Mountains and Mist

Nothing like a fresh breakfast Fresh scrambled eggs, whole wheat bread, tea, a little granola with soy milk - so simple, so delicious. I was debating whether to go with the "tougher" group today, on the one hand I figured physically it should be fine for me, on the other do they have things as scary as climbing Har Shlomo in wind and rain planned again for today (they didn't plan weather of course, but are the climbs similarly difficult to look at?  Later Elad enlightened me that the fear factor is often limited and very specific - for one it's going up, for another down, for another ladders....) The decision was made partly by having a small cold and headache the day before, partly by waking up on the later side, and especially by the preference to linger over a cup of tea versus rush out for the earlier group. Pack up and out But not much time to linger anyway, pack up the night bags to be sent ahead for the end, fill up waters, etc.  Today I wasn't car...

Setting up camp Our group arrived at camp first.  The rain had just ended and the logistics team had put our bags under a tarp to keep them from getting (too) wet.  They had started to put up tents in 3 different circles, with foam mattresses inside, but most had collapsed in the wind.  They were simple pop-up tents and our guide went around pulling up the ones in one circle. Some mattresses were dry, some were moist, some were soaking.  Any that were only moist we tried to separate from the really wet ones, in the hopes that the remaining sunlight (and wind!) would help dry them for the night. Hot vegetable soup was served upon our arrival at camp, and later after everyone started settling in they laid out a great dinner of a chicken stew (plus a vegetarian one), rice and salads.  Oh and wine and whiskey - apparently two donors provide cases for the bike ride, and now the hike. The wine and whiskey started making the rounds early, but its real purpose wa...

Our experiences on the ALYN Heels of Love Hike 2020.  I went with my daughter Shira who is a bat sherut at ALYN this year. https://www.alynactive.org/team/team-solomon/ 2 am to Jerusalem So the big day is here! Shira and I are up and ready for a taxi to meet the group bus from Jerusalem. 4 am to the Eilat Mountains A 4-hour ride, with one stop on the way, to the starting point of our hike.  Forecast is for some rain around midday, so the guides have modified the hiking routes of the groups accordingly. 8 am Breakfast at the side of the road The logistics company is waiting with a fresh breakfast - scrambled eggs, coffee, tea, bread and rolls, fruit, cut vegetables, various spreads.  From the same spread we make sandwiches and take some snacks for the day. Everyone takes a couple of bottles of water, some fill them into their hydration packs, organizes their day packs and leaves their duffels with the logistics team to meet us at the campsite tonight. We a...

Getting Ready Get hiking boots! Is this going to be hard?

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