Segment 19 - Tel Afek to Tel Aviv, along the Yarkon River * September 25, 2010. Officially it's now autumn. Our clocks have already been switched to winter (standard) time. But judging from the extreme and unbearable heat, it is still summer. That made it tough to be on the Israel Trail during the week of Succot, but we were eager to get back into the hiking mode. To begin our hiking season I selected a easy segment close to home, along the Yarkon river. I gave Yuval the choice of direction. He prefered to end the hike in Ramat Hahayal where ice-cream and frozen yoghurt shops would await us. Our group comprised just 10 hikers, mostly core members and a couple guests, after several last-minute cancellations. We began our hike just outside the Tel Afek National Park, at the Rosh HaAyin train station, shortly before 8 a.m. The sky was overcast and the air…
