2025-02-26 51 5

Wed 26 Feb 2025 in 51,5: 51.6050686, 5.0458036 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

In a small wooded area north of Tilburg

Participants

• MyrtleGlacy
• MyrtleGlacy’s Fiancée
• Friend 1
• Friend 2

Expedition

I got home and put the mayonnaise in the fridge. We all got in the car and drove off. We first tried to get close by parking on the Vossenbergseweg, but the road was closed to traffic besides the people living there. We drove a bit more north and found a spot to park at the start of one of the hiking trails. At this point, it was clear that the sun was going down, but Google indicated that it would only be a 20 minutes’ walk to the hash. There were a couple of signs at the start of the trail. One told us that there were Highland cattle in the area and warned anyone there to not get close, to not touch the animals and definitely not get between a mother and her baby. We decided that this was important advice and told each other. We also told each other that these were bison. That was wrong, but it was funny to call them that.

The start of the path was nice and firm ground. But after a couple 100 meters the first puddles appeared. The water around us was also pretty high, so the difference between the water level and the actual ground was probably less than 10 centimeters. This meant that the ground we were walking on was often more soggy than expected and even at this early point we sometimes slipped or felt ourselves sinking more than expected. In the distance we saw the first cattle standing around. They seemed to be mostly passive, and we saw several with smaller cattle around them. Getting closer, we saw the first cattle on the path, with a baby. We gave them wide berth by going off the path into the muddy grass on the right. Thirty meters later, we had to swerve the other way on the left to avoid another small family. Having left the cattle behind us for now, we continued on, on a path that was turning to mud more and more and more.

We turned left, and saw that the path ahead was mostly water, with some bits of grass and ground. We kept going until there was basically no path left to walk on. Friend 2 and I decided that wet shoes weren’t that bad, and we walked into the water. I tried to find a path for my fiancée and Friend 1. After failing miserably at finding a path, Friend 1 & 2 and my fiancé tried to go around the path into the more wooded part on the right. The left was not an option as that was basically just an extension of the small lake that we had just passed. Friend 1 & 2 crossed the wall of logs and found it walkable. My fiancée tried to walk on the logs to get past the water. There were brambles along the logs which became more painfully clear when my fiancée fell into the logs and got some brambles in her shoes and pants. Luckily it was mostly her pride that was hurt, but there would be moments for the rest of the expedition where she would have to stop and try to get some of the worst stinging thorns out of her clothing. We all managed to get past the water on the path. Some with wet shoes, some with thorns in their clothing but all still willing to keep going. By now we were only 400 meters off.

We followed the path. We came to a crossing and had to go left. There was a sign that the path was currently closed due to the wet conditions. We had to scoff at that. We went around the sign and kept going. Ahead of us in the field there were more cattle. They weren’t blocking the path so we just kept to the right. As we finally reached the wooded area wherein the hash lay, we saw even more cattle. Some in between the trees, some on the path, most of them with their young. The ones on the path were actually blocking the road, so we went into the wood. There weren’t as many cattle there as there were on the path, but we still had to be careful. We got closer to the hash and were now actively looking at our GPS. This kind of killed our nightvision, but it had to be done. When we got within 20m, we saw one of the cattle seemingly close to where we thought the hash was. For a moment we even though the cattle was ON the hash. I considered for a moment that I would have claim the Guard dog consolation prize for this cattle, but luckily we were off by about 10 meters. We grabbed the hash while keeping a close eye on the beast and blinded ourselves once again by taking a selfie. By now it was pretty dark, and we still had to get back.

We retraced our path through the woods easily. Leaving the woods and getting back to the field our path was blocked by another cattle. It was a big one and he was right on the path. We couldn’t go around him on the right because we would be going in between him and the rest of the herd. We were warned by the sign not to do that, so it seemed like that would result in a bad time for all of us. On the left there was a field blocked off by barbed wire. Having no real other option, Friend 2 held open the barbed wire and we all went into the field. We stayed close to the barbed wire and went back into the field where we were allowed to be as soon as possible. I tend not to go into field without permission, but there wasn’t really a good option for us to get back to the car otherwise.

We continued going back and had to find a way around the watery path again. This time we all decided to cross the log barrier and walk past the water. This was a much better choice than either walking along the barrier or walking into the water. A few snags with hair or clothing getting caught, but it’s better than the alternative. We crossed back over the barrier to the original path. We were pretty much home free now. All we had to worry about now was mud and cow pats. I have not mentioned the cow pats yet, but they were everywhere. Luckily they were, in general, a bit darker than the ground we were walking on, but we still had to keep an eye out constantly for them. I think nobody actually stepped in one, but I would say that’s due to our vigilance. It was pretty dark by now, even if the night wasn’t that cloudy. We were next to a dump where a couple of floodlight lit the area. I think that helped a little bit. There were no more cattle on the path back to the car after this, which was nice. I tried to walk in the high grass next to the path to avoid more mud, but veered back towards the path when I noticed that there was more barbed wire strung across the grass, and it wasn’t always really visible any more.

Finally we reached the car and ended the expedition. We tried to get the mud off our shoes as much as possible, but when I got home my shoes were still a muddy and wet mess. All in all, not the way my friends, my fiancée and I were expecting to spend a couple of hours on a Wednesday night, but it was fun expedition and somewhat adventurous.

Photos

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  We drove about 10 minutes to get close

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  The first route was blocked, so we had to drive around the dump

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  At the start of the expedition there was still daylight and dry shoes

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  We walked in between two small lakes

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  Bad picture, but this was how bad the path was.

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  Everybody else tried to walk across these logs

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  There were nice green fields around us.

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  The Highland cattle were everywhere, even among the trees

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  Screenshot

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  Scary selfie. Once again, bad picture.

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  We got there

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  Look at that view!

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  That black spot? Right in the middle? That’s about 500 kilo of bovine watching us.

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  The difference between light between the start of the expedition and the end was awesome.

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  These were the warning signs that give a bit of information of how to treat the cattle