Wadi El Salib(full trail/3 peaks) - Bekaatet Kanaan - Zabbougha
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 15.56 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3,911 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Difficult
- Elevation loss
- 3,911 ft
- Max elevation
- 4,083 ft
- TrailRank
-
82
4.7
- Min elevation
- 1,875 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Moving time
- 5 hours 46 minutes
- Time
- 8 hours 3 minutes
- Coordinates
- 4374
- Uploaded
- January 8, 2021
- Recorded
- January 2021
near Ech Chattoûh, Mont-Liban (Lebanon)
Viewed 2315 times, downloaded 34 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
In this trail i tried to combine two common loops. Starting from Wadi El Salib, following the northern branch of Nahr El Kalb, passing by Kfardebian, Bekaatet Kanaan, Zabbougha and back to the starting point in Wadi El Salib from a different valley, where the southern branch of Nahr El Kalb runs while avoiding paved roads.
I did all the trails available in Wadi El Salib, Starting with Sentier St. Rafqua where u reach an old bridge and u mount to the three villages surrounding it: Feytroun following Sentier de la Riviere, Qlaeiat following Sentier Yatoun and Kfardebian via Sentier Al 3aqbé (From Feytroun to Qlaeiat i wanted to follow Sentier El Jouar so i dont go forth and back on the same trail, but unfortunately El Jouar was inaccessible and unclear at all!!)
U’ll be enchanted wiz the extravagant sound of river and birds and the exquisite gust of breeze in this valley.
Next, is a wander in the beautiful village of Kfardebian, from where you can see the Peak of Mzaar, sadly not covered with snow at this time of the year.
Later, you start descending in a valley until u reach the southern stream of Nahr El Kalb where u have to cross it and start ascending towards Bekaatet Kanaan. U’ll pass by the huge dam thats still under construction and later u arrive to the monastery of Saydet Zaraaya. After comes the adventurous part, which wasnt easy at all but definitely rewarding. And i highly recommend for amateur not to do it without an EXPERT GUIDE. But at least now you know thats doable. Here i had to venture in cliffs and valleys hoping to be able to reach the trail that leads from Zabbougha to Wadi El Salib but i finally succeeded. In this part try to seek ur own path, dnt follow me blindly.
I ddnt reach Zabbougha, i caught the trail from beneath it that leads to the bottom of the valley.
The descent from Zabbougha to Wadi El Salib is amazing.
I did all the trails available in Wadi El Salib, Starting with Sentier St. Rafqua where u reach an old bridge and u mount to the three villages surrounding it: Feytroun following Sentier de la Riviere, Qlaeiat following Sentier Yatoun and Kfardebian via Sentier Al 3aqbé (From Feytroun to Qlaeiat i wanted to follow Sentier El Jouar so i dont go forth and back on the same trail, but unfortunately El Jouar was inaccessible and unclear at all!!)
U’ll be enchanted wiz the extravagant sound of river and birds and the exquisite gust of breeze in this valley.
Next, is a wander in the beautiful village of Kfardebian, from where you can see the Peak of Mzaar, sadly not covered with snow at this time of the year.
Later, you start descending in a valley until u reach the southern stream of Nahr El Kalb where u have to cross it and start ascending towards Bekaatet Kanaan. U’ll pass by the huge dam thats still under construction and later u arrive to the monastery of Saydet Zaraaya. After comes the adventurous part, which wasnt easy at all but definitely rewarding. And i highly recommend for amateur not to do it without an EXPERT GUIDE. But at least now you know thats doable. Here i had to venture in cliffs and valleys hoping to be able to reach the trail that leads from Zabbougha to Wadi El Salib but i finally succeeded. In this part try to seek ur own path, dnt follow me blindly.
I ddnt reach Zabbougha, i caught the trail from beneath it that leads to the bottom of the valley.
The descent from Zabbougha to Wadi El Salib is amazing.
Waypoints
Photo
1,969 ft
Ruins
Intersection
Religious site
Bridge
Panorama
River
Archaeological site
Comments (5)
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I have followed this trail View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Difficult
Hello Ray! Thank you for this amazing loop and the detailed desciption that answered most of my questions. I already made different parts of this loop separately. As you mentioned, "El Jwar" trail from Qleiaat to Feytroun is inexistant. I tried to find it many times from Qleiaat side and Feytroun side without success. Probably this trail existed in the past but it's now blocked with trees and thick bushes. There's another trail that i couldn't find as well: The Christ trail that goes parallel to the valley trail and interesects with the trail going up to Kfardebian. Experienced hikers may find their way here but hikers exploring wadi el salib should not try these 2 parts marked on their way: El Jouar and Christ trails for they are not blazed at all. The 3 summits trail recorded here is already amazing and recommended for all hikers. For the rest of the hike, i can feel your adventurous spirit Ray! The part from Deir Zeraaya to the trail going from Zabbougha to the river is very difficult and is reserved only for experienced and tough hikers. As you mentioned in your description, there are no trails here and one should find his path and this is awesome :) This is the only reason i choosed 3 stars for "Easy to follow". For hikers who want to enjoy this beautiful loop while avoiding this tough part, they can walk on the road from Deir Zeraaya to Zabbougha then catch the trail to the valley. Thank you again Ray and looking forward for a beautiful adventure together!
Thank u Rami for rating my trail and ur elucidated reply.
Very well said regarding the last tricky part. Being new in describing a trail i did, i felt its my duty to elaborate to people what to expect.
You described the trail perfectly. The more we describe a trail, the better we help people. Hikers should know what to expect before hitting a trail.
Some of my old recordings done without the app and without waypoints are not really useful. Reliable recordings are import but are not really useful without waypoints and good descriptions. Thank you again. Stay safe during lockdown and keep hiking after :)
I have followed this trail verified View more
Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Experts only
Beautiful trail hy endurance
I'll faut le faire en printemps pour le longue journee