Isifya to Nofit (Moed Dalet)
Israel National Trail Section 14 February , 2016

The hike from Isfiya to Nofit breaks all records for being the hike with most make-ups!  Our group was actually Moed Daled!!  
Debbie, Eric, Naomi P, Pam and Mark were the first group to do the hike, followed by the Bems, and then by Chaim and Debbie Z.
Eta, Naomi B and Karen started out of Raanana at 06:15 am, heading toward Nofit to position the car and to meet the taxi who was to pick them up and take them to the start point in the Druze town of Isfiya on Road 672 and the Shvil.  It took about a half hour.  

We crossed the busy road 672 which was smack in the middle of Isfiya and within three paces saw our first trail marker.   
After winding our way through a residential area of Isfiya, the trail blaze directed us down a sloped terrain dotted with trees and large rocks.   
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We very shortly arrived at the David Eizan observation point and memorial.  

We continued on and were met with beautiful views of the Haifa Bay area which kept our excitement at a peak as we descended. 
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Parts of the trail were steep and slippery owing to the rain earlier in the week.   The entire descent was 530 meters over 7 kilometers, where we reached the only literal low point of the day at Kibbutz Yagur.

Kfar Chasidim was established in 1925 by four religious families who emigrated from Poland. There is a Kfar Noar, and a blend of the old and new, with many new residents who work in Haifa or Yokneam.   We didn’t have time to visit Shimon Tayar, a super remarkable carpenter who builds Aroney Kodesh and works of art.  A visit to his workshop is life transforming: visit his website or call:   or 052 261 0439. 

Sergeant David Eizan, 1950-1970, 
was an officer in the IDF's Artillery Corp serving on the banks of the Suez Canal, participanting in many of the War's  battles and readily volunteered for patrols.  He fell in the line of duty on May 3, 1970 days before his release from active service in the IDF, on the banks for the Suez Canal along with seven other soldiers.   

We exited the Ashedot  Yagur Nature Reserve through a structure specifically designed to prevent cows from exiting and were suddenly 
thrust back into civilization, with horse stables and a lovely event hall a few steps ahead of us. We were looking out for the  Aldo Ice Cream stand the Bems had told us about which was a little bit further than the stables. 

We refreshed ourselves with drinks in Yagur.   Soon we arrived to Kfar Hasidim, where many houses are affixed with signs of different cottage industries.  We were tempted by the chocolate making workshop (De Beers), but restrained ourselves and due to a need to keep our focus. (We’ll return!)  

We hiked further and soon arrived at a heavily traveled road, 762, which we crossed.  We continued and soon saw a few high schools groups out on their tiyul shnati. They were very lucky with the weather which was glorious!  

We passed two abandoned and beat up cars a few hundred meters from each other, a bathtub in the middle of a field and a short while later a wild boar which was clearly dead. 

After those adventures, we kept to the trail, and found ourselves 

winding through a meadow and beautiful flat fields which finally gave way to views of what we thought was Nofit.  A quick glance at Google Maps confirmed that. 

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The way up and out of Nofit was not easy, but we eventually make our way to our car and home, after spending a spectacularly beautiful day with a small but wonderful group in this beautiful land of ours.
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