ISRAEL - Touring the South - Eilat, Masada, the Dead Sea...and a flight

22 Mar, Tues - It was just barely dawn (Israel is two hours ahead of London time) when we reached the coast of Israel and we went straight in over Tel Aviv to land at Ben Gurion. We cleared Immigration and Customs easily, and I withdrew 800 NIS (about $240) from an ATM, then took the rental car shuttle to Eldan, the car rental company with whom Bob had arranged our van. It was a bit cumbersome having to lug all our gear on and off the shuttle but it meant that no one would be stuck waiting at the airport while the paperwork was completed. We were all somewhat jet-lagged and the route finding to Apco in Caesarea was less than perfect but we eventually got there, visited a bit with Adam and the staff and then headed back to Netanya with a non English-speaking cleaning lady who was going to work on the filthy condo in which we were staying. Just outside Netanya we stopped at a falafel stand to have either a late breakfast or an early lunch. At the condo, we unpacked and cleaned before leaving the cleaner to finish the job while we took our wings out to find some flying. We went south and along a new linear park, all nicely landscaped but also with a fence on the edge of the bluff. When we finally found a group of paragliders, no one was flying (well, almost no one; one hotshot did launch in the strong wind and played for a few minutes before toplanding in a rotor; no one else tried). After hanging out until 1500 or so, we drove to a big box store in Netanya S and bought milk, cheese, bread, and pasta sauce, while Bob and Mark got some other stuff and a blender for protein smoothies. Back at the condo C.J. and I cleaned the fridge before putting the food away. Then everyone crashed for a couple of hours...most of us got up at least for a while but soon enough went back to bed and slept until 0630.

23 Mar, Wed - C.J. and I made our usual oatmeal for breakfast and then cleaned the dirty cabinet shelves and washed all the dishes - the kitchen is now not quite so gross. The gas stove does not work but there is a hotplate, a hot water pot, and a microwave so there was no problem doing as much cooking as we might want to do. We drove to the Netanya launch again and found no other pilots there. Bob launched first showing how to get over the fence. Then Mark got off as well. I wasn't sure about launching and C.J. had definitely decided not to fly. When Bob and Mark launched a second time, I rigged up to fly. A local tandem pilot showed up about that time and the wind picked up as well so I decided not to fly. The tandem guy launched (with help) and landed, switched passengers, and went to launch again. This time a gust lifted him, dislocated his helper's shoulder and smacked Bob hard in the upper arm. His wing ended up hanging from the light pole but neither he nor his passenger were hurt.
After helping to get the wing down I drove Bob to the Laniado Hospital emergency room and left him there while C.J. and I went back to the nearby falafel stand for lunch. On the way back we checked on Bob but he had not been seen yet. We went back to launch with Mark's falafel and hung around until the same tandem guy showed up. We decided that we didn't want to see any more carnage so we took a walk on the coastal promenade back north toward Netanya. We got down to the shore where there were some bars and restaurants that were sort of in off season mode. We climbed back up the bluff and came out near the main plaza then continued north past an amphitheater and roller hockey rink. Yariv called on my cell phone and asked us to meet back at the main plaza so we could go pick up Bob and head to Haifa to visit Mike at Rambam Hospital. On the way we stopped off at a horse ranch kibbutz where Yariv's sister was the manager. She also had the GPS that Yariv had programmed for us, so now it should be easier to find the flying sites. We visited Mike until 2100 when visiting hours ended - he seemed to be doing pretty well but didn't know how long he was going to be hospitalized with the broken ribs and scapula. We drove back to Netanya where we had peanut butter and jelly (Bob brought big jars from Costco) sandwiches for dinner. We got to bed at 2300.

