INT Day 2, Tight Squeeze

Day 2 Israel Trail, 2-26-19, 17.5 miles due to one false turn.

One person in front who was slowly lowering her pack all the way

Audrey looking down from above and then making the Squeeze. Most of the descent is within these rocks and not visible, but all is super tight, steep, and fun

From our little encampment last night near the summit of Mt Yehoram, we wound down a dirt road that eventually put us on a trail to the edge of a sheer cliff, several hundred feet straight down. The only way past this was a wedge trail with metal rungs that squeezed a person and a pack. There were 2 young women ahead of me slowly lowering their packs and squeezing themselves after. Water bottles in the side pack pouches scraped on the sides and we had to blow up an empty for them to transfer water to, by the time they were out. Tight, but the best obstacle so far, and really fun.

Several hundred foot tall, dry waterfall. When it’s running during a storm, it’s incredible.

At the bottom is a spring, important to the wildlife in the area. Roman posted a video a few weeks ago of a terrific waterfall cascading over this precipice during a heavy rain. So far our timing has been great as the weather is pleasant and the danger of flash floods low.

The morning’s walk took us in and out of wadis and over ridges, but the big effort was toward the end when we had to climb the Amram Ascent, several thousand feet of grueling uphill. The heat of the day was on us as we ascended, and Roman and I used our umbrellas all the way. The cool breeze under the shade we were carrying with us was wonderful, but I sweated like a horse all the way. Hikers struggling in the heat gave us a curious look and then almost always a thumbs up when they realized how much cooler we were. One family passed us in awe, but the dad joked that we were cheating. And I said heck yeah we were!

There were lots of school kids out again on a few sections of trail, some pretty difficult, and I thought how much better off US kids would be if this was their required PE course. Instead of feeling put upon by having to make our way past 100 kids, I was in awe of a country who put this much into fitness, and instilling a love of place. We’d always get a cheer as we passed with our backpacks.

We stopped at the first few rocks that provided any shade and had lunch as we were exhausted by the climb, and cooked through and through by the sun.

Down the backside of our big climb, we came upon a whole colony of little animals, living in the cliffs above a large acacia tree. It looked like a prairie dog town, with the critters living on the side of a cliff instead of dug into the prairie. They scattered as we approached, peeping out of holes and crevices in the rock. Cute little guys.

Further on we came upon a family of ibex, looking very much like deer until we got close enough to see the formidable curved horns. They were beautiful creatures who didn’t startle as we neared.

A few more miles along brought us to the Nahal Raham-Etek night camp, and a whole group of young Israelis all standing around a great water barrel, courtesy of the National Parks Service, and the cleanest composting outhouses I’ve ever encountered on Trail. Thank you sooooo much. I was parched and the water was delicious. The young people were so friendly to us, inviting us to join them for dinner and conversation. When they heard that we had come the distance we’d done today, we got a great deal of respect. They’d all taken 3 days for what us geezers had done in two, of course we’d been led by Audrey, who had to keep waiting for both of us on the grueling ascent. Thank you again, Burma Road training back home! Of all those we’d met on our first day, only Tomer, a strong young guy hiking the trail on his own, had made it this far.

It had been a tough day, and we were exhausted by the end of it. The distances were not great by any thru hike standards, but the amount of sliding on our butts and lowering ourselves by rung and dry water slides, had made it an excruciatingly slow day. But we’re all in great shape emotionally, having a ball together, and as in love with the beauty of the outdoors as ever.

Nestled in the lee of a great cliff, we hit the sack by about 6:30pm and we’re out like a light.