Day 41 / part of Day 42 - Migdal to Meron (23rd April, 2022)

I left the camping at the Kineret early to try to get as much walking done before the heat (forecast was 38 degrees!) My plan was to try and get as high as possible where the temperature would be lower.

I soon arrived at the entrance to Nahal Amud (the Amud river) which I would follow for the rest of the day. At the beginning, there was no water

but soon there stared to be water. in the stream, and lots of tiny frogs!

In the distance, you can see the Amud (pillar) that the stream is named after.

The path was quite pleasant, and the weather was still not that hot

The path passes by extremely steep steps (locked off), part of the water carrier

The river was dry for the next section with less cover

After crossing under the 85 road, the water returned, and the walk was more challenging (mostly inside  a canyon), with pegs in some parts to help climbing

The path went past old abandoned buildings which were used previous in the wool industry

The temperate was a little cooler up here, and the path reached the Sechvi pools, for another great chance to cool off. We came here also last year on a family trip.

After a long break, I continued along the track

finally reaching the "pitul" (bend) campground where I finished for the day.

After chatting with the other hikers (including some from Germany), I took the short walk to Meron where I got a few buses back home.

 

Day 40 - Kinneret to Migdal (22nd April, 2022)

 

I was up at around sunrise for some great views over the kinneret before heading off. The forecast was for hot weather (30+) so I wanted to get started early.

After a moderately strenuous climb (which I was happy to be doing in the cooler weather), I reached the Poria spring, with some great views over the kinneret.

The path went through a forest (which I visited a few months ago)

including some nice views of parts of Tiberias

The path soon led to the upper part of Tiberias, where there was a gradual descent. The city was very quiet (probably because it was part of Pesach holiday, and Tiberias is a relatively religious city)

After grabbing a snack at the petrol station (for some reason I had been craving pesach pastries, satisfied by a kosher-for-pesach apple pie), the path went through Mitspe, and soon passed by Kfar Hitim. This section was very overgrown with spiky plants, I was happy to get past it! The ascent continued with more views of the kinneret

before reaching the top of the Arbel mountain and the national park.

I took a rest at one of the view points and had lunch (trying to cool down in the hot weather, enjoying the shade put up by the national park).

I soon started the descent, taking a quick detour to see the fort (unfortunately closed due to safety / renovations) and some of the caves where people escaped to numerous times in history.

The descent was pretty quick

and before long I arrived at Ein Nun (Nun spring). Although the water was cold, submerging myself (it was not very deep) was amazing on such a hot day

I looked for a place to camp by the kineret and found a small beach next to the Selina hotel where a few other people were also camping.

After a quick dip in the kineret, I set up my tent.

My tent. While there were only a few other people there who didn't make much noise, the bar at the hotel next door made a lot of noise. Thankfully not too late they switched to music without words which combined with the exhaustion at the end of the day I managed to sleep through.