Tiyulim in Eretz Yisrael: Yam l'Yam Extreme

Yam L'Yam, also known as Chof L'Chof, is normally a 3 day tiyul. The hike is from coast to coast, or from sea to sea, starting, normally, at the Mediterranean Sea by Nehariya in northern Israel and hiking across the country to the Kinneret. A couple of weeks ago I took off with a couple other guys and we hiked Yam L'Yam in 2 days. I am calling it "Yam L'Yam Extreme". This hike was so epic that I was unable to write about it until now. I tried to begin a few times, but just could not put it to words.

The outcome of Yam L'Yam Extreme is two sentences: What a beautiful country! What beautiful people!

Yam l'Yam Extreme happened because one friend, professional tour guide Ari Gruen, said in my presence that he has done Yam l'Yam a few times, but he wants to try doing it differently - in 2 days instead of 3. I right away said "I am in". I always like a good challenge and a good hike, and this was a good combination. He then also hooked another friend, Dovie Adler, and then it was just a matter of scheduling and planning.

I must say this was only possible because we had in our group a guy who doubles as a professional tour guide - his expertise, his proficiency with routes and maps and planning, made this attempt possible, and ultimately successful.

What made Yam l'Yam even more extreme beyond the condensed time allotted was the nearly 40 lb backpacks we were each carrying. We had to prepare for hot and cold and rainy weather (as the forecast called for both during those 2 days), we had to carry food and water and other equipment. We were not having a bus or car to take us from spot to spot, so we had to carry everything.

Yam L'Yam began in Nahariya. When we got there, with the help of a friend after having left our car near the Kinneret, we davened, touched the water as per the tradition of Yam l'Yam, and headed out. By 8:30 am on Wednesday morning we were finally on the road.

beach at Nahariya... start of day 1

ready to go!

Yam l'Yam began with a visit to the memorial of Yad l'Yad in memory of 14 Palmach soldiers who died while blowing up bridges, and then about 5km of walking through banana and mango fields. And after that is when the real hiking would begin. I do not know which was worse though - at the beginning our backpacks were the heaviest of the entire trip, but we were not yet tired out and worn down. As the hike went on and we used up supplies (ate food, drank water, etc), the backpacks got lighter but we also were more and more exhausted and worn down.

After the banana fields, we entered Nahal Cziv. Nahal Cziv is one of the most beautiful hikes in Israel. It is actually divided into two - lower and upper Cziv. We would first hike through lower Cziv and then later through upper Cziv. At this point the terrain was taking us uphill until we would reach the highest point in the middle of day 2 and then begin descending toward the Kinneret.

Lower Cziv was stunning. The hike was serene and with stunning views, along with amazingly fresh and cool water which was perfect for the hot day it was. We came across on Nahal Cziv, a porcupine (it was dead), turtles, fish, frogs, cows and a chameleon.

I dont remember where these cows were, but I think it was at Al-Kush

We arrived at a spot in Cziv just in time for lunch where the water was rushing through the rocks creating a sort of pool with rapids. In the pool when we arrived were three men from somewhere up north. We chatted, and when they heard we were from Bet Shemesh their eyes opened wide in surprise and they asked us about the crazy people who throw rocks and spit. Of course they said "we can see you are the good guys"...

We cooled off in the pool and had lunch and a bit of rest before continuing on. In Nahal Cziv we came across many people hiking. there were some families, some school groups, some groups of yeshiva boys still on vacation.

After finishing the valley section of Nahal Cziv, it was time to climb out. We had to hike up the mountainside along a very steep path. When we got to the top, it was time to move on. In a normal yam l'yam tiyul, that would have been the end of day 1 of 3. From there we would have gone to Avivim and found lodging, continuing on towards upper Cziv to begin day 2. Hiking yam l'yam in 2 days meant we still had a long way to go. We still had to hike across to upper Cziv and then through upper Cziv to the area of Mt. Meron. We were scheduled to sleep that night in the field school lodgings of Har Meron, and we had to get there, by hook or by crook.

After lower Cziv, one can hike to upper Cziv either a few kilometers along the road or through a path called "Gesher Al-Kush". We chose to be on path as much as possible and void the roads. Al Kush was one of the strangest paths I have ever hiked on. It was not listed on the map, but it was marked. Even the markings were strange - there were markers on rocks in the middle of an open field, and we had to find where in the field the exit was. This path had lots of cows grazing, and as the day got later, the temperatures were beginning to drop, and it was getting closer and closer to nightfall. It was looking like we would be hiking upper Cziv in the dark.

We finished Al Kush, cming out to Tzomet Sasa just before nightfall. There was a gas station right there, and we figured we would take advantage of that to buy some supplies, we needed more water for the next hike, along with freshen up a bit and change to warmer clothes, as it was about to start raining and was getting cold.

The kiosk was closed early because of Yom HaShoah, and the Arab attendant, rightfully so, refused to open for us or even just sell us water, because it was Yom HaShoah. We went instead to a Druze restaurant nearby to buy some bottles of drink and then we made all our necessary adjustments. With headlamps on and warmer clothes donned, we entered the path into upper Cziv. We actually took off the warmer clothes pretty quickly, as we got very warm hiking, despite the cooler temperatures.

