Trip 19: Golan Getaway: November 22, 2020: Mitzpeh to Ein Poriya (12km)

Trip 19:  Present:  Elli, Leora, Bruria, Cheftzi and Netanel. (12 km)

Corona is still with us.  And life has been a bit limited.  Our kids have been learning remotely from their bedrooms and I have been teaching remotely from my bedroom.  

Every corner in our home has been transformed into a virtual workspace.  Although my 9 year old has gone back to actual school, recently,  many activities which flavored his week have not resumed such as afternoon activities.  

Socializing has also been very limited.  It's hard to plan things like vacations or outings.  When my 9 year old couldn't sleep one night, and finally came downstairs crying softly uttering the following epiphany, 

"I can't fall asleep because I have no tomorrow... There's nothing to look forward to...". 

I realized that we had better plan something and I decided to take a day off of our routine and hit the trail.  

Seeing as we have done many sections closer to home, we needed to be venturing further from home to cover ground on the trail.  Given that it's winter again, the weather is great but the days are shorter.  This means that we need to plan to stay over, the night before the trip, in order to cover ground.

We stayed at our good friends, the Tamam family, who live in Chispin in the lower Golan.  We planned to get on the trail which circles the West side of the sea of Galilee.   The beginning of this section was urban.  We walked through Mitzpeh, a high community overlooking the Sea of Galile.  But after the first 2 km we entered a forest called Switzerland Forest.   Having been to Switzerland, I can tell you that it's nothing like it, but for Israeli standards it was very lovely, indeed.  Due to the season it was lush and green.  It's still early in the season for wild flowers but the view, the clear air and the scenery of the forest were a feast to our senses.   

What was noteworthy of this forest is that the path was paved.  The whole section would have been wonderful on bikes, or for older people who prefer level footing, or for wheelchair access.  In addition to the paved paths there were "singles" paths for off road riding, as well.

Although there was water at the start of this forest as well as a few km into the trail, we did not like the taste of it and chose not to fill our water bottles with it.  I would recomend carrying the water you need for this trip.

Ending where we did at Ein Poriya was problematic....taxis couldn't find it and we ended up walking 2 extra km to get to a more well-known road. 

I would recommend continuing on the trail to road 90 and getting a taxi from there.  Or else getting picked up slightly earlier on the 767, about a km West of 90.

I really recommend this section for all ages and the direction was key because it was more downhill than uphill.  The first 2 km were a shallow uphill climb and the rest was a gradual descent.

For pictures of this day, click here.

Trip 18: Tel Aviv Park Yarkon to Ramat HaChayal

 Present:  Elli, Leora, Bruria, Cheftzi, Netanel, July 22, 2020

A lovely, flat urban trip, perfect for a summer afternoon.  Although Tel Aviv is hot in summer.  This urban trail is easy to walk and if you get started in the afternoon and walk into the evening, it is even pleasant.  We enjoyed the atmosphere of Tel Aviv and being among a lot of sporty people biking and running along Tel Aviv city trails. For photos of this day, click here.

Trip 17: (South to North) From Ga'ash Beach to Poleg Beach

June 17, 2020

Present:  Leora, Bruria, Cheftzi, Netanel

Length:  8:6 km

Trip 17:  Ga'ash Beach to Poleg Beach 

Beautiful lookout point along the trail.  We are way above the shore line.

View from the bridge

We saw people getting ready to take off in a hang glider

This trip was hard!  Most of this section was spent walking on small sand dunes on a cliff above the beach below.  It is beautiful to walk alongside these cliffs.  It was afternoon and the sun was setting and the breeze off the water was delicious and refreshing.  But walking on sand takes a lot longer and wears you down!  

I've seen people walk "the shvil" in sandals, and in this case I can understand it.  Walking in sport shoes and socks in any depth of dry sand, one cannot avoid filling one's shoes and socks with sand.  We stopped occasionally to pour out the sand, because you eventually feel as though there is no longer any room in your shoe for your foot !

At one point you stray from the dunes and cross the highway over a bridge.  It's always startling to realize how close you are to civilization at all times.  

  

This point is at the Yakum Junction.  At the foot of the bridge there is a bus stop.  This is a good place for someone to meet you halfway, if they wish to join you by bus, or leave you.  

When you cross the bridge there is a gas station and several restaurants.  It's a great place for refilling water and even stopping for a meal if you have the time.  We made a short stop just to pour sand out of our shoes, buy a cold bottle of water and use the washrooms.  

