Sea to Pasuta

A blog post by Adam. As many of you know, we planned to hike from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee.

4 days. 70 kilometers. More than 4,000 feet of elevation, much of it while climbing Israel's second highest peak. Temperatures above 90 degrees. 40 pound packs including camping equipment and a minimum of 6 liters of water per day. About 28 creek crossings (in the first day alone).

The formidable Sea to Sea trail.  We made it just past the first large red dot along the route.

We decided to do this with essentially no training. In retrospect a little training might have been helpful. We began the trek with a ceremonial head dunking in the Mediterranean followed by 10 hours of grueling and beautiful hiking (with a brief stop at an amazing swimming hole). We arrived at camp the first night completely spent.

The next day we got up early in an attempt to beat the sun, but within an hour of hiking we realized the sun had already beaten us. The exhaustion from the previous day had not subsided and we decided we had gone far enough. We hobbled into Pasuta, an Arab village about 25 kilometers from the Mediterranean, and called it quits. After waiting about 2 hours for a bus, the air conditioned ride into Ma'alot, near where my cousin Mina lives, was glorious.

Though we had only made it a third of the way to the Kinneret, not all was lost....

Along the way we met several others embarking on the same journey...a couple men on horses, a single 28 year old, a group of Australians on a 5 month program in Israel. We continuously crossed paths with them as we trudged along.  We shared dinner with them around the fire at the end of the day.  It was a unique way to connect with Israelis and fellow travelers, perhaps much like joining others on a pilgrimage route.

We also learned that the Middle Eastern sun is no joke, and that poor physical conditioning can really slow you down.

I hope to return one day to complete the hike. But if that doesn't happen, at least I can say I've been to Pasuta, which is not something most can say.