On the fourth and final morning we woke up to a 5:30 alarm, and being recent college graduates decided to succumb to our habit of pushing the snooze button. Our Nokia phones only have a few alarm tones, and we've become accustomed to the woman's voice saying (in a British accent), "It's time to get up, the time is _:__ (am/pm)." Chelsey's GPS in her car offers a similar monotonic woman's voice, whom we call Maggie (from the GPS brand name Magellan). This nickname has attached itself to our phone alarm too, and every time we push snooze we say "Shut up Maggie!" We finally got up at 6:00, and had our usual couscous and egg breakfast. We noticed some men (presumably from Tzfat) drive up to the parking lot by the water pipes. Each one was wearing the traditional Polish Winter Garb of a Hassidic Orthodox man. And each one derobed and hopped into the water, using it as a Mikvah! That explained the hooks and bench right next to the pipes, allowing the Mikvah Men somewhere to hang their clothes and hats. After they left, we filled up on the "Mineral" water, and by 7:45 we were packed and ready to go, making this morning our earliest start yet.
Our first leg of the journey (well, our first leg of the last leg of our journey) was a 40 minute downhill climb down the rocks we had ascended the day before. It was steep and therefore a slow descent, but much easier than climbing up.
Chelsey maneuvering carefully down the rocks.
It was steep at some points, and easier to turn backwards.
Here's the sign that alerted us to the possibility of water the night before. If we hadn't come across this sign, we might have ended up camping in the middle of the valley. It says "to Ein Koves 1/2 km, Tzfat 2 km."
When we made it to the bottom, Chelsey realized that she really had to poop. Good thing we brought along toilet paper! After Chelsey went, I suddenly had the urge to go as well. Both of us were trying to avoid this, but in a four day hike with only one Port-A-Potty along the way, certain things are unavoidable. Oh well.
After our bathroom break, we rejoined Shvil Yisrael (the Israel National Trail) and continued along our way. The terrain started out similar to the end of the third day, with relatively flat ground and few obstacles. Suddenly Chelsey lost her footing and fell, skinning her knee! Ouch! She wasn't too happy about this, but luckily it was only a small cut, and we were able to continue.
Before long, we had a stretch of terrain that significantly slowed our early morning pace. There were uphills and downhills, large boulders to climb over, and even handholds and footholds to help us keep our balance.
In addition, the majority of the path was along narrow ledges overlooking the valley far below. A downward plunge would not end well for either of us.
Yes, we actually had to walk on that skinny path you see in the top left of the picture.
We both agreed that this part was the most difficult for both of us. While not extremely taxing on our bodies, it took a lot of mental strength and focus to keep going at a decent pace. One misstep and we could be falling into the valley below. We were already exhausted and to have to begin the final day with such difficult terrain was not welcome. We had no idea how quickly we were going, how long this was going to last, and whether or not we would be behind schedule when we finally emerged from the valley.
In retrospect, this was one of the coolest parts of the hike. Tactically it was the most difficult, and to complete this part with huge backpacks after having already hiked for 3 days was a great achievement. The views were incredible, and completing this really boosted our morale.
Chelsey's left knee, which she scraped falling down earlier in the day.
By 11:00 we escaped the narrow ledges of the valley, and approached the highway that signified our first landmark on the map. Normally we would have approached our first landmark much earlier, but our slow going kept us from reaching the highway for over 2 hours. We saw a horse grazing in the distance - it was definitely a surprise! We stopped for a snack break and sat on some rocks, resting our aching backs and feet. Chelsey, being an avid shell collecter, was happy to find a snail shell on the rock.
More horses!
On the way to the highway underpass, we encountered a group of hikers and let them borrow our map. Past the highway was a bunch of construction going on, obscuring the trail and the trailmarkers. It appeared as if there were two ways to go, but there wasn't a trailmarker in sight.
While I scouted out the correct path, I let Chelsey rest her legs, waiting for me at the fork in the road. When I started back towards her, she exclaimed "Look what I found!" It was a baby chameleon!
Chelsey was so excited! Growing up, she had chameleons in her home, so finding one in the wild is always a treat. This was the second time we came across wild chameleons, the first being in the Tel Aviv botanical garden.
After searching around some more, I finally found a "Shvil" marker, and we were on our way!
This valley was much easier than the last, with mostly flat terrain and a few rocky patches here and there. The path was also overgrown with shrubs, and we often had to push branches and leaves out of the way to make it through.
