point B. It had to do with how it felt to be in
the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles with no reason other than to
witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams
and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful
and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a
human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this
way.”
book Wild by Cheryl Strayed
appreciation moment. We sidled up to the camels, fed them hay and were
hypnotized by their far-set deep brown eyes, flexible jaws and huge
protruding incisors.
Driving us to the starting point, Ariel of Cameland shared stories about his life in the desert and his
adventures as the ‘rescue guy’ for this area. He has saved the lives of dehydrated hikers
and even carried a 135-kg guy up the steep mountain path we had walked the day
before. This is heroic, selfless work.
 |
| Getting our bearings at the Roman fortress. |
Today we hiked along gentle trails dotted with delicate desert flowers. We spotted remains of ancient Roman roads in the middle of nowhere and thought about the hardships of constructing these high altitude desert roads. The Tzapir Roman fort, its external walls still intact 2,000 years later, offered spectacular views and a great breakfast spot.
another crater. It had the depth and majesty of a mini Grand Canyon, but we
later learned that this was Nahal Yemin, a river bed etched into a canyon.
edge and as we imagined this precipice crashing down below our own feet, we quickly
headed for the trail and snaked our way down. A group of Arab Israeli boys were
on a school trip just behind us, moving quickly along the trail.
At the bottom, the riverbed of Nahal Yatira was lush compared
to yesterday’s crater floor. There were many trees, prickly bushes and wild
desert flowers. We made our way across this riverbed until we came to a sheer canyon
wall, the Palmach Ascent. The only way
out was straight up and the Palmach fighters for whom this 350-meter ascent is named
after had no ladders to help them out when they were here in 1944.
that seemed to have endless rungs. This was followed by an iron rope, helpful
for groping along the narrow path and metal rungs to help us up. At this point,
I decided not to look down or up, rather to focus on each footing and hold.
suspension cables. And in some places, nothing to hold onto at all. Sheer will enabled
us up and over these obstacles. Finally, at the top, we all needed space to
decompress and relax.
Three men appeared, a few years older than us.One of them pulled out a gas stove and we enjoyed delicious sweet cardamom
coffee together. Our new friends said they had known each other since
kindergarten and had been hiking the Shvil Israel for four years, much like us.
In passing, one of them pulled out a plastic tie and explained how these are
important for securing torn shoes. He gave us a few and stuffing them into our
pack, we wondered how and when this could ever be used.
wadi carved into the rocks. Filled with water and rimmed by soft sand, Ein Yurkam is a true oasis where a mother sat reading to her
children as they scampered in the water. We literally ran past it, hurrying to
complete the hike, but making a mental note to come back to this spot with a
picnic and time to chill out.
our final 150-meter ascent. We heard
children’s voices from afar then saw kids in white dress shirts climbing down. It was a
hareidi school outing and these kids, with their loafers and Shabbat pants,
looked better suited to be in a beit midrash than on a dusty mountain.
One kid yelled out in warning, “Aliyahmetoorefet!” (A terrifying climb). I bit my lip and continued on, dismissing this
and wondering how it could possibly be scarier than the one we just completed,
the climb I was still trying to calm down from.
me. Like Yota in Star Wars, one of them philosophized about fear and climbing.
“Ze kol b’rosh,” he said as I grabbed for a rock and pulled my body up and then
up, thinking about each foot as I placed it, praying I would not slip.
‘It’s all
in my head.’ I heard his mantra when there were no ladders or rungs or steel cables to hold onto. This ascent made the previous climb look like a practice run.
A few terrified boys were still stuck way up
there, their rabbis trying to coax them down the trail. Did the parents know
where the school had taken their kids? It was a miracle everyone was still
intact, although perhaps a few of these kids would be scarred for life by this.
 |
| Enjoying the view from the Palmach Ascent. |
The rocks were sharp and unforgiving, the
height dizzying. This ascent should be renamed the Snapir Metooruf, I concluded. We finally all made it to the top and peered over. The view
was staggering.
tummies and calm our nerves. At this point, people were sharing cold day-old
soup, rice and any leftover crumbs they had. Ripped fingernails, torn pants, muddied
boots, sweaty faces, it felt as if we were ‘humans in the wild.’ The three wise men, calm and composed, joined
us yet again.
climb. At one point, Danny showed us his ripped shoe. A light bulb went off as we
had the exact cure for such a malady; the plastic ties from the wise men! He stitched his shoes
back together and we climbed down some more until we crossed a train track,
reentering civilization.
This will be the start point for the famous Carbolet hike, renowned for being
the most challenging of the entire 1,000-km Israel Trail. Maybe this last
ascent was a bit of an introduction to what lies ahead.
As we were about to get into our warm,
comfortable cars and be reacquainted with civilization, the three wise men
appeared. The philosopher opened his hand and showed us two fossils. “Who wants
them?” A strange request, yet maybe not so. Mark ran over and excitedly
explained that he had been looking for fossils for his son for the last two
days and had found none. He was about to go home empty handed.
empty-handed or empty hearted. The wise men disappeared down the dusty road and as our
cars swooshed us away to the comforts of our city lives, our souls were expanded simply by knowing how it feels to be out in the wild.
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