Shortly after this stop, you travel into a lovely nature reserve called:  Udim Reserve.  The sights here are distinctly different.  It is less urban and more wild.  Here, you walk on a trail.  It is sometimes rocky and only a bit of the way at the beginning is paved.  This is a lot easier.  There is also some shade from higher trees in this area.   Eventually you cross back towards Poleg beach, but this time, you cross under the highway in an underpass through a ravine.  

We had planned to start at around 4 pm, which would have given us an hour to swim at the beach before sunset.  However unexpected traffic, as well as the slower pace we managed while walking on the sand brought us to the end just 15 minutes before nightfall.  That didn't stop Netanel from swimming!  

We were under a bit of pressure to get to the end by that time, because once you cross the highway and leave the shops of Yakum, there are no more opportunities to meet a taxi or end the trail early.  You need to either keep going or turn around.  The Udim Reserve is not lit up and it would have been hard to navigate in the dark.

In fact, we had wanted to start this section, 2 km South, at Shfayim Beach.  But when we saw that traffic was getting in our way, we realized that we had better cut the trip short - and it's a good thing we did!  Had we not done this, we would have had to end at Yakum.  

So at some time in the future we'll go to Ga'ash beach and while we're there, we will walk the 2 km South in order to complete the continuous shoreline section.

I had not expected to see so many flowers.  By this time of the year, the winter wild flowers have died and things are mostly beige-brown in our area of the country.  However on this trip there was a lot of green and there were the unexpected colors of summer wild flowers.  These tend to be succulents or non-leafy flowers.  But the colors pop in the dry landscape.  I took pictures of the flora.  

Here are some beautiful pictures from that day.

Trip number 16: Poleg Beach to Sanz Beach (Netanya) 31.5.20

31.5.20 Poleg Beach to Sanz Beach (Netanya)

Present:  Leora and Netanel

Length:  8.6 km

I cannot help starting every one of my posts with the words:  "Best day ever!"  When you have a beautiful trail, beautiful weather and wonderful company on your side, how can it not be?

We were fortunate to have been invited for the Shavuot Holiday to our dear friends The Katz's who live in Netanya.  We gladly accepted the warm offer in anticipation of the wonderful gift of the company of friends.  This is not to be taken for granted in this period of the Covid 19 Pandemic.  In Israel, restrictions are being gradually lifted and it has become possible to socialize with one additional family, keeping in mind the need for social distancing and strict hygiene.  

We enjoyed perfect month of May weather.  Cool breezes and clear skies amounted to pure joy at being out of doors.  We spent a lot of time over the holiday and the adjoining Shabbat walking outside, visiting the shore and relaxing on the promenade of Netanya.

While the rest of the family had to get back home right after the Shabbat, Netanel and I took the opportunity of being in that area of the country for walking on "the Shvil".  We put an additional 8.6 km under our belt.  Truly although it was only 8.6 km in length, we saw so many gorgeous and educational sculptures, parks and monuments as well as nature conservation areas and idyllic beaches, it is hard to believe that the trip was only 8.6 km long.

We started walking at 11 am at Poleg beach.  The path goes right next to a conservation area called:  "The Iris Conservation Area," named for the exceptional irises that grow wild there during the month of February.  The month of February is the month to be outdoors with so many special wild flowers abound.  Try to make this work, as well as Givat HaTurmusim also along "Shvil Israel".  

We weren't able to see any iris flowers, as it was the month of May, but we did enjoy other aspects of the conservation area.  This whole 8 km section of the Shvil can be done with a bike and it is beautifully paved for older people who like flat and steady paths.  

This conservation area is built up and is also currently being worked on to allow for an underground passageway for wildlife.  Although this sounds like remote nature, all of these sites are within the residential urban life of Netanya.

The entire section was impeccably well marked.  I never had a moment of doubt as to whether we were still on the path.  All I needed to do was look up and I would see an indicator.  Even on this little lane, you can see the marking above the small fenced doorway:

This picture is the border of the nature conservation area.  Behind and to the side was all nature and thousands of kingfisher birds, interspersed are residential buildings and beyond is the sea.  After the first 2 km described above the rest of the path was along the stunning and highly developed promenade.  Walking in the sunshine, I couldn't help marvel at the fact that I was never sweating, rather always fanned with cool refreshing air.  Bear in mind we walked during the "heat of the day" from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, yet we were comfortable as can be the full way.  In another month or so, the humidity and heat would return to Netanya, however, it is possible that along the promenade you would continue to be cooled by the sea breeze.  

