Ussifiyah to Yagur with Al–Hashvil, guided by Elyashiv Weiss
Photo album: Israel Trail Hike 2023-05-18
A milestone reached: This is my 40th blog post, for my 40th hike on the Israel Trail. But I’ve repeated segments. So my quest to hike the entire trail is not nearly complete.
This hike was a short and sweet. I’m not sure whether the organizes cut out the end portion to avoid hiking in midday heat. Or to avoid hiking on paved roads in and around villages. Or to avoid unappealing views of farm clutter and junk piles commonly found in such areas. Regardless, it was nice to finish a hike still feeling energized, especially because I was driving solo this time.
The hike was also completely downhill.
We walked only a short distance before reaching the David Eisen lookout point. This site is one of the few in Israel that commemorates the War of Attrition (July 1967 to August 1970) on the Egyptian front. The war was fought against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, and about half of Israel’s 968 casualties were killed on the Egyptian front. This site was dedicated 1973 in memory of Lieutenant Eisen and seven of his comrades who fell along the Suez Canal.
A topographical relief map of the Sinai and Egypt (a later addition to the memorial) dominates the site. Taking a closer look, I found the locations where my husband Yuval served as a soldier in the IDF (1971-1974) and during the Yom Kippur War.
The trail was easy to hike. It was mostly a walk-and-talk kind of day.
In fact, I believe I spent more time chatting than taking photographs.
The massive Mount Carmel forest fire in 2010 that destroyed 40,00 dunams (nearly 10,000 acres) did not reach this side of the mountain. As a result, this segment of the Israel Trail is shaded and thick with vegetation.
We occasionally emerged into a sunny spot.
And enjoyed a few vista points looking north towards the western Galilee.
The path was a series of switchbacks — what Israelis call a “serpentine trail”.
A momentary opening in the forest provided a view across Nahal Maapilim to some interesting geological formations.
The final descent from Mount Carmel into Kibbutz Yagur.
This was the most challenging portion of the hike. But we completed it in just minutes. It was not nearly as intense as the final portion on our previous hike — the bouldering descent from Mount Carmel to the Pitchat Nahal Oren campground.
Our final stop at the historical train station in Kibbutz Yagur.
Springtime flowers were still in blossom and decorating the trail. Purple and yellow are the dominant colors at this time of year.
The complete set of photos in a Flickr album: Israel Trail Hike 2023-05-18
