March 21st: Hike in the Negev Desert, Israel

Posted by Kara |1 comments

   This may have been one of the coolest experiences in my life. Possibly because I was in a part of the world I had never been before (and who knows when I will be again), possibly because desert is a far cry from what I normally find in Missouri while hiking. This hike was done in a (very) large group, which is not something I normally enjoy, but I found it both challenging at times (not wanting to be the last one up the big hill!) and fun.  We had both lots of interesting conversations on this hike, but also hiked maybe a third of it as a "silent hike," which I think lent itself to immersing myself in the desert most of all. This was about an 8 mile hike and not super challenging except for the very first climb OUT of the valley onto the top of the plateau cliffs. This was near Sde Boker, and I believe that area we hiked was called the Zin Valley (or Zin Wadi?).  The trip itself was such an amazing experience, but really busy and there wasn't always time to write down the exact details of where we were.

First we camped out near the Ben Gurion memorial site in Sde Boker, down below in the valley on Tuesday night, March 20th. There was a hot Israeli dinner, a campire, and lots of music long into the night. Not much stars, as the dust still lingering in the air from some windy days made visability not so great. It was COLD, and I heard Jackals for the first time that night, but it was a pretty amazing experience.

 

Then on the morning of March 21st, we woke up with the dawn, had a solid breakfast and packed up camp (which was then taken away, we did not have to take it on our hike, thank goodness) and started our hike with the hardest part of the whole day: the hike OUT of the canyon valley! It doesn't look so hard in the photos, but it was really steep and definitely showed me I was not in the shape I thought I was in. The view from the top was gorgeous.

click on the panorama pictures to see them full size.

Then came the long desert hike. It had some ups and downs, but once we were out of the valley, there wasn't anything too complicated. It was beautiful and barren and bright. There were both stretches of flat desert all around us and then suddenly more cliffs to look over and into the beyond... and a Bedouin tent.

 

Our stop about halfway through the hike was an oasis with a lovely waterfall, freezing water, and many many Israeli school children.

And then there was a very long hike back down what was half trail, half road, but still very breathtaking. There was even a brief point at the end of the trail to rest and take in the desert for the last time. 

There might have also been an insane camel ride, but that doesn't really count as hiking...

March 20th: Nature Hike at Adulam Grove Nature Reserve, Israel

Posted by Kara |0 comments

Our first full day in Israel started out right away with a beautiful hike on March 20th. It consisted of two parts, the first part I'm not exactly sure what it was called, but the second part was the Adulam Grove Nature Reserve in central Israel, where we also saw the caves at Hurvat Midras. Or really just one of them.

First we walked down on the trail through trees and regular forest brush, though with some exciting plant species I hadn't ever seen before. Another interesting thing was that most of the trees on our hike were not there long ago, but had been planted there as a project of getting Israel back to the way it had been long ago.
We didn't see much wildlife on the hike, but heard a lot of birds.

 

 

There was a vinyard, we tried wild mustard plant leaves, and learned about some of the local wildflowers. Next we entered into the actual Adulam Grove Nature Reserve, where we also visited the caves. The caves were cool, but very cramped and claustrophobic to crawl through... I didn't mind at all though! The hardest part was actually the bees' nests that were right in the entrance to the cave, buzzing all over and swarming. After that, a little cave is no big deal. No pictures of the cave, really... I didn't want to ruin my camera.

 After that, it was a short hike back to the bus, where we climbed on to drive south where we would be camping out in the desert!

Lost Valley Trail revisited

Posted by Kara |0 comments

  Lost Valley Trail in the Weldon Springs conservation area is a trail I haven't done since April 2010. It looks like this trail has also gotten some new mileage signs since I last visited, as well as possibly rerouted or remeasured; in April of 2010 I marked the trail as 9 miles long, the latest edition of Steve Henry's book says the trail is about 9.5 miles, and the markers on the trail itself pronounced the trail as a little over ten miles. That officially makes Lost Valley the longest hike I've completed yet. And it felt good!

There was a large group about a half a mile behind me, but they disappeared after awhile, and other than that I ran into no other hikers until the near end of the trail. However there were what seemed like millions of mountain bikers... all were very polite and friendly as they zoomed by, though sometimes I had trouble hearing them coming up some of the twisty turns with low visibility.

A smidge over ten miles took me about 4 hours. I didn't take any pictures again because I'm really working on the hiking, and since this was a revisit I figured I could spare the pictures this time around. I made sure I packed an extra water bottle because even though it was cool, the sun was pretty strong on a lot of the trail. Loved doing this one again! I'm ready to do another ten mile trail and then move up to twelve soon, I hope!

Posted by Kara |0 comments

I walked the 5.3 mile loop at Lewis and Clark this weekend.  Since I've walked the trail quite a few times and posted about it as well, I don't see too much of a need to rehash it. However it felt REALLY good to get back out on the trail, because it's been far too long. The weather has been nice, and while sometimes it's hard for me to get myself going, I'm always glad I've hiked once I'm out there.

I did want to say that it looks like new mile markers have been added since I last hiked the trail (or I don't remember them), which made me really happy.  I either like a trail to have all mile markers or none at all, as opposed to the first time I hiked the trail there were markers for the first couple miles and then they they petered out. The signs are easy to read and very clear, though I always have a moment of hesitation at the stream bed where the trail splits off. I'm going to go back soon and do the 8.3 trail soon too, just to attempt to get back into some kind of hiking shape.

I'm not dead...

Posted by Kara |0 comments

No, really. I'm quite alive.  Stress at work, busy weekends, and unpredictable weather has been keeping me at home these past couple weeks, which is a shame since extra stress at work is the time when hiking really does me the most good. I DID get a run in this Sunday though... well, a "run." Apparently I'm absolutely terrible at running, though I wouldn't mind getting more time to try it out. When not able to get out hiking, I've always enjoyed a nice walk around where I live, and running (with lots of practice) might be a good way to make it a little more aerobic.

