It's not clear to me what these points are--is it an area of loose dirt where everyone buries their supplies so they won't be stolen? Has anyone thought of creating a system based on issuing keys to hikers and having something like a big "bear box" on site so you can unlock it to get to your supplies? Do people ever use 5 gallon plastic bins like what drywall putty comes in to put their food inside? Or do they just wrap it in a plastic bag and hope for the best (and hope nobody else decides to help themselves to your stuff)?

So like, where does one find a shovel to dig with, as we must be talking a pretty big hole? (Is this done in one big excursion before one leaves on the actual hike, going from SP to SP in a taxi and a rented shovel in hand?)

And another related question re: water/resupply--the book describes water you come across in the desert. Aren't any of these waterfalls or streams considered reliable enough to use in the springtime? Calling ahead for water drops seems so counter to a wilderness experience. I'm just trying to figure out how to be the least dependent upon other humans and have this hike be as straightforward wilderness as possible.

On page 32 you have 2 tel. numbers to contact and they take you on a full day caching trip. There's an additional tel. # in the updates.

They bring a shovel, and yes it's a large hole.

You cannot rely on wilderness to find water, not even in the north. In the desert this season all water pits are empty.

I think that south of Arad it rained only once and it was in October. 

2008/09 is probably the worst drought in more than a decade.

The only way to survive the desert is caching water.

I think they do not charge for "each site" but rather do the whole desert in one ride. 

It is NIS 1500-1600 per trip (approx.), which is ~$400. If it's only you who hire them, it is not cheap.

4-7 groups share the cost (1 person from each group of hikers makes the trip ) and then it becomes

$60-100 per group or $6-10 for each cache. If you hike with a partner then it's $3 - 5 for you. This is not expensive.

When you get to Israel contact again all three of them and find out when you can join other groups for a caching trip.

Make the trip, cache the water, and continue your hike from the place you stopped.

I appreciate your offer. I'm still trying to figure out if the trip is affordable! Not to be a pain in the butt, but what's the probability of showing up, say, the last week of March, contacting any of the three service providers and discovering that there are four or five others who just happen to be leaving the same time you are and all all planning to cache water at the same time? Or is it more likely you'd have to wait a week or more? Or be lucky to find just one other who's time frame syncs with yours for sharing expenses? I know hiking is all about rolling with the unexpected, but money is the last place I want the unexpected to hit!