Hiker’s Log

(14)

Ten of us - Israelis in their 60\'s - did the Jesus Trail during Hanukah and had a most wonderful experience. Lighting the Hanukah lights next to the Christmas trees, and singing together with our hosts, added a lot to the hike. We want to thank the volunteer guide for the first day, Linda Hallel, for all her attentions and care and enthusiasm. The mud is quite difficult in places, but still I think winter is a great time to do the Trail. We hope the Trail organizers will be able to convince the local and national authorities to clean up the trash and building debris outside the tows, it is shameful and dangerous.

Hallo!

Ein Freund aus Salzburg war vor einigen Tagen in Israel und hat mir den Tip gegeben, mir den \"jesustrail\" anzusehen.
Haben vor, ihn in 1 - 2 Jahren zu machen.
Ich war auch schon mal in der Gegend - wirklich schön.

Tolle Internetseite - hoffentlich schauen viele rein !!

Johann aus Salzburg - Österreich

Hello everyone!
Jesus Trail is the best!
thanks for making it helping to make it come alive

I\'ve seen on facebook, that you plan to translate the jesus trail web sites to other languages. If you need a translation to German language, it would be a pleasure to me to help you. Personally I will hike the trail in July/August 2009 and I’m very appreciating for your great web site and desirous to give back a little bit of what I have obtained from it.
So if you want to have a translation to German language, just send me your details to the given Email address.

Commendations to those who worked to create this trail. I had the great fortune to hike most of this area over a period of years, beginning forty years ago, before the tourist onslaught into such places as Capernaum. It was a more tranquil environment, and the Kinneret in springtime is incredibly beautiful.

My cousin Preston and I had an interesting experience on the Mount of Beatitudes. We went to the church on the Mount of Beatitudes, traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount, and my cousin says \\\"No, this isn\\\'t it. The acoustics aren\\\'t right.\\\" Was Constantine\\\'s mother wrong? We hiked down the hill toward the Sea of Galilee, Preston looking about.... he found a declivity, a hollowed-out shape in the ground, maybe one hundred yards across. \\\"Stand here,\\\" he tells me, and goes to the other side. \\\"This is the place,\\\" he says softly from one hundred yards away, and I hear him perfectly.

I did the whole loop in the beginning of January 2009. The pros for doing it in winter is that it is not too hot, the cons is that the winter day is short and you have to go faster.

There is only one natural water source along the whole loop -- the spring at the bottom of Arbel Cliff. Even though I brought my water-filter I didn\'t use it because the water in Jordan river and in the only stream I crossed near Tiberias was too muddy. In this respect there is no difference between summer and winter hiking -- you will still have to get your water in various civilized places (i.e. public toilets) along the trail. On the way back there aren\'t too many, so refill your bottles at each of them: Arbel Cliff parking lot, Kibbutz Kinneret museum/Yardenit baptism site, gas station at the bottom of Mt Tabor, monastery at the top of Mt Tabor, KFC just before entering Nazareth.

Even though the FAQ section on this site says that it takes 3-5 days for Nazareth-Golani Junction-Capernaum section and 3-5 days for Capernaum-Jordan river-Nazareth section, in fact the second part is considerably longer (as you may see it on the map) and has three steep ascents. So, doing the first part in a relatively relaxed way, with visiting all the attractions along the way (churches, Zippori National park museum, Independence War museum at Golani Junction) took me only 2.5 short winter days. OTOH the second part, with only one short stop at Yardenit for a swim in Jordan river and a short side-trail to Degania Alef took almost 4 days.

