Intro:
A hike through the land of the rivers Escaut and Dender. Specifically the Escaut has created some magnificent nature in this region in the course of the centuries. Of course it's wet nature, but after all, it must'nt always be about rocks and hills.
Since we already hiked the part between Dendermonde and Aalst, this hike ended the 192 km. described in the topoguide GR 128 West.
Back and forth:
On a saturday you don't travel unprepared to Uitbergen. The first bus going there from Aalst leaves at 12.39. If you miss it you can forget it, the next bus leaves only at 5.00 pm. The advantage is we only had to take a train in Antwerpen at 11.03 am, heading to Bruxelles-Midi. There we boarded the 11.56 IR to De Panne, dropping us off in Aalst at 12.23. Bus 98 finally arrived in Uitbergen at 1.05 pm. This makes it almost impossible to do this hike in the wintertime, but now that the days are getting longer again, there's no problem to hike until 6 or even 7 pm.
From the finish near Dendermonde it's another 15 min. hike to the train station. There we had a choice. Either we could take a train to Mechelen, but there's also busses going to Sint-Niklaas. We took the 6.49 pm bus 91 and arrived in Sint-Niklaas at 7.29 pm. From there it went by train to Antwerpen. Traveltime 1 hour, a smooth journey.
The hike:
Starting in Uitbergen the hike follows the river Escaut for a few kilometers along a quiet hiking / cycling path. If, like us, you're used to looking at the river in Antwerpen, then you'll find it a lot more picturesque here. The river is not so wide, winds a lot, and the reed-covered shores provide you with some nice pictures.
We leave the main river at an old arm. Looking at the map you'll notice that the curb near Uitbergen considerably shortens the river when you compare it to the wide curb it used to make. The old curb is still clearly present in the landscape. We owe some beautiful natural and recreational areas to it.
Click the picture for the full series on Picasa
We follow the old river arm up to the little sluice of Berlare and then take some quiet country paths leading us to the village of Berlare. The trail doesn't enter the village but turns around it by the north side. That way we get to the Donkmeer (lake).
Centuries ago the main river was situated here, forming a wide meandering curb surrounded by vast swamps. At a given moment the river got clogged up and the curb was cut off from it's main course. The grounds transformed into peat soils and from the 18th century the peat was won to be used as fuel. This created a chain of peat wells and when not used anymore, they filled with water. This process finally created the Donk lake, as well as a wide succession of ponds, etching the original river's course into the landscape.
Continuing along the GR trail we don't get to see much of the lake. The trail follows the eastern shore where extensive housing blocks the view. We can only follow the busy traffic road until finally we arrive at a parking lot that gives access to the lake. The place is called 'Eendenkooi' (ducks cage, and old method to catch ducks). From here it's possible to visit the nature reserve on the other side of the lake and to learn everything about the way a ducks cage functions. Sadly enough, our time is limited and we have to move on.
The GR trail now leaves the lake and makes its way through the area inside the meander curb.
The Bareldonk chapel used to be a beautifully situated pilgrimage place. Now you find it in the middle of a residential quarter and it only shows up when you're almost bumping into it. The Pachthof, previously an embanked farm, has been unrecognisably transformed into a classic countryhouse.
Finally we leave the obtrusive housings and enter the Berlare Broek area. Lowlands, country paths, an occasional picknick bench, what more can a GR hiker expect?
We now cross to the other side of the chain of peat ponds and leave the old meander curb.
We're heading back to the river Escaut through a wide open landscape. The river is crossed using the little ferry Berlare - Appels.
The GR 128 trail now definitely leaves the river Escaut and heads for Dendermonde. For a while we still follow a small old meander curb and then we encircle the village of Appels towards the Dender river. The hike shortly continues along this affluent river of the Escaut and ends heading for the place where our GR 128 trail meets the GR 5A trail.
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