2025-04-12 52 5

Location

In the forest east of Harderwijk

Participants

MyrtleGlacy

Expedition

It’s was a beautiful Saturday morning. The weather was to be about 20 degrees Celsius without a cloud in the sky. And there was a perfect hash in a forest. So yeah, I had to go.

I started in Tilburg, intending to go to Ermelo by train. I got on in Tilburg, and changed trains in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Utrecht. While travelling, I checked my phone to make sure there would be a rent-a-bike available in Ermelo. The hash was not really reachable by public transport, so I had to either walk or rent a bike. When I left Ermelo had 6 bikes, when I left Utrecht there were three left. It even dropped to 0 for a moment in Putten, but right before Ermelo it went up to 3 again. I got out, speedwalked to the rent-a-bike spot, and was disappointed by the empty spots there. This meant I had to wait 30 minutes for the next train to Harderwijk so get a bike there. I decided to get a cup of tea in Ermelo, and wait for the train.

Ermelo is a cute little town surrounded by forest, mostly. Sadly, it is very religious, so there wasn’t much to explore in the weekend. I got on the train again to Harderwijk. I got a bike there, and started moving towards the hash. The saddle was reallllly hard, and the weather was way hotter than I was used to, but it was absolutely beautiful weather, so I couldn’t really complain. What I could complain about is Harderwijk and an apparently obsessive need to block bike paths and making it difficult for a hasher to leave town quickly. It took me about 15 minutes to get out of Harderwijk, which seemed look to me when looking at the map.

It took about 40 minutes to get to the entrance to the forest where I had to leave the main roads. This was partly due to the fact that I was just unclear where I had to go in, which meant I needed to stop at every way left and check the map.

Leaving the main roads, the bike path was still really good. Very well kept and open. There were a lot of other bikers as well. Mostly elderly people but also families and people on racing bikes. Originally I was planning to walk from the main roads to the hash, but it would have been 2km in a straight line, while it was a lot faster (though not in a straight line by bike).

When the hash was within 600 meters, I had to leave my bike behind. I say had to because the path to the right was mostly sand. I could have biked it. Some people were biking it. I decided to walk. It was the right choice as it was a lovely path. I turned off my podcast and listened to the birds and the silence of the forest. I crossed the Leuvenumse Beek (a small creek in the forest) and had to follow it on the other side for a bit. I encountered a glove on a pole, which made me laugh because a Dutch subreddit had been going wild on a meme about a Handschoenpaal (Glove on a pole) in Arnhem. Had to take a picture of it, before moving on.

A few turns later, and I found the hash. It was right on the path!!! I wondered how many people had walked and biked over it today. I took the pictures, and scratched XKCD in the sand with a stick. I decided to wait for some hikers to take a picture with me, because this was just too cool. Waiting for some people to show up, I felt like some kind of fey or devil. Waiting on the side of the road to offer some hapless travellers a deal. How would they react to a random guy in a forest asking for a picture.

Finally, two ladies came into view. I waited for them to come close and tried my best to look at non-evil as possible. I approached them, and explained why I was waiting here. I asked them if they knew geochaching, but they had no idea of that either. I just explained hashing in the most simple form, and told them there was an achievement for me if they would take a selfie with me. They were okay with that after asking for my name which I gladly gave. I would suck as a devil / fey. We took the picture and said our farewells. I walked back to my bike and crossed the creek again.

On a day like this, I just couldn’t resist more relaxation. I walked a bit up the creek, out of view. I took of my socks and shoes and put my feet in the cold water. I grabbed my book and for 2 chapters I enjoyed the hot sun, the cold water, and a lovely spring forest. Finally, I got up and went to my bike. Had to get back to Harderwijk, and decided to take another route there. I must have been fey-struck at least a little, because the way back seemed to last for way longer than it was supposed to. I kept going straight on, and the path seemed to wind under my bike. I did see other people, but they were only fleeting visions during my bike-tour of the Feywild.

I finally exited the forest and got the Harderwijk. Dropped off my bike and got on the train. Thus my expedition was concluded, and I got to shake off the last bit of enchantment before going into the human world again.