19 January 2007

BEIRUT: It is easy to understand how one living in Beirut could become so distracted by either the tumultuous politics or the exuberant night-life that they forget there are countless other sites - archeological, literary, historical and natural - to be seen in Lebanon. The Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT) project aims to connect dozens of such sites while developing rural economies with a walking path slicing vertically through Lebanon's countryside.

Halfway through their two-year grant from US Agency for International Development, the Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT) has digitally compiled a map of the entire 340-kilometer route, among other achievements such as editing the first edition of a guidebook and legally establishing the LMT Association. 

Today, the trail, which winds through or near 75 villages, is 90 percent "walkable" although a formal launch will not be until early summer. (It had been scheduled for last August but was postponed due to the summer 2006 war with Israel). The LMT project is being implemented by Ecodit, a private for-profit environmental consultancy.

A weekly meeting at the LMT office in Baabda finds the four regional coordinators and the deputy chief of project charting the trail's progress around a table cluttered with maps, first-aid kits and computers.

In the North, the LMT begins in al-Qobaiyet, weaving in between forests of juniper, oak and fir trees, passing by the Khalil Gebran museum and the Qadisha Valley.

Next the trail takes walkers past sinkholes and caves. Lebanon's longest cave is five kilometers long. "It's for the experienced and requires ropes and ladders," explains Gilbert Moukheiber, the northern Mount Lebanon coordinator, himself a practiced spelunker and member of the Red Cross.

Continuing, one passes three monasteries and a section known as the Baskinta Literary Trail, which boasts several literary landmarks related to Amin Maalouf, Khalil Gebran, Mikhael Naimy and others.

Occasionally, the path elevates to nearly 1,800 meters, a slight exception to the self-imposed criteria of keeping the path between 1,000-1,500 meters. "We didn't want to drop too much below 1,000 meters or it would have become too urbanized," explains Karim el-Jisr, deputy chief of party of the LMT project.

Despite the good intentions to remove walkers from the city, most of trail will have cell phone signals.

The high elevation continues into the Chouf Nature Reserve. "We chose to walk higher so people could see below," said Jisr. From this height, walkers can look over the Bekaa Valley and Lebanon's only lake. Past waterfalls near Jezzine and places for Lebanese emirs hiding from the Ottoman Army, the trail moves south.

Half of the 340 kilometers are existing trails, a little more than a third are agricultural roads and the rest are being cleared as connector paths and the LMT plans to add markers and signs to aid the hikers.

The originally planned route in South Lebanon had to be diverted at Niha, instead of heading due south until Marjayoun. The LMT turns eastward to avoid areas littered with cluster bombs that were fired by Israel during the summer war. Flatter than the northern regions, the southern track offers areas for bird watching and a chance to visit traditional farmhouses and markets.

Ecodit is currently working with villagers, explaining the concept of a "walking trail" and the benefits it could bring to their pockets.

"Some villages have been exceptional," Jisr says. "Others are more skeptical and not sure if they want foreigners sleeping in their homes," he adds, referring to Ecodit's goal of establishing bed and breakfasts along the route.

But like nature itself, the route is not fixed in stone. "Even the best line will change.

Things will force it to update. People will be sending in comments saying why don't you use this route or go through this village," says Jisr. "So we'll check out the comments and make adjustments as we go."

For more information about the Lebanon Mountain Trail project, please call +961 5 955 303 or visit www.lebanontrail.org.