Israel National Trail - Week 2

3-18-15.  Shaharut to Neot Smadar.  Walked beside hiway all day, monotony broken only by occasional military helicopters and planes flying to and from the airbase nearby.  Reached Neot Semadar kibbutz in afternoon.  Amazing place. Wonderful organic dinner (no talking), night on mats indoors, hot water shower, mellow folks and kids.  This is a kibbutz that really works.  No cost, but worked for our food & bed: I set the tables (120 places).

3-19-15.  Neot Smadar to Desert Ashram.  Up early for 5:30 AM quiet time with bread & jam, then several hours prep work for both breakfast and lunch.  Best homemade goat cheese ever.  Soup, salads, all sorts of grains, bread, tea with mint, coffee with cardamum, grapefruit juice, dates, squash in tomato sauce, etc. etc.  a wonderful cuisine, all organic, all from the kibbutz.  I could have easily stayed for several weeks.  

After lunch checked out the amazing tower structure, which houses offices, an art gallery, and a shop selling wines made at the kibbutz.  The tower also functions as a wind tower, like those I had seen in Iran years ago.  Would have liked to have stayed another day to attend a wedding party they were holding, but there was no room for us because of the many guests arriving.

Then hitched to the "desert ashram", next to the wonderfully named "Shittim Forest".  The ashram has pictures of Rajneesh ( called "Osho" here, another of his names), but it turned out to be more of a place for taking courses.  Expensive: $40 for a mattress in a big Bedouin style tent, plus 3 meals.  We will stay through lunch tomorrow, then bus or hitchhike  to Zihor (we've decided to avoid walking those parts of the trail that simply parallel roads).

3-20-15.  Desert Ashram to near Zihor.  Great breakfast (all kinds of cow and goat milk products), plus fruit, cereal, fresh o.j.  Put apples, banana, bread and egg in pockets for dinner.  Peacocks, roosters and rabbits all over the place.  Nice big dog in the goat pen (to dissuade Bedouins from stealing goats).  So full from breakfast left before lunch.  Tried hitching until Giora got fed up and announced he was no longer going to try, at which point the next car stopped for us.  Then nice hike up a big wide wadi, and night again in the desert, under the stars (cold though).

3-21-15.  Desert camp to Barak.  Amazing day in Barak canyon, up and down ladders, a swim in a hidden pool, lots of photos.  Saw lots of day hikers as we left the canyon (Shabbat after all), and found our first water cache from Hiam without any trouble (skipped yesterday's because we didn't need it).  Bedded down in Barak campsite, two other INT hikers nearby. 

 3-22-15.  Barak NC to Sapir.  Easy walking.  Visited Moa, Nabatean city on Spice Road.  In Zofar met Tal while looking for market.  He and his wife took us under their wing:  she fed us, he showed us all around Zofar, and his pepper plants.  Right next to Jordan, with mined area in between.  Then drove us to Sapir camp site after we shopped for next three days of food.

3-23-15.  Sapir to Gev Holit NC.  Tough hike to Gev Holit night camp.  Couldn't find Haim's water cache, but big hiking group let us take water, and even fed us around communal campfire.  Early in the day another hiker (Ari?) tried climbing to the top of a mesa, slipped and fell at least 10 meters, bouncing twice.  Luckily he was unhurt, but he could have easily killed himself.  Idiot.  

Amazing show of jets ejecting heat decoys.  Helicopters, big old bombers - it went on for a long time.  So much for desert solitude.

3-24-15.  Gev Holit to Be'erot Khan.  Earliest start yet (6:30), tough hike to get to plateau above wadis.  Great view of "big crater", plus lots of school groups.  First really hot day (90 right now).  Another big hike for view of Mitzpe Ramon.  Lots of groups of schoolkids, plus a few hikers.  Tough final climb to crater rim, now in warehouse of trail angel.  Seriously dirty.  Definite zero day tomorrow.