Melabev Walkathon, 2009
Moonlight Walk, Tuesday, Dec. 1
Hof Dor.Hof Dor
This is an ancient port of the Mediterranean, with ruins dating from Phoenician times. We will reach the Tel by walking through the fish ponds of nearby Kibbutz Nachsholim. We will pass the intersection of the beautiful, rocky beach at Hof HaBonim before experiencing a musical surprise near the water.

We will then continue our walk up to the tel, overlooking the bay at Kibbutz Nachsholim before we descend into the kibbutz. We will have dinner on the grounds of the Mizgega, a factory built by Baron Rotschild to produce glass bottles for the budding wine industry. The first manager of this glass bottle factory was Meir Dizengoff, who later became mayor of Tel Aviv. Today the building houses a fascinating underwater archaeological museum. After dinner those who registered only for the Moonlight Walk, will return to Jerusalem. The Walkathon Walkers, Hikers and Trekkers will board the buses for the Nes Amim Guest House near Nahariya.

Wednesday, Dec. 2
Groups:
A – Walkers
B – Hikers
C – Trekkers

Group A – Walkers
Ga'aton- Our hike today is through Nahal Ga'aton, We begin our hike at Moshav Ein Yakov and walk down a Jeep trail until we reach the Nahal. We will continue through Nahal Ga'aton until the end, when we get to the Moshav.

Group B - Hikers
Ga'aton- Our hike today is through Nahal Ga'aton, We begin our hike from Har Batach ( Next to Tarsikha). We will descend to the Nahal.

The scenery is very green, and we will be walking under eucalyptus trees. On the way we will pass the Sarach Cave, a stalactite cave of impressive proportions. We will take a break from our hiking for those participants who want to go in and explore it. Please bring a flashlight for this treat. The next part of the day we will be walking through Nahal Ga'aton until the end when we get to the Moshav.

Group C - Trekkers
We begin our hike in Hirbet Dan'ila, where we enter the upper part of Nahal Sarach, amid the Dolev (Plane) trees. The descent is gentle along a marked path. After about an hour we'll reach the Sarach Cave, a stalactite cave of impressive proportions. We'll take a break from our hiking to go in and explore. Walkathon participants should bring flashlights for this treat. We'll then continue down the Sarach stream to where it meets up with Nahal Betzet. Nahal BetzetThe Harduf (Oleander) trees become the majority of the vegetation as we meet up with Nahal Betzet. We will hike along this dry nahal, whose water is pumped out by the Mekorot water company, passing the Karkara Springs. At an isolated pumping station we will leave the nahal, hiking up the northern bank into the hills of Rosh Haniqra Reserve. This is a tricky trail, across open hillsides.

We will climb until Moshav Admit, then skirt its perimeter fence until we get to Ma'arat Keshet, our final destination. Ma'arat HakeshetFrom here you have a clear view of the Mediterranean Sea, the Upper Galillee and the valley below from where we climbed.


Thursday, Dec. 3

Group A - Walkers
Our hike today is through Nahal Sha'al, one of the most beautiful, but least known streams of the Upper Galillee. We will walk on a broad dirt road through olive groves. It is harvest season and we will see entire families out harvesting, spreading out tarps onto which the olives fall after being knocked or pulled off the trees. Montfort CastleThis is a great scene in Kislev before Hanukah! We will descend towards the Montfort Castle and Nahal Keziv, stopping for the magnificent views, as we make our way to the area of Ein Sha'al.

We will then begin our climb back up in the direction of our bus near the settlement of Mitzpeh Hila, made famous by the family of POW soldier Gilad Shalit, who live here. Time permitting we will walk down to a beautiful outlook of the Montfort Crusader Castle.
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Group B - Hikers
We will begin our day at Mitzpeh Hila, made famous by the family of POW soldier Gilad Shalit, who live here. We will walk down to the Montfort Crusader Castle. The upper part of this walk is a broad, easy dirt road. Further down it becomes a marked trail to the Castle. Trail in Nahal KezivWe will have a chance to explore this beautiful ruin, with amazing views in every direction, before continuing our descent down into Nahal Keziv. We will walk upstream to one of the springs that feed this Nahal at Ein Tamir.
tami
Those who wish can enter the tunnel from which the spring flows. After a rest around the beautiful pools we will begin a steep ascent up to the Zeitim rest area. We will complete our walk here or continue to the Mitzpeh Montfort rest area a few kilometers away.

Group C - Trekkers
We will begin our day at Mitzpeh Hila, made famous by the family of POW soldier Gilad Shalit, who live here. We will begin our descent on a trail leading to Ein Tamir. We will take a side trail in the direction of Keren Kulot, with its magnificent views of the Keziv Stream and the Montfort Castle. Montfort Castle from Nahal KezivThe trail meets up with the main trail as we complete our descent into Ein Tamir. We'll take a rest break here and those who would like to explore the tunnel from which the spring flows can do so. We will continue our hike down the Keziv stream.

We will climb up to Mitzpeh Montfort for a magnificent view of the castle. Time permitting we will climb up to the beautiful castle itself.