This past Saturday the weather forecast was great - one of those perfect fall days with mild temperatures and a glorious blue sky to contrast with the fall leaves - so we decided to tackle another of the Extrail Series, this time the network of trails in Theux.
We were not sure if we were going to be able to go, with an impending second lockdown, but it turned out that the new measures still allowed for non-essential travel around Belgium, so we were able to go. Florian wanted to run the 18 km Blue Route, while Stefaan and I would walk the 8 km Green Route, together with our middle son, Gillis, which was great because we haven't seen much of him since he and his housemates had to quarantine twice in the past couple months.
The trails start out in the busy little town of Theux. It was Saturday morning and people were out getting all their shopping in (masked of course). It was a bit confusing at first to figure out where best to park the car and get started but we finally found the car park along the river at the cultural center and library and Florian got us pointed in the right direction before taking off for his run.
The Green Route started out with a pretty spicy climb right away once we got out of Theux, and wound us through fields with beautiful views (including the Franchimont Castle ruins), forests with crackling leaves, and along a little stream called the Wayai. It was a lovely route, and aside from the tough climb at the beginning, we felt like it was a bit less challenging than the one in Stoumont. It also felt like the route in Theux was more suburban, not taking us as much into the "wilderness" as the last one we did.
The final big climb on the route took us up to a high meadow, where we could really enjoy the beauty of this area of Belgium as we rounded the top and headed back down into Theux.
It took us about two hours and 15 minutes to finish the route and when we got back, Florian was waiting for us. Had it not been for Covid, we probably would have hung around the town and had a drink, but given that all the cafés were closed we decided to call it a good day and head home.
2 comments:
You are great!!!
I wonder how many people start that big climb in the start and say forget it! LOL! Sounds like another wonderful hike!
Why is it so hard to figure out where to park around trails? If I can't find it on their website I always look at the satellite view and hope what I'm seeing is an approved place to park!
Sorry you guys are going in to another lockdown! IL started one last week too (just changing dining and who knows what else but we weren't dining in or going out anyway).
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