The third day I woke early, and spent quite some time with my first aid kit, bandaids, and moleskin getting my feet ready for the day. I accepted a to-go cup of coffee, and head back to the trail.
The morning call of the parrots reminded me of my childhood. :)
The first part of the trail felt mystical in the morning mist. And then I was greeted by a military unit doing some kind of training. At first they were all running up the trail past me one after another at various intervals. Then I passed a field, and I could see them all running with maps in hand, clearly following some kind of directions (and it looked like perhaps each had different ones or something). The soldiers I passed earlier on were polite, but clearly exhausted. A bit later they were exhausted and looked a bit stressed. Then I think I must have come into a second group. They looked much less tired, smiling, and greeting me with the full, "Boker tov" rather than the shortened, good-for-greeting-while-panting, "Tov." But it was impressive that whether tired or not, they all were maintaining a pretty common speed of jog, with all their gear (some with fake weapons), etc.. I periodically passed one or two, or whole groups, for almost an hour into my morning. Fun to have a little company/entertainment to start off the day.
I knew Day 3 would be very tough, so I treated myself to a real and full breakfast a couple hours in, when the trail passed a little shopping center with a coffee shop. First Shakshuka of the trip! Delicious. :)
Then it was over the freeway and along the fields for a bit. The book had mentioned a spot where there was a fence and the trail goes through "a small hole in the fence." My friend and I had laughed at how that sounds like the fence is broken or something, and we assumed it must be a break in the fence for pedestrians, cyclists, etc.. Well, I found the fence. No hole to be found. The gate had a little slit, but I didn't think I'd fit, and I knew my pack would not. I didn't think I could lift the thirty pounds over the eight foot wall, and I couldn't climb it because my boots were too big for the slots in the fence. So, I began a search for a way in to follow the trail.
I hesitate to explain here exactly how I was able to manage, but suffice it to say I found a way in, with only a few minor scratches here and there. ;)
Then it was up the dunes toward the sea. I saw a glider, and even though I wasn't far into the day, my feet longed for the air and a lighter form of transportation. I knew this day would be tough. At this point along the coast there is no beach, but rather you hike along the dunes on the cliffs above the waves. Stunning.
And so I walked. And walked. And walked. Past some flowers, up some hills and down the other side, following the trail markers. The wind and sound of waves greeted me at crests, and the heat and gravity reasserted their presence in the valleys. And I walked on. I took a few breaks along the way, taking off my boots and socks to assess the damage and try different approaches to bandaging blisters and preventing hotspots from turning into more.
At one point I found a pen in my bag (I thought I'd left it in Haifa), and was thrilled to finally write down contact information for friends in Israel and in the USA on a paper in my phone case, in case of emergency or lost phone). And then I got up and walked some more. I had forgotten my headphones, but there was no one around to object, so I turned on a Mary Russell book for a bit, and while my feet trekked down the coast of the Mediterranean, I joined Mary in exploring the inner reaches of her subconscious for a while. Ironically it was not until I turned on my audiobook that I started to pass a handful of people -- a group of children from a local Kibbutz chasing each other over the dunes, a few hikers, and then a few more children and adults. Mary and I continued on.
Eventually the trail led down down down to the water, along the beach for fifty meters, and then returned up up up back to the top of the cliff. There was a nice older couple partway up who helped me find the next trailmarker, and at the top I was greeted by a group of four adults, a cute child, and a very cute, bouncy dog. We smiled our niceties at each other, and I continued on, happy to be back on flat ground for the bit of the trail I could see ahead.
Since I was not climbing up or down at the moment, I took my sweatshirt off from around my waist and was playing with stretching it out on my hiking poles as a sort of mobile clothes line to dry the sweat (TMI?). I had closed up my poles, but not put them away, since for that I have to take off my pack. So, I played a bit, and then my arms got tired holding them up, so I gave up on that. As soon as I spotted some shade, I pulled over, dropped my pack, and put my poles away.
As I put the sweatshirt back around my waist, I realized the missing weight in my pants pocket. I checked my sweatshirt pockets. I checked my other pants pockets. I checked the likely pockets of my pack. I checked the unlikely pockets. My phone was gone. Thankfully I knew that I had looked at it just before the nice older couple helped me find the trail, so it couldn't be all that far back.
I left my pack and poles (there was no one around to steal them, and anyway, no one would want to carry that sweaty mess. Best antitheft protection I know - disgust), and started back down the trail. I was so glad that I had just made the "emergency contact" list, but also realized that I did not know my own phone number (using the Israeli sim card). Thankfully it was not long at all before the group with the cute kid and dog came walking up, phone in hand! They were just calling my Haifa roommate when they saw me. :-D So glad to have it back!
