Hiking in the Judean Hills

Jerusalem is in the heart of the Judean Hills, which is a range that runs north to south throughout much of Israel. To the west of the hills is the coastal plain that includes Tel Aviv; if you head east, you'll drop down steeply towards the Dead Sea and Jordan. In the past few weeks, we've gotten used to living in a city built upon steep hillsides; although it's a bit of work pushing a double stroller around Jerusalem, it's a nice change of place from living in central New Jersey, which is pretty damn flat! Still, there is a difference between walking in hilly city -- where you are constantly walking up and downhill, but are almost always surrounded by apartment buildings, traffic, and people -- and walking in relatively undeveloped mountains. Today we drove out of the city to a preserved area that is actually called American Independence Park (apparently development of the park began during the American bicentennial in 1976) and went on a beautiful hike. It felt great to drive on some winding mountain roads, to see some views of steep, rocky hillsides, and to get out on a stretch of trail.

When we arrived at one of the park's visitor's centers, it was actually raining, but by the time we got ourselves packed up, the shower had passed, and the day turned out to be sunny and cool: perfect for hiking! We walked for about an hour on a winding, rocky trail, catching views of the nearby hillsides, checking out the wildflowers, and startling a few birds from their perches in the trees. The boys did a great job. Benjamin took in the views from his seat in the baby carrier, and Alexander walked most of the route on his own, learning to say the word "Hike" along the way. When we were about 2/3 of the way through the walk, we passed a huge group of kids out on a hiking field trip, and it was all we could do to hold Alexander back from following them. When he sees other kids, he just wants to join them!

Getting out on a hike felt particularly good to me; I needed the fresh air, the walk, the views. And I was impressed by the dramatic beauty of this section of the Judean Hills, especially considering the fact that we were only about a 15-minute drive from the city limits. Most of these hills were deforested in ancient times, and efforts have been underway in recent decades to restore the natural woodlands and archeological sites in places like American Independence Park. As a result, there's a ton to explore in the Judean Hills: the area is filled with natural springs, caves, Byzantine ruins, relics from Israel's more recent wars, and of course, lots of trails, recreation areas, and even playgrounds. Since we don't have a car, we can't just head out there whenever we please, but I do hope we get to do a bit more hiking in the hills in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures from today's trek: