The River Vecht, part 3

Last week I finally got around to walking the third stretch of this international walk. I had done the first two bits in January and March, but lately I have been doing really well with longer distances and felt I could do this next bit. 

Is it a horse or is it a zebra?
I have to ask my Dad: he is an expert!

It was a stretch of just under 16 km (10 miles), but unfortunately I missed a sign at one point and overshot. Which in turn meant that I had to retrace until I found the sign (which was very clear by the way) and continue on the route. In the end the whole route was just a smidge under 20 km and only because I did a tiny detour in the end. 

Big Papa

I was tired after that. Tired and hurting. The knee is of course a constant nowadays, but I had also developed a blister on the sole of my foot. Regardless of that though: I did 19,77 km! I was very proud of myself I can tell you. 

They didn't cross the river itself, just a little offshoot.

Of course it isn't just the walking itself, I also like to see some stuff and this walk had plenty of that! There was of course the river itself, which we (I took Brom along) had a magnificent view of from a viewing tower. And only a bit later we were sat only a few steps from it. The cows in the field just beside us were beef cattle and not used to people, so they (led by Big Papa) decided to move away.

I think the bigger tractor was spraying some sort of pesticide

We crossed the river a bit later on and from that moment we didn't really see it again. The official name of this long distance walk is The Valley of the Vecht walk, so you do get a lot of walking in the area on either side of the river, not necessarily right beside.

With a distinct smell of cow (which were right behind us)

We got to the small village of Vilsteren and that's where I went wrong. Instead of turning left and into the woods, I kept walking along the main road. Which in turn led me to a farm with ice cream and a toilet. If I had checked properly there, I would have only done an extra few hundred meters. As it was: about 3,5 km. 

I had my doubts already as I didn't see any signs for my route when there were side roads, but it didn't click properly until I really checked and realised: I shouldn't have crossed the railway. Which I had. There was nothing else for it: I had to retrace and find the turning off point. 

I did find it again and from then the walk became more of a trudge. Those extra km had sapped the energy it seemed. The fact that the temperature by then was soaring to about 25 degrees C (77 F) did not help either. But I did get closer as I could see on my phone. 

The boarded up entrance to a former ice house.
Excuse the finger!

Eventually I saw the path to the train station from where I would catch the train to get back to my car. It had taken me over 5 hours of actual walking and closer to 6 hours including stops. The journey back by train took 8 minutes!

Art at the station in Ommen

The next stretch is about 20 km, although I might do a little deal with my Dad and split it in two. But that is not for a while yet. First to recover from blister and knee.

The River Vecht, part 2

Part of the mural in the tunnel underneath the motorway

As I told you in January, I have found a route which will take me into Germany, along the River Vecht. I wanted to do the second instalment last week, but alas, the head intervened. So, this week it was. Written down and all in my agenda, only severe rain or another headache would stop me. 

Escape from the motorway

The head was okay today and the rain that was due to come in the morning never really materialised, so I packed my bag, got onto a bus and made my way to the point where I finished last time. I was literally going to pick up where I left the route.

The first bit led me along the motorway, but more importantly along a large cemetery. They were working on building more terraces for the Chinese part of it, so there was some heavy machinery interfering with nice photos. I tried though. 

First view of the river, downstream

Then, after only a kilometer or so, I got my first proper glance of the river. I cross this river every day if I have to work, so it's not unknown, but the route I took this time was. I got to the main path again that led me over the dike protecting those who live along the river from high water. I got off the dike again, then on again. Keeping the river in my sights.

I met some beautiful cattle on my way, and I saw plenty of birds. I then had to cross the river, which wasn't as I had pictured this walk in my head. I thought I would stay on one side of the river and would only cross on my third leg. 

The fish stairs

This crossing was a bit different though. Yes, there was a lock, yes there seemed to be a sluice gate, but also, there were fish stairs. I had heard of them, but for some reason didn't think I would see them. The fish stairs are shallow steps to allow fish to swim upriver without having to pass the lock or the sluice and endangering their lives. 

Artist: Paul van Laere

I also met a handsome little chap called 'Hannes of Dalfsen'. A young seal of six weeks old that had escaped from his zoo home in Germany and swum downstream for an adventure. He was captured here and a sculpture was made of him. Not sure what happened to him afterwards, the sign did not say.

The face is actually a bird house

From there I was on the other side of the river and I continued through farm land towards the village/town of Dalfsen. I knew I was going to the railway station to take the train back and could see it from quite far off. I still had about 2 km to go by then though!

Right next to the train station is a large piece of art called 'The Floating Rock' made by Bas Maters. It looks like an old column piece that carries a large boulder. Getting closer to the installation, you can see a hole in the roof of the boulder that looks as if the column has been sawn from it. But, it's not an old column piece and the boulder is not a boulder either. The whole thing is made from concrete and steel.

If you look closely to the right of the column, you can see the hole.

By the end of the walk, my legs felt like jelly, I had a blister on each of my little toes and I was glad to be able to sit down after nearly 13 km. The train arrived after only 6 minutes and when I got back to Zwolle, the bus home left within a minute of me getting on it. 

The mill in the center of Dalfsen

The next leg will be a bit longer though: about 15/16 km, as public transport is my way of getting back to either my car or home and not all villages boast a train station or even a bus stop. It will have to wait until more facilities (read café with toilet) are open again, so probably summer time. That way I can also train up a bit.