Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Kings 2:23

"And he went up from thence unto Beth-el; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou baldhead; go up, thou baldhead." — 2 Kings 2:23 (ASV)

As Bethel was the older center of calf-worship (1 Kings 12:32–33; 1 Kings 13:1–32), a prophet of Yahweh was not unlikely to be met with insults there.

By the way means "by the usual road," which was probably the one that winds up the Wady Suweinit. This road passed under hills that even now retain some trees but in Elisha’s time were covered with a dense forest, the haunt of savage animals (compare to 1 Kings 13:24). For the general prevalence of beasts of prey in the country, both earlier and later than this, see Judges 14:5; 1 Samuel 17:31; 2 Kings 17:25; and Amos 5:19.