It’s time to talk about water caching in the Israel National Trail. If you travel only in short sections or north of Arad – this topic is probably not relevant to you. On the other hand, if you are planning to hike the more southern sections of the INT, you are going to notice one difficult problem – there is nowhere to fill water.
And that brings us to the topic of the day: water caching. So what is the concept of “caching”, why you must do it, and how to do it most effectively – all in today’s post.
Caching Water in the Israel National Trail
The average person consumes something like six gallons of water during a day of hiking, and even more so if we are talking about the desert sections of the south. On the other hand, water is quite heavy, and there is a limit to the amount of water we can carry on our backs.
Beyond drinking, we are also going to consume some more water for brushing teeth, light field shower (or at least face wash), cleaning utensils, and so on. If you do simple math – it’s just unlikely to spend an entire day hiking in the desert without refilling our bottles during it.
Now look – as long as we are talking about the more northern sections of the trail (up to the Arad area) – there is almost no problem of water, because along the way there are many filling points, whether in taps that are on the ground, whether in localities or gas stations that are on the route (or a slight deviation from it) and if in the night camps. The problem starts with the more southern sections of the Israel National Trail, starting with section 32 (Arad Park) and south, which include a very long walk in the desert, with no proximity to any settlement – and therefore no place to fill water.
This forces us to cache water – in other words, to bury bottles of water in the ground in advance at a place we plan to reach (usually the night campground).
By the way, in our INT Travel Guide, you will get information on each part of the trail, including places to fill water and stock up.
Planning Water Cache in the Israel National Trail
Water caching is a process that requires planning, time, and even money (in case you prefer someone to do it for you) – so we will try to reduce the water caching during the route to the minimum necessary. We will do this first by carefully planning the route, including the stopping points and campsites during it.
If your hike is going at a reasonable walking pace, the desert part where there is a water problem is going to take you something like three weeks. In contrast to the way you hike in the north and center of the country, in the southern part of the trail, it is very important to plan the hiking routes, and decide in advance how far you are going to go each day.
In these parts, however, there still are a few settlements, military bases, and sometimes springs and ridges. In all other cases, we will have to plan a cache.
The Planning Process
To plan the places where you will need to bury water, follow these steps:
- Go through the trail on the map and understand on which days you will not be able to fill the much-needed Israeli water (ie there is no nearby locality that you can walk to, and there is no tap in the overnight campground).
- Sometimes, a detour to a nearby settlement or a water tap in the vicinity of the trail will allow us to save on caching – here it is up to you to decide on the balance between the effort that you are willing to take on versus the need to cache water.
- Places where there is no possibility to fill water for the benefit of the day after, this is where you will need a water cache – mark them.
The Cache
Once you’ve decided where, decide on the contents of the landfill –
- How much water to cache – It is customary to cache at least the required daily amount of water that you are expected to use (about 6 liters per person usually), and add a little more for additional needs (such as face washing, etc.). In any case, it is important to plan so that you have enough reserves, and are not counting on uncertain water filling spots.
- Apart from water – you can cache other things – food, gas canisters, clothing, and pretty much anything you want.
Doing the Cache
As the name implies, caching is done by digging a pit into which we put the water bottles (and other things, if any). The pit will keep the plastic bottles from strong sunlight, keep their temperature cool, and also prevent anyone else from taking them. It is advisable to pack each cache in two or three large garbage bags and tie them tightly, to avoid friction of the bottles themselves with the sand, or the attraction of animals in case of food caching.
The cache should preferably be carried out on or near the route of the planned trail, preferably close to the planned overnight campsite. On the other hand, in some cases, the soil in the night camps will be rocky and unpleasant to dig in, so we will look for another spot with softer soil that is nearby. Experts recommend looking for a point on a mountainside, at a point where it meets the ground, where the soil is softer (and can be pinned to the side of the mountain).
In any case, it is important to make sure that the cache itself does not harm nature: try to dig in local soft sand in a way that will not harm it. Do not dig inside an archeological site, near buildings, near habitats of animals or plants, near a road, or in a stream channel that may receive a sudden flow of water.
After we dig, we will cover the pit and mark it in a way that will be easy for us to find – a pile of stones for example – and we will do everything to remember the place: we will write a short description that explains how to get there, we will photograph the exact place and take coordinates (for those who hike with a relevant GPS device).
In addition, you should leave a note with the details of the hikers and a phone number, and kindly ask that no one will take your cache.
Recommended Places for Water Cache on the Israel National Trail
Here is a list of recommended locations where you can cache water, from north to south:
- Beer Afa night campground – accessible by car.
- Tamar overnight campground – accessible by car.
- The small crater overnight campground (Ma’ale Ali) – accessible by car.
- Oron factory overnight campground – accessible by car.
- Nahal Mador overnight campground – accessible by 4X4 vehicle only.
- Hod Akev overnight campground – accessible by 4X4 vehicle only (you can deviate about 5 km to Sde Boker College).
- Nahal Hava overnight campground – accessible by 4X4 vehicle only.
- Mount Saharonim overnight campground – accessible by car.
- Nahal Nekraot overnight campground (Gev Dune) – accessible by 4X4 vehicle only.
- Nahal Barak night campground – accessible by car.
- Nahal Tzichur overnight campground (2 km west of Tzichur junction) – accessible by car.
- Beer Melhan overnight campground – accessible by 4X4 vehicle only.
- Nahal Raham / Atak campground – accessible by 4X4 vehicle only (you can deviate about 3 km to Beer Ora).
- Black Canyon Night campground – Car Accessible.
- Har Yehoram overnight campground – accessible by car.
Need Help? Paid Services
If you do not feel like spending the time and going to cache the water yourself, you can always pay someone to do it for you. A short Google search will bring you to the phone numbers of people (or trail angels) who live in the area and will be happy to cache water for you at certain spots.
