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Last update - 18:43 02/07/2008 Travel Trekking past the milestone By Yossi Klein Tags: aging, Israel Trail  Eyal Halfon eased into his 50th birthday by walking the Israel National Trail with longtime friends, in an effort to stave off the inevitable march of time Masa Hipusim: Im haverim, be'emtza hahayim, le'orekh shvil yisrael (A Searching Trek: A Journey Along Israel's National Trail), by Eyal Halfon Ahuzat Bayit Press (Hebrew) 222 pages, NIS 88 The marking of a 50th birthday is generally the source of an unease that can only be surpassed by that which is to be expected on the same day 10 years later. Most of us end up coping with the anniversary either by repressing, ignoring or immediately declaring its postponement. One can also push the day back one year, even two. There are others who seek to reassure themselves that the feelings of dismay are only part of a "midlife crisis," and that once passed, a long, pleasant, comfortable road lies before them. Others try to ease the angst through over-the-top celebrations, which constitutes a sort of challenging stare-down with the devil himself. Some simply run way. Eyal Halfon decided to ease into the 51st year by spreading the festivities over the course of a full year, during which he and a few friends traversed the 940-kilometer (580-mile) long Israel National Trail. Walking the trail, which runs from Dan, in the North, to Eilat, is an unusual way to observe a birthday, though there is some logic to it. Strenuous walking against the backdrop of breathtaking views has an almost supernatural ability to banish bad thoughts and usher in good ones in their stead. Halfon, who fancies himself a "troublemaker," comes across in his writing as a man at peace with himself, someone who doesn't take himself too seriously while he meanders his way through the picturesque desert landscape. Ora, the haunted protagonist of David Grossman's new novel ("Until the End of the Land"), finds herself doing the same thing. She sees walking as a refuge from the horrible news that she is convinced awaits her at home. Halfon escapes via the Trail to a lost youth and the memories with which it is associated. Imbued with high hopes, Halfon kicks off his sixth decade with a family feast at an enchanting restaurant at Kibbutz Dan, and ends them a year later, more sober, over cake and coffee, at a small shopping center in Mitzpeh Ramon. His friends, many of whom he hasn't seen in years, join him at different stages during his journey, with each of them symbolizing certain milestones in his life. "A Searching Trek" documents a march that proceeded in fits and starts, a march without any plan or methodology guiding it. "Nowhere is it written that the trail is to be followed in sequence," writes Halfon. And yet, the train, whose tracks somehow always seem to run parallel to the path, is always available to bring him to a ready-made bed, because he prefers a fine restaurant and a comfortable bed over a sleeping bag in the wadi. "I'm not one of those who isolate themselves in the desert," he writes. "A city, shop windows and cafes have always been and always will be my natural environment." He's right. It's not always comfortable out there in the wild. His description of climbing jagged rocks evokes images of 50-year-olds who refuse to divorce themselves from the sense that their youth is limitless. Despite the veneer of celebration in which the protagonist has wrapped the story, it is still, at the end of the day, a hike. Halfon does not approach it with the intention of conquering the trail in one fell swoop, but rather takes little bites of it intermittently, so that there are sections he approaches as if he were coming into the office every morning with his sandwich and coffee in a thermos. Toward the evening, he boards the train for the commute to his home in Tel Aviv. In addition, most of his friends are not certified hikers, eager to climb mountains and crawl through caves. They would prefer an easy descent over steep climbs, and if they are ready to do more, it's on condition that the schedule includes regular coffee breaks. And indeed, the lengthy coffee breaks are an important part of the trip, although it is not the coffee that is the main attraction. Rather, an impressive variety of rich, chocolate cookies, bluish cheeses, baklawa and other treats are the order of the day. "What is the hardest aspect of the walk?" Halfon asks a group of hikers he meets along the way. "It is most difficult to get along with one another," is the consensus reply. And it may well be that Halfon deleted from the list from the beginning those close friends with whom, although he is always happy to sit with them in the cafes of Tel Aviv, were considered to be less than cuddly partners on a wadi trek. So who did come on the hike? Childhood friends, army buddies from the reserves, friends whose girlfriends the writer fell in love with and whose girlfriends fell in love with him, and anyone whose own 50th birthday necessitated renewed contemplation. Scars on the heart During one part of the hike, the writer's significant other, Sigal, tagged along, as did her spirit, which alternated between threatening and loving throughout the entire hike. Halfon, a filmmaker by trade, did not invite anyone from his profession, both because they were busy and "there are no friends in this business ... Too much ego." He also did not want women with whom he had once been seriously in love accompanying him. "Deep loves don't end in friendship. Not with me. [They end in] physical scars, scars on the heart." Those who did come were friends dubbed "the clog blocker," "the installation guy," "the photographer," "the preacher," "the cousin" and others. Each title is affixed with an explanation, most of which are fitting and accurate. Eyal Halfon writes nicely. His sentences are short, his language lucid and simple. He also brings a historical perspective of all the interesting points along the path. His charm shines through the background stories he provides. Perhaps he sought to add "educational value" to the book," or "cultural weight," and to widen his circle of readers to include potential hikers who are more interested in the route than in those who traverse it, or even those noted for their special love of the Land of Israel, though they may be less moved by the author's 50th birthday. To my shame, I found myself absentmindedly skipping over these parts and focusing primarily on the beautiful descriptions of the journey and his friends. Even as these stories filled me with joy, I came across little gray boxes on the side of the pages, boxes which included select quotes from one of the subjects. Picking excerpts from within the text is a method first developed in journalism as a way of capturing the attention of a bored reader flipping through the pages. Whoever holds this book in his hands does not need such incentives, and they are bothersome and unnecessary. Another addition, this one more pleasant, is the beautiful, humble drawings that greet the reader at the beginning of each chapter. They were drawn by Shlomo Rotem, who died earlier this year. Rotem sketched the paths at the same time that Halfon was walking along them. The former was perhaps enthralled by his drawings, while the latter was busy taking stock of his life, not even noticing Rotem's presence. Yossi Klein, a writer for Haaretz, was the founding editor of Kol Ha'ir and Hadashot newspapers. Haaretz Books, July 2008 Bookmark to del.icio.us   Death penalty Iran hands down death sentence to man who spied for Israel. Robot hospital The place where IDF treats droids wounded in the line of fire.

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