Shvil Israel Day 12: Poleg Beach to Ranana Bus Station

Shvil Israel Day 12

Starting km: 305

Finishing km: 324

Distance walked: 19km

Not with a bang but a whimper.  This is the way the trail ends. I'd already concluded that due to the limited daylight hours, the inability to walk in the afternoon many days and my zero day after getting stung by the hornet, there was no way I'd be walking all the ~400km to Jerusalem.

And when I realized that my final day on the trail was Shabbat, and that in most of the country public transportation wouldn't be running until well into the evening, I kind of needed to base my endpoint for the day on where I could get an early-ish bus to Jerusalem to meet Sarah.

So I spent the first two hours of the morning joining the joggers and fishers and dog walkers enjoying the cool on Nof Yam beach.  A bit of hopping along a rocky foreshore and I arrived at the ancient city of Apollonia. I'd planned to spend a wee while poking around there, but discovered it had a somewhat high entrance fee and (sadly, like many of the ancient sites in Israel so far) wasn't actually that spectacular to look at.

So I had a picnic in the shade of some olive trees near the site before turning inland.

Here was where I left the official Shvil Israel, with about 8km to walk through affuluent suburbs and (dead quiet due to it being Shabbat) fancy shopping streets as I headed towards Ranana.

As I got nearer I found an open and very lovely shopping mall and then a park and playground that were positively overflowing with families enjoying their day of rest together.  I enjoyed the shade and made some Pokemon friends with kids in the park (one of several odd looking but entirely harmless behaviours that Pokemon Go encourages), even managing to make some trades with them for the world tourism day event.

Even walking slowly and pausing lots I still got to the bus station with more than an hour to spare.  So I waited with the growing crowd who were anxious to get moving (surprisingly about 90 minutes before the official end of Shabbat).

It felt a little funny to be whisked away over 80km in a little more than an hour, a dista ce that took two days even on my longest walking days.  But just as dark was falling I arrived in Jerusalem, my time on the Shvil Israel officially at an end.

Before concluding I'll just make a few comments about the trail generally:

• No matter how fit you are and how experienced you are with tramping/hiking elsewhere, don't underestimate the scarcity of and need for water and the power of the sun.
• The Shvil's trail angels really seem to expect to be called upon very regularly, so again unless you're super insistent on self sufficiency, don't be afraid to give them a call to ask for a bed, a shower or whatever.  I find myself wishing I'd done so more.
• The first 175km or so of the trail are littered with garbage, toilet paper and poo to a degree that is ready off putting.  If you're hiking the Shvil, make sure to be prepared to dispose of your waste properly.
• Would I recommend walking the northern section of the Shvil as a through hike?  To be honest, unless you have a bit of time to pass and really like walking long distances just for the sake of it (and/or to improve your fitness), and at least in the late summer or early fall, no.  Almost the whole section from when you start the climb up to Mt. Carmel to Naf Yom was really lovely. And before that there were a few real gems (Mt. Meron, Mt. Tavor and especially Wadi Amud).  But I'd suggest doing these on their own and skipping the under-shaded, over-garbaged, relatively uninteresting sections linking them together.
• Did I enjoy the walk?  Yes! I met some nice people, learned about a whole different style of through hiking, had a nice introductory taste of northern Israel, saw some beautiful sights, and regained some of the fitness I'd lost by being lazy and eating and drinking too much over a couple of months in Canada and Central Europe.

So here concludes our Shvil interlude.  We will shortly return to our regularly scheduled blog, slightly out of chronological order, with the story of my journey through the Czech Republic and Poland before rejoining the timeline and reuniting with Sarah in Jerusalem.

Shvil Israel Day 11: Hadera Railway Station Night Camp to Poleg Beach

Shvil Israel Day 11

Starting km: 279

Finishing km: 305

Distance walked: 26km

Generally a pretty pleasant day's walk.  Mostly easy going, as almost all of it was along the beach.  In fact, if I'd wanted the whole day could have been beach walking, but I followed the official trail up off the beach at Netanya to walk along the clifftop promenade.  It had a bit more shade, and some nice views out over the ocean, but was marred by the big soulless apartment/hotel buildings, both extant and under construction.

The area around Netanya is sometimes called the Israeli Riviera, and I can see why.  It's got lovely golden sand beaches and clear turquoise water, both of which have been somewhat spoiled by overdevelopment on and immediately behind the beaches.

