Tiyul #6
August 18th 2010. well, this might have been our last hike in the jerusalem area because so far we have mostly done the jerusalem area and not other areas and we need to fit in the south. we had to cut our raanana trip short because we had a misunderstanding with our swappers, they thought that they were coming home on tuesday night and we thought we were coming home on wednesday so we had to leave a day early but because we thought we were coming home the next day my parents had no work that day so we decided to do a hike. now burma road is a historical road. in 1948 when the jordanians blocked jerusalem so they could not get any food or water, the israelis came behind the jordanians back and built a road going in to jerusalem and from then Jerusalem was saved from the hunger and thirst because people were giving them food from that road and today we hiked by that road. so we actually woke up farely early today and were out of the house by 9 AM we started the hike at ten. we got to where we were supposed to be but we parked on the other side of the highway, so we were about to cross when i noticed a tunnel going under the highway and that saved us a lot of waiting time. so we started off walking on the burma road. we walked for about 2 minutes and then turned on to the green trail and the israel trail. so we climbed up up up on that trail all the way to the top! now the good part about this hike was that we started it by going up and so we would work hard in the beginning but then the hard part will be over and the views were AMAZING. but the bad part was that we thought that the hike would be mostly shady but it barely had any shade going up and hiking up in the heat drains a lot of energy out of you. we followed the green trail until we got to a picnic spot which i have already been to with my old school. then we kept on, on to the blue trail for a bit and from the blue trail we turned on to the black trail for a while. there was nothing special about the blue trail and the black trail because it was all flat. after the black trail we turned on to the blue trail, and boy oh boy were we surprised!! when we turned on to the blue trail it right away turned into a straight down slippery dirty trail with nothing to hang on to so more than half the time we were hanging on to the sizzling hot rocks. and we also noticed along the way that there were lots of trees that were fallen and we had no idea what caused it. there were so many fallen trees on our trail and we had to climb over all of them. so we went down down down, jumped down a wall and got to the bnei brith cave. then continued on, on the path i took with my school which was very funny for me because i remembered everything from that path. we walked on that path for about twenty minutes and it was very flat and then we got to the highway. when we all thought it was over it was NOT over yet! we still had to walk to the bus stop, catch a bus and then walk to where our car was, but luckily a big taxi passed by and offered us a ride all the way to where our car was and that helped us a lot. so we finally got in to the car and went home after all that, but after all, it WAS a good hike.
No shade on the path
The family posing at a rest stop
View from the top: Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway
You can see all the way to Modi'in
Abba and me at the entrance to the forest
The Martyr's Forest
Cliffs above the forest
Walking out of the valley
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Aviv-oosh! Reading your description and seeing the photos makes me feel the 100 degree heat all over again! I still am in shock that we did two 4.5 hour hikes during the hottest week of the year. We did come home feeling accomplished and looking healthily tanned though!
Wow Aviv! You are quite the hiker. Your description of this hike, your sixth, makes me feel hot just reading about it. I admire your commitment to completing even the most uncomfortable, challenging hikes. Congratulations! Love, G’ma Carol
?Sounds like a great hike, but hot, rocky and very open to the sun. Oy. I did a hike with Granger this morning and thought of you guys. As I’ve said, before, it’s so great that you’re doing all this hiking before your Nepal trip. From my experience, you’ll want to string together some good training hikes before then, checking your shoes to make sure you don’t get blisters. If you can hike for 5 hours, three days in a row, with no blisters then you’re probably okay. I wish I’d trained the way you guys are!
dave
Love the rest-stop picture — whew, did you ever deserve that rest! Are you breaking in your hiking boots yet? Like your Uncle Dave said, he got some terrible blisters in Nepal because he hadn’t trained, so it’s a really good idea that you’re doing it all this year. There will be no taxis coming by to offer you rides on your trek, I’m afraid!
Good luck — looking forward to hearing about hike #7!
Hi Aviv,
Great writing and photos as usual. I love your enthusiasm! Two ideas for you: Why not turn this project in at school in either English or limudei eretz yisrael? And – see if you can let bar/bat mitzva kids in the States and other English-speaking countries know about your blog – perhaps thru the synagogue movements. Thanks for taking us all along!
Ruth
Hey Aviv
Another great report and hike. I heard we may do Wadi Kelt together on Sukkot – get your bathing suit ready, its going to be fun!
Well Hi again Aviv. I didn’t expect to have another blog to read before we departed, but you’re really getting a lot in. At this rate, you might even be able to do a Chai of hikes (18) before your Bar Mitzvah…just kidding as I’m certain you’ll have many other things to accomplish during the time preceding your Bar Mitzvah.
At least, this hike sounded like it went pretty smoothly and was it shorter than the others, or was your description just a little shorter?
Was the weather as hot as #5 or are you getting more used to the activity during your hot days?
It seems to me that you are probably getting strong with each Tiyul and that’s a good thing. You may find yourself greatly improved as a trekker when this is over and as someone said, this will put you in real good shape for Nepal. Well, we will have to take some real good notes in Nepal to pass on to you and your family when we return. Take care and keep your blogs coming. We’ll look forward to catching up when we return.
Love,
Saba and Grandma
What a great way to see the country! We are enjoying your accounts, particularly since hiking here and abroad has been a great way for us to experience other places as well. We know you parents will help you maximize your tiyullim adventures. Keep us posted. (Hopefully we’ll see you during Sukkot)
Rick and Bev Skurow
Hey, Aviv! When’s Tiyul #7?
hi jen! we just got back from tiyul number 7 about an hour ago and we will be posting it probably sometime next week i think.
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