Near the beginning of this portion of the trail, we had to cross a muddy stream. We crossed it carefully, fearing a repeat of Day 1, where we crossed and recrossed the stream dozens of times. Luckily, this was our only stonestepping of the day.
Up on this side of the valley, we saw a car that had apparently gone over the side of the cliff in a wreck long ago.
Walking through thick tall-grass and shrubs.
(Chelsey will continue this blog post now). 3/4 of the way through this valley, we decided to stop for a break. We were REALLY sore and tired by this point. Our backs were aching and our feet hurting. We literally needed the break. We dined on the usual fare: pita, peanut butter, dried fruit, and water. It was a nice time to briefly relax and regain our strength to make it out of the nahal.
I am tired here, but happy to be on the fourth day of our journey. I know that the end is near and we will be victorious!
After about two hours of hiking through this particular valley, Rafi and I spotted the end! Boy were we happy campers! After this checkpoint, we knew by looking at the map that there were only around 5 km left until we would reach our end destination. Although we were tired and sore, this really helped to boost our morale.
I am so elated right now because at this point, we can see the opening in the valley to the rest of the world. We are so close!
As we made our way out of the valley, Rafi spied a tortoise or turtley creature (I do not know how to tell the difference). This made us quite excited! It symbolized that the slow and steady finishes the race.
While crossing under the next highway, we noticed this "graffiti." It says, "Kol yisrael chaverim" or "All of Israel are friends." The graffiti on the right says, "Eretz yisrael l'am yisrael" or "The land of Israel for the people of Israel."
We soon encountered a grove of citrus fruits. We knew that this was the final leg of the hike and we could barely wait for the end!
We are so happy upon seeing the orange and lemon groves...
...and then the banana groves!!! The hike both begins and ends with banana groves! This was a good sign for us that we were close to Ginosar - the end point we had been waiting for.
Across this road is Ginosar! We basically made it! Now we just need to walk to the Kinneret and then we will have finished Yam L'yam! Oh joy!
We followed the path that we assumed would take us to the beach of the Kinneret...why we thought this, I do not know. We saw a sign that read "Beach" with an arrow to the right. We read it, but turned left instead, according to what we had planned out on the map. We should have trusted the sign and not our mapping abilities from home. Our route took us to what seemed like a path to the beach, but instead turned out to be a path to a boat launch and a lookout point high above the water. All that was separating us from the water were reeds and a 10-foot drop. We were so upset! The whole hike would not "count" if we were not able to touch the waters of the Kinneret and walk to the beach! The route we took lasted about 15 minutes, so it would be a total of around 30 minutes round trip to backtrack! Rafi and I wondered about what we should do at this point. Should we try to make it to the Kinneret? Should we give up and go to the bus stop? We needed to catch the last bus out of Ginosar to get home that night. We were cutting it close with time. Also, by this point we were both the most uncomfortable EVER! Everything on my own body hurt. My feet had blisters, my chronically pained ankle was not happy, and my back was screaming at me to get the stupid backpack off of it! I started calling my backpack a "torture device" and without unbuckling it, started writhing around in pain trying to tear it off. After much debate, we decided that we could never leave Ginosar without first reaching the beach so again, we trekked the 15 minutes in the opposite direction.
When we arrived at the other "beach" area it appeared as if we needed to cut through a resort-styled swimming pool in order to get to the beach. Everything was closed at that point, closing up for the day at 4pm. There was a museum there that also seemed closed. Rafi went in and asked how to get to the beach. The woman he asked was extremely unhelpful and unfriendly. She told him that we can't get to the beach from here. We were so upset at this point. We were the most dejected as we ever could have been. All we wanted was to touch the water! As we began to walk back, Rafi found a different path that may be able to take us in the right direction to the beach. He was right! Wow, our spirits definitely returned to their happy selves! In the picture above, Rafi is standing at the very beginning of our walk to the shore after finding the right path.
We are elated on our walk to the shore. Tired and ready to go home, but happy!
Finally! We made it to the water's edge! It was about time :)
Look at that smile! He is so happy, and slightly delirious from tiredness.
And I am definitely in the same boat as Rafi!
We had enough time at the Kinneret to touch the water, snap some pictures, collect some seashells and get to the bus stop to catch the last bus back to Jerusalem. What a great day and a successful adventure!
