A trip to Timna Park - 24 November 2012

Today we went to Timna Park. We had been there once or twice before, but this time the weather was perfect for a bit of hiking. So, while David sat in the car and listened to one of his audiobooks, I took several short walks. Here are some of the pictures I took.

The first hike was only a short distance from the car. The destination was "A Mushroom and a Half". This picture should explain the name:

Next, I took a longer walk, but it was well worth it. Here's a beautiful view of the Pink Canyon:

On the way back to the car, I captured this view of Timna Mountain, in the right half of the picture. In the distance (to the left of Timna Mountain) you can see the Jordanian mountains, which actually, of course, are MUCH higher.

Our next stop was Solomon's Pillars. Here's a nice view of them:

To the right of the picture above, there are steps  that lead up to an opening between the rocks. Here's a view from way up there, looking north. The dark rock that frames the left side is right beside me!

After passing through the gap, there is an area near some nearly vertical smooth rocks. On one of them, barely visible, is a VERY old drawing showing Ramses III giving an offering to the Egyptian god, Hathor, with hieroglyphics below it. It has faded so much, though, that I could hardly see it in the glare of the midday sun. I took pictures, of course, but you can't see it in them, either. Nevertheless, it's quite impressive to see something from so long ago in such a remote location. It underscores the importance of this valley to the Egyptians of that time, who mined copper here.

Down below the inscription is something even more impressive: the remains of an ancient Egyptian temple! According to the sign, they found a LOT of objects associated with the worship of 3 different gods, with Hathor being the most important one. They also found the names of NINE different Egyptian kings from more than 3000 years ago!

Our last stop was the gift shop and restaurant by the artificial lake they have made there. Here's a panoramic view of the lake:

We didn't eat there, but we I did fill a couple of little plastic bottles with different colored sand in layers. It's part of what we get when we pay for entrance to the park, for which residents of Eilat get a discount!

Hemet Cistern בור חמת

Today (10 November 2012) we drove up through Makhtesh Ramon, past Mitzpe Ramon, and on west a little to הר הנגב Har HaNegev ("The Negev Mountain") nature reserve. We visited an ancient water collection cistern called בור חמת Bor Khemet ("Hemet Cistern"). I don't know who dug it because the signs only gave its name. However, it was likely the Nabateans, meaning that it was at least 1500-1600 years ago! There was no water in it today, probably because the channels that directed water into it are no longer maintained. I imagine that it was virtually NEVER completely empty during the time it was actually in use. There are still steep stairs that descend to the bottom of it (I went down them). It's probably about 2-3 meters deep. I took this picture using the neat panorama feature of iOS 6 on my iPhone.

Nakhal Shakhamon the day after a big thunderstorm

Yesterday afternoon (9 November 2012) we had a BIG thunderstorm here in Eilat! It didn't rain all that long, but plenty of it, including some small hail, came down in that short time. We stayed in our apartment for the duration, but today I read about flooding and saw plenty of evidence of when we were downtown. The airport was even closed yesterday afternoon due to flooding there!

This morning, on my way back from the outdoor gym, I took a couple of pictures of the freshly washed Nakhal Shakhamon. This first one was taken from where Harim Road crosses the nakhal (which flows under the road through TWELVE pipes that are each about 2 meters tall!). Notice that, although it looks a bit wet, there is no water flowing -- it's all gone on downstream (contributing to the flooding near the sea!), evaporated, or soaked into the ground!

Here's a pretty view from the round pergola where I do my exercises. In the foreground you can see a small beautifully landscaped area near the pergola. On the right are the exits of the 12 pipes under the road. In the distance, slightly to the left of center, is White Mountain, the tallest point in this view although it doesn't look as tall as the other hills because they are much closer.

The Small Makhtesh

Last Shabbat (the 27th of October) we took a trip to the Small Makhtesh ("crater").

There are at least three of these in the Negev Desert. The other two are known as the Big Makhtesh and Makhtesh Ramon. The last is actually the biggest, but it was discovered later due to its remoteness. There are also now paved roads through the Big Makhtesh and Makhtesh Ramon. In fact, highway 40, the main highway through the Negev, passes dramatically down from Mitzpe Ramon and goes right through Makhtesh Ramon. The road through the Big Makhtesh is much less important, but it is still paved.

But these is no read at all through the Small Makhtesh. In fact, we had to drive about a kilometer or so on a rocky unpaved road just to get to the parking area. Then I walked another kilometer or two to get to where I could see the Small Makhtesh. But the view, as you can see here, is pretty dramatic. These pictures were all taken from the viewpoint. This first one is looking toward the north end of the crater.

This second picture is looking directly across the crater and shows the interesting and varied patches of color on its floor. The gap at the right of this picture is where the Makhtesh drains toward the Arava and then the Dead Sea. In the distance, you can see the mountains of Jordan on the other side of the Arava.

This picture is looking slightly further to the right from the one above. Now the drainage gap is just right of the center of the picture.

Turning further still to the right, we see the southern wall of the makhtesh. The viewpoint is actually NOT right at the edge of the crater but on a hill somewhat above it and set back a little. The edge in the foreground at the left of this picture is really not that far away. Again, you can see the mountains of Jordan in the background.

