A river known to the few, hidden in the remote desert near the dead Sea, has been revealed as an amazing beauty.
With a guide we entered in a straight line one after another, it is a dangerous area of missing landmines swept there by flash floods and sinkholes that may happen without warning; the ground flattened by the receding water was not difficult to walk; I walked 22,262 steps.
We saw sinkholes small and big ones caused by salt in the ground having been dissolved by sweet water from rain or fresh water springs seeping into cracks in the ground after the level of salt water had fallen. The concentration of salt in the Dead Sea is 34%, almost 10 times saltier than the ocean.
The Dead Sea or in Hebrew the Salt Sea is now 40 meters lower that in the 1970’s, so we walked on what was once at the bottom of the sea; in some places it felt wet because of humidity having been absorbed by the salt.
In other places it had turned into different shapes and formations some very strong and hard like rock, some soft, some crispy.
Once upon a time a tree fell and flowed into the Dead Sea and it got transformed into a fossil by the salt and then sank to the bottom of the sea, to be revealed after the water level retracted.
The salt also had turned into hard stalactite, if you fall on them you will start to bleed, so I was careful not to fall.
Hollow spaces were created or craved out by salt being removed by sweet water but a cover like an eggshell was left behind; in some places there were salt sticks.
If you were unaware and stepped on them, they crack noisily and you feel you fall into a hole.
Then it happened a gorge appeared, a hole in the ground with 30 meters high walls and below water was flowing fast, an incredible sight in the desert. No trees, no plants, very few birds.
A secret River
The white beach is not snow or white sand but white salt.
According to our guide things here change every week, the walls collapse and reveal white salt walls with lines of strong red color; near the edge you see huge cracks in the ground which will fall sooner or later, not to stand there on in case your weight will cause it to collapse.
The carving out of this river has occurred over the last 40 years with water flowing summer and winter, water is pumped from the northern basin of the Dead Sea, into the evaporation potash pools to be directed back into the Dead Sea through this river that is more than 10 km long.
It is unbelievable and amazingly beautiful, and completely unexpected. It could be considered a geological laboratory, if you compare to another natural treasure, like the Grand Canyon in USA there it is estimated to have taken 5-8 million years to carve out the canyon.
Salt absorbed humidity; various salt forms
A road that was made 1.5 years ago has been disrupted by a huge sinkhole so the only way there , to get to the river is walking and hiking.
This is a place without any shadow at all, no trees so we were walking outside in the sun for 6.5 hours; but it was worth it.
It is a real shame that this place is hidden from the many; it is amazingly beautiful, a unique geological phenomenon, a treasure to value and should be prepared for the many to see and enjoy.
TAG: Dead Sea, Secret River, Sink holes, walking and hiking
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