Still really pretty to walk along so long as you keep your eyes fixed on the beach and water and don't look inland.  

Further south the beaches weren't quite as nice, but neither was the development so overdone.  When I arrived at Poleg beach it wasn't even 15:00 yet, so I had a long time to sit under a sunshade watching the dozens of kitesurfers out on the water, a school group doing activities (in one, teams had to fill a bucket placed 50m from the ocean using only a small plastic cup and their wits.  They'd soon started bringing back mouthfuls of seawater and wringing their hair into the bucket on return).

Also watched a lot of matkot, which is kind of a cross between beach volleyball and racquetball that is very popular in Israel.  And at least it has a better name than pickleball.

When it finally started to cool a bit and as the sun dipped towards the horizon I went and set my tent up on a small pathway in amongst the dunes next to the Poleg Stream.

Shvil Israel Day 10: Zikhron Ya'akov to Hadera Railway Station Campsite

Shvil Israel Day 10

Starting km: 253

Finishing km: 279

Distance walked: 26km

Another day that was kind of a mixed bag.

The morning was glorious.  After I said goodbye and thanks again to Noa, Ofer and Roi, I walked out the door, down the street and straight into the lovely Hanadiv Gardens, through which I rejoined the Shvil proper.

From there it was a lovely walk along the clifftops set a couple of kilometres back from the Med, then on through the town of Jisr Al Zarqa, the only Arab settlement on the Mediterranean coast.  There were lots of yummy looking snack shops (still haven't had my first felafel yet!) but it was still too early for them to be open.

I took off my shoes, dipped my toes in the sea and walked most of the 4km down the coast to Caesarea barefoot.

Caesarea is a fabulously historic place, originally founded by Herod it became one of the grandest Roman ports in the Eastern Mediterranean.  During the crusades it was the seat of a number of Frankish lords and was later turned into a major fortress by King Louis IX of France during the seventh crusade.

Today most of the ancient city is either under restoration or has already been restored and turned into a group of bars restaurants and gift shops.  Louis' walls are still there, and still impressive though. And while not as impressive as others we've been to, the Roman amphitheatre down the road looks to be in decent shape.

The afternoon was some long, hot walking through industrial estates and along empty roadsides (with one oddly sited but very pleasant park in the middle of nowhere across from the big Hadera coal fired generating station).

Shvil Israel Day 9: Mt. Carmel Lower Campsite to Zikhron Ya'akov

Shvil Israel Day 9

Starting km: 225

Finishing km: 253

Distance walked: 26km*

*I went off trail to get to my Trail Angel hosts' home tonight, which will probably work out to be about a 2km shortcut by the time I rejoin the trail tomorrow morning.

I let myself have a big sleep-in after the 40km day yesterday.  'Til 06:09, which is about an hour and a half after I've been waking up recently.  

The morning's walk was almost as lovely as yesterday afternoon's.  A short walk behind screened fruit (mostly banana!) plantations, then back up onto the feet of the Carmel range for some up and down bumpy walking over bare rock and boulders, paralleling the Mediterranean, always visible a couple of km to the east.

Because I'd had such monster days the previous two, I was finally in a position where I only needed to do a single (18-24km) trail section per day to be in Tell Aviv in time to meet Sarah.  So I gave myself lots of long rests during the afternoon's less lovely walk through hydro corridors and low scrub.

I left the trail around kilometre 247 to detour into the town of Zikhron Ya'acov.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was just lovely! An early settlement of the Jewish diaspora returning (mostly from Romania in the late 19th century), it had nice old architecture, a very pleasant park and pedestrian street at the centre, and several big wineries on the outskirts that scented the air all around with fermenting grapes.

In Zikhron Ya'acov I stayed with the Ben Abi family, my first indoor trail angel accommodations.  Noa and Ofer and their son Roi were really lovely hosts. I spent quite a while talking about what I was up to in Israel and my thoughts on the Shvil.  Then some discussion of Israeli politics, as the news came on TV and showed Benjamin Netenyahu being offered the chance to form an (admittedly unlikely to survive for long) government by the President.

A yummy hot meal, and even my first two Israeli beers (a very good Helles and a decent here) were in there somewhere too.

Big thanks to the Ben Ari family for hosting both me and other Shvil walkers in their home (apparently I was the first walker of the season!)

