While the first stint of our hiking was dominated by mud, the second by wheat fields and sun, and the last day by fog, this day was characterized by wind. We watched all morning as the wind whipped up the dust from the desert to cover the sky until all the air was a brownish yellow. Driving up in our friend's car, I could nearly look straight at the sun through the dust clouding the shine so dramatically.
Somehow I hadn't really contemplated what it would be like to walk in this. We got out of the car, and our hair and clothes immediately whipped all around us. I put on my bandana at least to hold down my hair, and we set off. At points it was so strong we had to actively lean into it to make any headway. And my pictures during the start of the day of anything slightly in the distance are seen through a haze.
We walked most of the day along the West Bank wall. It was odd to see gaps where the concrete stopped and the border consisted only of fencing (of course barbed and doubled, but still very different from the solid wall).
When we climbed to Kibbutz Sansanna we lamented not staying there, since they have a dorm-type room especially for hikers, but it was far too early in the day to stop for such a reason. But we waved as we went by (okay, not really, but socially speaking we did). And we took a miniature break at one of the outdoor living rooms along the way, ha.
The eastern road into the kibbutz apparently went out of use long ago as an entrance, so they have cleverly used the pavement for a great repurposing. :)
Coming back down the hill from Sansanna, it was back into the wind, and the trees proclaimed the consistency of this weather in the area!
We were just a few hills away from our stop for the night, Meitar, when I saw the rain clouds coming up behind us. We kept going, but eventually a few drops fell, and we quickly (not *quite* panicking, I'd say ;)), dropped our packs, ripped out the covers and our jackets, threw them all on, and held our breaths for the storm to hit. (When I lived in Haifa, I experience multiple times feeling wind and then just three or four drops before the sky opened up in a flood - I was sure we were in for it.)
And we waited. And we walked. And we waited. A couple last hills and Meitar was in sight. It finally did rain just a little bit, but we were relieved when it stopped in just a few minutes, and it hadn't even been a downpour, just a little shower. But oh, don't be misled by such a name. The marks left on our jackets, bag covers, water bottles...anything uncovered were shaped like raindrops, but they'd clearly been dustdrops. Perfectly shaped little dried up puddles of dust all over us, cars, windows, the whole town. Welcome to the edge of the desert.
We stopped at a gas station on the edge of town to bathroom, refuel (Mmmm, Cornetto) and call our Trail Angel for directions. Then it was another kilometer or so to her house. She met us on the porch, took us in just to drop off our things, and then led us back to the Purim party she'd been at. It was great to meet everyone (originally from all over the states), eat the yummy Purim feast, and chat about the goings on in the world, and then we went back to our place for the night, showered, blogged, and mentally prepared for the 23+km day on the morrow. Two days to Arad! How surreal!
Somehow I hadn't really contemplated what it would be like to walk in this. We got out of the car, and our hair and clothes immediately whipped all around us. I put on my bandana at least to hold down my hair, and we set off. At points it was so strong we had to actively lean into it to make any headway. And my pictures during the start of the day of anything slightly in the distance are seen through a haze.
We walked most of the day along the West Bank wall. It was odd to see gaps where the concrete stopped and the border consisted only of fencing (of course barbed and doubled, but still very different from the solid wall).
When we climbed to Kibbutz Sansanna we lamented not staying there, since they have a dorm-type room especially for hikers, but it was far too early in the day to stop for such a reason. But we waved as we went by (okay, not really, but socially speaking we did). And we took a miniature break at one of the outdoor living rooms along the way, ha.
The eastern road into the kibbutz apparently went out of use long ago as an entrance, so they have cleverly used the pavement for a great repurposing. :)
Coming back down the hill from Sansanna, it was back into the wind, and the trees proclaimed the consistency of this weather in the area!
We were just a few hills away from our stop for the night, Meitar, when I saw the rain clouds coming up behind us. We kept going, but eventually a few drops fell, and we quickly (not *quite* panicking, I'd say ;)), dropped our packs, ripped out the covers and our jackets, threw them all on, and held our breaths for the storm to hit. (When I lived in Haifa, I experience multiple times feeling wind and then just three or four drops before the sky opened up in a flood - I was sure we were in for it.)
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