Mangan Night Camp to Shaharut on Israel National Trail: Day 4

A big, early climb, the morning sun colouring the cliffs before me a luminous orange.

I woke early and left camp at 6:30 am. A beautiful time of morning as the sun lit up first the highest mountains, progressing gradually further down the cliffs in front of me. I had seen the long, line of cliffs in front of me the day before and wondered how I would cross them. Fortunately the climb was not too difficult, the route took advantage of a natural ramp in front of them before turning inwards. 

The morning sun illuminating the top of the mountain I will climb, the base is still in shadow.

After this first, dramatic ascent, there were several more modest climbs as the trail crossed over ridges from wadi to wadi with some flat patches of walking on the valley floors in between. Remnants of some large ammonites, fossils from an ancient sea, were collected by the path at one point. 

Piece of a large ammonite fossil

I diverted slightly to see Be'er Milhan Night Camp where my GPS map showed two wells. One was just a bunch of trees which obscured some kind of hole, not likely to be a source of water any longer, the other was a deep well, several feet in diameter, with a wall around it, covered with a metal trellis to stop you falling in. A large party of youngsters were just walking off from the camp as I arrived, a 4x4 with a trailer of equipment was providing support. 

Later that day the trail followed the high ground beside what I took to be a rift valley linking Eilat and the Dead Sea, an extension of the East African rift valley.

Route of the path along the mountains at the edge of the rift valley

The trail was diverted around the settlement of Shaharut and I ended the day crossing a flat plateau. I am now at the Camal Riders camp, signposted as "INT night camp", in a Bedouin style tent. The barefoot, friendly man in charge checked I knew how the compost toilet worked (you throw in a bit of compost, or in this case wood chippings, after you have used the facility). The shower was basic but the water was warm, unfortunately a cold wind was blowing through the gaps in the trailer and the experience was cleansing, not altogether pleasant. On the hill opposite a smart new hotel was being built. Two men on a cycling trip were also staying at the camp. There is an Israel Bike Trail which they were following, similar to the Israel National Trail (but for bicycles). It is partially complete, I have crossed it a few times already.

I have just finished Anita Shapira's "Israel, a history". A history made largely in my lifetime with names like Golda Meir, Ariel Sharon, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin familiar from the evening news items I have watched over the years. During my trip there will be an election to decide the next Prime Minister. An election every 4 months, one of the cyclists commented.

29 kilometres walked today with a 1080 metre total ascent according to my GPS.