Part of day 33 / part of day 34 (23rd September, 2021): Binyamina to Ofer lookout

 

I took the train to Binyamina, a short bus ride and a short walk back to where I finished the day before.

After a few minutes I got to the train underpass and the crossing of Nahal Tananim. It didn't look too deep and there were some rocks. Unfortunately, I was overly optimistic and ended up with one foot ending up in the river, and a wet shoe for the rest of the day. 

The trail went right next to the train track for a few hundred metres through some difficult folliage

This was followed by a brief but steep climb up the start of Mt. Carmel, but with great views from the top.

There were a few other hikers around, as well as a library box.

The path soon went past the ruins of Horbat Akav - great location!

A short while later, the path went past Ramat Hanadiv - beautiful gardens and the tomb of the Baron Rothschild, I took a short detour for a walk around the park.

Here they planted a carob tree inside the remains of an older carob tree.

I continued on the trail down to Ein Tzur

The site included an old aqueduct - the signs said that it is the oldest aqueduct in Israel that still works (there was a trickle of water flowing)

On the way out, there was a ship, not sure what it is doing here

After following some dirt paths, the trail crossed some roads, and make a giant detour around a youth village (hot, not very scenic, almost no shade)

The trail eventually headed back into a forest, and past the bell cave:

In the distance, you can already see Haifa (well, at least the tower of Haifa University)

The trail continued through JNF / KKL forests, including some nice places to rest

I finished the day at the Ofer lookout tower (apparently supported by some Australians), unfortunately you can't climb the tower, although the view from the peak was also impressive

I saw that a bus was coming in a few minutes, so I made a speedy treck down to the bus stop (it was steeper than it looks in the photo)

part of day 32 / part of day 33 (22nd September, 2021): Metzukay yam beach to Binyamina

 I caught the train to Netanya, then a bus, and walked to head back to the Metzukey Yam beach.

The path continued along the beach until Beit Yannai

There was no beach at this point, but I managed to make it across the rocks

The trail followed the coast up until the Alexander river, which it then followed

Although at the point where it meets the sea it is quite narrow, it soon became quite wide

There was an old building (Hirbat Samar) from the Ottoman period with a great view

The park was mostly deserted, but had nice shade to walk in

After going under the rail line, the path soon went past a turtle reserve. It's hard to see in the photo, (and the visibility in the water was low), but you could see a few (large) turtles around.

After passing through an industrial area, there was a section through more sand dunes (again, difficult and hot!)

and then through a forest, until reaching the Hadera train station - I stopped just before for lunch.

The walk through Hadera was fairly uneventful - apart from some cows wandering around next to the shopping center

The path headed back towards the beach, and after a long shade-less section following a road, I reach the Hadera park, which looked quite pleasant and was busy.

The path crosses the Hadera river

and then goes around the giant power plant

The path then headed toward Sdot yam, with more dunes

Finally, we reached the Cesarea national park, I took a detour and walked through the national park. After leaving the park, along the beach were the remains of the aqueduct.

The path continued along the beach (which I again enjoyed without shoes) until reaching the village of Jisr A-Zarka

The path went through the village

until the underpass under road 2 (coastal road)

The path continued to follow the aqueduct and the Taninim river

The sun was setting soon, so it cooled down a bit and was quite pleasant to walk.

The path eventually went under the aqueduct

In the distance, you can see the start of the Mt. Carmel (which I will climb tomorrow).

I finished the day next to Binyamini (next to a protest sign against a road they want to build here).

I walked to the Binyamina train station - including past one house with a variety of chickens and cats, to get the train home