A short walk took me from my campsite to the edge of Small Crater (Makhtesh Katan). Unlike the other "craters" I have walked by (Ramon and Large Crater), this one actually looks the part, circular with high cliffs on every side except for a small notch where the water escapes. Despite several attempts at photographing it I was dissatisfied with the results, the width of the panorama and the overcast, dull and windy weather made it difficult to capture the majesty of the area.
The path dropped away steeply down the side of the crater, with rungs and railings to help me down tricky parts. Once on the crater floor it was easy and fast walking towards the "notch" in the cliffs, at which point the trail takes a right angle turn. After some unexpectedly difficult wadis to climb in and out of, the path started rising. While there was no scrambling over rocks and rungs, returning to the top of the crater wall was a long and tiring trek. Nevertheless by midday I reached the junction where the Israel National Trail has been diverted towards the Dead Sea.
A decision was needed, either to continue to Mezad Tamar Night Camp, two kilometres away, where I had intended to camp, where water was cached for me and where there were Roman remains, or to head down Nahal Tzafit on the new route of the Trail, and camp by Route 25, which would cut a day out of my itinerary. Attempting Nahal Tzafit is not recommended if there is a flood warning in force. There had been a yellow warning last night on the Israeli Meteorological Service website, but that ended 7:00 am this morning. Yellow warnings advise there may possibly be a problem and seem quite frequent, to date resulting in only a few drops of rain. I tried to check the latest forecast but my phone declared there was "No Service", even last night I was only picking up Jordanian mobile signals, which meant I went through a lot of money very quickly. The sky was now mainly blue, the earlier clouds having been blown away, so I decided on the Nahal Tzafit alternative. My only regret was not having a chance to say goodbye to the Danish couple who were somewhere behind me and planning to hitchhike to Tel Aviv from Mezad Tamar.
My descent of Nahal Tzafit had its exciting moments. In two places, the path traversed narrow ledges above significant drops as if worked its way around some large, dry waterfalls. Metal rungs (actually bent rebar) helped in key places. At one point the trail pushed through a tunnel of vegetation, half way up a cliff, to escape a ledge rapidly diminishing in width and gain a higher ledge. Such vegetation on cliff sides is rare. Having committed myself the blue sky disappeared and a few raindrops fell but I reached Route 25 at about 3:00 pm without mishap.
In search of a coffee and additional water supplies, I decided on a visit to a petrol station four kilometres down the road. These four kilometres involved a descent of some 300 metres so I risked a serious climb on returning to the trail. The kindness of Israeli drivers saved me the effort, I managed to hitch a lift down to the petrol station and another back again without too much effort. The coffee and croissant was most welcome. On my return trip I was even given some fruit and halva (a sort of Arabic sweet), which the passenger in the front seat had been given for lunch but did not want.
I selected a suitable flat area on the trail, used by previous campers, a little way from the road and a series of metal signs describing the geological evolution of the area (in Hebrew only). High winds violently shook the fly sheet as I first pegged one end of the tent down before inserting the poles, in order to prevent it all blowing away. Last night the wind buffeted the tent and it looked like tonight would be similar. I have a lightweight tent (a Terra Nova Laser Competition) and this is going to be its last trip as a few days ago the zip to the inner tent stopped staying together. Sunlight weakens the thin fabric. Even when it was new a few years ago an instructor in mountain craft doubted its robustness, so I am hoping it survives another night with the low denier nylon fabric flapping manically. Fortunately the pegs are surprisingly sturdy so I can hammer them firmly into the stony ground with a rock without them bending (much), unlike a well bent example left by a previous camper.
24.2 kilometres walked today, excluding my efforts getting a lift to the Petrol Station. 810 metres total ascent.
No comments:
Post a Comment