Shvil Israel Day 8: Kiryat Ata Forest to Lower Mount Carmel Campsite

Shvil Israel Day 8

Starting km: 184

Finishing km: 225

Distance walked: 41km

Wow!  What a great day of walking.  Clearly my favourite on the Shvil so far.

The morning was so-so.  Walked in the dark through some cattle pasture valleys (whose enjoyment was probably enhanced by the lack of light).  Then up some small hills and down into a small town.

Just as it was starting to get uncomfortably hot I came across a sign that, while in Hebrew oy, made it clear that the owners of the milking shed I was passing were trail angels and invited Shvil walkers into their (I think probably purpose made) shelter, complete with picnic tables, chilled water dispenser and even a bank of power outlets for charging phones, etc. (Incidentally, zoning as it relates to housing and agriculture in Israel is really weird, possibly due to the history of the Kibbutzes, so this milking shed was one of several jammed into an upscale residential neighbourhood).

I had a nice rest here, which prepared me for the hot walk across the valley to the base of Mt. Carmel.

Though I did it during the "death hours" between 13:30 and 15:00, the 450m climb up Carmel was just lovely.  Through shady, breezy genuine forest (not the low scrub that is sometimes labelled as forest on my topo map of Israel).  Lots and lots of switchbacks. I could have done this all afternoon!

Once the big climb was done there was a bit more gentler uphill past the actual summit and then on to the town of Osafia.  I popped into a supermarket right near the trail and bought a big cold pop and a bag of salty snack mix, intending to just take them to the Mt. Carmel National Park campsite right nearby.

Unfortunately the short road to the camp was being used as an impromptu garbage dump.  Since there were still probably three hours of daylight left I said "stuff that," and headed onwards and westwards to the next one.

The walk through Mt. Carmel was maybe even better than the climb up.  Some really fun scrambling down into a deep, narrow chasm for a walk along the bottom.  After which I found some tasty whole wheat pitas spread with a red pepper mixture sitting clearly left behind in a bag by the trail (I swear, I could practically walk the Shvil and survive on food found by the trailside).  Then a sturdy but not overhard climb up a minor peak of the Carmel range and some great bumpy overland stuff along the broad tops and ridges.

As I started down the trail started to follow stepped limestone ledges carved and eroded into the side of a steep valley wall, descending from one ledge to the next one down.  If the trail had finished this way I would have finished a perfect day with a big smile on my face.

By the fact that I said "if" you can probably guess that it didn't.  It climbed most of the way back up onto the plateau top before descending a wickedly steep bit of trail that was mostly bare rock requiring hands and feet both to get down.  The going was slow enough that dusk turned to night in my way down and for the second time on the Shvil I found me carefully checking hand and footholds by headlamp.

I finally arrived to see the final picknicking family loading up the cat for departure.  Then it was just me and the piggies. Until, as I was out of my tent naked, peeing on the remains of the fire the picknickers hadn't doused, two cars pulled up.  I ran back to the tent, far enough away and fast enough that I think they didn't see me. But I was left in the company of two cars-full of young men shouting in Arabic and blasting techno music.  Thankfully they're 200m or so away and I'm really bloody wiped (first, and almost certainly only 40km day on the Shvil Israel! Woo!) so I'm pretty sure sleeping won't be a problem.

Shvil Israel Day 7: Kfar Kish to Kiryat Ata Forest

Shvil Israel Day 7

Starting km: 145

Finishing km: 184

Distance walked: 39km

This was a mixed day.

It started out grand, setting out in the dark, approaching Mount Tavor with town lights on it's lower flanks and the glowing Church of the Transfiguration on top.

Getting to the base and starting a 480m ascent (probably the longest single climb on the whole Shvil).  Getting to the top and admiring first the glorious 360 degree views and then, having made most of a circuit of the summit, walking up the long driveway to the church itself.  

I was there eight minutes before it officially opened, so had the place all to myself before three mini-tour-buses disgorged heaps of Filipino pilgrims.  The church is built on the spot where after climbing to the summit with Peter, James and John, Jesus started glowing, then had a chat with Moses and Elijah (who had appeared) before being addressed as *My Son," by a voice that came from the sky.

The way down was very steep, but turned rapidly enough into a nice walk through some pine forests down to a valley then up to another peak, Mt. Deborah.

