Snow Time on the Israel Trail

Snow Time on the Israel Trail

Heavy rain postponed our monthly Israel Trail hike from December to January. Heavy rain the day before our January hike changed the plan again. For safety reasons, we would skip the Lower Nahal Dishon segment, and do the Upper Nahal Dishon segment. As luck would have it, overnight the temperatures dropped to freezing. The rain turned to snow, and we began our hike in Nachal Tzivon with snow on the ground. Tia and I had spent the previous night in a guest room on Kibbutz Tzivon, arriving just before the snow started falling. I didn’t think it would last long, and was surprised to find snow on my car in the morning. Fortunately, the sun was shining, and temperatures warmed just enough to melt the ice on the roads.
Family History on the Israel Trail

Family History on the Israel Trail

Segment 3 – Yesha Fortress to Nahal Dishon (Alma Bridge) *   Our eleventh hike on the Israel National Trail began at the Yesha Fortress (also called Metzudat Ko'ah) overlooking the Hulah Valley. In the early days of Israel's War of Independence, April-May 1948, the Palmach 3rd Regiment waged three battles with the Arabs before gaining control of the fortress. The weather forecast predicted high temperatures, and indeed it was a hot day. But that did not stop 17 hikers from showing up for today's trail adventure. Our group this time included three couples of friends from Maccabim who had not yet hiked the trail with us. One of our newcomer friends was Alon Friedman, who was about to see something he was probably not expecting. Moments after starting the hike, we crossed Route 899 and entered the grounds of Nebi Yusha, a mosque…