Hiking with my friends

Several people that met for the first time during a holiday in Iceland decided to do some hiking afterwards. This group usually joins twice a year to hike for a weekend near one of the group members town. We have hiked all over the Netherlands and even outside our country.

The group

Although it is not possible to join every time the group more or less consists of the following people: Piet and Reina, Truus, Erik, Els, Magdaleen, Ellen , Hilly and me.

Zutphen - Almen - Deventer (14-15 Februari 1998)

On the first day we walked from Zutphen to Almen and back. Walking through forests and acres on a very good day. It is mid februari, but I am walking in a t-shirt.
The second day we take the train to Klarenbeek and walk on the so-called bandijk to Deventer. This dike was build in the middle ages by monks to prevent flooding the land from the river IJssel. In Deventer Magdaleen and I decide to visit Bram who promissed us a certificate of Vikinghood in Iceland if we jumped into the ice cold lake near Askja. At least we kept our promise...

Schoorl (25-26 April 1998)

It was raining a bit this weekend, but we enjoyed our first weekend hike. Walking through forest areas and along the beach of the North Sea all the way to Bergen aan Zee. We stayed at Piet and Reina's house in Schoorl. On the first day also group leader Bram (from the Iceland trip) joined us.

Groningen and Zuid Laren (24-25 October 1998)

The first day we hike in the typical flat and empty country of Groningen. It is very windy, but the spirit in the group is good. Luckily I could make it this time, since this week I was working in Germany. On friday I drove back to the Netherlands, so I already stayed at Ellen's and Hilly's place on friday. We visit a working mill and also an old church.
Day two is a bit wetter. We hike near the lake of Zuid Laren and get completely wet. But this does not stop us from having fun. Nice forests and moors are the perfect scenery together with a partly overflooding river. Yes, this is typical dutch weather.

Elburg (29 May 1999)

On the birthday of Els we hike from Elburg to Nunspeet and back. The weather was very good and we hiked for hours. After the hike we hade a very good meal and then it started to rain. We were lucky this time.

Hoorn - Medemblik (14-15 August 1999)

I only joined on the second day, since I was working in Germany during that week. So I worked from Monday till Friday, drove back to the Netherlands on Saturday and hiked on Sunday. This day we took the steam train from Hoorn to Medemblik (where Erik is a volunteer in keeping the trains running). Also another member of the Iceland trip, Jacques, was present. He is also a volunteer here. On the picture you see the group next to one of the most famous steam trains of Holland called Bello.Then we walked back to Hoorn. You will pass lots of small typical towns of North Holland.

Arnhem (April 2000)

Unfortunately I missed this one, because I was in Spain.

Hiking in Spain (29 October - 5 November 2000)

At some point it was my turn to organize a hiking weekend. Since I was living in Spain in this period the group decided to come to Spain for a week and invade my house. This was a fantastic idea so I started thinking about different places to go to. And since cooking is more or less a hobby of me I also had to plan special meals for a whole week.

Hiking from San Lorenzo to La Machota. Halfway the mountain is a spot called La Silla de Filipe II. Carved out in the rocks are staircases and some seats. The story goes that Philip II was sitting on this spot and watched how people where working on the completion of the monastery.


Hiking near the Embalse de la Jarosa near the village of Guadarrama. Today my collegues Janine and Kate also joined. This is a very nice hike through the forest and hills. At some point the trail stopped so we had to figure out how to proceed. In the picture on the left we are resting after a good climb. The view is perfect.

Visit to Madrid. This day it was raining, so instead of hiking we went to Madrid and only hiked a bit in the city. Starting at Plaza de Espana (where you can find the statue of Cervantes, together with Don Quichote and Sancho Panza) we went to the royal palace (see picture). Then we went to the Plaza Major and Puerta del Sol. Taking the Metro southwards we arrived at Atocha and went to the Prado and the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum.

The last day we decided to hike from San Lorenzo to Zarzalejo following part of the Roman Road. Some went back following part of the trail we hiked on day 1, others decided to walk to the top of La Machota. Since we didn't take the trail, we went straight up climbing over boulders and steep ridges. After 2 hours we reached to top. It is nice to find out where your limits are (sometimes).

La Maliciosa - Spain

This time an attempt was made to climb Maliciosa (2240 m) together with my collegues Janine and Jesus. Conditions and personal feelings prevented a climb, but we did hike to 1800 m at La Baranca. The picture on the right shows Maliciosa in the background.

Alkmaar/Schoorl (24-25 March 2001)


The first day we start with a visit of the old center of Alkmaar, a city well known for its cheese market on Fridays. Then the hike continues towards Heiloo and Egmond. Although the weather predictions said it would be raining it stays dry and the temperature is OK for the time of this year. Then we go back to Heiloo and take the train towards Alkmaar, because we are a bit tired.
On Sunday we start in Schoorl and hike through the dunes towards the beach. The wind is strong and cold today so we walk southwards with the wind in our back to Bergen. There we go inland again towards Schoorl.

Texel (3-4 November 2001)


The island of Texel lies in the north part of the Netherlands. We take the ferry from Den Helder and drive to the north part of the island, close to De Cocksdorp. We hike trhough the dunes and along the beach. Although it gets pretty dark and it looks like it is going to rain, we are lucky and it stays dry.

Havelte (13-14 April 2002)


We are staying in het Hunehuis in Darp, a small logde in a village near Havelte. We use it as a starting point for hikes in the woods and moors. The moors of the Dwingeler Veld are really nice and we walk here for many hours.

Bornerbroek (2-3 November 2002)


Situated in the woods near Borne, which lies in Twente close to the German border, we stay at the Krikkehaar, where we have our own lodge for the weekend. We can sleep here in this cabin and we also have a kitchen so we cook ourselves. The first day we walk through the woods and the second day the landscape varies a lot.

Voorhout (5-6 April 2003)

It is my turn again to organize the hiking weekend again. I am now living in Voorhout so we go to the beach. First we hike to Noordwijk and then we go north for several kilometers along the beach. It is a bit windy, but the weather is okay. On the second day we drive to De Zilk and walk towards Haarlem. At Heemsteede/Aerdenhout we take the train back home, but Piet and I leave the train at Hillegom and hike to De Zilk to pick up the cars.

Arnhem (11-12 October 2003)

For the second time I miss the hiking weekend at Arnhem, organized by Magdaleen. I did not do it on purpose. I was on holiday in Morocco so I had a good excuse.

Groningen (14-15 Februari 2004)

Again we visit the province of Groningen where we stay at Ellens place. The first day we drive towards Delfzijl hike along the Eems at Termunten. On the other side of the water we see Germany. The sky is a bit grey and at some places it is a bit foggy, but the typical landscape of the north east part of Groningen is perfect for a good hike. At the local museum we stop for a drink. Just in time, because they close within 15 minutes.
The next day we drive to the north west, towards Lauwersoog. It is sunny and we hike in the woodlands close to the Lauwersmeer. At some places the tracks are extremely muddy and we have to leave the tracks because of the water. And then it is time to drive back home.

Teufen, Switzerland (1-8 May 2004)

Hiking in Appenzellerland.


This document was last updated on 10/04/04