It was after this that things turned to pot.  Starting with a seemingly pointless descent from the summit down to the bottom of another valley.  Then, undoubtedly my least favorite part of the trail so far, a mostly unmarked climb up a valley that was two parts olive grove (pleasant enough), one part road with some pomegranate trees beside it (awesome) but twelve parts almost indescernable trail through dried out thistles and small thorn bushes.  Past a literal garbage dump.

I just can't fathom how some trail designer decided "oh, yeah, this is a lovely part of the country to show off!  Let's take them here!" when there was any alternative at all (which there was).

This was followed by a lengthy walk along a busy four-lane road, which at least had a great breeze and pretty views to one side 

And then a stroll through a grungy looking Arab town, where a nice family offered me a lemon soft drink and a coffee, improving the area's net score to above zero before a(nother) long strung out garbage dump on the far side of town sent it crashing down into the negative again.

I finally left this behind in the company of three younf Israelis, who I'd passed on the way up Mt. Tavor that morning.  They'd (wisely) taken a bus to Nazareth to check it out instead of doing the hellscape walk I described earlier.

We parted ways not too long later, and I was nearing my destination when a couple of hikers plunked down beside a weirdly pleasant motorway interchange beckoned me over to have a tea with them.  Their names were Maria and Elijah (anglicisation mine) and I had a nice chat with Maria while she translated to Hebrew for Elijah.

While talking with my Israeli mates this afternoon, I further clarified that most Israelis see the Shvil first as a social undertaking, second as a way to get to know their country, and only very distantly third/fourth as an athletic undertaking or a wilderness sort of excursion (which, I'm coming to realize, makes sense, as outside of the deserts there really doesn't seem to be any such thing as wilderness in Israel.  I guess that's what six thousand years or so of pretty intensive human habitation gets you.

I decided to try and do a bit of the wilderness thing anyway, and walked into the Kiryat Ata National Forest as night was falling.

I found some nice flat land and spent a fun little while scaring away the two or three foxes that were hanging around the (garbage strewn) land in hopes that they wouldn't come back or at least wouldn't interrupt my sleep, which they didn't.

Shvil Israel Day 6: Tiberias to Kfar Kish

Shvil Israel Day 6

Starting km: 110

Finishing km: 145

Distance walked: 30km*

*My walking mate for the late morning and afternoon had been planning to take a shortcut off the official trail, and I followed him alonf, which removed about 5km from the day's walk

Crept out of the hostel right around 05:00.  Started up the big climb that I'd not skipped, but merely delayed by deviating from the official trail and heading to Tiberias.

Arrived at the top right around sunrise, being very happy to have done it in the dark.  Nice views back over Tiberias and the sea of Galilee, but really not much happening for the early morning walk.  The cute little town of Kinneret with historical stone houses seemed to be just getting going when I walked through.  But the baptism spot in the Jordan river, not far from where it exits the Sea of Galilee was in full swing.  

Tour buses galore outside the complex, loads of happy, excited Christians inside.  Many were 

wearing white robes preparing to immerse themselves in the water where Jesus himself did.  Many others were watching, photographing and reading Mark 1:9-11 (describing Jesus baptism in the Jordan)  n their own languages from the dozens of tablets on the walls.

And the souvenir shop was ready for them, with bottles of Jordan water (with or without stones) and a bajillion other trinkets connected to the holy Land (or in some cases, not).

Downstream the Jordan was pretty, but packed with Israeli picnickers and campers, bbqing, swimming… there was even a live band with big speakers warming up under a gazebo.

A bit further along I found a perfectly good, but slightly cracked watermelon just sitting on the ground.  Street fruit supreme! I could only carry half of it, but pulled my spoon out of my pack and scooped cheerfully away as I wandered down the trail.

It was while I slowed to eat my melon that Shachar caught up with me.  He was a 25 year old Israeli who was taking a break from his just begun studies after completing his military service.

We walked the rest of the day together and talked a lot.  Around 11:00 we came across Sunny's place, a beautiful little garden stuck out in the middle of a plain already beginning to bake in the sun.  The place was pretty much built as a refuge/sleeping spot for Shvil Israel walkers. We popped in and met the single other visitor who, as it turned out had gone to school with Shachar.  Israel has a similar population to NZ, with a quarter the area, so apparently this kind of thing happens all the time.

The garden was idyllic, with pomegranate trees, grape vines, plenty of shade, a stocked food supply for those in need, even a shower for goodness sake!  I napped, listened to music and played backgammon with my campmates until shade from a cloud around 15:30 suggested it might be time to hit the trail again.

The rest of the day's walk was nice, but save for some really great views from high up above the Sea of Galilee (only 350m, but you can't forget that the Sea is about 210m below sea level, something I'd done and gotten in trouble with when reading contour lines twice already).

As such, I'll mention a few things I learned about the Shvil Israel from talking with Shachar and his mate.

It's a very popular trail, with many families using sections as family outings, and heaps of young Israelis through-hiking sizeable sections or the whole thing.  But most of them don't really treat it as a rugged, wilderness tramping experience like walkers of the AT, PCT or Te Araroa do.  

They often do it in large groups.  Most walk slowly, doing a single 15-25km stage or less in a day, not barging along trying to cram 1.5 or 2 into each day as I've been doing. 

The 3-4 hour break at lunchtime is near ubiquitous (understandable as it's almost a practical necessity), and many folks won't bother picking up and walking again in the afternoon if they've stopped at a really nice spot.

And self sufficiency isn't the big thing that it is on some other long distance trails.  There's a large network of Trail Angels (people who help walkers with food or resting points out of the goodness of their hearts, or in this case sometimes a sense of nationalism/national pride).  And most Israeli walkers take full advantage of these, often spending most nights at places where you can have a hot shower.

I learned all this, a bit of basic Hebrew and lots more while talking with Shachar as we walked.  It was a great pleasure to have his company for the afternoon.

And speaking of trail angels, I'm writing this while laying on my sleeping mat under a roofed (if not walled) shelter put up by a trail angel in the village of Kfar Kish.  I've had a fabulous shower, cooked a meal on an actual two burner stove, re-solidified chocolate for dessert, and have some water in the freezer for tomorrow morning.

All signals a nice rest and a grand day's walk to follow.

Shvil Israel Day 4: Intersection of Wadi Amud and Road 85 to Tiberias

Shvil Israel Day 4

Starting km: 87

Finishing km: 110

Distance walked: 23km

I'd started considering starting my daily walks an hour or two before sunrise, but with my late arrival the previous night, it was already light by the time I woke.

I crossed Road 85, labelled "Dangerous Crossing" on my GPS track.  Bloody right! It was a motorway! If it was in the middle of the day instead of 06:15 with very sparse traffic, I don't think I would have even considered it!

On the other side I found my way down a drainage spillway and a place where the trail was signed and the fence pushed down by other walkers and found my way back to the floor of Wadi Amud.  No more crazy cliff climbing, just a beautiful jaunt down an orange, brown and grey canyon with heaps of birds and yet more wild boar for company.

I was very disappointed when the canyon ended and I popped out into farmland (including heavily irrigated bananas!) and at 08:45 had a hot and sweaty walk into the town of Migdal.  So hot and sweaty that I was about ready to call it a day at 10:00 and check into the town's youth hostel. Problem being it wasn't there. I really needed to charge my phone at this point, and I really wanted to spend my first night in four indoors.  But the nearest hostel on the trail was still 17km away and was booked full for the night.

But a big cold drink from the store and some thinking and I realized I could make my destination the city of Tiberias instead of Poriya.  It was a little off-trail, but it was easy enough to get back on without backtracking, it was only 8km away. Tiberias was the seat of Raymond, one of the foremost figures in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the third crusade.  And the walk looked like a possibly even pleasant one along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Done.

As it turned out this seemingly great idea was merely so-so.  The shore was rarely visible, despite being only 20-100m away, and when it was it was often muddy and rubbish strewn.

But on the positive side, I found that the trails on my map were actually part of another marked walking path, so all I had to do was follow the blue, white and purple stripes into Tiberias.  And some of the shore was actually lovely, with nice shady areas occupied by Israeli families camping and picnicking, hanging in hammocks and enjoying the afternoon. Other sections at first bothered me, with their muddy patches formed by drainage from the wetlands behind fences and the swimming pools and water features (!) of big lakeside homes atop retaining walls, but this turned pleasant again when the mud became clear, stoney bottomed streams that cooled my feet which would, after all, dry in no time.

But once again to the negative, I got stung on the back and back of my neck when ducking under some sort of vine in an overgrown section of trail and, more seriously (as I would later realize) I was also stung on the ankle by an oriental hornet (in almost the exact same spot a wasp had got me the previous afternoon!)

