A hike from Mediterranean to the Sea of Galilee (lake Kinneret)

This time I will share with you a nice trip that one can do in northern Israel - a hike from Achziv beach north to Nahariya on the Mediterranean sea to Hukok beach on the sea of Galilee.
In Israel it's a pretty well known hike, and many are doing it especially during the holidays. I think that the best time to do it is during not too rainy days in winter (the Amud river part of the hike can be dangerous during the rain) or in spring. But if you are planing to do it like most Israelis - somewhere around September - October (Jewish new year or Sukkot holidays)  you can enjoy from a dip in the Mediterranean sea at the beginning of the trip and from a swim or a relaxation in the Kinneret in the end. Another nice thing about this trip is that both start and end point are accessible by public transport.

Achziv beach - the starting point

The trail start at the sea level, the highest point is Mount Meron (1200m above the sea level) and ends about 200m below the sea level on Kinneret's coast. I did it couple of times, one time with a friend in three days, and another time solo in just a bit more than one day (spending most of the second day on Kinneret's beach).

After leaving the Achziv beach and crossing the Banana's plantations - you will enter the Kziv river natural reserve. If you are lucky the stream will be full with water - it depends how rainy was the year. If possible visit the Monfort Castle that is located just inside the reserve.

Kziv reserve

Kziv reserve

View from Monfort

 

Monfort Castle

  After passing the Kziv reserve, you will have to climb a bit towards a place called Abirim, where you might want to stop for a night if you are in no hurry and plan a three days trip, or go on to Alkosh reserve.
The Alkosh reserve is trail is a nice part that that connects you to the Israel National Trail near Mount Meron, and which will take you right to Kinneret. By the way - the whole 1000 km of Israel National Trail are available on google street view.

Alkosh stream

Mount meron is one of the most beautiful natural reserves in Israel, especially in the spring. It is also the highest point of the hike - and you can stay either in the beginning of the Mount Meron trail - near the Mount Meron field school, or in the end of trail, just before Amud stream trail.

View from Mount Meron

Meron reserve

The last part of the hike is Amud stream (nahal amud), and I think that first part of Nahal Amud hike is one of the most scenic in northern Israel. It goes down from Mount Meron down all the way almost to the shore of Kinneret. I was lucky and we had some light rain just before we arrived to the Nahal Amud part so this part was cool and nature was at its best.

Salamandra

In the amud stream hike

The second part of Nahal Amud goes on a canyon between cliffs, and I think a bit less refreshing and wet as the first part, but if you are lucky you can see a rock hyrax and a lot of storks.

Rock hyrax

Stork on almost every cliff, Amud Stream

Amud Stream

Finally, you leave the Israel National Trail near Hukok, and continue toward the beach, or keep going in the trail to Arbel Cliff. If you have the time - you can camp on the beach, or just catch a bus home.

Kinneret beach

Alpinism course in Chamonix Mont Blanc - part two

In the weekend between the first and the second week, we visited the ice cave that was located near Mer de Glace and hiked to north west to Chamonix. The ice cave is a in the glacier itself which is colourfully illuminated and combines some artwork with the natural beauty of ice.

Ice cave, credit: Veronika

Ice cave, credit: Veronika

On the second week we had two main activities, one was two day trip to Switzerland for practice our snow climbing skills, and the second was the short but very scenic route on Ridge de Cosmique near Aiguille du Midi.


On our first day of the strip to Switzerland we only hiked to FXB Panossière mountain refuge in order to climb the Grand Combin on the next day. The hike was pretty easy, and we had some nice alpine views on our way.

One our way to the Grand Combine

On the next day we woke up before the sunrise to climb the Grand Combine, but unfortunately because of one of out fellow students got injured we couldn't finish the accent and had to turn back before the summit. But we did got to see a sunrise on our way, and saw some pretty stunning views.

Sunrise

We went through the cabin to rest a little and then hurried back to the car to get back to France.

Our cat friend that lived in the Cabana

A Swiss sheep

The second most notable adventure that we had that week was the short but breathtaking mixed climbing to the Ridge de Cosmique. We were extremely fortunate to have a beautiful and sunny weather that day, and the view from the top especially amazing.

