Ein Yorke’am to Nahal Mador (HaMachtesh HaGadol ridge)
with Al–Hashvil, guided by Avi Farjoun
Photo album: Israel Trail Hike 2025-01-29/30
The Karbolet (coxcomb) is considered one of the most difficult segments of the Israel National Trail. I would never have attempted this 2-day hike on my own – not even at a younger age. I have great admiration and gratitude for our guide Avi. He skillfully and safely paced our group of not-so-young adults along a challenging route, and enabled us to experience a bucket-list adventure.
I took a lot of photos, but most are not jaw-dropping poses. My phone-camera was mostly stowed in my pouch, while I focused intently on maintaining my footing and balance. For a change, this blog post uses many of the photos taken by my hiking-mates, showing ME on this trek.
Day 1 – Ein Yorke’am to Sha’ar Oron – the Fins
Day One began with a long, technical and steep ascent to a pair of peaks known as the Large Fin and the Small Fin.
This is me from behind.
And me from the front.
Most of the time, I remained close to Avi near the head of the line. Seeing where he put his feet, and matching his pace, gave me a lot of confidence in my ability to ascend and descend on tricky terrain.
Steady and smiling for a photo atop one of the peaks.
A view overlooking HaMachtesh HaGadol, also known as Hamachtesh Yerucham.
What goes up must come down.
And sometimes it was easiest to slide down on one’s tush!
And yet another slide.
Crossing the railroad tracks signalled the end of Day One.
We stayed overnight at a lovely hotel in Yerucham. Still, we had to wake at the crack of dawn on Day Two, and start hiking as early as possible.
Day 2 – Sha’ar Oron to Nahal Mador – the Karbolet
The day began with a long climb up to the first peak, though not as long or as difficult as the previous day.
Looking back to the Oron phosphate quarries.
The Karbolet (coxcomb) is so named because it resembles the jagged crest of rooster. It is a series of peaks on the south-eastern edge of HaMachtesh HaGadol. Each peak presented a slightly different challenge — steeply-angled slopes, boulders, rock-steps. Fortunately, most surfaces were rough and provided a good grip for both feet and hands.
Smiles of relief as we take a break after climbing the third, or maybe the fourth, peak.
The trail often comes precariously close to the edge of the cliff.
That’s me in the following photo, third in line, with my hand down. To maintain my balance, I often hunched over, to keep my center of gravity as low to the ground as possible.
A long descent. Hard on the knees, and requiring concentration. But not frightening.
One more ascent.
After about five hours, we completed our trek across the karbolet.
We turned off the Israel Trail, and continued on a trail down Nahal Mador.
My legs were so weary. Strong will-power was required by this point.
Back on flat, albeit rough, ground.
An uplifting sense of accomplishment in an amazing landscape.
The complete set of my photos in a Flickr album: Israel Trail Hike 2025-01-29/30
