Trip 5 - Mitzpeh Mesuah to Netiv Halamed Heh (South to North)

Mitzpeh Mesuah to Netiv Halamed Heh

Jan. 4, 2019

Present:  Leora and Netanel

After a few weeks of on and off rain I was so eager to get out into nature to see the glorious beauty of the country, decorated in its finest lushest green, bejeweled in bright wildflowers.  In order for this to happen,  I needed to wait for a dry spell of a few days of sun.  Doing this section on wet earth would have been unpleasant and mildly dangerous as there were sections of descent on the rocky, muddy ground.  The dry spell had to coincide with a Friday, which is my day off from work.  Exactly such a Friday presented itself a few days ago.  A sunny Friday, after a stretch of 3 dry days.  The ground was completely dry in areas of clearing, and in areas of forest, the ground was almost dry.  Still, there were some slightly slippery patches.  

First Calanit

Wild Iris 

Netanel took the day off school and he and I headed out at about 10:30, once again to Mitzpeh Mesuah, this time, heading North to Netiv Halamed Heh.  This was one of my favorite trips.  The breathtaking freshness of the forest and the air kept me spell-bound.  We sighted the first "calaniyot," the red poppy that carpets the fields later in the season.  

We saw the first "rakafot," the pink wildflowers which seem to sprout from the rock.  We found a tiny turtle, possibly newly hatched, and later a mature one, too.  We also saw a wild iris plant in bloom.  The almond trees had yet to blossom, that will likely happen in about two weeks from now on Tu Bishvat.  Birds were chirping and we sighted two deer!.  We saw mushrooms of all sorts, too.  

All-in-all, doing the shvil in the winter is an entirely different experience than the summer.  We are going to try to utilize the winter months in order to cover as much as possible.  This coming Friday Chananya plans to take Netanel out, to continue our trail Southwards from where we left off at Tel Afek.

We learned that this lovely plant, called סירפד in Hebrew, stings like an electric shock!  However, it has very good medicinal qualities and can be eaten and brewed as tea!  Just don't walk through it, like we did.  You often see it used as a border to a cultivated field, to prevent people and animals from passing through.  Note it's serrated edges... I noticed them and thought they looked ominous... and I was right!  However, it's not dangerous.  So long as you don't itch the sting, it does go away.  

Here is an album of a few more photos of that spectacular day.  You can drink in the lush green surroundings. The Whole Album from this day

Here is a video of Netanel showing the turtles.  baby turtle - start of the trail

Here is a video of Netanel miraculously finding another large turtle (they look just like rocks!) towards the end of the day.  big turtle - end of the trail

Trip 4 - Tel Lachish to Tel Keshet

Present:  Elli, Bruria, Cheftzi, Netanel

Dec. 3, 2018

This was our Chanuka trip.  We decided to travel Southward from Tel Lachish to Tel Keshet (North to South).  This was the first trip we had taken after the rains had begun, so the weather was so gorgeous and the experience was overall so much easier than our past trips!  The previous trip had been on Isru Chag Succot, and the weather was significantly warmer.  Even then, it was easier going than the summer-time, but it can't compare to the pleasant chill of an Israeli winter on a sunny day.  The kids kept exclaiming:  "We didn't even sweat!"  

By this point, the family has become seasoned at this sort of 10-13km day walk, which we can complete in between 4-6 hours, depending on how often we stop for exploring,  photographing, or resting.  They know exactly what to bring for food, too, so they are not carrying around extra loads.  On this trip, each person brought their own water (2 L), 2 fruits, raisins, nuts, and a granola bar.  The light-weight experience was very liberating.  The whole outing occurred between 11 am and 3:30 pm.   

This part of the "Shvil," was completely flat, which was unique to our overall experience, as well.  The kids noted that they could have done the whole thing by bike.  The path wasn't paved, it was a dirt path, but it wasn't rocky and it was very flat.  The scenic views of green rolling hills, vineyards and blue sky caused them all to agree that they would love to repeat this section over again by bike.

Part of the path is alongside Road 6, it is interesting to see the constructional development of Southern cities in this area of the country.

Enjoy our pictures from this trip!  Click here to see pictures