Hiking the INT From a Female's Perspective

Guest Blogger: Denise Stolnik

Porto Alegre, Brazil.

 

As I hike the Israel National Trail, I sometimes feel that I appear as a 'lady in distress'. Everyone I meet sees a daughter or sister in me and tries to help. They may offer water, food or a safe place to sleep. I am not offended by this because their intent is just to help. 

I have lots of experience hitchhiking which helps me a lot when it comes to questions like, "Where am I going? What time will I arrive?"and "Where will I sleep tonight?" So I stay calm and know that everything will be okay.

I started my trips in simple ways and once I was confident that everything was going to be okay, I started seeking other challenges. First, I began traveling alone. Then, I started hitchhiking alone. Eventually, I became confident even when traveling in a country where I didn't speak the language. Although my travels sometimes sound crazy, I always do my research about something similar or read about someone who has taken the same journey. One rule I try to apply to my life: If you have already done it, I will listen to your advice. If you have never done it, I will ignore you because it will only be your fear talking. 

Inspirational figures are very important to me because they show that what seems  impossible is often possible. I follow many Brazilian women who travel a lot. For example, one travels by bicycle. Another hitchhikes around the world. Another intentionally travels without money. 

I think that traveling alone is easier because you only have one person to take care of: YOU. You learn your limits and understand how good your own company can be. It makes you stronger. You can still break down and cry but in the end, you are the one who has to figure out the solution to the problem. 

With regards to fearing violence against women, there are several technics that you can try. I try to make a human connection with the person that is causing me concern. Try to make him relate you to someone he knows and likes; perhaps a female in his family. Also, make your motives clear: My intent is to hike this trail - I'm not looking for anything else. 

If you feel uncomfortable at all, don't think twice and getting out. Don't worry about sounding weird or making the situation embarrassing, just trust your instincts and get out. Always try to find a way of saying that someone knows where you are (even though it may be a lie and you don't even have a signal on your cellphone). For example, you could say, "Just give me a second while I send my mom a message saying that everything is okay. By the way, what's your name again?" Sometimes it may help to mention that you have a boyfriend if someone is trying to hit on you.

Dealing with PMS and periods is an extra challenge while on the trail. Usually, it's easier to deal with it on the trail rather than in the city because in the city, you have so many things that can irritate you. And, actually, the exercise of walking actually helps with the pain.

In general, do some research when it comes to your fears. You may find out that the things you are afraid of are really only based on rumors. 

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Wolverine here. Huge thanks to Denise for writing the above post. I consider her to be an expert hiker and a world class traveler. She offers a perspective that I often overlook. Please leave a comment below and let her know what you think

What We Eat on the INT

There were several questions about this hike that went unanswered even as I flew into Tel Aviv. One of them was: What do hikers eat on the Israel National Trail? I know what we eat when hiking in the US: Ramen noodles, Minute Rice, sliced pepperoni, cheese, protein bars, etc...  but this isn't the kind of trail where friends and family can just send you a box full of yummy food. I would have to learn what works and what doesn't and buy my food along the way.  

First, a note about dietary restrictions: I have NONE. I am an opportunistic omnivore. That means that I will gladly enjoy any and every bit of food that comes my way. I do not discriminate and I am thankful for every bit of it. 

When my trusty hiking buddy Nightmare and I first went to a 'supermarket' (really a glorified convenience store with 5-6 tightly packed aisles full of stuff), I really had no idea what to buy. He, on the other hand, had already been in Israel for more than a month and knew what he liked to carry. "First things first," he said, "we need pita bread and hummus." 

 

This seemed like a good idea. I had eaten and enjoyed hummus many times before. I kinda always thought it should be kept refrigerated. "Nonsense," says Nightmare, "it will last for days!" Turned out to be true. Actually, the pita bread (which is made fresh and without preservatives) will go bad before the hummus does. The problem with it, as one southbound hiker warned me, is that you will get sick of it. Fast. That was also true. I needed something more. 

 

Ahhh... Tahini. This is something that seemingly every hiker in Israel carries and they all claim to make it 'the best'. 

Tahini is a goopy brown liquid made from sesame seeds that comes in a plastic carton. You pour it into a cup or pot and add some water. Add a pinch of salt and stir it for a long time and it actually thickens up - perfect for dipping or spreading on bread. You can dip anything in tahini and it will taste good. Most Israelis add a bit of lemon juice to it but hikers can't realistically carry that so we go without. Still tastes good. 

 

From there we branched off into egg noodles (that cook pretty quickly) and individual packs of tomato sauce. We can usually find Knorr sides that look like lentils and rice and sometimes we get soup mixes to which we add tons of little yellow 'soup nuts' for some crunch. 

 

Snack-wise, we eat lots of chocolate wafers and cookie-type biscuits. 

