2024-12-29 31 35

Location

In what looks like a small clearing Martyrs' Forest, a forest that was planted in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

Participants

Yerushalmi (talk), #4, and #5

Plans

The kids are on vacation for Chanukah, and the hope is that I can convince at least some of them to go geohashing today. We'd drive to the nearby town of Kesalon, park near the Scroll of Fire sculpture, and walk to the point, which isn't very far. Then wander around the forest trails a bit more and head home.

Expedition

#1, #2, and #3 wanted to spend the day with their grandparents, who have been in the country the last two weeks. My wife had a major assignment to work on for her master's degree. And #4 was sick yesterday. So I thought for sure there was no way I'd be able to go, which is what I told Yosef when he messaged me the night before. But in the late morning #4 was feeling better and had no fever, and #5 was enthusiastic about going, and eventually #4 agreed to go too.

In the urgency to organize before somebody changed their minds, I was stupid and neglected to update Yosef that I would be going after all.

We drove to Kesalon without incident and parked near the Scroll of Fire sculpture. Coincidentally, #4 had asked me in the car on the way who the most evil leader of any country in history was, so I explained to them both (in age-appropriate terms) about the Holocaust. Unlike most Holocaust sculptures, this one's theme is specifically about rising up from the ashes of the Holocaust to create a new life in Israel.

After the sculpture we sat on a small wall to have lunch, then headed into the forest. Pro tip: As usual, we left a printed map with the target coordinates inside the car windshield, so the forest managers would know our intended destination if we got lost.

I gave #4 another printed map, a satellite image, and offered her the chance to navigate for us, teaching her how to read and understand the map. I taught her how to recognize exposed bedrock vs. soil, recognize parts of the trail based on tree cover, orient the map, etc. On the way to the point I mostly gave her the answers; she wasn't ready to do it truly independently.

It didn't take long to reach the clearing, which was inside a series of ancient crumbling walls; we estimated that the point was on top of a pile of rocks that might have been somebody's house 1500-2500 years ago. Then I opened the GPS to verify - nope, the point is actually 15 meters away, at the base of the pile of rocks.

We climbed down and reached the point easily, took the usual panorama, then struggled to make the XKCD. Too many rocks around to use rocks (you wouldn't notice the letters); too many rocks around to dig into the soil; not enough sticks around. Eventually #4 did find sticks, though, and made the XKCD herself. #5 dropped a piece of salami on the ground, so I tore it into strips and made a second XKCD out of that too.

We debated going home vs. exploring further and decided to go home, but when we got back to the trail I remembered that AmudAnan listed there was a cave nearby. The kids agreed to go and look for it before going home, so we headed west on the path. We didn't find the cave, but we did find a lot of broken pottery shards; some interesting leaves; an ancient cistern; and two ancient wells.

On the way back, #4 navigated us entirely on her own, making only one mistake and correcting it herself. She learned well!

(As I'm writing this the next day, #4 is sick again. So thankfully we got to at least have a day out together.)