One of the furthest trails of the park. I had to bike 25mi to get to the starting point (and back home). Actually the tavern “The Lion of Flanders” (De Leeuw Van Vlaanderen, only in Dutch) is the starting point but I chose a different one.
I have hiked the trail earlier this year, in winter time, certainly a different experience.
What struck me most is that this side of the park is shared with MTB and equestrians, whilst in other parts of the park they have their own paths. It’s just a heads up since you might be surprised by cyclists racing out of the woods onto “your” trail. For some obscure reason cyclists love to ride in stealth mode. I definitely prefer horses although it’s the riders’ conversing that alert you well in advance.
Early in the morning I saw just a few cyclists and apparently horses (although I suspect their riders more) love to sleep in as I only saw three at the end of my walk. I was certainly more taken by surprise by the cacophony coming from the highway (Antwerp – Rotterdam) that overpowered all natural noises. Usually birds sing louder when the area is loud, it felt eerie when birdsong is not present. Maybe it was caused by the wind or morning traffic, but next time I will bring earplugs, not joking!
As per usual in the early morning I collected many spider webs. Not the whole web but those single lines or threads that span over your path. I don’t even want to know how many threads I ruined. I know how many I felt on my arms, face and legs but that won’t even be all. In the rising sunlight you can sometimes spot them just before you run into them. And then carefully try to pass without ruining a single thread. For those interested, not sure if it is a global thing, but our common spiders appear to be most active in September. Obviously coinciding when the heather’s in bloom.
I have already noticed several distinctions on some trails between summer and wintertime. Some sections are barely visited. In wintertime because some paths may be to muddy or wet. I even noticed some sections were (sort of) repaved, especially since some pot holes were about a meter deep. But also in summertime they are not often frequented as paths are practically overgrown. Spiders may be busy bees but on official park trails corners when there is an obvious and large spider web… And then I have a mental picture in my head of thieves in a vault dodging those laser security alarms.
Extra details about my hike: https://nl.wikiloc.com/routes-wandelen/eekhoorn-specht-226682462
Celtic Belgae 