 

We found a granola mix that we like called 'Energy' which proudly proclaims 'Live life extreme!' on the label. We love dates and Israel has some of the best dates in the world. Juicy, fat, sweet dates.... so yummy. 

 

Oh! And Boomba. Lots and lots of Boomba. Boomba is like a 'cheese puff'-type snack but it tastes like peanut butter, not cheese. Like cheese puffs, it is made of styrofoam. 

Other than that, we take what we can get. We share food with other hikers and they share with us. Sometimes we luck into a family out camping who may offer us fresh fruits and vegetables. 

We even ran into a hiker from Boston (Sweet Tea AT '06) who was just on a day hike and loaded us up with all kinds of goodies - AND he packed out our trash for us!

 

Of course, my buddy Chuck Wolfe would be upset if I didn't mention coffee. Every morning I heat up some water and pour some strong instant coffee into it. Or I pour some into a Nalgene bottle 1/4 filled with cold water and shake it up. It's good either way. Sometimes Israeli hikers will cook up finely ground Turkish coffee. That is a particular delight. 

Are these the kinds of things you eat on the trail? Leave me a comment either way!

No Bears, No Rain

There are few constants I have come to expect out here. Every morning, I will wake to the sounds of birds singing and a beautiful sunrise. 

 

Nightmare and I will cook up some coffee (he drinks tea) and have a bit of breakfast before we pack up our gear and start hiking. 

 

I know that every day will be filled with fantastic landscapes and at least a couple really steep climbs. 

 

I can be certain that I will be absolutely beat by the end of the day and I know that I will sleep like a rock. 

 

Other than that, there are no expectations. I don't know who I might meet. I don't know if my water is going to last. I don't even know where I'm going to stay that night. 

 

Some days we hike up and over huge mountains like Amram and Timna. Some days we navigate crazy slot canyons like Nardit and Barak. Some days we meet small groups of Israeli hikers, some days we pass jeeps full of soldiers and some days we don't see a soul. 

 

Most days end with Nightmare and I finding a quiet place to camp. We break out some pita bread and hummus (I have a whole other blog post coming about what we eat out here) and talk about all the amazing things we saw that day. 

 

Two other things are certain: I will not have to worry about where to hang my food as there are no bears in Israel and I won't have to think about wether or not to use my rain fly (or even my tent!) because it never rains here. 

 

Have questions about hiking the Israel National Trail? Please leave a comment below

Day Two

The Abraham Hostel in Tel Aviv put out an amazing spread for breakfast. I wasn't exactly sure what everything was, but I tried all of it. As I sipped a sweet Turkish coffee, my head was swimming with all the details Amtrak had shared with me the night before. So much to do! I had to look into car rental, buy some supplies and meet my buddy Sammy Glen (aka Nightmare AT '15, CT '16) at 10am. I got busy with research and phone calls. 

Renting a car, it seems, was a little trickier than I had anticipated. One way rentals (rent in Tel Aviv and return in Eilat) were exceedingly expensive. I would have to take a taxi all the way back out to the airport to pick up up the car and, I have to be honest when I say that driving around in downtown Tel Aviv scared the crap out of me: I couldn't read the traffic signs and there were a million little streets, each teeming with pedestrians, bicycles and tiny cars. Plus the chance that Nightmare and I getting WAY lost trying to find specific spots to cache water made me think that taking a bus to Eilat (the start of the trail) was a more attractive option. Maybe we could rent a car there and spend a day caching water. Or, for a substantial fee, you can pay a service to cache your water for you. I expressed these concerns to Nightmare and he agreed that getting to Eilat was the priority and that we would figure out the water caching later. 

Seeing Nightmare again after a year and a half was a joyous reunion. We had met on the AT in '15 and when I told him that I wanted to hike the Israel National Trail, he wanted 'in' right away. We have been scheming and dreaming about this trail ever since. 

Nightmare and I spent some time checking out Tel Aviv. He has been here before and he even speaks a little Hebrew. It was fun swimming through the crowds at a massive open air market and listening to all the strange languages being spoken. 

Eventually, we hopped on a bus and made our way down to Be'er Shiva - a decent sized city about halfway to Eilat. The bus stations here are so different from what I'm used to. First of all, they are very secure. You have to pass through a metal detector and have your backpack x-rayed just to get in. The terminal was packed with people, about a third of whom were IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Young men and women fulfilling their mandatory military service, in uniform and armed to the teeth! When I was in the Army, we NEVER took a weapon off post. Here, they all carried at least a loaded M-16 machine gun or better. Who would ever try to commit a crime here? I never felt so safe. The people are very respectful of the soldiers and grateful for the security they provide. They are often sent to the head of a line or given a seat on a crowded bus. 

We didn't get down to Eilat until about 8:30pm. By night, the city was beautiful. Lots of colorful lights and high-rise hotels all along the coast of the Red Sea. You could look west to see Jordan and east to see Egypt. All three of these countries come to a point here on the shores of the waters that Moses once parted. 

We checked in to the famous Shelter Hostel and received bunk assignments. As I fell asleep, I looked back on my busy day and dreamt of what Eilat might look like in the morning. 

And He's Off!

My three month international journey started off a little rough. The Greyhound bus station in Detroit told me that my ticket 'had already been printed' and that I 'would have to purchase a new one'. Wha? I hadn't printed anything and who cares if I did? What does that matter?  Initially, they insisted that I buy a whole new ticket. Finally, an employee had mercy on me and lead me back to an office to print a new one. What a huge pain in the ass. The ride to New York was going to be a long one. 

After a solid fourteen hours on the Dirty Dog, my dear friend Manuela Petzold drove all the way to Philadelphia to pick me up and took me to New York in comfort. Thank you, Manuela!

The two days I spent in New York with her were extra special. She took time off work to really show me the city and to treat me to all the best ice cream that NYC had to offer (ice cream is a big thing with her). 

 

Tuesday night she took me to JFK airport. Israel's airline, El Al, does NOT mess around with security. They spent a full 30 minutes interviewing me and going through every bit of my luggage. This is even before regular airport security. They were polite and efficient but VERY thorough. 

The flight was a tough ten hours. The seats could not have been closer together. The flight attendants were very kind and even the food was good but I could not WAIT to stand up and walk around. 

Of interest, the passengers on this flight were about 10% Hasidim (Hasidic Jews). At about 4am, every one of them got up from their seats and performed an elaborate prayer ritual. It was fascinating to watch. 

 

The plane finally landed and I took a taxi to the Abraham Hostel. My friend Noam Gal (aka Amtrak AT '02, PCT '14) picked me up and invited me to his home. He treated me to delicious pizza and helped me plan my hike with specific details. His help was invaluable. 

 

Domino's, Israel-style.

By the time I got back to the hostel and climbed into my bunk bed, I was beat. I slept like a rock and woke up early, eager to get one step closer to the start of the Israel National Trail.  

 

Don't do this. Whatever it is, don't do it. 

WalMart Buys Moosejaw

Why I Still Love The Madness:



My relationship with Moosejaw Mountaineering began in 2011 when I returned home from my first thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. A friend of mine took me to the Birmingham, Michigan store and introduced me around. That night, I bought a Granite Gear pack and I met a ton of cool people. I was impressed that the staff there had actually used much of the gear they sold. The folks who work in the stores, at the warehouse and in the offices of their Madison Heights headquarters helped me plan for my thru-hike of the PCT in 2012 and every hike since then. They even turned me on to the Shore to Shore Trail.  Good people, all of them.


 

Since then, I buy all my gear there. Both at their brick and mortar stores and at Moosejaw.com. I wear their shirt and fly their flag when I go on my hikes. I promote them as much as I can when I do talks about long distance hiking. I have contributed to their website.  Sometimes, I just go to the stores to hang out and drool over stuff I can't afford. In turn, they have helped me out with gear in some clutch situations. Sometimes brand new, sometimes gently used. I don't mind. I am just grateful and proud to associate with such a great Michigan company.

On February 15th, it was announced that WalMart was buying Moosejaw.  Many people asked me how I felt about it. I was uncertain at first and even a little bummed out.  I know that some people dislike Walmart and view it as an Evil Empire.  I've seen the documentary. I saw the hate that came across my Facebook feed at the news of the takeover.




I reached out to some whom I trust for their opinions. I decided that it's the people at Moosejaw that I want to support.  I owe them. They have been really good to me over the years. Additionally, I have already gratefully accepted gear from them for my upcoming hike of the Israel National Trail. I will continue to promote them until that level of mutual support changes.



Love Moosejaw? Hate Walmart? Either way, leave me a comment below!

Trayvax

Wallets, like all of my gear, eventually wear out on the trail. They get wet, they get abused and then they disintegrate. In my search for a more durable product, I came across Trayvax. They make several models of tough, technical wallets right here in the USA. I contacted them about my upcoming (Feb 2017) hike of the Israel National Trail and inquired about their product. As a result of that contact, I am proud to say that the Trayvax Axis will be coming with me for the entire 642 mile trail. I feel like this will be a real test of exactly how tough this wallet is. I'll be swimming in the Red Sea, crossing the Negev Desert and generally abusing it (like I do all my gear!).

Gotta say, I am especially proud to be associated with a company that manufactures in the US, supports veterans and makes such a fine product. Stay tuned for more of my adventures with the Trayvax Axis.