Cartierheide, how do you actually pronounce it?

From BoksheideBuiten there are several possibilities to end up on the heath. Obviously on foot, if you take the 7 kilometers walk for granted, bij bicycle on the bike path, by motorcycle, or of course by car. There is a large parking lot where you can go and even finer, park for free. Joan and I choose to go by bolide.  Vesta, my always faithful companion, is already waiting under the car, like ‘don’t forget me, I can come along, can’t I?’ We gather all the stuff we think we need, camera, water, sunburn, because the sun is shining brightly. Vesta also gets to wear her Julius K9 power harness, because dogs are allowed on a leash in the woods and on the moors. She walks very comfortably in this ‘harness’ because the Y piece on the front gives good pressure distribution and her airways are free, but that aside. Off we go, on to a walk on Cartierheide! And yes, you pronounce it as kartjeeheide, a hike on Booth in other words.

We enthusiastically start the walk and, with our chatter, forgot to check what colour posts we are following. Purple it is… And then comes the question of whether we are going to make it a silence walk. Joan says she recognises the heather land from the silence walk she did during her yoga weekend in 2017. Are we going to do the same now then? We make the choice to walk not in silence but in full awareness and limit talking. Lovely time for reflection and we enjoy the scents & colours that nature offers us as a gift.

We first make our way along the wide dirt track with the cycle path on the left, which curves towards Bladel. Through the gate for walkers, because between May and October, Bazadaise- and Blode d’Aquitaine cattle are there to fill their bellies with everything there is to snack on in this natural landscape. Then, if you pay close attention, you can see the Dalem stream, a small watercourse. We shoot right into the narrow path, occasionally ducking to avoid the branches of the rich birch forest. Look around carefully, as these days forest management also leaves fallen trees lying around, giving space to all sorts of things growing and crawling. The narrow forest path, with the fens alongside, really comes alive this way. With a splash, Vesta dives pontifically into one of the many small pools and after her mud bath shakes herself right in front of us. The mud flies around our ears. It’s a good thing she has such a high petting factor and looks at us with an astonished tilted head.

After a while, the path widens slightly and there is a phenomenal view over the super- sized Goorven, which is home to a gull colony during the breeding season. Bringing binoculars is a good tip. Jeez, I had completely forgotten that this fen is there. I have ridden this round with my Gelderlander horse a long time ago, but I had forgotten about this for a while and I am glad that the memory comes back again. We stop for a moment and take the most beautiful pictures. Walking a little further, we come across a memorybench where we rest briefly and take the time to chat with passing hikers. The path then makes a surprising U-turn to the one-kilometre-long and winding wooden decking path. The area here can be hugely wet and so we can still enjoy the nature reserve. We muse some more and after the wooden boardwalk, another sandy path surrounded by tall trees and ferns follows, leading again to a phenomenal viewpoint with a bench. We descend and silently we both decide to close our eyes for a moment and let nature take control. So we sit, in deep meditation, with Vesta on our feet, in surrender to the moors. Only the footsteps of some passing walkers take us out of our meditation after a few minutes and with a breath or tree we descend back into the now.

Like reborn, we stroll back along the wide path. At the end, we turn left back into the car park and try to score another cappuccino at the candy pink food food-truck. This converted, small horse trailer is now an original ice cream truck that immediatly grabs your attention. Without a cappuccino, the food-truck only sells ice creams, but completely zen, we walk back to the car, together with Vesta.

Nice to know; the Belgian squire Paule-Emile Cartier had his eye on the castle on the Provincialeweg in Duizel in 1873. A lot of woodland belongs to the estate, which suits Emile, as he is a hunter. And that is how Cartierheide got its name. Today, the castle is occupied by the family of Wim van der Leegte of VDL Groep, who died in 2023.

Alexandra van BoksheideBuiten.