Just got back from yet another great adventure last night---ים לים (yam le yam--sea to sea). Israel is only about 40 miles across from the Medieranean sea to the כנרת (kinneret--sea of galilee), making it the perfect distance for a wonderful three day backpacking trip. Definitely one of the harder hikes I've done, every day we started shortly after sunup and finished right around sundown...but I feel great! Sadly, of the 11 international students (plus a guide and medic--friends of ours from the university and the university paid for them, so really it was just like having two more people) who started, only 8 of us finished, old injuries cropped up and some people realized mid-hike that they just weren't up to the pace. Luckily, in Israel, you're never very far from the road, and getting taxis to take them home was easy.

It was an interesting sort of hiking, not like anything I've done before as there's not really backcountry in Israel, you're constantly crossing into and out of towns, crossing roads, and seeing trillions of צופים (tzofim--scouts) that are loud and obnoxious. The nights were very cold and dewy, meaning that sleeping was difficult, but the views during the day were absolutely phenomenal. Tonight, the survivors are meeting up for a dinner to celebrate our accomplishment.

Us at breakfast our first day.


The montfort castle--a fort built on this hill from the middle ages--7 of us decided to basically sprint up the hill and back down to be able to take cool pictures before we had to move on. The entire group was called Team adventure, and the group that went up the hill was the elite squadron.
The red group of the elite squadron atop the montfort. We all just happened to be wearing red.


Us swimming in a freezing cold stream our first day.

Us coming over the hill and finally seeing the kinneret--a great moment.