I suppose it is a question everyone asks; how far should I aim to go on the INT each day? There are so many factors – what is the elevation to be lost and gained? how are the weather conditions (is it wet? or windy? or hot?), how rough is the terrain? what is the time of year and how much daylight is there? how much weight have I got to carry? and how fit am I?
I learned from the first three days how easy it is to over-estimate how much ground you can cover in a day in the heat of summer, especially if nursing an injury (and my achilles, although improving, is not yet healed). It is also now abundantly clear that for most of its length the INT is far from a footpath, and at times the going can be tough. Of course, the Red Guide gives a good idea of what a young fit hiker should aim to do each day, but that is about whole days and does not allow a lot of time to visit sites as you go along. Other walkers’ ideas in Wikiloc and elsewhere help, and a friend who is aiming to walk the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route this spring helpfully sent me a wonderfully ‘nerdy’ video on the best speed to walk, but most advice is from people who are not over the age of 65, and I think that on the INT 5km/hour is pretty optimistic – for me anyway.
Looking at the maps (in particular the contour lines!), I suspect around 20km is as much as we should sensibly take on for the first day of the next stage, conveniently taking us to the 886 where we can leave a car to get us to Safed for the night. We have a few kilometres to make up from last time if we are to keep up with the Red Guide, and looking at the trail ahead I suspect that we will need to work hard over the three days we have set aside for walking. I’m minded to try this for the first day. Let’s see how it goes…
Hiking the Israel National Trail 