Descent

Aiguille du Midi tower

An avalanche we witnessed

Snowy alpine view

This short post concludes the second week of our UCPA alpnism adventure. If you like to learn and experience new things, share the passion for nature and mountains in particular - I strongly recommend virtually any of the UCPA mountaineering courses.

Alpinism course in Chamonix Mont Blanc - part one

As one can understand from my previous post - I liked the UCPA experience in Abries and about a year and a half after the ice climbing course we decided to go to France again, this time for a two week long alpinism course in the Chamonix area.
The town of Chamonix is a Mecca of extreme sports all year around: skiing, hiking, rock, snow and ice climbing, paragliding, parachute skiing, wing-suit jumps, mountain biking and probably many more. For example then day we arrived there was the UTMB race day

UTMB race starting point

As you can see - there was a very special holiday atmosphere in the town and for the following day one could see and cheer the finishing runners while they are running, walking or limping the last kilometres before the finish. 

We used the time before the course for mountain biking and hiking nearby and then went to the UCPA school to meet another participants and our instructor and get our gear. One of the great things about UCPA is that they provide you with everything you need - so if you are interested in only trying out some kind of sport - you can join the course without having to invest in all the equipment.

There are plenty of bike trails in the area

View from Brevent to the Mont Blanc

On the first day we had our "alpinism school" on a natural climbing wall that was located in Chamonix itself, we covered basic rock climbing techniques and belaying. On the next day we went to the Mere de Glace glacier to practice with crampons, how to walk on ice tied one to another and even performed a crevasse rescue.

Our instructor Dominique

Glacier walking

Ice world

Crevasse rescue

Mere de Glace

In the next days until the weekend we practised what we learned by rock climbing near Brevent, and doing some actual snow alpinism near Aiguille du Midi.

View from Brevent

Summit

Those breathtaking views...

Aiguille du Midi - note the people walking on the ridge

As you can see the area is rocky, snowy, wild and insanely beautiful and I am glad that I had the chance to visit it. I think it is a good place to stop. In a next post I will share some pictures from the second week of our course, and from the places we've been to during the weekends.

Ice Climbing in Rhône-Alpes

As I mentioned before, I like sports. Especially extreme sports and even better if they are winter extreme sports which we lack (or maybe don't have at all) in Israel. So when my friend Veronika suggested to participate in a ice climbing course of UCPA in French Alps, I was more than happy to agree.

If you are not familiar with UCPA - it's an non-profit French organization that makes outdoor sports holidays available for people of ages 7–39. They provide a variety of activities, including winter extreme sports, for a decent price considering the fact that they provide you with accommodation, instructors, meals and equipment. Also you get to meet nice and interesting people who also participate in different activities.

Since back then in 2012 I was still in the army - there was no lack of vacation days and we decided to make the trip a bit longer and enjoy another two days of skiing in the Serre Chevalier ski resort which was located close the village of Abries where the ice climbing course was about to take place.

Rhone Alps

Rhone Alps

The Rhone alps region is an area definitely worth visiting. It offers not only mountains and national parks but great food, wine and atmosphere. Brittany and the Rhone Alps are my two favourite regions in France, and the UCPA's course was a great opportunity to learn climbing techniques with great instructors, safe equipment and wonderful nature. It's not cheap but considering the combination of all - I think it's a good deal.

Briançon - credit to Veronika

We arrived to a nice town called Briancon, which was located near the skiing site, and after two days of skiing moved to the village of Abries, where we met the other participants, our instructor and were given the gear for the following week.

 

 

 

The Ice

In the next seven days we were studying the techniques and safety of ice climbing in a small group of four people, and even made a few multi-pitch routes on the frozen waterfalls in the area. We were taught how to use ice screws, how to belay yourself on ice (pretty similar to rock climbing), how to use ice axes and crampons and how to communicate with your partner while climbing.
Some of the things were pretty similar to rock climbing, and others were only snow/ice alpinism related.

Frozen waterfall

UCPA school in Abries

Leading multi pitch

Two pairs climbing

Summary

All in all I am more a hiking person that one that goes to a course - but since I was already doing some rock climbing in Israel - going to learn a new skill of ice climbing was too much to resist. That explains why I couldn't resist myself and did another rock and snow alpinism UCPA course in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.

Finishing pitch