With my phone in hand, I continued on. This day was mostly about searching for shade. As the trail left the seaside cliff park (it has a name...I've forgotten it), I found a lovey shade spot with a rock, and ate my lunch (well, trailmix, anyway). And then up and at 'em again. The next shade spot was what seems to me to be the middle of absolute nowhere, except that there are all these works of modern art! Just hanging out, being artsy together. The ball-like ones made me think of my niece's egg game. Awwwww. I thought the "I exist" rock was interesting because it was written in English. And the doorway from nowhere to nowhere required that I defy the signs saying not to walk on the grass, but I was careful not to touch the art. :-}
Near the end of my day (really about halfway of what was planned - I had mixed up my original itinerary with the current one, thinking I had planned a 9-mile day, rather than the actual 16 miles - totally not gonna happen ;-)), anyway, about six miles in, I got to visit the Apollonian National Park.
This cliff stretching the length of the Sharon coast (can you tell I'm referencing the brochure? ;-)) has been controlled by a number of people groups since the end of the sixth century BCE (the Persian period). It was great to walk around (in my sock, to let my feet rest a bit -- I was the only one in the park, woot!) and see and read about the various technologies they had to collect water, protect the fort, guard the coast, etc.. From one of the lookouts it said on a clear day you could see Caesarea to the north and Tel Aviv (and Jaffa) to the south. That's my whole pre-hike!!! (It wasn't really a clear day, but it was still a beautiful view, and I could see Herzilya, which is where I ended up finishing off the three days.)
Shortly after Apollonia the trail led me down to the beach where I got to see the famous "Hermit's House" that my friend had told me about. Apparently there is a website about this, but I haven't yet looked it up. It seems this guy is living here illegally, and the authorities apparently keep trying to get him to leave, but unsuccessfully. (I don't understand this, but his house is awesome. Check it out! (It was difficult to get a full shot because it is so big, and the tide was in, so I couldn't back up far enough -- kept backing up to take a shot, and then running in to avoid the waves, haha.))
Then it was just walking, walking, walking down the beach, watching the boats, beach goers, surfers, etc., and searching for the marina where I would leave the trail and catch a bus to the train station to head back up to Haifa for some much needed R&R.
(On the bus I purchased a card that I'd heard of - it's like the DC smarttrip card, called a Rav Kav, so now I don't have to get out cash every time I use a bus or light rail, etc., plus some discounts here and there. Ooo, I'm so "local," pfft. ;-) I left the trail about seven miles short of Tel Aviv, so at some point I'll put my Rav Kav to good use and get back to Herzilya Beach to finish off that section. :))
The first part of the trail felt mystical in the morning mist. And then I was greeted by a military unit doing some kind of training. At first they were all running up the trail past me one after another at various intervals. Then I passed a field, and I could see them all running with maps in hand, clearly following some kind of directions (and it looked like perhaps each had different ones or something). The soldiers I passed earlier on were polite, but clearly exhausted. A bit later they were exhausted and looked a bit stressed. Then I think I must have come into a second group. They looked much less tired, smiling, and greeting me with the full, "Boker tov" rather than the shortened, good-for-greeting-while-panting, "Tov." But it was impressive that whether tired or not, they all were maintaining a pretty common speed of jog, with all their gear (some with fake weapons), etc.. I periodically passed one or two, or whole groups, for almost an hour into my morning. Fun to have a little company/entertainment to start off the day.
I knew Day 3 would be very tough, so I treated myself to a real and full breakfast a couple hours in, when the trail passed a little shopping center with a coffee shop. First Shakshuka of the trip! Delicious. :)
Then it was over the freeway and along the fields for a bit. The book had mentioned a spot where there was a fence and the trail goes through "a small hole in the fence." My friend and I had laughed at how that sounds like the fence is broken or something, and we assumed it must be a break in the fence for pedestrians, cyclists, etc.. Well, I found the fence. No hole to be found. The gate had a little slit, but I didn't think I'd fit, and I knew my pack would not. I didn't think I could lift the thirty pounds over the eight foot wall, and I couldn't climb it because my boots were too big for the slots in the fence. So, I began a search for a way in to follow the trail.
I hesitate to explain here exactly how I was able to manage, but suffice it to say I found a way in, with only a few minor scratches here and there. ;)
Then it was up the dunes toward the sea. I saw a glider, and even though I wasn't far into the day, my feet longed for the air and a lighter form of transportation. I knew this day would be tough. At this point along the coast there is no beach, but rather you hike along the dunes on the cliffs above the waves. Stunning.
And so I walked. And walked. And walked. Past some flowers, up some hills and down the other side, following the trail markers. The wind and sound of waves greeted me at crests, and the heat and gravity reasserted their presence in the valleys. And I walked on. I took a few breaks along the way, taking off my boots and socks to assess the damage and try different approaches to bandaging blisters and preventing hotspots from turning into more.
