Wolverine Hikes

People who know me know that I belong on the Trail. I've thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail (three times, now),the Pacific Crest Trail and the mighty Continental Divide Trail. I've hiked many of the long trails here in Michigan including being the first to hike both the Ironwood Trail and the Great Lake To Lake Trail. In 2017, I hiked the Israel National Trail and the Golan Heights Trail. I was the first to hike the Baja Divide Trail in Mexico but failed miserably to thru-hike the Bruce Trail in Canada. In 2019, I hiked the TEMBR in Ecuador and 1,150 miles of the North Country Trail as it runs through my home state of Michigan.

The purpose of this blog is to keep anyone who is interested informed of my progress and to encourage those who are able to support me in these endeavors.

Friday, June 2, 2017

Hiking the Golan

 

 


As a little kid, I remember hearing about the Golan (GO-len) Heights and the war that was going on there. 


While hiking the Israel National Trail, I heard about the Golan (go-LON) and how beautiful it was. It's the northeastern part of Israel and it was the scene of a savage tank battle between Israel and Syria back in 1973. Remnants of this war are everywhere and the actual boundary between Israel and Syria is still disputed. 


I decided to see for myself by hiking the Golan Trail and I loved every step of it. I started on Mt. Hermon in the north and hiked south to Ein Ofek at the south end of the Sea of Galilee. 


I took a million pictures along the way. Here are some of them:



 

 This is the official 'start' picture. This sign is in the parking lot of a ski resort on Mt. Hermon. The entire trail has great signage - often in Herbrew AND English. 

 


 

The blaze for this trail is the green, blue and white. You can almost always see the next blaze from the one you are at. I carried no map with me and never got lost. 

 



 

 

The trail is divided into 15 sections. Each section starts with a huge sign like this. I just took a pic of the map at the start of each section and I was fine.  



 

Have YOU?


  

 

Lots of these signs, too. Sometimes on both sides of the trail. There were lots of remnants from the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Bunkers, tanks and minefields are all reminders of the violence this area has seen. 



 

 Not sure what this was but I did not dance upon it. 

 



 

A local guy told me that a mine went off here but they didn't know why. These are anti-tank mines. Not to be messed with. 


 

 

Because of the elevation, it gets chilly in the mornings in the Golan. It felt GREAT. 



 

 

Bunkers, like this one, surrounded by trenches, are at the top of almost every mountain. You can go inside and explore all you want. 



 

 

Had to stop for lunch here. How could I not?




 

 

There are four Druze villages on the slopes of Mt. Hermon. Very friendly folks. 



 

Cows are not usually a problem on the trail. I just yell and clank my trekking poles together and they move. This giant bull, however, was guarding this heffer and would not move. When he lowered his head and kicked up dirt with his hoof, I went around. 

 



 
 
Remains of a Syrian mosque. There was an eerie, bombed out village around it. 


 

 

Me with my cool Moosejaw shades. Always in style. 



 

 

Syrian tank from 1973. It was awe inspiring to look out over the Valley of Tears and imagine 800 of these things rolling across. 




 

 

Cannibal locusts! There was a road covered with these bugs. When cars ran over them, their buddies would jump out and EAT THEM. Then, THEY would get run over and their buddies would eat THEM! It was a gruesome scene. 




 

 

Despite the typo, I get it. 




  

 

I think this was a T-72. 




 

 

Beehives and windmills. 




 

 

 

Looking over the border to the Syrian village of Sha'af El Kabir. 



 

 

Only 60 clicks to Damascus? Dang...



 

 

YOU bewar. 




 

 

More bunkers and trenches. 





 

If 'trespassers will be punished', then why does the blaze send me that way?




 

 

Sunset over the Sea of Galilee.




 

 

I almost cowboy camped on top of this thing. The view was amazing but it was really windy and I was 500 meters up. Didn't want to lose anything. 




 

 

'Finishing' pic. Really enjoyed this trail. 


I admit that I had some trepidation about hiking this trail. I even posted about some of those concerns here. I must say, for the record, those concerns were completely unnecessary. Nothing bad happened. Everyone I met was super nice. The scariest thing that happened to me was that, sometimes late at night, I could actually hear bombs and .50 cal gun fire coming from far away. Other than that, the trail is completely safe, well-blazed and a pleasure to hike.