24 Mar, Thu - Rain was forecast so we decided touring was the best use of our time. Bob had been wanting to go to Eilat on the southern tip of Israel. After breakfast we loaded the van with overnight gear as well as the flying stuff. The first stop was north to Cafe Neto so Mark could have another breakfast (after one of Bob's protein smoothies). Then we got gas and tried to find the Amigo cell agent in Netanya S using the GPS. No luck, but when we stopped to call Amigo, someone spotted the MIRS sign right across the street. That office was closed and so was the next one we were directed to but the third office took Bob's phone and promised to have the ringer fixed "soon". By then it was nearly 1100 but we set off in rain down the Rte 2 expressway past Tel Aviv and then down to Beer Sheva where we drove by the scruffy-looking "Bedouin Market". Very soon the landscape changed from verdant green to desert tan and the sky cleared to partly sunny.
The next big stop along Rte 40 was in Mitspe Ramon where we walked up to The Camel lookout for a good view out over the Machtesh Ramon, a steep scarp above a deep, wide canyon. Near where we parked for the next overlook in town, the one that juts out and overhangs the cliff edge we saw several ibex grazing in a playground behind some apartment buildings. Driving on we crossed the canyon through Utah-like scenery. To make a loop through the Eilat Mountains, we took the turn on Rte 12 and drove through the highlands bordering Egypt's Sinai Peninsula (barbed wire and bunkers). We stopped to take photos at the Mt. Shemolo viewpoint on the descent to Eilat and the Red Sea (large photo at top of page). Parking near a big mall, we strolled along a resort beach and C.J. got to wade in the warm waters of the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat.


It was about dinnertime so we bought an ear of grilled corn with butter and pepper at a stall on the boardwalk-like area. And we bought a schwarma wrap at another stall. Back in the car at 1800 we drove north on Rte 90. It got dark pretty soon afterward so our sightseeing was over for the day, although we did stop at Ein Boqek, a resort/oasis on the Dead Sea shore. It was too dark (and cold) for a salty dip so we continued on north another 30 min to a turnoff to the Masada National Park and the expensive hostel/guesthouse where we spent the night. The plan was to get up at 0400 for the hike to the top - the gate opens at 0430 - for sunrise at 0540.

25 Mar, Fri - The cell phone alarm clock got us up at 0400 and we were at the gate by 0430 (but it didn't open up until 0440 - one hour before sunrise). There was a 27 NIS entrance fee but Bob paid the fees out of our prepaid share. It was still dark and we missed the trail as it dropped down to cross a wash and had to backtrack a short distance. Then it was one foot in front of the other as we switchbacked up the Snake Path. (photo, left, below)
By the time we were part way up it was light enough to shut off our headlamps. We were on top in plenty of time for sunrise; unfortunately it was too cloudy to see it. Nevertheless, there was plenty to look at as we walked across the top and around the perimeter - Herod's winter palaces, casement walls, cisterns, the Roman siege ramp and their fortified camps below. There were some floor mosaics and reproductions of frescos. C.J. and I started down at 0650 in plenty of time to get to the included huge buffet breakfast at the guest house. There were three styles of eggs (but no bacon or sausage, of course), sour creams, herring, cheese, and a whole big section of fruit, salads, veggies and sauces. After breakfast we got packed up and were out of there by 0930 or 1000. Bob took us back to Ein Boqek so C.J. could swim in the Dead Sea, well, float, since you wouldn't want to put your face in the water. It was too cold and windy for me to consider taking my clothes off and getting wet but C.J. enjoyed the experience. Heading back north along the shore of the Dead Sea on Rte 90 we detoured up a winding road to a kibbutz on the clifftop where the Dragot launch is located. Bob and Mark had only been there with a group of locals so they weren't sure how to find it, and the guard did not want us to leave the main road due to the danger of flash flooding. So we drove back down (We could not have flown in the west wind anyway). We stopped for gas and drinks (fresh squeezed OJ for B & M) at the intersection with Rte 1. Heading west we drove up into the Jerusalem hills and through part of the city. Using the GPS, we found the flying site south of Netanya near Ga'ash but in a sandy area near Arsuf. Even with the GPS it was difficult to find our way through the maze of sandy tracks. There were 10-12 paragliders flying in the smooth ridge lift.
C.J. and I got two flights each of about 10 minutes toplanding each time. (It looked like it would have been unpleasant to land on the beach and have to carry the gear back up.) Later we went back to Netanya S to try to get Bob's cell phone back but they were closed (Friday and Saturday are the weekend in Israel). We had dinner at the nearby Burgus Burger Bar and then drove to the Netanya launch where the wind was too cross from the north. It seemed like a good idea to get to bed early since the next day we were due to fly with Yariv in his powered parachute at 0730 and then go to Mt Tabor.

ISRAEL - London Stopover

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament from the Jubilee Bridge

20 Mar 2011-31 Mar 2011

C.J. and I were pretty sure that we would not be able to do a big trip this year but when Bob Hannah called to tell us that airline fares were reasonable and the weather was warm and sunny in Israel, we decided to go for it. And we're glad we did because Israel was another place we would never have thought to visit on our own. With a small group (made even smaller by Mike Daniel's accident before we arrived) of folks who knew something about the country and the flying sites, we felt fairly comfortable about exploring some new experiences.