At one point I found a pen in my bag (I thought I'd left it in Haifa), and was thrilled to finally write down contact information for friends in Israel and in the USA on a paper in my phone case, in case of emergency or lost phone). And then I got up and walked some more. I had forgotten my headphones, but there was no one around to object, so I turned on a Mary Russell book for a bit, and while my feet trekked down the coast of the Mediterranean, I joined Mary in exploring the inner reaches of her subconscious for a while. Ironically it was not until I turned on my audiobook that I started to pass a handful of people -- a group of children from a local Kibbutz chasing each other over the dunes, a few hikers, and then a few more children and adults. Mary and I continued on.
Eventually the trail led down down down to the water, along the beach for fifty meters, and then returned up up up back to the top of the cliff. There was a nice older couple partway up who helped me find the next trailmarker, and at the top I was greeted by a group of four adults, a cute child, and a very cute, bouncy dog. We smiled our niceties at each other, and I continued on, happy to be back on flat ground for the bit of the trail I could see ahead.
Since I was not climbing up or down at the moment, I took my sweatshirt off from around my waist and was playing with stretching it out on my hiking poles as a sort of mobile clothes line to dry the sweat (TMI?). I had closed up my poles, but not put them away, since for that I have to take off my pack. So, I played a bit, and then my arms got tired holding them up, so I gave up on that. As soon as I spotted some shade, I pulled over, dropped my pack, and put my poles away.
As I put the sweatshirt back around my waist, I realized the missing weight in my pants pocket. I checked my sweatshirt pockets. I checked my other pants pockets. I checked the likely pockets of my pack. I checked the unlikely pockets. My phone was gone. Thankfully I knew that I had looked at it just before the nice older couple helped me find the trail, so it couldn't be all that far back.
I left my pack and poles (there was no one around to steal them, and anyway, no one would want to carry that sweaty mess. Best antitheft protection I know - disgust), and started back down the trail. I was so glad that I had just made the "emergency contact" list, but also realized that I did not know my own phone number (using the Israeli sim card). Thankfully it was not long at all before the group with the cute kid and dog came walking up, phone in hand! They were just calling my Haifa roommate when they saw me. :-D So glad to have it back!
With my phone in hand, I continued on. This day was mostly about searching for shade. As the trail left the seaside cliff park (it has a name...I've forgotten it), I found a lovey shade spot with a rock, and ate my lunch (well, trailmix, anyway). And then up and at 'em again. The next shade spot was what seems to me to be the middle of absolute nowhere, except that there are all these works of modern art! Just hanging out, being artsy together. The ball-like ones made me think of my niece's egg game. Awwwww. I thought the "I exist" rock was interesting because it was written in English. And the doorway from nowhere to nowhere required that I defy the signs saying not to walk on the grass, but I was careful not to touch the art. :-}
Near the end of my day (really about halfway of what was planned - I had mixed up my original itinerary with the current one, thinking I had planned a 9-mile day, rather than the actual 16 miles - totally not gonna happen ;-)), anyway, about six miles in, I got to visit the Apollonian National Park.
This cliff stretching the length of the Sharon coast (can you tell I'm referencing the brochure? ;-)) has been controlled by a number of people groups since the end of the sixth century BCE (the Persian period). It was great to walk around (in my sock, to let my feet rest a bit -- I was the only one in the park, woot!) and see and read about the various technologies they had to collect water, protect the fort, guard the coast, etc.. From one of the lookouts it said on a clear day you could see Caesarea to the north and Tel Aviv (and Jaffa) to the south. That's my whole pre-hike!!! (It wasn't really a clear day, but it was still a beautiful view, and I could see Herzilya, which is where I ended up finishing off the three days.)
Shortly after Apollonia the trail led me down to the beach where I got to see the famous "Hermit's House" that my friend had told me about. Apparently there is a website about this, but I haven't yet looked it up. It seems this guy is living here illegally, and the authorities apparently keep trying to get him to leave, but unsuccessfully. (I don't understand this, but his house is awesome. Check it out! (It was difficult to get a full shot because it is so big, and the tide was in, so I couldn't back up far enough -- kept backing up to take a shot, and then running in to avoid the waves, haha.))
Then it was just walking, walking, walking down the beach, watching the boats, beach goers, surfers, etc., and searching for the marina where I would leave the trail and catch a bus to the train station to head back up to Haifa for some much needed R&R.
(On the bus I purchased a card that I'd heard of - it's like the DC smarttrip card, called a Rav Kav, so now I don't have to get out cash every time I use a bus or light rail, etc., plus some discounts here and there. Ooo, I'm so "local," pfft. ;-) I left the trail about seven miles short of Tel Aviv, so at some point I'll put my Rav Kav to good use and get back to Herzilya Beach to finish off that section. :))
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