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Awesome Chris, absolutely awesome.

Keith / Fozzie said...

This looks like a sweet trail. Nice one for sharing.

Unknown said...

Thank-You for sharing. You are experiencing decades of growth, oh wise one.

Chris Hillier said...

Thanks, Becky!

Chris Hillier said...

It really is a sweet trail. There are so many good things about it: it's easy to hike, it's well-blazed and well-signed. It's the perfect combination of steep trails and easy dirt roads. There's so much history here... and the views are amazing... Even the length is perfect: 150km. Takes about a week of easy hiking. Lots of kibbutzim and moshavim along the way to resupply. I wish Michigan had a trail like this. The only thing that prevents people from coming here to hike this trail is the stigmata of the proximity to Syria and the war in '73. Those issues are both irrelevant; this is a GREAT trail!

Chris Hillier said...

Me wise? Not so sure about that but thank you anyway, Trish.

Unknown said...

Cannibal Locusts... better horror movie title, or band name? Either way, eew!

Unknown said...

I am so happy for you. I was afraid of this trail, not really the trail but of its location. I felt more at ease as you hiked. It was a pleasure to travel with you in spirit. I will feel more at ease once you are back in the safety of Taylor.... Well maybe not Taylor..lol... Hike on to the next adventure. Thanks for sharing��.

Chris Hillier said...

It was gross! Yet I could not look away. To answer your questions: Band name. As in, "Did you hear who is opening for iwrestledabearonce? Cannibal Locusts!"

Chris Hillier said...

Thanks, Roberta. I was a little nervous, too. Felt like I had had a successful thru-hike of the INT and might have been pushing my luck going for the Golan Trail but it was fine. Perfectly safe and a really great trail. Now, about the relative 'safety' of Taylor, MI..... ;-)

Anonymous said...

Hi chris! Im glad to hear that you enjoyed the shvil hagolan! Your blog is great! :) love from russia!
-N

Chris Hillier said...

Hey Pootis! Thanks for the comment. Sorry about that email! Are you bathing with antlers?

John said...

Awesome Chris, You are absolutely Brave. I am Impressive at your work.

Unknown said...

Hi Christopher
You can really help me with my Seminar paper.
How can I contect you?

Tnx
you can also email me at : ravivadi5@gmail.com

Leora said...

Fascinating account of your trip. Glad you enjoyed it. My husband, Israel Eshed, who has been living in the Golan Heights since the ‘73 war, planned and marked the trail. We plan to walk it this Passover together with family and friends.

Unknown said...

Thank so much for yout post, as the creator of the trail I feel a little proud. I'd like to talk to you sometime. Thanks again, Israel Eshed

Adam said...

Nice post. British guy here. Hiked this trail in 2014, using a combination of collating bits and pieces from the Wikivoyage article on Shvil Ha Golan (reversed everything, because I hiked this the other way, starting around Ha On at Tiberia, and finishing at Hermon and then hiked onto other areas like Nimrod, Banias etc), learning the basic alphabet and ordering the Hebrew 1:50,000 trail map (No.1) from Israeli Government (they kindly set the newer version) and getting the Datum for a Foretrex 401 wrist GPS. In 2014 information was fairly sparce in English (the Wikivoyage article had the most). I've just looked now and apparently the information is more expanded (Guidebook /Facebook page).

I seem to vaguely recall that area you mention in a photo, where a blaze sends you that way while simultaneously warning you NOT to proceed beyond that point. Enjoyed the trail, though left things a bit late (May). Very helpful people en route. Stayed the night with one trail angel, to clean up. I enjoyed taking some side trips on the way too, such as to Ein Aya, Daliyot and Gamla, Gilgal Refaim, Ein Mokesh etc.

David Woodford said...

The tank you are sitting on is an Israeli Centurion tank, an excellent tank developed late in WW2 by Britain. It was the backbone of the British armor units during the first half of the Cold War, and exported to many western countries. They were the primary tank used by Israel in the Golan Heights because they were better suited to the terrain in the Golan, than the American tanks that were supplied to Israel. The American tanks were generally used in the Sinai, along with captured Soviet armor.