Mountain climbing in Israel

Field School hotel and Coral Beach park

Olli and I came to Eilat for the snorkeling, and it was superb. Our hotel, the Field School, was across the road from the Coral Beach Nature Reserve, which had two piers from which snorkelers could enter the water and swim along the trails marked by buoys. I saw dozens of species, more even than in Hawaii, and my favorite was the Picasso Triggerfish. Since I didn't have an underwater camera, I will share pictures from our mountain climbing behind the hotel instead, starting with this view of the hotel and Coral Beach park from the summit.

Easy trail to start

It was a hot, dry, two-hour round trip hike from the southern end of the Israel National Trail. Olli commented, "There's absolutely nothing growing up here." We did not see any wildlife, either. The trail started easy enough, but halfway up it became rocky and we had to use handholds and watch our footing. There was no shade.

Green and white blazes mark the trail

Peaks passed but not climbed

Trail becomes rocky and more difficult

View of Red Sea. Mountains in Jordan in the distance

Mountains in Egypt in the distance

Atop left summit

From the ridge, there were two summits nearby. We both climbed the one on the left, then Olli climbed the
steeper one on the right.

Partial view of Eilat and port from the summit

Olli (center) climbing the other peak

Olli on the summit