From Sea to Shining Sea

Over the past four days, I was blessed to have been able to go on a school-sponsored hiking trip in the Galilee region of northern Israel. We started Thursday morning at the Mediterranean sea, taking a water bottle of salt water to carry with us on our journey to pour in the Sea of Galilee when we got there on Sunday. We hiked through an Israeli state park that day, climbing up and down the sheer cliffs of mountains and through the valleys in between, following the one water source of the area. For most of the day, we found ourselves on a very narrow trail, strewn with obstacles that needed to be climbed over or crawled under, sometimes hugging the mountain side with a drop into the yawning chasm of the valley below us ever present. We waded through the river multiple times, and the coolness of the water was a welcome relief from the heat of the day. We ended the day's hike by tackling a mountain head on, climbing straight up its steep, stony surface. I felt more like a mountain goat than a man as I desperately clung to whatever hand-hold was offered, doing my best not to slip and fall off of the mountain. We finally got up onto the top and took our bus to a hostel in the ancient city of Acre (modern day Akko) to spend the night. When we were all settled in, we took a night tour of Acre to see the wonders of its Old City. Acre is located just across the bay from Haifa in northern Israel, and it was the jewel of the Crusader Kingdom a thousand years ago. At one point, we stopped to look at an ancient mosque in the center of the city, named after a Muslim ruler who's nickname was "The Butcher", so the Mosque was named "The Butcher Mosque". One of my friends that was a strange way to name a place of worship, exclaiming "Why would they name their Mosque after a man who butchered his people!? That's like us naming a church after the Inquisition!" After a wonderful night's sleep, we set out the next day for Mount Moran, the highest peak in Israel after the Golan Heights. This hike was much easier and gentler than the one the day before, taking us on a leisurely and zig-zagging course up the side of the mountain. Once we got to the top, we had a wide panorama of the northern heartland of Israel. We were even able to see the mountains of Lebanon and some Lebanese villages located on the border of the two countries. We knew that Hezbollah, the Shiite terrorist organization, undoubtedly had troops and bases in those villages (probably located in schools and hospitals), and our guide took the opportunity to tell us about the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. Some of us waved at Hezbollah in a mocking manner as we left the summit (some of our group flipped them the bird)as we made our way down the opposite side of the mountain to make our way to the Druze village of Peki'in. We spent the night there and the next day touring this ancient village, which has routes all the way back to the Second Temple Period. Today, our last day on tour, we hiked through a valley in the mountains that opened up on the Sea of Galilee. It was a gentle stroll of a hike, with rocks and boulders everywhere to keep it interesting. We ended the hike as the valley exited the mountains and opened up on to rolling hills used for farmland. We finally made it to the Sea of Galilee, a huge freshwater lake in the north of Israel where Jesus spent the majority of His time on Earth. Across from the shore on which we stood, the Golan Heights stretched into the distance, imposing and impressive in their massive size. The heights are still technically "disputed territory" between Israel and Syria, as Israel took them away from Syria in the 6 Day War. In reality, however, they are fully integrated into the State of Israel, and with the civil war raging in Syria, they will be staying that way for a long time. We ended our hiking trip on the shore of Galilee, relaxing in the sun and enjoying food and friendship. I was blessed to have been able to stay with a great group of guys over this trip. We all knew each other beforehand, but this trip has allowed us to get to know each other better and grow as friends and brothers. I am very blessed to have been able to travel throughout the north of Israel and to have seen all of the great sights and wonders of the region over the last four days, and I am also blessed to have been able to have shared the experience with such awesome people.