Back on the Fourth of July, before I got bogged down with army and other work, I partook in a small hike in Nachal Kziv, a nature reserve at the outskirts of Ma’alot. Also in attendance, in our little expedition, were some family members and some family friends – including the talented photographer Mandy Detwiler. We drove to the Zeitim neighbourhood, parked our cars and began walking the long winding way down to the stream-bed, where the trail is.

The road going down to the stream

Nachal Kziv actually starts near Mount Meron, but due to the fact that it is a perennial stream, that area dries up in the summer months. The area that we hiked, from Ma’alot towards the Mediterranean Sea, is rehabilitated by a pumping station which uses water from underground springs. The water in Nachal Kziv is really clean and just about every time I hike there, I take the opportunity to fill up my water bottle for the continuation of hydration on the walk.

The gentle Nachal Kziv

So, in due time we were at the stream-bed and passing the pumping station, some old Crusader building and the beginning of the stream (as it looks above). One of the day’s objectives was to find some geodes, or tapuchai eliyahu. I have never found one, nor did I know what to look for, but our family friends knew the secrets. So, after we had crossed over some of the little bridges, crossing back and forth over the little stream, we found a good spot to search.

The trail and the stream

I followed the masters and eventually found my first geode. And then my second, and then my third. Before long I was finding geodes all over the rocky banks of the stream. If you too seek out geodes, be sure to scour the ground for ball-like rocks that have a brain-like surface. When you pick up the rock, it should feel heavy – to be sure, crack it open and you will see the crystal insides.

A geode

I cracked open one of the geodes I found but was unable to capture the inner beauty so I turned to Mandy for help. Here is the gorgeous crystal interior:

Inside of a geode (courtesy of Mandy Detwiler)

After pillaging the stream-bed for geodes, loading some choice ones into my backpack, we continued with our hike, occasionally stopping to photograph nature’s beauty.

Thistle (courtesy of Mandy Detwiler)

Along the way we passed by the Ein Tamir cave, spring and pools complex – my favourite section of Nachal Kziv. I love squeezing into the slit of a cave, stooping and crawling my way down the long windy tunnel. With icy cold water covering the floor of the cave, the going is terribly fun and being submerged chest-deep in the cold water, with no outside light, is just too awesome to be put to words. This time, however, we passed the cave and the pools and continued on.

Ein Tamir cave tunnel entrance (courtesy of Mandy Detwiler)

Shortly thereafter, after repeatedly crossing the stream back and forth at the whim of the trail markers, we made it to a cool spot where one of the banks was a rock wall. It was remarkably green there and the lighting was poor, thus the photo came out a tad greener than it really was, to the naked eye:

Nachal Kziv with rock wall

In that area, some members of our expedition had a run-in with the supernatural… Reports of tapping on the heads of fellow party members made our short melon-eating break all the more exciting. I didn’t have my head tapped, but there is a place just a bit further down that has a different energy about it. I can’t say I am too in-touch with energy detection but the world is much larger and much more complex than how we see it at face-value. At this point we decided to turn back, and not to continue on for what would be hours longer (we hadn’t even reached Montfort Castle). So we headed back, walking beneath the magnificent stone cliffs as seen here:

Cliff walls along Nachal Kziv

On the way back, kind of close to the pumping station, I stepped into the old Crusader inn that rests empty at the side of the trail:

A Crusader inn

And a look at the arched interior:

Inside the Crusader inn

After that it was a quick walk to the pumping station and then a somewhat grueling hike back up the mountain, following the long windy road we took down. At last we made it to our cars, said our farewells and headed home – where I emptied the heavy geodes from my bag and placed them in the living room.

Until next trip!