Dried resin on burned pine |
That should be Nahal Kelah, where I wanted to take a left and go up. There should be a trail up there. Maybe to the right of the riverbed. I tried it but found that it was impenetrable with no blazes. I checked my map again. Maybe to the left. Same thing. Checked the map again. I considered going straight up the riverbed, but it was impenetrable with no blazes. I turned right, frustrated - if I didn't find Nahal Kelah I would end up hiking the ancient paths to suburbia. After half a kilometer or so there was a perfectly well-marked trail - Nahal Kelah - heading the right way.
Hawk perched above Nahal Kelah |
I turned right at a bridge. More precisely, I stopped where a bridge blocked the riverbed, climbed up the canyon, and reached a red-blazed trail winding round the cliff. Things scrambled down the scrubby rocks. Furry things. A rock hyrax froze a few feet below the trail. It stared up at me. I stared down at it. I changed lenses very slowly. The hyrax saw no need to get out a camera of its own and stayed frozen. Another hyrax perched above the trail and stared down at me. I stared up at it...
The rock hyrax below the trail |
I crossed a road, took the trail towards Makhtzevot Qedumim (an ancient quarry, thus the name), taking a shortcut towards a parking area and a memorial to fire victims. A few years ago a fire destroyed much of the Carmel; blackened branches and recovering scrub cover most of the area from the memorial to Daliyat el-Carmel.
Burned stump on the open mountain |
White dust, bright and deep, covered the path up the open mountain. The view was clear to the Mediterranean, but by the end of the trail I was almost too tired to care. Trees reappeared, and the blue path ended at a confusing intersection. The left path became a dirt road leading through orchards and empty new neighborhoods to Daliyat el-Carmel. Actually, to just south of Daliyat el-Carmel. Following the sun doesn't work very well at high noon. The trail system was complex enough that I was lucky to get there at all.