Day 4: Gimzo to Latrun Monastery

On our fourth day we again hiked in on-and-off drizzles, through forests and up hills to great lookouts. We saw our first sheep just before stopping for lunch at (one of my favs) Aroooohhhhmaaaaa. :-D

And after lunch we saw our first cows of the hike. In the north you see cows every day, so it was a great kind of throwback to see them again. The day went pretty smoothly, until right near the end.

As we were actually in sight of the end, we had to walk along a dirt road paralleling the highway. Well, it once was a dirt road. The day we were there it was a great long mud monster that grasped at our feet and pulled us down every step of the way. It wasn't raining on us, but we could see rain spotting the horizon, and it was quite disheartening not to be able to speed up.

But we made it to pavement just as the rain hit, and not too long afterwards made it to the end of our day at the Latrun Monastery. And we were greeted by a stunning double rainbow, to boot!

Then it was dinner and catching a bus to Messilat Zion where we'd made reservations at a guest house in the Moshav. We had to take two buses. First we had actually to bypass the turn to MZ, and then get on another bus going back, which would turn down to the side road. When we exited the first and I refreshed the GPS for more details on the next step, it told me there was no way to get to Messilat Zion from our location. Well. Silly technology is no match for us. Bum buddah daaaahhh!!! We used our eyes and our brains and found a way! (Actually it turned out to be super easy, and we don't know why the gps couldn't figure it out. We just followed street signs and walked along the perfectly normal sidewalk under the freeway to the bus stop. Go figure.)
We were very pleased with how things had worked out...and then we missed our stop. Haha. But even then it wasn't so bad. We called the guest house to let them know what happened and that we'd be a bit later than expected, and then the husband decided he ought to come pick us up! (It would have been a ten min walk from the right bus stop anyway, so it was very nice of him to come get us.)
The place we stayed would be idyllic in the right season. It was a bit cold and wet when we were there, but I'd love to go back in the late spring or early fall. The room was small, but cozy, and the bathroom and shower were outside a few yards away. The shower was so beautiful, though! With rocks and plants around the showerhead so you feel like you're showering under a waterfall, but the water is not so heavy as that, and you're not actually outside.

Past the bathroom and shower there was an indoor kitchen and lounge, and several outdoor lounge-type areas. So perfect for visiting or writing or just relaxing and enjoying the sights and smells of all the citrus trees around the yard, and the calm drifting of the fish in the little pond.

We laid out our packs and clothes and poles and boots to dry and called it a night. (I tried to get up and join an ORID board meeting at 4am, but the wifi didn't work out. Bummer. I went back to sleep, and in the morning we dawdled a bit as we listened to the morning rains coming down.) We enjoyed the tea and coffee they had available in the kitchen, and then head out as the rain cleared up. Heading backwards along the trail for Day 5!