On the fourth and final morning we woke up to a 5:30 alarm, and being recent college graduates decided to succumb to our habit of pushing the snooze button. Our Nokia phones only have a few alarm tones, and we've become accustomed to the woman's voice saying (in a British accent), "It's time to get up, the time is _:__ (am/pm)." Chelsey's GPS in her car offers a similar monotonic woman's voice, whom we call Maggie (from the GPS brand name Magellan). This nickname has attached itself to our phone alarm too, and every time we push snooze we say "Shut up Maggie!" We finally got up at 6:00, and had our usual couscous and egg breakfast. We noticed some men (presumably from Tzfat) drive up to the parking lot by the water pipes. Each one was wearing the traditional Polish Winter Garb of a Hassidic Orthodox man. And each one derobed and hopped into the water, using it as a Mikvah! That explained the hooks and bench right next to the pipes, allowing the Mikvah Men somewhere to hang their clothes and hats. After they left, we filled up on the "Mineral" water, and by 7:45 we were packed and ready to go, making this morning our earliest start yet.
Our first leg of the journey (well, our first leg of the last leg of our journey) was a 40 minute downhill climb down the rocks we had ascended the day before. It was steep and therefore a slow descent, but much easier than climbing up.
Chelsey maneuvering carefully down the rocks.
It was steep at some points, and easier to turn backwards.
Here's the sign that alerted us to the possibility of water the night before. If we hadn't come across this sign, we might have ended up camping in the middle of the valley. It says "to Ein Koves 1/2 km, Tzfat 2 km."
When we made it to the bottom, Chelsey realized that she really had to poop. Good thing we brought along toilet paper! After Chelsey went, I suddenly had the urge to go as well. Both of us were trying to avoid this, but in a four day hike with only one Port-A-Potty along the way, certain things are unavoidable. Oh well.
After our bathroom break, we rejoined Shvil Yisrael (the Israel National Trail) and continued along our way. The terrain started out similar to the end of the third day, with relatively flat ground and few obstacles. Suddenly Chelsey lost her footing and fell, skinning her knee! Ouch! She wasn't too happy about this, but luckily it was only a small cut, and we were able to continue.
Before long, we had a stretch of terrain that significantly slowed our early morning pace. There were uphills and downhills, large boulders to climb over, and even handholds and footholds to help us keep our balance.
In addition, the majority of the path was along narrow ledges overlooking the valley far below. A downward plunge would not end well for either of us.
Yes, we actually had to walk on that skinny path you see in the top left of the picture.
We both agreed that this part was the most difficult for both of us. While not extremely taxing on our bodies, it took a lot of mental strength and focus to keep going at a decent pace. One misstep and we could be falling into the valley below. We were already exhausted and to have to begin the final day with such difficult terrain was not welcome. We had no idea how quickly we were going, how long this was going to last, and whether or not we would be behind schedule when we finally emerged from the valley.
In retrospect, this was one of the coolest parts of the hike. Tactically it was the most difficult, and to complete this part with huge backpacks after having already hiked for 3 days was a great achievement. The views were incredible, and completing this really boosted our morale.
Chelsey's left knee, which she scraped falling down earlier in the day.
By 11:00 we escaped the narrow ledges of the valley, and approached the highway that signified our first landmark on the map. Normally we would have approached our first landmark much earlier, but our slow going kept us from reaching the highway for over 2 hours. We saw a horse grazing in the distance - it was definitely a surprise! We stopped for a snack break and sat on some rocks, resting our aching backs and feet. Chelsey, being an avid shell collecter, was happy to find a snail shell on the rock.
More horses!
On the way to the highway underpass, we encountered a group of hikers and let them borrow our map. Past the highway was a bunch of construction going on, obscuring the trail and the trailmarkers. It appeared as if there were two ways to go, but there wasn't a trailmarker in sight.
While I scouted out the correct path, I let Chelsey rest her legs, waiting for me at the fork in the road. When I started back towards her, she exclaimed "Look what I found!" It was a baby chameleon!
Chelsey was so excited! Growing up, she had chameleons in her home, so finding one in the wild is always a treat. This was the second time we came across wild chameleons, the first being in the Tel Aviv botanical garden.
After searching around some more, I finally found a "Shvil" marker, and we were on our way!
This valley was much easier than the last, with mostly flat terrain and a few rocky patches here and there. The path was also overgrown with shrubs, and we often had to push branches and leaves out of the way to make it through.
