Brakel and Vloesberg language boundary route W 14.3 km

For this walk, we based ourselves on the Pasarwalk Brakel and Vloesberg language border route. Although this (beautiful in itself) walk left quite a few kilometers of paths unused to our liking, we tried to adapt it as best as possible to the wishes of the slightly more adventurous "forest walker." We did this walk in mid-August on a beautiful sunny day, but in the weeks prior it had rained often and heavily, leaving the paths quite muddy in places (especially some real forest paths). Because of this and also due to the relief (the walk takes place between elevation lines of 60 m and 140 m), this walk is not suitable for wheelchairs and strollers: sporty mountain bikers with sufficient technical "skills" can definitely follow large parts of the route, but this may not be allowed everywhere (more research needed for that).

We start the walk at the Sint-Jozefskerk on the small village square of Everbeek Boven: there is parking available and also a village café (not open on the day of our walk). We immediately dive into a church path that takes us past the small cemetery and along corn fields (unfortunately increasingly appearing in Flanders). In the first part of the walk, we still follow a few (quiet) paved roads, but further on these become mainly unpaved paths along meadows and forests. These form a large forest complex here under the overarching name of Everbeekse Bossen, which includes the Trimpontbos (where the Terkleppebeek creates a number of very muddy sections of path), the Livierenbos/Bois de la Louvière, and Hayesbos with the Verrebeek that has a beautifully winding course, as well as the Steenbergbos. Like many place names (Route du Paradis, Bois de la Louvière, ...) already suggest, we walk here partly on and along the language border. In the Livierenbos itself, a large broad "motorway" runs through the forest: since this is not very challenging, we followed a few branches and winding paths that explore other parts of the forest. Because this forest is largely a beech forest with little undergrowth, it is nowhere difficult to follow the path, and in the sparse places where the path is less visible, a dose of forest walker instinct ensures that you never really lose your way. During the walk, we also regularly come across chapels (including the Kruiskapel and also a beautiful forest chapel, the chapel of O.L.V. van Halle).

Just a final note about the number of altitude meters: the general route information mentions about 130 altitude meters: our GPS recorded nearly 300 altitude meters (which will align more with reality)...