20 Mar, Sun - Unlike almost all of our trips to far distant destinations, this one started late in the day as we drove to meet Bob for a 1630 departure from his house. What with one thing and another we didn't head off in Michael's van till much later, and then we still had to pick up Mark Heckler at his home in Issaquah. So we didn't reach SeaTac until after 1735 when the "bag drop" for British Airways was supposed to close. It was no problem and our bags were checked in with no additional charge for the third bag (even though Bob and Mark had to pay for their second checked bags online). The seats on the 747 were pretty cramped with not much knee room but we got a drink and a bottle of wine and a decent dinner of either lasagna or beef in gravy. C.J. and I attempted to sleep as much as possible.

21 Mar, Mon - There were a couple of holes in the cloud cover as we came in over Scotland, and then there were good views as we approached London. Our path took us over the Thames and we could see the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and the Mall before heading back W to Heathrow airport. Since we were going to leave the airport, we had to go through Passport Control, then we found the "left baggage" counter and paid 8.50 pounds for each bag. I had already used an ATM to get 40 pounds (about $68) from our USAA account and Bob and Heckler had changed US dollars when we arrived. After Bob arranged to meet Andy, the local who was buying Bob's old tandem wing and reserve, we got one-day travelcards for the London Underground from a ticket machine and took the Tube to Picadilly Circus, about a 45-50 min ride some of it above ground. Picadilly Circus (photo, left) reminded me of Times Square but the center of the "circus" was a column with a statue of Eros on the top. Andy led us away from Picadilly along Coventry, then along a pedestrian street lined with bookshops to St. Martins where we found a pub for a late lunch. We shared a pint of draft ale and had fish-and-chips with "mushy peas" for me and a lamb and mint pie for C.J. Later we walked down St. Martins (passing St. Martins in-the-Field church) to Trafalgar Square with its statues and Nelson's Column overlooked by the National Gallery. We passed through the Admiralty Arch and walked along the Mall leading to Buckingham Palace for a ways before turning into St. James Park and walking around the north end of the Duck Pond.





We had good views of the upper parts of the Whitehall government buildings and we headed that way walking between the buildings on King Charles Street (photo, left) to Whitehall/Parliament Street. From here we had a view of Westminster Abbey (photo, left, below) and as we came around the corner onto Bridge Street, we were right next to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. When we reached the middle of the Thames on Westminster Bridge, Andy had to leave us. Rather than going directly to the London Eye which Mark wanted to ride, we turned back to see if we could visit Westminster but it was after 1700 and closed (besides, a sign said something about an entry fee of 16 pounds). We all returned to Trafalgar Square passing the well-guarded entrance to 10 Downing Street and checked out the Horse Guards in their traditional uniforms on the way.

We got a photo of us up with one of the lions at the base of Nelson's Column thanks to Mark and Bob. C.J. and I spent about 45 min (open until 1800) in the National Gallery which has an incredible collection of famous paintings. From there we cut across and around and found the Jubilee pedestrian bridges across the Thames. Mark and Bob paid the 15-18 pound fee for a ride on the Eye while C.J. and I returned to St. James Park, walked along the water and across a bridge. We went up Marlborough, past St. James Square and Palace a little uncertainly since I had dropped the copy of the city map we had brought. But, we finally came out on Picadilly Street, turned left past the Ritz Hotel and found the Green Point Tube station which brought us back to Heathrow in plenty of time to get our bags back and get to the Terminal B gate for our 2235 flight. C.J. had her bag searched at Security because she had taken the unopened wine from lunch with her and had forgotten all about it. The Boeing 767-400 had more legroom than the 747, and 2-3-2 seating. We got a hot dinner shortly after takeoff and then tried to get some sleep on the 4 1/2 hour flight to Tel Aviv.

Saddle Mtn Flight

6 March 2011


It didn't look like a Saddle day but Chris and Patricia, Frank, and Meredyth were going so we went along. There was no sign of wind all along the snowy ride to Ellensburg and over Rye Grass Summit to Vantage. We ran out of snow on the ground and the sky was clear with scattered Cu's when we arrived at the LZ. Jeff K. answered my radio call with "Zero to three, straight in". When we reached the top (impelled by seeing that Jeff had launched and was soaring), the wind had not changed although there were more clouds.