I am, also, preparing for a trip to Israel this March. I'll be going with a group called Israel Outdoors, which will include a couple walking and small hiking trips.  The trip only lasts for ten days, but I am absolutely psyched! I definitely want to get out hiking a couple times before the trip just to make sure I'm ready for the sunrise Masada climb! I know you don't do a TON of hiking trips, but I am excited to see a part of the world I've never seen before!

That's all for now. Let's hope I post again before my Israel trip!

Missouri Botanical Gardens

Posted by Kara |0 comments

A cold has kept me out of sorts for awhile, but I was feeling a bit better today and a friend had suggested visiting the Missouri Botanical Gardens, which I hadn't visited in at least a year. For city and county residents of St. Louis, admission is only $4, which is a perfectly acceptable price if you ask me (though as a St. Louisan, I'm used to my museum-type places being free).  It wasn't a bad January day, in the low 40s, but there was a wind advisory out... it truly was insanely gusty! We visited the Climatron together, which to me sounds a lot like some sort of Transformer, which was warm and tropical. I spent a very long time there, looking at all the plants and reading all the informational signs. It was absolutely beautiful, and I kept backtracking to see small flowers or plants or birds I had missed. There was a similar building connected, the Temperate House, which was much the same idea but for things that grow in a much more temperate climate than the jungle feel of the Climatron (and  also is decorated with a very Mediterranean feel).

After the Climatron and the Temperate House, my friend went home to rest (these colds are really going around), but despite the quickly descending chill and picking up winds, I decided to stay. While there were still quite a few patrons at the gardens, it was relatively empty compared to what you would find in any other season. I walked through the Victorian gardens, the rose garden, the Ottoman garden... there was still lots of green despite the leafless trees and flowerless garden beds. The empty trees and shrubs were beautiful and eerie in their own right.  I  took a tour of the Tower Grove House for some history lessons, which I immensly enjoyed, though could have used more (getting out of the cold was nice too!).

The Japanese Garden, which is one of the largest areas of the park, was quiet and absolutely gorgeous. I passed by fascinating trees, rock gardens, Koi fish, and islands in the middle of a very large pond that rippled in the high winds (the sacred tea house island was closed, to my dismay).  Even though it is very popular, I was able to find a quiet bench overlooking the lake and just sit quietly and enjoy the nature around me. It was peaceful and serene. I enjoyed the Chinese Garden, the children's garden, the herb and experimental gardens, and the English woodland paths that passed by streams (all man-made, but appreciated nonetheless).

I don't know how far I walked. The website says the entire Botanical Gardens is 72 acres, with the Japanese strolling Garden being 14 acres alone. I didn't do too much off-path exploring, but I did do a little (where it is allowed, of course), and I was in the park for a least a couple hours. I felt invigorated by the beauty to be found even in winter (and the strong wind helped too!)

I don't have any pictures because I forgot my camera and my phone camera is terrible, but I'm posting a couple pictures of the gardens last time I went, clearly in spring or summer.

Missouri Botanical Gardens

Posted by Kara |0 comments

A cold has kept me out of sorts for awhile, but I was feeling a bit better today and a friend had suggested visiting the Missouri Botanical Gardens, which I hadn't visited in at least a year. For city and county residents of St. Louis, admission is only $4, which is a perfectly acceptable price if you ask me (though as a St. Louisan, I'm used to my museum-type places being free).  It wasn't a bad January day, in the low 40s, but there was a wind advisory out... it truly was insanely gusty! We visited the Climatron together, which to me sounds a lot like some sort of Transformer, which was warm and tropical. I spent a very long time there, looking at all the plants and reading all the informational signs. It was absolutely beautiful, and I kept backtracking to see small flowers or plants or birds I had missed. There was a similar building connected, the Temperate House, which was much the same idea but for things that grow in a much more temperate climate than the jungle feel of the Climatron (and  also is decorated with a very Mediterranean feel).

After the Climatron and the Temperate House, my friend went home to rest (these colds are really going around), but despite the quickly descending chill and picking up winds, I decided to stay. While there were still quite a few patrons at the gardens, it was relatively empty compared to what you would find in any other season. I walked through the Victorian gardens, the rose garden, the Ottoman garden... there was still lots of green despite the leafless trees and flowerless garden beds. The empty trees and shrubs were beautiful and eerie in their own right.  I  took a tour of the Tower Grove House for some history lessons, which I immensly enjoyed, though could have used more (getting out of the cold was nice too!).

The Japanese Garden, which is one of the largest areas of the park, was quiet and absolutely gorgeous. I passed by fascinating trees, rock gardens, Koi fish, and islands in the middle of a very large pond that rippled in the high winds (the sacred tea house island was closed, to my dismay).  Even though it is very popular, I was able to find a quiet bench overlooking the lake and just sit quietly and enjoy the nature around me. It was peaceful and serene. I enjoyed the Chinese Garden, the children's garden, the herb and experimental gardens, and the English woodland paths that passed by streams (all man-made, but appreciated nonetheless).

I don't know how far I walked. The website says the entire Botanical Gardens is 72 acres, with the Japanese strolling Garden being 14 acres alone. I didn't do too much off-path exploring, but I did do a little (where it is allowed, of course), and I was in the park for a least a couple hours. I felt invigorated by the beauty to be found even in winter (and the strong wind helped too!)

I don't have any pictures because I forgot my camera and my phone camera is terrible, but I'm posting a couple pictures of the gardens last time I went, clearly in spring or summer.