WLE Day 11 (08-18-2011): Barouk – Maaser el Shouf - Niha

WLE Day 11 (08-18-2011): Barouk – Maaser el Shouf - Niha

Length: Aprox 30 km, 9 hrs

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Sleeping the night at Barouk’s guesthouse was interesting. The venue itself is very nicely renovated and designed, but unfortunately there was no electricity, so I had to cope with a flashlight. It did make me sleep early though at around 9 pm. Unfortunately, the electricity came back on by itself around midnight and all the lights came on (the switches had been on!). As a result, I woke up thinking that it was daylight. In the meantime, an agile mosquito had managed to suck one of my feet dry … With electricity, I was able to reap revenge on the little creature by turning on an electric repellant. Victory is sweet- even over a mosquito … God bless technology!

No technology or alarm needed to wake me up though. Chamoun, who had slept at his place the previous evening after another visit to his mother in the hospital, knocked on the guesthouse door at 6:30 am sharp. Soon after Ziad, our guesthouse host, came in with a baladi breakfast of local cheese, labneh, olives, marmalade, and tea. Knowing the long hike ahead, I filled my tummy as well as my water tanks. We headed out at 7:20. Chamoun’s wife dropped us off at the Barouk reserve’s entrance a couple of miles up the road.

Up until then, I had only seen the famous Bsharre cedar reserve, the Tannourine one, and skimmed the Ain Zhalta one. I was surprised to learn that the Barouk cedar reserve turns out to be the biggest in the nation- some 160 square kilometers. It took us about an hour and a half to walk through it, and my camera shutter worked non-stop. The cedar tree is part and parcel in the Lebanese psyche, but nothing prepares one for its beauty and majestic imposition as a walk through the Barouk. As we had entered the reserve before it was officially opened, we decided to walk up on the paved road, which is easier on the climb- my bag was laden and I did not really fancy flipping backwards on a rough mountain climb. Nevertheless, the paved road offered spectacular views of the reserve (trees lined it on both sides) as well as views of the town below- as far as the Mikhtara some 15 km Southwest. At its highest point, the smell of the air in the park became different- cedar oxygenation at its best. Interestingly, I got to see the seed of the tree, which I had never before. I learned that squirrels are the ones who steel the seed from the branches, and hide them underground. Those that are forgotten, some 5000 years later turn out to be great evergreen trees with multi-trunks some 2 meters in radius, and branches extending more than 7 meters.

Soon after, we began our descent towards Maaser el Shouf and its own reserve, which is separated from its Barouk counterpart by a barren mountain. Maaser is an area famous in the past for its essence and juice grinders- from which the town derives its name. The hike down was fairly steep and the terrain somewhat slippery. Interestingly, this was the first trail that we saw Lebanon Mountain Trail markings (purple and white paint marks on rocks basically). These were supposedly painted all over the trail from the North of Lebanon to the South to guide hikers. These were the first I had seen. I figure they must have eroded since and few if any are still visible unfortunately.

Slowly but surely we made it to the town entrance reaching it around 11 am. As we entered the town, we were greeted by an old man who asked us for advice about some varices he has in his legs. We apologized as neither Chamoun nor I are doctors. The man still introduced us to his family and offered us coffee.  As we moved into the town, it seemed well organized but very quiet. When we got to the central plaza of the town, Chamoun entered a small market store and saluted the old man. Next thing I know, the man offers me a purplish looking juice telling me it is “Great for your lungs, especially if you’re a smoker.” I wanted to answer, “I don’t really smoke,” but knew better. Good decision Wissam! It was one of the best drinks I have ever tried. I asked for another and even drank half of Chamoun’s bottle too! The old man offered to sell me the ingredients in a couple of jars, but due to the weight I was sorry couldn’t take them. I promised I would be back to buy them later on when I have transportation. I definitely plan to!

In the meantime, Chamoun had managed to grab a turtle from two menacing kids. The turtle was the size of the palm of his hand. “Can you believe it? They were trying to kill it!” he told me. There was blood coming out of the side and its shell seemed slightly cracked. He would walk with it in his hand until we were well out of the town. He then laid it in a safe place wishing it good luck.

Before we exited the town, we passed by a small factory run by two people. Turns out it is a candle factory. It seemed like a factory from the turn of the previous century, but fully functional and quite productive. The owner told me it can produce 1300 candles every 10 minutes. They sell these candles to the rest of the country and have even exported it. ‘What a shame it is not advertised as a touristic destination,’ I thought, ‘could make them as much as the candles themselves.’

Chamoun was in a hurry to get moving from Maaser because today was yet another 2 hikes in 1 day. Usually hikers stay overnight in Maaser el Chouf. We wanted to move on to Niha, which was another 20 km or so distant. So on we went. We started uphill on a well-walked but thorny trail. Before reaching the next town, we met a farmer holding a bunch of onions. “Most of this land is for Walid Beyk,” he said referring to Walid Jumblatt, whose family for the most part controls the Chouf.  

Passing the next town of Mrusti, my feet started feeling tired. We had been hiking for close to 8 hours, which I have realized is more or less my comfortable range. The sticks were helping me a great deal. I had become accustomed to holding my camera in my left hand stick; and in the right hand the stick to balance myself. Unfortunately, when we came upon a well shortly after somehow somewhere I lost my balancing stick. I was sad about it because the stick had been with me hiking all over the world. For the rest of the hike, I felt myself a bit out of balance and mad at myself for losing one of the most important pieces of gear any hiker needs … I will have to find a new system for the remaining few days.

We reached the town of Niha at around 4:20 some 9 hours after we had begun our hike. The final stretch reminded me somewhat of our hike in Wadi Jhannam in North Lebanon as it had water running on the side of the walkway- some of which also defied gravity going upwards!

I was tired but happy to see the town, which I found to be pretty impressive- considering it has been the setting for some serious civil strife recently. The roads are wide and lined with trees and flowers and the houses look nice. The good news is Niha does not have much electricity as the rest of the country because “we run on hydro that is supplied to us from Jezzine,” our guesthouse host said. Together with his wife, he proceeded to offer us one of the best home cooked dinners we have had full with Kibbeh, Baba Ghanouj, Lebanese pastries filled with cheese, and some rice with curry. Good replenishment for all the weight I must have lost over the length of the expedition.

On the topic of the remaining days, together with Chamoun, we decided to head straight South to Marjayoun from Jezzine as opposed to East through Rachaya and Hasbaya. This would save another two days but essentially take us to the same destination- the southern town of Marjayoun. Essentially, this would mean that we would have hiked the length of Lebanon in 13 or 14 days- some 6 days less than anticipated. This also meant that we could finish the expedition in the next two days. Not bad … Not bad at all.

But first, I had to discuss it with Samer to see if he would be up to it. I continue to miss him on the hikes, and I am glad he will be joining the expedition tonight. It has not been the same without him.