#gr5 — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #gr5, aggregated by home.social.
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I did 16 km from station Kijkuit to Schoten on the new route of the #GR5 this afternoon, and I would say this is a huge improvement compared to the old route, mostly in forested areas, free of houses thanks to it being a military zone.
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For the 28th time I hiked a section of the #GR5, from Banneux to Spa in Belgium. From the start the beautiful but intense route went up and down into valleys of two little streams, with the last climb going as far as 399 meters above sea level, my highest point on the GR5 so far. It then went down along the Vieux Spa stream into the busy town center of Spa. I quickly escaped and ended my hike after 18.69 km at Spa-Géronstère railway station.
In the last 366 days I made it from Hoek van Holland to Spa. For now my expedition of the #GR5 is going on leave, to continue on other routes. But I will return. Thanks for reading along this last year 🤗
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Announcement for the followers of my #GR5 series: after episode 28 that brings me to Spa-Géronstère, this series is being paused temporarily. Not because I don't love doing it, but because the #GrandWalTour also deserves some attention and with the longer summer days it's the ideal time for that.
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Today I did my 27th episode of the #GR5, from Micheroux to Banneux in Belgium. Last week I reached the 200 m of elevation for the first time on route, and today the 300 m was passed for the first time. It was also the last time I got below 100 m of elevation. And as you might concluded from these statistics, that makes for quite the climbs today, especially with the warm weather. But those views 😍
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Only two episodes ago I finally reached 100 meters of elevation on the #GR5. Today, in episode 26, I got to 250 meters in the Pays de Herve during a 21 km hike.
Directly after leaving Visé this morning the route went from 57 to over 100 meters, but as is custom with plateaus, they don’t have a straight edge, so the route goes up and down through some of the rivers carving valleys in the edge. But the moment you reach the top, the world is flat again, and a terril from a former coal mine is the one thing that isn’t. It’s also the terril I already saw in last weeks hike.
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Bonus 2: Eben-Emael is known by everyone that hiked this section of the #GR5 for it’s Temple de la Paix, which can be seen from quite some distance. It was built by architect and philosopher Robert Garcet and has four mystical animals on top, two of them visible here.
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Bonus: opened two weeks ago, but not in the route of the #GR5 is the new passerelle between the two sections of the Caestert plateau that got divided by the construction of the Albert canal about 90 years ago. It opened two weeks ago and as it is a pedestrian toll bridge, you need to buy a ticket. The views are probably great however, as seen here from the bridge in Kanne.
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For the 25th I hiked a section on the #GR5 today. It was my first section on the Walloon part, 25,7 km from Kanne to Visé 🇧🇪
The route has been modified last year to include some of the sights on the southern part of the plateau of Caestert. It then followed the Geer/Jeker valley for several kilometers, followed by a ascent to the Hesbaye and another descent to the Meuse/Maas valley at Visé. There I left the route in front of the former entrance of the train station. Lovely route, perfect weather for hiking, and a final goodbye to the Albert Canal that intersected the route 6 times (!) made this a perfect day.
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For the 24th time I hiked an episode of the #GR5 today. This time it went from Lanaken to Kanne, both in Belgium, for a distance of 19,7 km. Between those villages is the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands, and thus for the third time the route went into the Netherlands.
With the lovely weather, the beautiful route went to the top of the Sint-Pietersberg, the first time the GR5 went over 100 meters of elevation. Afterwards, the route went for the third and final time into Belgium. Opposite the famous bridge of Kanne, the Walloon section of the GR5 towards Luxembourg starts. But that’s for a different time!
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Today I hiked my 23rd episode on the #GR5, 19,9 km from Zutendaal to Lanaken in Belgium. This is the second to last episode of the Flemish section, and they made sure to leave an unforgettable impression by going through National Park Hoge Kempen, where they spend lots of time in removing houses inside the park and finding interesting paths through the forests. I expected the route to also hit 100 m of height for the first time , but it topped at 97 m, so the Dutch will have that honour in the next episode 😅
Next time it goes to Maastricht and Kanne, where the Flemish and Walloon sections meet. Stay tuned and thanks for following along so far!
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Today I hiked my 22nd episode on the #GR5. In Belgium, it went from Bokrijk railway station to the village of Zutendaal, a distance of 23 km. The route was modified quite recently and overall I liked it a lot, with only some short sections through the outskirts of Genk. But a lot of forests, a 40 m climb halfway and even some heath. I’ve so far done over 350 km on the #GR5 since Hoek van Holland and Maastricht is now getting close!
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This afternoon I continued my hike on the #GR5. In my 21st section, I went from Bolderberg to Bokrijk for a pleasant distance of 18,7 km. The first part of the hike came along the famous Herkenrode Abbey, and then it continued to the nature domain of Kiewit, where the route managed to find some quiet paths in the otherwise busy park. Next time I continue to Zutendaal. Maastricht is getting closer!
