Hiking in Qadisha Valley

Yesterday’s hike in Qadisha was beautiful and some badly needed exercise for me too. The hike was supposed to be a level 6 hike (though in the end we were not able to complete the full hike due to a couple of slower walkers - not me, I swear!).


We left Beirut at about 8 in the morning and drove north along the coast for a while before turning inland and up into the mountains. After about an hour and a half we arrived at our starting point, at an altitude of about 900m. There are mountains of well over 3000m in this range but they were not the schedule for today’s trek. We hiked through various valleys and along some ridges, stopping off at a monastery that initiated the Middle East's first printing press and dates back about 1000 years (and where it is possible to overnight), a hermitage (where we had lunch) and a historic church.

The group was a mix of Lebanese and foreigners and the atmosphere was friendly and communal. In all we hiked for about five and half hours, nothing too strenuous for a serious hiker but a decent walk. As I said there are all kinds of options in these mountains and most importantly of all everything was well organised and run and our guide, Michel, really knows the mountains of Lebanon very well, and was the brains behind the Lebanon Mountain Trail, a project that developed trails together so you can now walk from north to south all the way across the country. We stopped off for ice-cream in a popular place on the way back and a couple of beers too. A thoroughly enjoyable day.

- David