Day 6: Tsova to Jerusalem

On our last hike day of this leg, we got to hike with the father and a son of a family that K has known and been friends with for years. It was so great to watch them reunite and catch up and take out old jokes and memories to appreciate afresh. And bonus, the dad is a professional guide! You know I was absolutely thrilled. :-D All morning we turned to him, asking about the plants, the ruins, the land, and being an Israeli guide, he not only could answer the questions we asked, but also those we did not even know to ask. I felt so lucky to close out this section with them.

It was to be a short day, and it was quite refreshing to see, after only a few minutes of hiking, the destination set for the end of our hike: the hospital at Giv'at Beit, where our hiking buddy was born!

We saw some recent ruins from around 1948 as well as a fun spring coming down a tunnel you could walk up. I would have loved to go, and usually I wouldn't blink at getting my feet wet temporarily, but I was fighting blisters and whatnot, and my feet had become one of my top priorities. I couldn't risk wetting my boots again. But I did climb the dry way and take a look through. Pretty cool. :) (Hopefully in a few days I'll get to walk through Hezekiah's tunnel in my other shoes, so I'm satisfied. ;))

We went by some of the Trail section that a few months ago was engulfed in flames. :-/ And had a few Hebrew lessons along the way.

It was a short hike, and K and I had left our packs at a hostel in the city, so it was light and bright, woot! And we ended the morning by leaving the INT and finding/making our way up to the bus stop. Three of us went pretty straight up the side of the wadi, and K made her way up the terraces of the ruins - it never stops being surreal that this land is just littered with remnants from thousands of years ago.

We met up at the top and grabbed a bus to the light-rail, which took us back up to central Jerusalem. I we said our "see you later"s to our friend's grabbed lunch at an absolutely delicious vegetarian restaurant that K frequents, and then back to the hostel to grab all I needed to take for the tour, and then a quick walk to the central station to climb aboard the bus north to Haifa. Faretheewell, trail, and see you in a couple of weeks.