The really good news was that a PG was coring up into sight from above the LZ (we later found out it was Curt from the Tri-Cities). We were pretty quickly rigged and laid out on launch but no one wanted to go first in the (very) light wind and possibly sink out. Chris finally sacrificed and found only light lift to extend his flight. Meredyth disappeared after launch while C.J. and Frank worked a small thermal.

I watched Patricia launch then unhooked and walked over to the edge to observe before possibly driving down. Patricia was circling in lift and climbing north of the LZ. C.J. was on the ground with Chris but she reported Mer and Frank had gone to cloudbase then north. That was good enough for me (and we had to run a retrieve for the other two vehicles on top anyway) so I geared up again and launched. As expected there was no lift close in even in the left bowl so I headed for the LZ and caught a good climb over Crab Creek back to and above launch. When that petered out, I flew to the lakes and climbed, flew north a bit and then climbed above a point that was lined up with the runway of a private airstrip. Since the drift was out of the west by this time (ca 1515) I flew east for another thermal to over 3K. The cloud I flew under north of the microwave tower did not produce any lift so I headed back to the lakes. By then I was pretty beat from all that turning so I called it a day by landing at the LZ.

C.J. and Chris had gone back up in Mer's Toyota FJ, and Patricia had driven up with her sister and family. They found the wind had switched and was now over-the-back. By 1615 C.J. was back to the LZ and we headed home while Chris and Patricia went to pick up Mer and Frank at the George 76 station. On the way back we stopped at Ellensburg for gas at the new prices ($3.559 at Conoco) bringing the cost of a one-day trip to Saddle to $65 just for gas. (Oh well, we hadn't been over there with the Trooper since last October..)

Penn Cove MusselFest

5 March 2011

A week or so ago we received an invitation from our Ameriprise Financial advisor, George Selvy, to join him for a bus tour to the Penn Cove MusselFest at Coupeville on Whidbey Island. Having no other pressing engagements, and noting that the price was right ($0.00) we signed up and invited Chris and Patricia to come along as our guests.

The small bus left Northgate around 08:45 with our tour leader Cheryl and a full load of guests. On the ferry we ran into John Mann and some other PG pilots - and later ran into them (and Iain) at Coupeville when conditions at the Fort didn't pan out. At Coupeville, it was still drizzling on and off but we picked up our tickets for the chowder tasting and the boat tour then beat it down to the wharf to get on board for the first tour.


The Glacier Spirit is a 50 ft, totally enclosed boat usually used for whale watching tours, and the Penn Cove Mussel Farm staff member on board gave a really good presentation about how they raise mussels and harvest them year round.


At one of the rafts, the guide pulled a couple of ropes of mussels up for us to see and lowered a video camera into the water so we could see them on a large screen TV.

Back on shore we wandered around Coupeville hitting all of our chowder tasting spots except the Captain Whidbey Inn located two miles from town. The free shuttles were overtaxed with the number of folks who wanted to avoid walking.



Patricia bought us a half-pound of mussels from one of several outdoors cookers after we had returned from a long walk out to the last chowder sample at the Tyee. Then we grabbed waffle cones for dessert and sat on the wharf enjoying the now-sunny weather.

By 1545 we were gathering back at the bus and reached Northgate around 1815 or so.

Cedar Butte

25 February 2011

After an 8-10-inch snowfall and below-freezing temperatures for two days in North Bend, the skies cleared. C.J. and I decided to try a local hike/ski/snowshoe trip along the Iron Horse rails-to-trails State Park from Rattlesnake Lake at Cedar Falls.


We began with a ski on the well-traveled railroad grade, meeting only one skier who was returning from the east. Most of the tracks must have been made by foot travelers from the previous day. We passed a group of volunteers who were grubbing out scotch broom for a springtime Greenway celebration. Of course most of the weeds were buried in the foot of (very cold) snow.


When we reached the Cedar Butte trailhead in a mile, we found that no one had been there before us. The route started off steep enough that we removed our skis right away and buried them in snow about 100 ft up the trail and donned our snowshoes. Right away we began to run into the most serious obstacle to our passage: the weight of the snow had bent over many of the hemlock and other saplings and blocked the trail. It was a tiring...and snowy... job to clear the trail every hundred feet or so.



Eventually we got into older forest and no longer had snow-laden saplings to deal with. However, the trail was indistinct at times and we were glad to get onto steeper slopes where the switchbacks were obvious. We had already passed a viewpoint for the Boxley Blowout just before a relatively level stretch, and then we descended to the Saddle Junction.

