Mookerheide hike – day 2

Last summer, I hiked 32 km from Cuijk to Nijmegen, by way of the Mookerheide. Day two started quite sunny! I took it easy, had my breakfast, freshened up and aired out my tent. Even though it’s a double-walled tent, there was still condensation. Maybe it was also because of the way the inner tent is hung…it doesn’t make much sense to me to not being able to tighten the pitch on the inner tent, but oh well…it is what it is.

First thing I did after I had packed everything up and started hiking again, was to visit the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery. There’s a total of 2,619 burials of which there are 2,338 of Canadian soldiers. The only people who were there, where of the maintenance crew keeping the terrain pristine. I’ve never seen such meticulous grass mowing!

After visiting the cemetery, I backtracked to start the actual hike. Into the forest I went again! Day two was beautiful, just as day one had been. Blue skies, plenty of sun, plenty of climbs and views. I think I even took a wrong turn once or twice, but I corrected my mistake and kept going, slowly but steadily towards Nijmegen.

When I saw the Waal bridge, I knew I didn’t have too far to walk anymore. Directions of the final stretch were unclear though – at least I thought so – and I was having enough of it, so I winged the last bit. I probably added a bit of distance too, because I don’t know the city very well and took a wrong turn in a few places. But no matter, in the end I made it!

Initially, I had planned to do another hike between another two train stations. I even made it to the campsite I had booked for that evening. My neighbours were very friendly and lend me one of their chairs so I could sit comfortably. I could even have some of their dinner, but I declined, since I had my own food I didn’t want to waste. I decided that two nights of camping was enough for now and that I was content with the hiking I had done. No need for more hiking at that time, haha! So after a glorious night’s sleep, I packed up my pack once again and headed home.