Intro
We haven't had many nice fall days this year. Mostly the weather has been chilly and wet and the weekends haven't escaped the general trend. So, when the forecast tells us that Friday, December 12th will be a dry and sunny day, followed by again a wet weekend, plans are suddenly changed to make the most of that one day.
(click the picture for more images on Picasa)
We traveled to Bergen op Zoom. It wasn't our first journey to this town in the Netherlands. Some time ago we started another hike there on the GR 5 trail, see Bergen op Zoom - Essen. This time we went there to hike the first part of the GR 12 trail between Bergen op Zoom and Braîne-le-Château.
Back and forth
Organising this hike wasn't an easy task. The best thing to do is to walk all the way to Zandvliet in Belgium. We ended the hike at a tavern called De Leeuw Van Vlaanderen (the Lion of Flanders). Admit it, a hike from the Netherlands to the first tavern in Flanders, it's an interesting challenge. If you end the hike sooner (at Hoogerheide or at Ossendrecht), you'll have to travel back by bus to Bergen op Zoom, there board a train to Rosendaal, and then travel on to Antwerpen. These ‘international’ trips don't come cheap. The train ticket from Antwerpen to Bergen op Zoom costs 11,6 Euro. Add to that a dutch bus ticket and a return ticket to Antwerpen, and the full trip will amount to 25 – 30 Euro per person. That's why we absolutely wanted to reach belgian territory. At least there we could use our much cheaper local public transport pass.
From Antwerpen, Bergen-op-Zoom is reached by taking a train to Roosendaal (on the Antwerpen – Amsterdam line). In Roosendaal you have to change trains for Bergen-op-Zoom. From the station in Bergen-op-Zoom the trail to the Youth Hostel Klavervelden is signposted with the familiar white/red stickers. The distance is 3,1 km. If that's too much, there's busses going there too.
The hike ends at (or in) the tavern De Leeuw van Vlaanderen, situated in the village of Zandvliet. There's no busses serving this place. You have to walk another 2,1 km. to the center of the village. There you can take a bus to Antwerpen.
The total hiking distance will always be 23,5 km + 2,1 km = 25,6 km. If you also walk from the station in Bergen op Zoom to the Youth Hostel Klavervelden (3,1 km), you'll get to a total distance of 28,7 km. Better make it a full day activity.
The hike
If you don't mind the distance, if you like vast forests, heathlands and unhardened hiking paths, this hike is a must.
The trail is primarily situated in the Netherlands. Only the last few kilometers get you into Belgium. What struck us is that the forests suddenly dissapear as soon as we've crossed the border. One would think that the Netherlands are far more successful in managing their forests than the Belgians. However, this has nothing to do with better management. The real reason is the soil you're walking on.
The area between Bergen op Zoom and Flanders is covered with pine forests. We also noticed that while hiking to Essen on the GR 5 trail. Long ago the region used to be a sandy heathland. The forests were planted essentially to fix the sandy soils. There's not much more one can do with this kind of soil. Turning it into a green lung recreational area wasn't a bad idea at all.
That's why today it's a wonderful place for hikers. An added advantage is that the paths are almost always in good condition. The sandy soil easily absorps the water. Even after long periods of rain, the paths are kept dry.
But that doesn't explain why the forests dissapear once you cross the border from the Netherlands into Belgium. Here's the answer: it has everything to do with an interesting geological phenomenom which is wonderfully well illustrated during this hike: the Brabantse Wal (Brabant Wall). We never heard of it, even if we're living only 50 km. from this place.
The Brabant Wall has nothing to do with war concepts such as the Atlantic Wall. Nor is it a wall built by humans to protect from floods and invasions.
The Brabant Wall is entirely natural. It marks the transition between the fertile lowlands along the river Schelde and the higher sandy soils on the dutch side of the border. Near Ossendrecht the difference in hight is 21 meters, and it's very noticeable. The slope is only a few hundred meters long. Standing on the wall you see the land drop impressively towards the lower polder grounds. Houses situated 100 m. away from this point show only their rooftops. In itself this may seem futile, but in an utterly flat region it's something you can't help but notice.
The Wall has been shaped entirely by the forces of nature. It's the result of the erosion caused by the river and the winds. During the last Ice Age the western winds blew the sand from the vast sandbanks in the river towards the Netherlands. Sand dunes were formed slowly creating the Wall and filling up the land behind it. The same process created the wellknown Kalmthoutse Heide nature reserve. The result: the fertile polder lands on one side of the Wall, the sandy soils (meanwhile covered with pine forests) behind the Wall.
Close to Ossendrecht the GR 12 trail brings you right on the edge of the Brabant Wall and illustrates this geological phenomenom in a superb way. If we would have had to study this in school, we would have been bored to death.
This hike ends at the first tavern met once the trail leaves the Netherlands: de Leeuw van Vlaanderen (Lion of Flanders). There's a café with the same name in Antwerpen but that's the only thing they have in common. Here it's a cozy little pub. They don't sell Westmalle beer, but Grimbergen beer isn't bad either.
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