Hiking Ein Avdat

Near our home here in Midreshet Ben Gurion is one of the most spectacular canyon hikes in all of Israel. Indeed, it probably ranks high amongst canyon hikes the world over. Named Ein Avdat, and located within a national park, the spring that formed the canyon takes its name from the ancient city of Avdat, which is nearby. Although people have been living in the area of Ein Avdat for about 80,000 to 90,000 years, it wasn't until around 300 BC that the city of Avdat developed into a prominent metropolis. It was a major stopping point on the Spice Route and its ruins still inspire awe. Within the canyon itself, monks lived in caves in the canyon walls during the Byzantine period. They abandoned those caves in the 7th century during which there was a major earthquake as well as the Muslim conquest of the Negev.

We frequently hike this canyon. Here is a compilation of pictures from numerous hikes but presented in the same order one would experience these locations.

Unless you're hiking Ein Avdat in the heart of the winter, it's important to get off to an early start. Here is a picture of the largest party we ever took on this hike assembled in our front yard. It includes our friends Bill (sitting, center) and Cheryl LeBlanc from Boulder, friends of Bill's and Cheryl's from Colorado who joined them for their Israel tour, and Cheryl's cousin who lives in Zichron Yaakov, as well as his family.

Our first destination is down into the Zin canyon behind our house. The outlet of the Ein Avdat canyon is visible in the right hand side of the picture and distinguished by the greenery watered by the spring.

To get down into the Nahal Zin requires that we hike down a steep slope.

Down in the Zin, Cheryl quickly notices the "Watch Out For Ibexes" sign.

About 45 minutes after we've started, we are in the Ein Avdat canyon. The canyon walls are made of soft white chalk with thin layers of flint, which gives the canyon walls a sleek striated look.

We walk deeper into the canyon to near a waterfall. Until last year, hikers could walk all the way to the waterfall, but last winter floods damaged the path. Now it's blocked at this point. Also, national park regulations down't allow swimming here.

To continue the trail, stairs were carved into the rock walls.

One day there was a large school group going up the stairs. They called to us, "America, take our picture." So, we did.

Here's Lynn after ascending the stairs, walking on the rim of the inner gorge.

After a short hike, we come to a grove of Euphrates poplar trees. These trees can tolerate the slightly salty water of the spring. They also provide great shade for a mid-hike break.

After resting in the shade of the trees, it's time to scale the cliffs of the canyon. Fortunately, the national park has embedded several metal ladders in the walls which really helps.

At one point, we take a detour from scaling the cliffs to investigate several of the caves the monks used to live in.

Here are our cousins from Jerusalem, the Blumsacks, pausing for a refreshing break in the cave, along with Rebekah.

Although the caves don't offer a lot in the way of modern amenities, they do feature a great view. If you look carefully you can barely make out our home village Midreshet Ben Gurion on the plateau in the background.

Near the rim of the canyon I look up and there are Lynn and the girls, already on top, cheering me on.

Once on top, there's plenty more to see, including the ruins of an ancient fort and old petroglyphs.

On top, there's also another grove of trees, which provide great shade for eating lunch and recuperating. Here's Rick Blumsack posing in the shade.

The trail through the national park is one way only, so you can't do this hike as an out-and-back. We've used several different techniques to get home from here. One time we hitchhiked. Moments after this picture was taken a huge sandstorm blew up. Fortunately, someone felt sorry for us and gave us a ride.

Another time, we hiked home through Nahal Haverim. Parts of the return trip were pretty, but maybe not pretty enough to justify the two extra hours we spent walking in the heat.

The perils of cleaning

We're just back home after several days in Jerusalem. Even when we're not here, the house gets dirty. Sandy, to be more precise. I must have swept a quart of sand off our patio (which is outside) and about half that from inside the house. But I was really surprised by this guy who skittered out from under my broom.

I caught him to make sure he was what I thought. He was: a scorpion! Here's another view, if you didn't have enough.

I've been nagging the girls to sweep for months. Think this will help?

We Hike Wadi Hasa

Wadi Hasa is one of the longest rivers in Jordan. Apparently, it runs about 20 miles from high in the Moab mountains down to the Dead Sea. Over its length it runs through narrow canyons, palm forests, waterfalls, and hot springs. We didn't hike the entire river, however. Instead, our guide drove us upstream from the bottom of the river, near the Jordanian town of Safi, to as far upstream as he could possibly get a jeep to go. We got out and walked in the river, which at this part of the wadi runs through a beautiful sandstone canyon.

When we came to a shady side canyon the girls posed for a picture under the elaborately eroded sandstone walls.

One of the highlights of hiking in Wadi Hasa is floating down water slides. These are parts of the river that are narrow and run over small waterfalls, much like the waterslides at water parks. In this picture, you can see Miriam floating down a waterslide headed for the fall.

Here she is going over the fall.

Now, she's being sucked under the water at the base of the fall.

Downstream of the fall, the river runs under a stone arch where her head bobs up above the water.

It's fun to relax with your sister after going down a water slide like this.

After we've all taken a few runs down this waterslide, Miriam gets an idea.

Oh, my! A waterfight breaks out.

Even Dad gets into the act.

Dad's too much for the girls. They head off for more fun upriver.

The problem with doing this sort of hike as an out-and-back is that at some point you have to turn around and go back. The wadi is so beautiful it takes a lot of discipline to stop and turn around.

Eventually, we do turn around. We take a break in the shade first.

Fortunately, our guide Mr. Yousef is waiting with the jeep at the drop-off point to serve us tea and lunch. Then he drives us to the Israeli border.

The Ancient Rock Art of Beerotayim

After our camel ride in Beerotayim, I went for a walk in the desert. Before long, I came to this small, flattop hill.


On the top of the hill were lots of darkly varnished rocks that were popular among ancient artists for serving as the surface for petroglyphs. This hill was especially dense with images. Many of them seemed quite old to me, given that they had enough time to be refilled in with varnish, or patina, as its known here. I don't know how long it takes for a rock surface to develop varnish in this part of the world, but I'm sure it's no less than several thousand years. Here are some of the images I found.









On top of the hill were also several rock formations that reminded me of the swirls of fingerprints.



This rock I dubbed "God's Thumbprint."

Making Bread in the Desert

In Miriam’s recent blog on our stay at Beerotayim, she told about the camel ride we went for, as well as the lunch our guides prepared for us (with our help. As Miriam noted, that lunch included bread cooked up on the spot). That bread was not only delicious, but it also was quite typical of flat breads that have been cooked in this region for numerous millennia.

One thing that distinguishes these breads is that they don’t include any yeast added by the baker. Instead, they rely on wild yeasts in the flour and the air for leavening. While they certainly don’t get as fluffy as loaves of bread we are accustomed to in the modern world, they are both delicious and have a rustic appeal. We especially like these breads for the connection they offer to our ancestors who undoubtedly made breads like these.

Here’s how our guide Ali made the flat bread we enjoyed on the camel ride. First, he built a fire in the near 100 degree heat, using brush he found around the camp as well as a few sticks he brought along. Then he mixed together water, flour, and salt in a bowl to form dough.

He kneaded the dough for awhile and let it sit for about 20 minutes or so. Then he formed it into a flat round cake.

He then placed the dough directly on the ashes of the fire and covered it up with more ashes.



The bread cooked for about 20 minutes or so until Ali dug it out of the ashes and scraped the char off it. Here’s what the final product looked like after it was scraped.

To serve it, Ali broke up some of it into irregular pieces.

Everything we had for lunch which included the bread as well salads, cheese, and hummus was delicious.

Here we are enjoying it all. Check out the bread in the lower right hand corner. It's disappearing fast.