On Kingsday I decided to use the day off for a long walk. It has been on my mind for a while to walk the complete “Voetstappenpad” that surrounds the city of Hilversum and now it was time to do so.
This path is a route that had been created in 1939 and has been restored in 1997. The most of the path runs through nature with a few kilometers exception that run to the outskirts of Hilversum. The whole path is around 25km long and for me, with the walk to connect from home and disconnect back home again, the walk turned out to be a good 30km.
The path is worth it, running through a variety of nature, covering moorland and woodlands, it shows a quite diverse landscape. There are some locations where one can stop for a drink. However, I started my walk at 6:30 in the morning of a national holiday and thus the restaurants and bars I encountered were still closed when I passed them.
I brought my smaller camera with me, the Canon EOS M. Despite it not being the fastest camera, for hikes like this, it is an excellent companion. The quality of the photos is great, and the size is quite convenient. In the case of rain, I can quickly stuff it in the pocket of my raincoat, which is undoable for its larger brother, the Canon EOS 7DII. Will be great to test the new Canon EOS M5 once on some of these trips. It seems to be a worthy follow-on to the original M with capabilities that come close to the 7D, while still having the size and convenience of the M package.
With that, I finally decided to test my Peak Design Capture. This clip allows me to carry my camera conveniently on the belt of my backpack. Previously I had tried it with my 7D on my full pack but failed to find a convenient place to carry it. Hence on my previous walks, I referred back to carrying the 7D with the excellent Peak Design Slide. Here you’ll see how the EOS M is being carried on the Capture.
My pack on this day was the fairly new Lowe Alpine LA Airzone Z20, a 20-liter daypack with a rain cover that came in handy at the end of this days walk when I was treated at first a rain shower and later a hail shower. The Lowe Alpine is just large enough to carry all I need for a day walk and has still room to stuff a rain jacket and fleece. It is clearly not large enough for a full Camino; then I will revert to trusted Gregory Savant 48 liter pack.
The “voetstappenpad” is easy to follow as it is well marked with footsteps as part of small concrete stones alongside the path. In some occasions you will find small signs with the footsteps on it next to the road as well, helpfully directing the way.
Altogether it is very difficult to miss a turn. Although this was the second time I walked the path and I must confess that the first time I missed a turn south of Hilversum ending up in the middle of the city. That time I walked straight through the city back home. Now I followed the complete path and recognized the turn that I must have missed the previous time, back in 2013.
Some impressions along the path:
