Israeli Insanity - Round Galilee in a Day

So, as dumb ideas go, this one's a real cracker.  During our first day in the Galilee region, the idea of walking round the sea occurred to me and grew to a minor obsession by the evening.  So having ensured that the rest of the tribe we OK with me abandoning them, I resolved to complete the walk the following day.  I reckoned, from examining Google Maps, that it was about 40 miles - only a mile further than my previous longest day walk.  What could possibly go wrong.

Well as it happened, getting lost was what could go wrong.  The net result being another five miles of unplanned walking.  Also the heat was pretty intense for much of the walk, a thermometer in Ein Gev was reading 31 degrees in the afternoon.  I ended up pretty exhausted and the last ten miles or so were after sunset and a real struggle.  Linda did her 'worried wife' thing and was dropped off by Jamie, to join me for the last few miles.  I started walking at 06:23 and 45 miles later completed at 22:23.  It was a fantastic walk to do and I'm delighted that I managed to finish in a day.

I recorded the walk using the Strava GPS app.  You can click here for detailed walk info.

Here's a few of the photos I took along the way:

Early morning view over the Sea

View of the Church on the Mount of Beatitudes

Walking past Capernaum

Saw lots of these little fellows on the rocks

Mines left from securing the 1949 Israeli/Syrian Armistice line.

And the minefields were part of my downfall.  I was following what I believed to be the path around the northern section of the Sea, passing through the Magrase Nature Reserve.  Unfortunately, my route was blocked by a uniformed man who said I could go no further, as they were clearing mines from the area and it was dangerous.  This caused me to spend some time wandering in the reserve trying to find an alternative path going eastwards, only to find my passage blocked by various impassable obstacles.  Finally I backtracked to the road, taking a longer route, going around the northern perimeter of the reserve, rather than through it. 

The river Jordan

Meshushim Stream

Keep ...

... following ...

... the path.

Map says go straight on - signs say no.

View from Eastern shore looking north

View across lake towards Tiberius

Have to do a selfie at some point.

Dusk - still on Eastern shore

Linda joins me for the last section, just south of Tiberius

So that was that.  I think I was running on 'empty' at the end and as a result picked up a bug or two.  Had a temperature and sore throat for the next couple of days and a cough that seemed to hang around for the rest of the holiday - but totally worth it.