As you may have noticed, the track-log of the trail published on this site is detailed but (IMHO) not useful without some editing: the first part (Nazareth-Golani Junction-Capernaum) has too many trackpoints and Garmin GPSr tracks can contain only 500, the second part OTOH is not a single track at all, it consists of several short ones. I already spent a few hours on editing, so you dont have to to it again.

http://rapidshare.com/files/184874579/ms.gpx

is the combined track for the loop, split into 6 sections no more that 500 trackpoints each + the original waypoints. If you use Linux, you can upload it to your Garmin GPSs by saying

gpsbabel -t -w -i gpx -f ms.gpx -o garmin -F usb:

a good topomap of Israel+a routable roadmap with sporadic coverage would also be handy

http://rapidshare.com/files/184878225/gmapsupp.img

The track of second part of the trail is not as detailed as the first one, but it is easy to follow because for the most part (from the top of Arbel Cliff until a few kilometers before arriving to Nazareth) it follows the Israel National Trail, marked with red-white-blue blazes. You have to be careful and not miss the spot where you have to leave INT and follow along the GPS track. It is after the descent from the unnamed mount between Mt Tabor and Mt Precipice. At this spot INT turns right, in the direction on Cana, and you have to go left.

I am planning a trip for next summer and am very thankful for this site. I\'ll be checking it almost daily and would appreciate any suggestions for a youth backpacking trip through Israel.

I chose to run 30 miles of the Jesus Trail in one day. I started in Nazareth and made it down the Arbel cliffs in about 7 hours with a few stops to take in the views and a stop off at Golani Junction for lunch. The folks at the Fauzi Azar Inn were most helpful in accomplishing my journey. Maoz, the owner, was most hospitable and I would strongly recommend contacting him for help with navigating the trail. I was provided with a GPS unit that was essential to navigate the trail without getting lost. Nate and Matt, who also work at the Inn, met me in the morning of my journey to help see me off and met me at Golani Junction for lunch. After descending the Arbel cliffs, I was surprised to see all of them there to celebrate my accomplishment and get me back to my car in Nazareth.

The experience of going through many of the points of interest was quite surreal as my mind often drifted to the religious history I learned from The Bible. The top of The Horns of Hattin and Arbel Cliffs offered spectacular views of The Sea of Galilee and surrounding valleys and would definitely include these if I visit Israel again.

I found the Fauzi Azar one of the best places I’ve ever visited while travelling; it’s a beautifull restored house and the people working there are very friendly and helpfull. It was a good place to get ready to walk the Jesustrail.
David, the masterbrain behind this trail, was friendly enough to help me with planning and giving practical information before I finally set off. At first I was a bit worried not to have a GPS, but actually a detailed map is perfectly fine.

Basically I walked from Nazareth to Golani Junction, passing Tzipori and Kfar Cana, in the first day. Then I took a bus to spent the night in Tiberia, returning the next morning, to mount Hittin and Arbel, where I met a friendly Israeli, walking the Israel National Trail. He came all the way from Eilat! That was a nice walk with beautifull views on lake Kinneret.
After spending the night in the fields, with a thunderstorm and rain in the middle of the night!!, I decided to join this fellow, sidetrack the Jesustrail and walk up wadi Amud to Tsfat. That prooved to be a great walk: only nature, wildlife and silence. But you need a lot of water to take with you, my 4 liters weren’t enough. But luckily on my way up to Tsfat I met a friend from Tel Aviv!!(small country), and he gave me another bottle. After spending the night in Tsfat, I took the bus to Mount Beatitudes, and from there walked to the churches of Tabga and then along the lake to Tiberia. I spent the night there, on erev shabbat, so it was really dificult to get supplies. Next day I walked up to Yardenit, still shabbat, and still very difficult to find water and some food. But finally I succeeded and set of heading for Mount Tabor. That was a beautiful track too, again only fields, no villages for a day. Slept somewhere on a mountaintop, big coweyes gazing at me in the middle of the night. Next day was a long, long walk to Nazareth, climbing Mount Tabor, and then finally another two mountains up to Nazareth. I was very happy to find the Fauzi Azar still there, a shower, and a group of psalm singing christians.

The good thing about this trail is that it combines visiting some important religious sites with natural beauty. It gave me some time to reflect on things that happened there long ago, and their meaning now, for me.
So thank you very much David, Maoz, Gabi, Ann, Hannah and the others!

Richard Stegenga

How interesting, peaceful and beautiful. Would love to actually go there someday and walk it. Thank you for the tour.