I arrived in Tiberias hot and thirsty, but delighted to just sit in the air conditioned lobby of the hostel I'd booked for two hours until check-in.

Throughout the afternoon I came to realize that, though it hadn't hurt much more than the earlier wasp, I was having some sort of allergic reaction to the hornet sting.  I had hives on my hips and arms, my lips became fat, and my left ankle and foot swelled not painfully, but alarmingly.

By late afternoon I'd decided to take a rest day and give the swelling some time to go down.

The rest of my time in Tiberias consisted mostly of laying in bed with my foot elevated and doing what one is meant to do on Shabbat (I'd arrived on Friday afternoon): resting.

Shvil Israel Day 3 Dishon to Intersection of Wadi Amud and Road 85

Shvil Israel Day 3

Starting km: 49

Finishing km: 87

Distance walked: 38km

The last entry was long, but this one is going to be even longer.  SOOOO much happened that it scarcely seemed like a single day.

I woke in the morning and between the fences, Gates and grumpy dogs it took a while for me to find my way out of Dishon.

But when I did it was a lovely morning.  I could scarcely believe that the wadi I was walking up was the same one that had so bedevilled me the night before. What a difference a big drink, some food and eight hours of sleep makes.  The remains of the previous night's cramps quickly worked themselves out and I was enjoying a speedy walk on river flats for most of the early morning. I was only slowed by the flora and fauna that were all around.  A little troupe of marmots. A few quick sightings of wild boars. And blackberries. There were sooooo many of them growing near the river. Considerately just close enough to pick but not so close as to obstruct the trail.  I gorged myself on them. They're probably the best blackberries I've ever had, making me understand what makers of artificial blackberry flavour are shooting for. I ended up with a thorn lodged in my finger, but it was so worth it!

At the top of the Wadi came the base of Mt. Meron, Israel's highest peak.  There was drinking water there, which I gratefully used to fill my bottles.  And I was pleasantly surprised that I'd already done 470m of the roughly 800m climbing required from Dishon to make the summit, and it was actually a pleasantly graded, shady stroll up to the top.

You can't actually stand on the summit (it's covered in sensitive comms and military facilities) but I'm going to count it as the second time I've stood on a country's highest point (the other being Singapore).

Down from Meron was actually harder going.  Less shade, hotter temperatures more sun. But with a nice rest and nap in the shade for an hour of the worst of it I was soon in another wadi, this time leading to the lovely Sekhvi pools, a series of swimming holes on a cool shaded stream with ancient mills nearby.

I couldn't help but take a swim, another lengthy rest and filter (yet more) water.

Setting out again down the valley had me arrive at a trail junction right as night fell.  You're not supposed to stay in Israeli nature reserves after dark, and I had two choices: 2km up a 150m hill, or 5km down the river.  Since I'd just need to walk back down the hill, and since the 5km would have to be covered the next day anyway, I unsurprisingly chose the latter.  

Of course I should have already know from NZ tramping that, despite the earlier pleasant walks up and down riverbeds and flats, a walk down a valley also invites gruelling climbs up and over bluffs and cliffs.  I ended up climbing waaaay over 150m up and down, much of it on cliffsides, some with handholds anchored into the rock. Thankfully the ground underfoot was solid, dry rock and I had nice grippy soles and never felt at all worried.  Except, of course about who else was in the valley with me. I saw tons more wild boar (thankfully none up on the cliffs, and all much more docile than the NZ variety), a few more marmots. As well as loads of spiders with eyes that sparkled blue in my headlamp and a lone scorpion which made me pleased I'd been paying careful attention to where my hands were going when scrambling on the rock.

Eventually the gorge flattened out again, but by the time I was done that five kilometers had taken me two and a quarter hours to walk.

I arrived at what I thought to be a gas station, which turned out only to be a rest area without even a toilet.  I lamented the lack of a cold drink, but really was too tired to care (tired as I was, I felt waaaay better than I had finishing the previous, shorter, easier day.  The more water-less sun plan had worked).

Just before I fell asleep a Palestinian truck driver who had pulled in for a pee approached and asked if I was okay.  I assured him I was, but he came back moments later with four apples for me. I can think of few if any offers of food that have ever been more welcome.  Trail magic indeed!