It was a bit unsettling at first, hiking these paths in the pitch black night. There was no moon and the night was hazy with light rains. I had never really hiked before in the dark nights like this. What was amazing was the quiet and how the animals all come out. We could hear the jackals, came across a snake, and wild boar. We heard other animals rustling around as well, but could not identify anything specific.

We hiked until we could hike no more, and then took a break. Along the way we came across a couple campers (Dov Ber from Jersey and Benny) who were hiking yam l'yam in the other direction. We took a break to refuel with a light dinner. We needed the energy. We had been hiking all day and night with these heavy backpacks, and we were completely worn out. We actually made pretty good time in the dark, as there was no reason to "shpitzehr" - there were no views to look at and drink in.

finishing day 1, in the night

After light dinner, we had to choose a route via which to hike out. A druze fellow we came across who lived in a nearby village helped us decide which way to go and up it was. By 11:30 pm were were out of Nahal Cziv at the edge of Har Meron and at the entrance to the field school lodgings. After some drama of the gaurd not wanting to let us in and not being able to find our reservation, we finally got a room. We had a fast dinner, showers and bed.

That first day we hiked in the range of 44km over the course of just under 15 hours.



here is the day 1 map of yam l'yam extreme:


View Larger Map

Waking up Thursday morning was difficult, but we had not time to dawdle. We still had a long way to go.

From where we were, we would have to hike up Mt. Meron and then down and across to Nahal Amud and then south to the Kinneret. A long way to go.

Har Meron in the distance

on top of Har Meron with Lebanon in the background

Thursday morning was cool and overcast with some light sprinkles. We hiked up the mountain, got a good view of northern Israel and part of Lebanon, and moved along.

We saw fewer people on day 2 along the hikes, but there were some other hikers. I would note, however, that everybody we came across while hiking was nice and very friendly. The grind of day to day life can get people down, but put them out in nature for a bit, and everybody is cheery and friendly...As we came down from mt. meron we stopped at a memorial monument for a heroic Druze soldier and met a couple of elderly ladies who have spent a few years hiking different sections of the cross-Israel national trail (Shvil Yisrael) - much of the trails we were hiking were also Shvil Yisrael trails. They would take a couple days to hike a section and then go home. Then find time and do a different section for a couple days, etc.

Eventually we got down to the village of Meron, and could see preparations for Lag B'omer crowds in full swing. We stopped at kever rashbi for a few minutes, before continuing on our way. Right before Meron was a structure of humongous stones that is supposedly the grave of Shamai. Next to that is a cave with graves in it and a plaque calling it the cave of the kohanim - this burial place is supposedly that of the students of Hillel and Shamai who were kohanim. BTW, I asked a couple local guys who were there when we arrived if this grave has a tradition to it, and they said yes, but so do the other 3 in the area that people claim are Shammai's graves...

kever of Shammai, with the requisite Na Nach graffiti  

After a pizza lunch to refuel at the bottom of Meron, we had to make our way down to Nahal Meron and Nahal Amud. Nahal meron was about 5 feet long, and led right into Nahal Amud. Nahal Amud, like Cziv, is divided into 2 sections - upper Amud and then lower Amud.

Along the hike of upper Amud we came across many people. there were families hiking, friends, groups, many hassidic yeshiva boys, and many more. this si a popular spot to visit, with some nice pools to cool off in, and it is also the popular path of the hike from Tzfat to Meron.

sign-maker with a sense of humor - one says path goes this way, other says no passage

Eventually we finished that section and got the part where most people do not hike - we saw people, but it was much sparser than the earlier section. Some points in this section were on very narroaw paths along the side of a very high mountain with a very huge drop off the side of the path, There were even danger signs posted with a picture of a guy falling off a cliff.

this sign-maker had a morbid sense of humor

view on Nahal Amud

BH we made it through safely, but again it was nearing the end of the day and we still had a long way to go. We took a break at the entrance to lower Amud. We needed to eat a bit and rest up a bit to gather strength for the last main stretch of the hike.

resting at entrance to Nahal Amud tachton

Eventually realizing we had to get moving, we were on our way. We began the hike at the end of the day, and nightfall rapidly advanced. This was a very difficult hike at night. The path was fairly easy, but it was very narrow and overgrown with brush, much of it thorny. There were also a lot of low-hanging branches that I kept hitting my head on, as it was impossible to see anything other than what the headlamp was shining directly upon.

We made great time, and hiked until the "Movil HaArtzi" structure for their water transport. We stopped there to cook some dinner and eat. Eventually we got back on the trail and hiked to the end of Nahal Amud. We had to find the right way out, and another field of banan trees took us out to the highway with a short walk to Ginnosar. From there we went into the village and made our way to the Kinneret beach, thus concluding Yam l'Yam Extreme with another nearly 15 hours of hiking about 36km.

map of day 2 of Yam l'Yam:


View Larger Map

I have a great wife, Mrs. G, who humors me and lets me do my crazy things. Taking these 2 days off put a considerable extra burden on her, but she put up with it without any kvetching. The only rule is that I am not allowed to kvetch afterwards about my injuries and aches and pains...

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