2024-11-24 31 34
| Sun 24 Nov 2024 in 31,34: 31.3551281, 34.6005570 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
A field near Ofakim. It's winter, so most crops will have started growing; let's hope this field isn't one of them.
Participants
Plans
Train day! Take a shacharit train to Tel Aviv, switch to another train to Beer Sheva, switch to another train to Ofakim, then a bus to Renan, then walk to the point. The reverse to get home.
Yesterday the weather report warned of flash floods in the rivers of the area, but that warning disappeared by this morning. It is still supposed to rain, though.
Expedition
The train trips went almost without a hitch; the Tel-Aviv-to-Beer-Sheva train was delayed, and I was briefly worried this would result in my missing the connection to the next train in Beer Sheva, but we ended up reaching it in time (though I did have to run from one platform to the other).
The bus to Renan was also no problem. At that point I decided: let's try for a No Batteries hash. I had brought with me a zoom level 15 road map printout and a zoom level 19 satellite printout. Start with the level 15: I need to walk northeast along the road in Renan until I find a path leading northwest, then find one of the bridge crossings over the river, then find the field.
I put my podcast on speakerphone. Normally I only do this while walking through an orchard, so I can be heard long before I am seen and people know I'm not trying to sneak around. But this time I knew I would be walking through flat desert land while it was massively overcast. There is no thunderstorm warning but I wanted to be able to hear (and flee) if one started.
I found the path without issue, walking past abandoned farm equipment and in-use farm equipment, behind fences on both sides of the path. At one point a man rode by on a bicycle on the other side of the fence; I nodded to him, he looked at me quizzically, asked if I need anything. "I'm hiking," I said, and he tipped his hat to me and grinned as if this was the greatest news he'd heard all week.
Eventually the path ended and I found myself in a large area with what looked like rich soil. I need to cross the river to the north... let's go find the river... aha, it's not a river, it's a ravine. And completely dry. Also, I'm several levels above the ravine.
It took a while to find a safe place to walk down to the edge of the ravine. But how do I cross it? There were bridges marked in one of the road maps I saw (though not the one in my hand), but I don't see any in reality...
Hmm. Well, I can try and find a path that goes *into* it. But is that safe, given the flash flood warning? Though the warning isn't actually in effect...
I eventually found a path that went in and out of the ravine and wasn't even that steep. With some trepidation I walked across it. Flash floods thoroughly failed to appear and I failed to die. Maybe next time, I guess?
Coming up the path on the other side of the ravine - well, there were some fantastic views. Promontories and buttes and more ravines that I needed to cross and just in general it was a beautiful experience. I took far more pictures than usual for an expedition - and a video of what it was like to climb onto a promontory and see the geography spread out before me. File:20241124_122553.mp4
Eventually I made it to the path around the field that I needed to reach. There was a brightly-colored park bench there. And while I didn't want to dawdle too much - just in case a lightning storm did start - I was pretty tired from an enormous amount of walking, so I sat down and had lunch.
Then I went to the field, which seemed distressingly full of crops. Not very high crops, to be sure - not even ankle-high, and still soft so that treading on them probably wouldn't kill them. But rules are rules. I'll only go to the point if I can get there without stepping on anything. Luckily the satellite image claims the point is somewhere in this path through the field that is periodically punctuated by white dots...
Ah. The white dots are there... the path isn't.
I opened up GeohashDroid; no way was I going to figure out where inside the field the point is. It says it's 50 meters from the edge. And at least at first there is enough room to step carefully, very carefully, between the rows.
Unfortunately, that room ran out quickly. After 20 meters the density was too much to continue walking. So I stopped 30 meters from the point. Ah well.
I carefully stepped between the rows on my way back out, then checked Moovit for my return route. It recommended a long walk in a northeasterly direction (not back the way I came, from the south) to a nearby highway, then a bus to Beer Sheva, where I could take the train. This new route was uneventful except for a very nice bridge over train tracks. From there, uneventful train ride home.
Photos
The bus stop in Renan from which I walked to the point
The path through agricultural equipment
An embankment above the level at which I could walk towards the ravine
Somewhere down there, in those trees, is the ravine
Finding the way down
A nice and obvious path despite all the trash
Going thataway
The ravine
The path into and out of the ravine - far less steep than I expected
A promontory
I gotta climb up there and see what's on the other side
Another part of the ravine. These formations are really cool!
Climbing up the promontory
I just had to get a panorama of this spot
A park bench on the side of the field my destination
Oh no, crops!
The path that wasn't there
At this point I can't step between the lines anymore
Bridge over the train tracks on my way home. You can see the train on the left.
Train going under the bridge
I like trains
Irrigation in action
Same but wider
Panorama on the train bridge