This picture is looking still further to the right and barely overlaps with the one above. We really can't see any of the makhtesh at all in this view. What we do see is another stream that barely misses the crater but instead flows down a completely different valley toward the Arava.

A hike just south of Makhtesh Ramon

Today (8 October 2012) we drove up to just south of Makhtesh Ramon (the Ramon Crater), where I parked the car at the side of the road and took a short hike. The weather was beautiful, with warm sun, a cool breeze, and a few fluffy clouds in the sky. Also, it was about an hour to an hour and a half before sunset, which is a great time for photography. Here are some pictures that I took (all of them with my iPhone 4s).

For this first one, I hiked up near a small cliff (seen on the right) and took this view looking approximately northeast.

This second picture was taken near the same spot but looking a little more northward. The Makhtesh really begins just the other side of these hills.

In this final view, we are looking almost directly east towards two mesas. Somewhat closer, at the bottom of the picture, you can see our car (the red on on the left) and several others parked along highway 40 at the beginning of the trail I took.

Paran River flowing over highway 40

Yesterday (1 October) we were driving down highway 40 after having made a trip further north. When we go to נחל פראן Nakhal Paran (the Paran River), there was actually water in it, something we have never before seen. Since there's no bridge over the river (or even pipes under the road), the water just runs across the road. Luckily, it wasn't too deep to get across easily.

After we had crossed, I parked the car and got out to take some pictures. Here are a few of them. In the first picture, you can see kids wading in the muddy water and a northbound vehicle splashing across.

This is the view looking upstream (roughly towards the west). As you can see, more people were enjoying the water up there.

Here's a view of 2 cars going across the stream, one in each direction. The post at the right is a familiar sight all over this part of the country. It's for situations where the water is quite a bit deeper that this. The lowest black tag marks 0.5 meters, the next one 1 meter, and the top one 1.5 meters. I wouldn't even cross if it were near 0.5 meters (about 20 inches), since that might be enough to wash my car right off the road, I think.

A visit to Ein Avedat

Today (23 September 2012) we decided to visit the Ein Avedat National Park. It's located near Sde Boker, the desert home of Ben Gurion (and his burial place), in the Negev Desert. Its important feature is the deep canyon formed by a sudden drop of Nakhal Tzin (the Tzin Stream), an important stream (dry unless it has just rained, of course!) that drains much of the norther Negev and eventually ends of at the southern end of the Dead Sea.

There are 2 entrances to the park, and we went in both of them. We started with the one that enters the canyon by a switchback road from Ben Gurion's tomb, reaching the bottom of the canyon where Nakhal Hawarim flows into Nakhal Tzin. Here's a view looking of the canyon from the top switchback.

The road then follows the stream a short distance to a parking lot. From there, you must walk to go further up the canyon. Here's the view up the canyon from the parking lot.

Here's another view from the parking lot, looking up at an overhang on the south canyon wall.

We walked a short distance up a nice dusty but smooth trail. Here's a nice view from a little further up the canyon.

After our short walk, we drove back up the way we came in, ate lunch at the Avedat Aroma (along the highway just below the Nabatean city of Avedat, which is another national park), and then went in the upper entrance, not far from there. After a very short drive from the highway, we reached the parking lot. This time, David stayed in the car, and it was a good thing, because the trails up there were generally NOT very smooth, and there were quite a few stone steps, as well.

As I made my way to the canyon, I spotted this ibix also heading towards the canyon.

Here's the view looking down the canyon from the lower viewpoint, which is the one nearest the parking lot.

Here's the view up the canyon from the same viewpoint.

Here's a view looking almost straight down at the bottom of the canyon.

As I was enjoying the views from this viewpoint (which is actually on a broad rock ledge 2 or 3 meters below the level of the canyon rim), another visitor told me to look up, and here's the ibix that I saw up on the rim of the canyon. This is just the best of about 5 or 6 pictures that I got of him! Isn't he magnificent! Check out those horns!

After I came back up from that viewpoint, I saw a trail going parallel to the canyon (but a ways from it) in the upstream direction. I followed it to another viewpoint, located right at the beginning of the canyon. Just as I came to it, I saw this beautiful dragonfly sitting on a cable. It just sat there patiently, and so I had time to get a good picture of it.

This next picture is a view of the stream BEFORE it plunges into the canyon. It's a little hard to get the scale, but the walls here can't be more than 2 or 3 meters high. But this picture was taken from a point not more than a few meters from where this stream plunges into the canyon.

Here's the view the OTHER direction! There were a couple of cables and a sign warning about an abyss ahead, but I was no more than a couple of meters from the edge, I think. Very dramatic!

I easily walked across the stream to the other side and got this view, which only gives a hint of the canyon. Near the center, you can see the railing protecting people on the upper viewpoint from falling into the canyon.

Here's the view from that upper viewpoint.

As you can tell, I had a marvelous time and really enjoyed this trip. I must thank David for waiting so patiently for me in the car, especially since he didn't get the pleasure of seeing ANY of this.