So, the theory was great. We’d go for an easier stretch on Tuesday, from Kfar Kish to Nazareth Illit, and do the shorter stretch from Yardenit to Kfar Kish on Wednesday. That way we could start a little later after I’d been to shul to say kaddish on my mother’s yahrzeit.
The implementation was more challenging.
Things started well enough. I was up at 04:50 and left home at 05:30 to meet my brother Leon at the Young Israel shul in Ramat Poleg for the 06:00 early minyan. The service was over by 06:40, we grabbed a coffee and croissant each and went our separate ways – me off to the Saf Center shopping mall where I arrived at about 08:10. We had coffee together, left my car at the mall and drove to Kfar Kish to start. By 09:15 we were on the trail.
The weather was beautiful; sunny and warm(although it got very warm at times later). We knew we could get water on Mt Tavor, at the Church of the Transfiguration, so we only carried around 3 litres each. The trip was delightful along the side of the Tavor stream, although the large inverted pudding basin of the mountain slowly growing larger gradually loomed ever more daunting. It was indeed a long, steep and hard climb up taking over an hour.
Tavor rises half a kilometre up from the stream with 350m vertical in little over a kilometre much of which is over loose rock.
What is more, the pudding basil shape makes climbing deceiving – looking up through the trees that cover the mountain side you catch glimpses of what seems to be the top – but as you climb up the horizon recedes and there is further to go.
Eventually, however, we made it and the absolutely magnificent view more than justified the effort. the Transfiguration Church on the summit is also fine and simple. (That evening we saw it floodlit from the beautiful small village Kfar Tavor, seeming to float in the air against the black hill and sky.) Designed by Antonio Barluzzi (1884-1960), a Franciscan monk and architect known as the “Architect of the Holy Land”, it was completed surprisingly recently in 1924. There is also a fine Greek Orthodox Monastery.
We were running late, and after topping up our water we made the even more treacherous descent of Mt Tavor to Shibli – or we did eventually because from the top of Tavor and much of the rest of the trip we were bedevilled by poor signage on the trail.
At the bottom we grabbed a (very expensive) drink at the tourist trap snack bar and then walked in a large circle around Daburia (taking in a short lunch stop) before starting our second climb of the day – Mt Devora. We originally planned to be there around 14:30 but reached the top, a steady 4 Km climb, at around 16:30. We admired the monument presented 
in honour of the Silver Wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip by British Jewry and hurried on down as the shadows lengthened knowing we had a third climb, of Mt Jona, to reach our destination for the day at the mall before sunset at around 17:40.
Things were going well until, once again, as we reach the foot of Mt Devora and looked up to see the Mall high above us, we searched in vain for trail markers. There had been a lot of road building and repair in the area and it also seemed that the trail had been rerouted a bit. We tried getting directions from local arab farmers harvesting their olives, and from their wives crushing them nearby. They were friendly but not very clear about the hiking trail we were seeking. In the end, we seemed to pick up the old trail markers rather than the new ones, started off with renewed energy, and then half way up the side of the stream we were following up Mt Yona the markers just disappeared. In the end, in failing light we clambered for the last 30 minutes through rocky areas of thick and sharp thorns, brambles, and other assorted undergrowth up to the Mall.
Rafi was feeling a bit rough – he was a little dehydrated – and Ronnie and I had thorn scratches and splinters. It was a relief to pick up the other car and make our way to our hotel just outside Kfar Tavor – The Pearl of the Valley. Basic but fine and very friendly with a good ensuite shower. Rafi skipped supper but after a little effort Ronnie and I found a delightful friendly restaurant קפהדרציה (Cafe Darcia) in which to eat – lively, young, music, great terrace – a perfect end to the day.
But if that was the easier day, goodness knows what tomorrow might bring…
Hiking the Israel National Trail 