January 30, 2003

Hiking in the Negev Desert

[Bethlehem, West Bank] Although Bethlehem was under a 24-hour curfew, JZ and I walked out of Beit Jala in the early hours of the morning to meet some friends from Jerusalem. Our destination -- the awesome Negev Desert for a day of hiking. We carried water, a travel guide, and cameras. I forgot rope, sunscreen, and my hat.

The Negev isn't exactly as I pictured it. I thought there would be more sand. Instead it is the same rocky, rough dirt wilderness that you might see on the way from Bethlehem to the Dead Sea. Most of the inhabitants in the Negev are Bedouins, but it looks like they stay mainly in one area rather than moving around. We saw a few camels grazing on shrubs.

JZ suggested a few sites -- Ein Avdat Nature Park and the giant crater, Mitzpe Ramon. He pulled out my Israel Rough Guide and read to us about the nature park on the way:

...from here there is an even steeper climb to the clifftop 50m up the sheer cliff face. Those who hate heights or clambering up ladders on a vertical cliff should turn back at the upper pools since you can't change your mind halfway up. Sometimes it is difficult to spot the next few steps but make sure you've identified them before pushing onward...There are a couple of scary-looking but safe vertical metal ladders. If you can keep your head from spinning, the views from various points up the cliff face are breathtaking...

At this point I had sweaty palms and pretty much decided that I didn't need any of the above. Vertical cliff ladders hanging over 1,000 ft drops don't appeal to me much. Someone in the car mentioned "dangerous," and I silently agreed. Someone else mentioned "fun," and I made a mental note to avoid this person for the rest of the day.

The hike was worse than it sounded in the travel guide. We climbed over pools and spotted a few eagles flying majestically overhead. Or maybe they were vultures waiting, I wasn't quite sure. Slowly we edged our way up the side of the cliff. I spotted a sign "Caution: Abyss." Now "abyss" is not a word you hear every day. Well, not in polite conversation. And when I think of an abyss, good feelings do not immediately spring to mind. Peering over the slippery side I thought I saw a few bones -- and I made another mental note that my notions of an abyss were generally correct.

Higher and higher we climbed. The route was narrow enough for me to barely get my backpack wedged between rocks. Some people suffer from altitude sickness, and I think I must have a medical condition too, because at certain altitudes, my knees start shaking. They were shaking pretty good by the time we reached the ladder.

I was bringing up the rear when I heard some shouting ahead. Everyone stopped. At this point I had a vision of the vertical ladders up the cliff face. I imagined someone reaching waaay over the abyss to leap and barely grab at the ladder, swing over, pull themselves up by their arms while their feet dangled over a 1,000 ft. drop. Maybe US Army Ranger training would not be as tough as this darn ladder. I have a couple rules of thumb which have kept me in good stead through my years -- (1) never pick up hitchhikers outside a prison, and (2) never trust rusted vertical metal ladders hanging over abysses.

I could hear but not see those ahead of me maneuvering through the ladder obstacle. I heard JZ give a yell when he had made it on the ladder. He climbed rung over rung to the top and said it appeared relatively safe. Then Ulrike and Ingrid gave it a go. (Did I mention that the most fearless ones in our hiking/climbing expedition were women?) They both made it over the abyss and onto the ladder. They climbed to the top and gave me the thumbs-up. They yelled back that it would have been easier had I remembered to bring rope. Great. OK, so three people -- including two women -- had made it. I wondered if their palms were sweating as much as mine were. Because mine were sweating pretty bad. Leaping and grabbing ladders with really sweaty palms might not work so well I thought. I wiped my sweaty palms on my shaking knees.

Rounding the rock corner I looked up and saw the group high above, gazing over the edge of the cliff. Separating me and them was a rusted metal ladder swinging lazily back and forth over the abyss. Hmmm...I wondered how many years had it been since someone had last climbed this relic from the iron age? I think the Israelites wandered in the desert here. Maybe Moses was the last on that ladder before JZ. Hmmm...I know I weigh about 20 lbs more than JZ. I wonder how much Moses weighed? I usually think of Moses as being fairly good-sized. He must have gone about 210-230 lbs, right? He was probably a heck of a climber. I mentally estimated the weights of each of the two women. Yep, I've got to be heavier than either of them. I remembered from my engineering classes at UVa that there is something called "material fatigue." There is something else called a "coefficient of safety." I was pretty sure that this ladder had been designed without either of them in mind.

The smart thing to do at this point would have been to just sit down and wait for helicopter rescue. I hear they can get a helicopter close enough to send a guy down on a wire or a rope or something. How much does that sort of thing cost? I'm not a adrenaline junkie by nature. I don't take chances that might interfere with the quality of the rest of my life. I don't BASE jump or street luge. And I don't usually leap over abysses to grab at rickety ladders slowly swinging in the breeze.

But the others were growing impatient. I had the mayonnaise in my backpack, and they were making sandwiches. I needed to lighten my load, so I accidentally dropped a few bottles of water. They tumbled a long time before I never heard them hit the bottom. I always wonder if my mind will freeze in times of intense duress. There was a lot I had to remember -- leap, catch, and hang on like a wild monkey. I cursed myself for not exercising more.

Some primal instinct took over. I leaped, caught, and held on like a wild monkey. We swung over the abyss, the mayonnaise flew out of my backpack, and I scrambled up that rusty metal ladder like I was Moses. So I think I'll take hiking in the Negev Desert over curfew in Bethlehem any day.

My first view of the Negev Desert.

We're climbing what?

Fancypants and Ulrike charting a path to the top. Ingrid adjusts her Walkman.

The hike begins.

First stage completed. Narrow walk ahead. Abyss to the right.

The ladder was more treacherous than it looks.

Ingrid was more treacherous than she looks.

Ulrike, Ingrid and JZ hanging out on top. Abyss in the background.