tiyul number 12 – upper nahal david

Tiyul #12

February 25, 2011. well, as far as our family bar mitzvah hikes, this was our last one except for Nepal. in my opinion, it was the greatest hike of them all, you could say that that’s why we saved it for last. Although it was exceedingly hot it was still very amazing. we woke up at 6 and were out of the house by 7:00- 7:15. we got there at about 8:30 and we parked on the bottom of the hill before the entrance of the field school because at the end of the hike we would’ve had to walk all the way up a big hill to the car after we were all tired and sweaty which we were. we started the hike at 5 to nine and it was quite warm for me, but i usually burn more easily and get more hot then most people. we started hiking up on a road until we got to the ein gedi field school, and from there we went to the top of the field school and we got to a little amphitheater and then we exited a gate and started our ascent up the big hill awaiting us. as we were climbing the view of the field school got better and better. we could see our tiny black car and the dead sea which was the most spectacular. but we could not see till Jordan because it was not such a clear day. on the way up we had to wait before making a climb up a steep part of a mountain because here was another school there with about 40 children and i think we all know how long that would take to go up a short steep climb with no rails. so we finally made it up and started walking. the path went on for about a half a kilometer and then we ran into the school again and luckily they were sitting down for a lunch break so we got to pass them. our next part was a climb down into a canyon which was very cool because every few steps we met a pool which we had to somehow climb over which was very fun. then we got to a split point where we could or take a detour or go up and finish the hike up. I’ve been on this hike and was very excited to go on the detour again. so we went in and there were many rungs for us to hang on to. at one point my dad actually had to get in the water. finally we got to our destination which is an opening point where the 2 canyon walls open up and a window shape form appears and you find yourself looking at an amazing view at the dead sea and it is a fantastic view. this is why if you are an experienced hiker i definitively recommend this hike as the first one to do if you are in the ein gedi area. after that we went back the way we came and we climbed up out of the canyon a different way then we walked a bit more and then we got to some ruins after walking down for about 10 minutes and then we walked exactly 4 minutes down to a beautiful spring with clean water. we refreshed ourselves and then started on our descent down to nahal David. we went down a long way, about 30 minutes and then we stopped for a bit in the famous ein gedi waterfall better known as Mapal David.  then we headed down more and more, passed pools and pools and finally we got to our ending spot, enjoyed some pleasurable ice cream and headed home.

Me, Amir and Merav at the start of the hike

Mountain cliffs

Chocolate keeps anyone going

Merav found a cactus

Heading into the canyon

How are they going to get across that pool?

No way around, so she's going through...

We made it to the "chalon!"

Abba on the way back

Merav and Abba at David's Waterfall

Amir, Abba and Merav

Tagged as: Dead Sea, Ein Gedi, Judean Desert