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Today I hiked for the 20th on the #GR5. It went from Lummen to Bolderberg in Limburg, Belgium. This is a short 16.5 km distance via a very indirect route. I got my first peak of the many ponds the region north of Hasselt is known for, and did indeed also climb to the top of the Bolderberg with a rewarding viewpoint. With this hike I’ve now also passed the 300 km milestone on the GR5.
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Considering my mediocre morning, I managed to do episode 19 of the #GR5 from Diest to Lummen in Belgium. In continuous dry weather I left Diest using some of the fortifications, went past some of the embankments of the Demer river, a forest reminding me of the Campine from previous episodes. I expected 17,7 km, a route change made it 18,8 km. Next time the route continues to Wijvenheide!
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Today I did my 18th episode of the #GR5, an exact 20 km from Testelt to Diest in Belgium. After the Demerbroeken, the landscape became noticeably different from the past two episodes. I left the Campine and arrived in the gentle hills of the Hageland, where I could see the tower of the Averbode abbey for the last time. The sudden change of scenery is why I love long distance trails so much.
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The next episode of the #GR5 is starting in Testelt, to do the second route variant between Testelt and Zichem. I will have to redo about a km of today’s route for that, but that isn’t a punishment!
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This morning and afternoon it was time for episode 17 of the #GR5 from Westerlo to Zichem, in Belgium. I think the 21,6 km today might be the most beautiful hike I ever did in Flanders so far. Heath, forests, the Averbode abbey, a long boardwalk and a lovely view over Testelt and the Demer valley. And amazing early spring weather ☀️
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After a break of a couple months, it was finally time to continue with the #GR5 today. I hiked 22,5 km from Herentals to Westerlo. With every kilometer, the route became more beautiful 😍 the route passed along the Tongerlo Abbey, and I ended on the embankment of the Grote Nete river.
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Today the weather turned out good enough to do another hike on the #GR5, so I did 16.4 km from Zandhoven to Herentals. The first 9.5 km was a lovely hike through fields and forests, mostly devoid of the Flemish plague of randomly build houses. From the old water mill in Grobbendonk the trail followed the Kleine Nete stream, until like 200 meters of the railway station of Herentals. Slowly the landscape of the Kempen I got to appreciate in Noord-Brabant earlier this year is back 🥰
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Today I did another section of the #GR5, just over 20 km from Noorderkempen station in Brecht to Zandhoven. Some nice sections, especially the first half after leaving Brecht. I hope to do one more episode next week to get to Herentals, then it’s done for this year.
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Today I hiked 19.7 km on the #GR5 from Kijkuit station to Noorderkempen station. This isn’t Belgiums prettiest route, but I did my very best to create pictures of the most beautiful parts. This however, won’t hide the fact the route is thought out as going as straight ahead as possible, with better landscapes waiting on you in the next 2000 km to Nice.
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This morning I completed the #GR5 hike from last week, going from Huijbergen to Kijkuit via Grenspark Kalmthoutse Heide, a very enjoyable peat park. A lovely 10,9 km to start the week.
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Bonus: me at the first #GR5 sign in Hoek van Holland and me at the last Dutch sign outside Bergen op Zoom. From the sign outside Bergen op Zoom the trail markings are done by the Flemish, who take this job a lot more serious then the Dutch 🥲
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This morning, it was time for the #GR5 again. I’m starting with the Flemish section from Bergen op Zoom to Maastricht. I didn’t fancy 27 km today, so I did 16,4 km from the station to Huijbergen, a Dutch border village where I arrived after a considerable amount of forests and a short first section in Belgium around Essen-Hoek.
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Kastje in Zutendaal, belgisch Limburg, aan de GR5 wandelroute. Met een bankje er direct naast, een goede combi.
Het boekje heb ik inmiddels gelezen, een beschouwing over het al dan niet hebben van een 'vrije wil'
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This morning, I did the final episode of the Dutch section of the #GR5 from Sint-Philipsland to Bergen op Zoom, a total distance of 26 km. The first half was all about the canal connecting Rhine and Scheldt. It then went a bit further inland towards the fortifications near Bergen op Zoom, before doing a city tour of BoZ. It was a long one today, but it went quite well.
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Honestly, I was dreading the episode of the #GR5 from Herkingen to Sint-Philipsland, but with the autumn started I really needed to get this coastal section finished before I truly am blown out of my clothes while on route, so today was the day. And yes, it is almost completely straight tarmac routes on dams and dikes, and the only section that was not, was blocked by horses so I went around via… a dike. 18 km done, about 24 km left to go until Bergen op Zoom station.
