The new year didn’t start in the best way and after 15 days of isolation I can tell you my mind started going crazy… or crazier, depends how you see it! The only thing I was thinking was how much I wanted to go out of the house. Plus it had been snowing in the south of Belgium and the weather predicted snow in Brussels. I got so excited and impatient, but let’s be real, the snow never really lasts in the city.
So I thought to myself: I’m not going to be waiting here for the snow to fall I’ll just go chase it!
We were finally allowed to go out of the house nevertheless, we wanted to avoid crossing too many people. The High Fens would have been packed with people, so this was not an option. That morning I was scrolling through my phone and came across an article talking about the best places to go for a hike in the snow that wasn’t packed with people. – Thank you smartphone for listening and knowing what I want.- There ist was: let’s go to Libramont! A 1h30 to get there for a two-hour hike found on the AllTrails-app. We got dressed in warm clothes and off we were to chase the snow! I was so excited!
This was honestly the best idea ever. The closer we got to the location, the whiter the landscapes became. We were like two kids before Christmas. We parked the car at the Libramont station and we started our hike. I don’t think I ever saw that much snow. I was never a “hiking” girl. Growing up my parents never got us onto the habit to go for hikes in the Ardennes in Belgium. We used to wait for snow in Brussels and go to the parks to enjoy it. I like going for small walks and I like nature but I rarely went for an actual hike. I don’t even own hiking shoes or any other equipment. On the other hand, thanks to Covid-times I got to explore a bit more of my own country and lately I have been feeling more and more the need to disconnect from all screens, and going for a hike seems the best way to do it. Win-win situation.
Let’s come back to my story.
The idea was to follow the trail I found on the app, a 2h promenade in the middle of the trees in the snow, but we ended up going off tracks. The need to explore and enjoy the views were too strong! We were alone, and once in a while, we would see people, which reassured us a bit. By the way, the people we crossed paths with were so nice. The views were so beautiful and walking through the snow felt so relaxing and peaceful. Breathing with no mask, filling our lungs with fresh air felt so good too, we almost forgot that we were still in COVID-times. We did end up wearing it to avoid our faces to freeze.
After 2hours of walking, it started snowing and we felt it was time to go home. The sun was setting and we still had a bit to walk to get to the car. It was getting colder too. Funny story, I didn’t think of putting my hair properly in my hoodie and it ended up freezing on my scarf… I had to wait to get in the car for it to melt to be able to take my scarf off without breaking my hair 😅.
When we got home we were dead tired. We ordered some food watched friends and went to sleep. After 2 weeks of being grumpy, exhausted, and sick I felt happy to be out and about again. Can’t wait to go back for a hike, will it seriously become a new hobby?
With love,
Brenda
brendawithlove.com 