The day started out nice enough in Beit-Hananya. We even managed to buy some breakfast at the grocery store (Some more cottage cheese), and then we headed out towards Jisr al Zarqa and the Mediterranean sea. Going through Jisr was a bit of a concern, after hearing about incidents other INT hikers had in there. Nir told us that only half a year ago they had some stones thrown at them, and generally felt it was no picnic walking down the main street. Happily, we ourselves didn't feel anything wrong in there, and the walk towards the beach was uneventful and quiet.
Walking along the sea was very nice, at first, even though the actual sandy bits are a bit harder to walk upon. We got closer to Ceasarea, and stopped just near the aqueduct beach (and the aqueduct itself...). From there the trail climbed a bit on the cliffs along the water, and then later it reached the road around the Ceasarea National Park, and we had a little bit of a road walk along Hippodrome and near the Theater. The trail then circled around Sdot Yam, and we walked through another short bit of road before we stopped for breakfast near a little junction.
We were trying to avoid the sun in the constantly moving shade, just passing some time in the hot hours. As usual I got my ass going before the rest of the gang did, as I always prefer getting to the end of the day early.
The walk from there consisted of circling around the power station, into the Nahal Hadera Park, and back towards the sea, and another way-too-long road walk towards Giv'at Olga. Then I crossed Road #2, and headed towards the railway station, where I filled up my water, and waited for the rest at the nearby picnic tables.
I was waiting for around an hour until Uri, Tal and Yaara came along. Sadly, Nir got off the trail for now at Road #2, heading home. We had a nice lunch there, and rested some more. With about 8 more Km until the Beit-Yanai beach, I headed out at around 16:00. The trail went around the Hadera forest, and later under the rail lines in a very claustrophobic tunnel. The bit from there to Nahal Alexander Park was the worst - it consisted of a sandy trail (like a beach), with small up and down bumps of about half a meter in height, for about 2-2.5Km. It just never ended... And when it finally did, with a turn to the left along the banks of the Alexander stream, it was a bliss.
Along the Alexander the trail was very nice, and there were plenty of people around there camping for the night. I thought about stopping there and waiting for the rest, but we needed to get to Beit-Yanai to buy food for the evening at the mall there, so I pressed on.
The bit from the end of the stream to Beit-Yanai beach was really sandy once again, but rather short. I got to the beach just before sunset, and the wind was really crazy over there. I just sat there on a boulder near the parking lot, and talked to some guy who got there from Tel-Aviv. Apparently he works for the SeeV high-tech recruitment company, so I told him I just found a new job.
After about an hour, Uri, Tal and Yaara came along. They managed to walk in the dark a bit, and phoned me several times for directions. They were quite beat from the long day, and so was I, and we were all very happy to go to the restaurant on the beach, and have some good burgers and beers. It all really made the day seem not as bad.
The winds kept on going, and we were tying to find a place for us for the night, and then all of a sudden Uri was talking to his dad, who happens to know the owמer of the place we were eating at. After a quick chat the owner told us where we can put our sleeping bags, and be more protected from the wind for the night - Just a little place between two containers, with something someone might call a roof over it.
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