 

I think this section could also be done at night, as the entire promenade is lit.  Along the way, there were parks at least every km.  Some were for adults, as in exercise parks, others were designed for kids of all ages.  There was a great skate park for rollerblading and skateboarding and towards the end a flat rink, as well.  In Poleg area, there was a science park with scientific structures to use and learn about, all accompanied with audio explanation.  Above is a sundial, which my son figured out how to read.  It's a good place to bring soda cans to compress into flat discs - just for fun!  but also, to learn about recycling.  

I laugh to consider that I actually hesitated about taking this "day off" school for my 8-year-old son.  I was worried he might "fall behind".  But the school of life taught him more than a semester of school could have ever managed to do.  He is intimately familiar with the map of Israel, as well as navigating skills:  North, South, East, West are not merely textbook concepts.  Rather skills that can get him where he needs to go.  He is also uncannily good at estimating how long we have travelled and how much there is left to go.  I guess this too comes with the experience.  When you've walked 10km at a time as often as he has, you get to know the feeling of the half-way point, and you know what to expect even before measuring on your app how far you've walked so far! 

At the science park, he experimented with Pythagoras’s theory, transferring energy, mass vs. volume, and so much more.  Don't miss it!  We passed a large monument commemorating the Holocaust with an actual boxcar transported from Nazi Germany.   An artistic monument of tribute to the Red Army for the role it played in liberating Jews from the Holocaust and many other interesting monuments dotted the trail, as well.   Reading is done at all the monuments and sculptures and curiosity and questioning happens all day long with an adult around with whom to talk it all over.  Could any school do better than that?

Beautiful flower beds and scenic views abound.   Towards the end of this section, just before "the elevator beach" the Shvil goes down to the sand.  We decided to walk this section on the promenade, instead, because we knew that we would go down to the sand after completing the section, nearer to where we were staying.   It's fine to make these adjustments and the app lets you know how far you are from the path in order to reunite to it at any time. We ended the day with a great kosher meal at Reuben's right on the beach (the best French fries I've ever tasted).  Netanel asked them for the recipe, however, although they appreciated the compliment, they informed him that it's a secret recipe.  

After restoring body and soul, we changed into bathing suits, rented chairs and stayed at the beach until sundown.  Did I mention that it was the perfect day?

I highly recommend this section for families at any time of the year, night or day.

Click for the album from pictures of this day.

Trip 15: Churvat Chanut (נחל מטע) to Begin Park 25.5.20

Present:  Netanel and Tsvi

Date:  25.5.20

Length:  9.6 km

Tsvi and Netanel went out on an afternoon journey not far from our home.  It was a lovely afternoon and Tsvi was available, however, it was not early in the day, so the location needed to be close.  

Just such a location presented itself and the two of them left the house at 3:00 pm, walked for 2 hours liesurely and managed to complete a 9km section by evening.  We easily picked them up and returned them to Tsvi's car.  

Here is a link to the album of that experience.

Trip 14: Brothers' and Sisters' trip! From Paatei Modiin to Bet Nechemya - May 6, 2020

Present:  Chananya, Tsvi, Bruria, Cheftzi, Netanel (14 km)

Click here for the video summary of the trip by Cheftziva Davids

The night before there was an unseasonal thunderstorm and heavy rain.  I'm attaching some dramatic photos from the South of Israel from that night.

Our plan was actually to take advantage of the mild weather and continue our way Southwards.  However, due to the unseasonable rain in the South, we decided the night before to rethink our course. 

Naturally, the day after a rain in May is a special day to get out and feel the freshness of nature.  The air was indeed cool and fresh.  This trip set out at around 9:30 in the morning, which meant that although the day was mild, they were walking through the heat of the day, which even in winter can be intense.  This section had quite a lot of elevated areas, so there were seveeral climbs from which you had to come back down.  There was a nice amount of shade through Ben Shemen Forest.   

The bathrooms and water utilities were closed due to Corona, but we were able to buy cold water from a food truck at Neot Kedumim. 

You can see where we are in the spring - summer season, based on the tiny buds of the grape vine growing.

This trip was special because 5 of the Davids children did it together, no parents involved.  Only Israel, wasn't there because he is still in the army.  In fact, he was recently in lockdown in the army for more than 50 days due to the Corona virus outbreak.  This was the first day since the outbreak of the virus and the subsequent restrictions to people's freedom of movement, that people were officially allowed to go on hikes.  There was no limit on distance. 

Towards the end was a beautiful look out at Tel Chadid. 

To see more pictures from this special day, click here.