Although the sign indicates "southside", we did not see a trail heading that way and climbed the last of the 900 ft elevation gain to summit.






About halfway up we found an overlook to Rattlesnake Ledges and the lake. It was a good spot to stop for lunch since it was already nearly 1400 - this half-mile hike had seemed more like a mile-and-a-half.





It was good to spot the bright blue sky through the trees as we approached the summit. A gap in the trees gave us a view to the north right up the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie with Mts Si and Tenerife on the left and with Mailbox on the right.


The temperature had stayed below freezing the whole day and we were ready to head down as soon as we took the traditional summit photo.

Since we had removed the worst of the tangles on the way up, the trip down took only a half hour, one-third of the time to make the ascent. We were home and recuper- ating by 1700.


Note: We parked round 1100 in the unplowed Iron Horse SP parking lot and then found out that it was supposedly a SnoPark with a fee (daily, $20!). I moved the car a few hundred feet west to the Rattlesnake Lake parking lot which has no parking fee. The summit of Cedar is about 1880 ft with an ascent of 900 ft according to Dan Nelson's guidebook.

Snow Lake Trail

18 February 2011

(Photo, above) George snowshoeing on the lower part of the Snow Lake Trail on a few inches of new snow over four feet of base. The temperature was low enough that we were able to wear fleece jackets all the way up the valley to the headwall above Source Lake. In the photo above George is crossing a gentle snow slope. It wasn't until later...

that the slopes that the trail crossed were steeper. In some cases it was clear that there was some danger of minor surface snow slides although the avalanche danger was forecast to be only moderate.

This is C.J. (above) crossing steeper snow slopes and slides near the valley headwall. There was not much of a snowfield above us so we felt fairly safe just spreading out so we could cross the slope one at a time.

The sky was a deep blue above the peaks on the Denny Mountain-Bryant Peak ridge although later the clouds shaded the sun .

Instead of continuing up the steep headwall on a route that was not obvious, we stopped for lunch on an open slope protected by trees above us.

In addition to the stunning scenery, we had a group of young boarders below us who had fashioned a couple of jumps and were convincing each other to go first. When a skier took this jump (shown above in a telephoto view) we were astounded that he didn't just sail over the jump but did a complete backflip (or whatever the current term is).

Oh, yeah, it was a good trip!

We left from Alpental lower parking lot and were able to walk most of the way on a trail that had been packed hard before the most recent few inches of snow. There were a few tracks but they must have been from the previous day because we met no one else on the trail until we were almost back to the trailhead.

It was just as well that we didn't need snowshoes until we reached the headwall above Source Lake because we had to cross two streams both of which required climbing down into a gully and then back up the other side. The snowshoes and attached crampons were definitely useful as we started to cross snowslides although before the next trip I'll have to try something to keep snow from building up in the crampons.

There were a fair number of folks on skis, boards and snowshoes who had come up the bottom of the valley directly from Alpental (or, in the case of some skiers, had traversed high so they could ski down the couloirs below The Tooth, Bryant and Chair Peak). If we had continued on somewhat farther, we probably would have run into snowshoe tracks leading to the pass over to Snow Lake.

Mt. Si Talus Loop Trail

10 February 2011


Carpe diem! Sunny skies but cold air as we climbed the Mt. Si trail once again to Snag Flats (1.8 mi from the trailhead) passing the lower end of the Loop at 0.8 mi.

The Talus Loop was a much more pleasant trail, first contouring through a deep, forested drainage and then breaking out into the bright sun of a south-facing talus slope. The trail had been nicely defined across the talus, and a dry-laid stone wall placed on the uphill side. In the wall a space had been left for a bench alcove complete with backrest. It was a great spot to stop for lunch.


Moving on, the trail descended gradually through moss-covered trees then began a couple of switchbacks. At the east end of the second one, when it appeared we were following a very old skid road, we continued east, crossed a stream and in less than ten minutes reached the Mt. Si road. We could have followed it down to the trailhead at the schoolbus turnaround, but that would have meant a long walk on the paved road back to the Mt Si parking lot. We returned to the Talus Loop trail and continued down maybe another half mile to the intersection with the Mt. Si trail again. It was nicer to walk down in the sunshine, rather than the gloom of almost-dark we had experienced last week.

Lots of folks on the Mt. Si trail today, all of them passing us. However, we saw only one person on the Talus Loop trail.