Route type: Circular
Difficulty level: Moderate-Strenuous
Waze to start point: Kfar Hanokdim
Notes:
- Start early to beat the heat. This hike has virtually no shade and is best done in the winter/spring. Not recommended for summer.
- Do not hike here if there are flood warnings in the area!
- For most of this hike we did not have cell reception. Use off-line maps.
Upper Nahal Rahaf, which is just beyond the desert city of Arad, had been on the To-Do List for a while. After 2 weeks of non-stop rain, we had ourselves a bright, sunny Friday and decided to give this one a go.
We began walking at just after 7:00 am. The first 3.8 km of this hike are on the Israel National Trail indicated by the orange-blue-white trail blazes.
The early morning desert wind was shockingly cold. We comforted ourselves with the thought that we’d be sweating and peeling off our layers in about 10 minutes.
The sun was giving the hills that rosy-gold, early morning kiss when we set out.
This creek had not flooded yet from the rains but there were interesting water-carved crevases which made us wonder what it must be like to see this creek with water raging through it.
There were many pools with small amounts of water. None of them were impossible to circumnavigate. I had looked into this question thoroughly because none of us felt like getting wet.
Oh fun! We do love when hikes involve some climbing. This wall was a bit tricky because at the top, on the other side, was a fairly large pool that had to be sidled past carefully with some fancy foot work.
What’s around the next bend in the creek bed?
Around the bend was an almost perfectly round “room” with a nearly perfectly flat floor. We called it the “dining room”.
Coming up out of the creek bed, the rolling hills and lack of visual chaos was very soothing.
When the Israel National Trail (INT) markings meet a juncture with the green trail which goes both right and left, take a left onto the green trail. Because we had no cell reception, we got a bit muddled here but eventually figured it out.
Once more the trail led back down into a creek bed. I had thought this trail might be boring however it continued to surprise.
At about the 4.7 km point, the trail meanders through a Bedouin camp and the trail blazes are a bit difficult to spot.
A word of caution regarding the Bedouins’ dogs. Most were just doing their job and making a lot of noise however one big dog was close on our heels and baring his teeth which was a little more concerning.
I would keep hiking poles ready to fend the dogs off if needed.
I think we saw more camels on this hike than in my entire 30 years in this country. They were….plentiful.
It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you hit the road at 5 am! We returned to our start point at 12:10 pm with ample time for the traditional stop at Aroma for pastries and coffee before heading home.