Near the beginning of this portion of the trail, we had to cross a muddy stream. We crossed it carefully, fearing a repeat of Day 1, where we crossed and recrossed the stream dozens of times. Luckily, this was our only stonestepping of the day.
Up on this side of the valley, we saw a car that had apparently gone over the side of the cliff in a wreck long ago.
Walking through thick tall-grass and shrubs.
(Chelsey will continue this blog post now). 3/4 of the way through this valley, we decided to stop for a break. We were REALLY sore and tired by this point. Our backs were aching and our feet hurting. We literally needed the break. We dined on the usual fare: pita, peanut butter, dried fruit, and water. It was a nice time to briefly relax and regain our strength to make it out of the nahal.
I am tired here, but happy to be on the fourth day of our journey. I know that the end is near and we will be victorious!
After about two hours of hiking through this particular valley, Rafi and I spotted the end! Boy were we happy campers! After this checkpoint, we knew by looking at the map that there were only around 5 km left until we would reach our end destination. Although we were tired and sore, this really helped to boost our morale.
I am so elated right now because at this point, we can see the opening in the valley to the rest of the world. We are so close!
As we made our way out of the valley, Rafi spied a tortoise or turtley creature (I do not know how to tell the difference). This made us quite excited! It symbolized that the slow and steady finishes the race.
While crossing under the next highway, we noticed this "graffiti." It says, "Kol yisrael chaverim" or "All of Israel are friends." The graffiti on the right says, "Eretz yisrael l'am yisrael" or "The land of Israel for the people of Israel."
We soon encountered a grove of citrus fruits. We knew that this was the final leg of the hike and we could barely wait for the end!
We are so happy upon seeing the orange and lemon groves...
...and then the banana groves!!! The hike both begins and ends with banana groves! This was a good sign for us that we were close to Ginosar - the end point we had been waiting for.
Across this road is Ginosar! We basically made it! Now we just need to walk to the Kinneret and then we will have finished Yam L'yam! Oh joy!
We followed the path that we assumed would take us to the beach of the Kinneret...why we thought this, I do not know. We saw a sign that read "Beach" with an arrow to the right. We read it, but turned left instead, according to what we had planned out on the map. We should have trusted the sign and not our mapping abilities from home. Our route took us to what seemed like a path to the beach, but instead turned out to be a path to a boat launch and a lookout point high above the water. All that was separating us from the water were reeds and a 10-foot drop. We were so upset! The whole hike would not "count" if we were not able to touch the waters of the Kinneret and walk to the beach! The route we took lasted about 15 minutes, so it would be a total of around 30 minutes round trip to backtrack! Rafi and I wondered about what we should do at this point. Should we try to make it to the Kinneret? Should we give up and go to the bus stop? We needed to catch the last bus out of Ginosar to get home that night. We were cutting it close with time. Also, by this point we were both the most uncomfortable EVER! Everything on my own body hurt. My feet had blisters, my chronically pained ankle was not happy, and my back was screaming at me to get the stupid backpack off of it! I started calling my backpack a "torture device" and without unbuckling it, started writhing around in pain trying to tear it off. After much debate, we decided that we could never leave Ginosar without first reaching the beach so again, we trekked the 15 minutes in the opposite direction.
When we arrived at the other "beach" area it appeared as if we needed to cut through a resort-styled swimming pool in order to get to the beach. Everything was closed at that point, closing up for the day at 4pm. There was a museum there that also seemed closed. Rafi went in and asked how to get to the beach. The woman he asked was extremely unhelpful and unfriendly. She told him that we can't get to the beach from here. We were so upset at this point. We were the most dejected as we ever could have been. All we wanted was to touch the water! As we began to walk back, Rafi found a different path that may be able to take us in the right direction to the beach. He was right! Wow, our spirits definitely returned to their happy selves! In the picture above, Rafi is standing at the very beginning of our walk to the shore after finding the right path.
We are elated on our walk to the shore. Tired and ready to go home, but happy!
Finally! We made it to the water's edge! It was about time :)
Look at that smile! He is so happy, and slightly delirious from tiredness.
And I am definitely in the same boat as Rafi!
We had enough time at the Kinneret to touch the water, snap some pictures, collect some seashells and get to the bus stop to catch the last bus back to Jerusalem. What a great day and a successful adventure! 
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