Belgium 2021-02-20 - Ardennes - Packraft Our
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 14.04 nm
- Elevation gain
- 1,499 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 1,499 ft
- Max elevation
- 1,639 ft
- TrailRank
- 21
- Min elevation
- 1,035 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Time
- 6 hours 22 minutes
- Coordinates
- 1515
- Uploaded
- February 20, 2021
- Recorded
- February 2021
near Auel, Wallonia (Belgique)
Viewed 275 times, downloaded 5 times
Itinerary description
Last week has seen a crazy shift in the weather, going from temperatures far below freezing and snow on the ground, to +15°C and brilliant sunshine. This calls for some packrafting and hiking fun in the east of the country!
Our is a little river in the very east of Belgium (in fact, it marks the border to Germany) that is open for paddling between the villages of Auel and Ouren. So, I put in at Auel on a sunny Saturday morning at 10 am and start paddling downstream, which in this case is due south. The river flows through some attractive natural scenery and is technically quite straightforward. Under normal circumstances, the only obstacles are a fish ladder and a crumbled old barrage.
At the fish ladder, I decide to carry, as there is simply not enough water to venture into the fish ladder itself, nor the original river bed to the right of it (one has to take into account that part of the water is diverted to a fish pond at this location). The remnants of the old barrage I do paddle however. There are lots of rocks, so the ride is a bit bumpy, but also good fun.
I arrive in Ouren at noon, take out, and start hiking back via the hills and woods to the west of the river. I’m surprised to encounter some ice remaining from the past cold snap at a couple of locations. I have lunch on top of the plateau, with a view into Luxembourg.
After lunch, I descend into the valley, and hike back in the direction of Auel via the Vennbahn bicycle / walking track (which used to be a railroad in the past). I have another rest at the former railway station of Burg-Reuland, before taking on the last stretch.
After a generally scenic and – to be honest – quite relaxed hike, I return to my car around 4:30 pm. Total distance covered today is 26 km (12 km paddling + 14 km hiking).
(Flow: 6.3 m3/s)
Our is a little river in the very east of Belgium (in fact, it marks the border to Germany) that is open for paddling between the villages of Auel and Ouren. So, I put in at Auel on a sunny Saturday morning at 10 am and start paddling downstream, which in this case is due south. The river flows through some attractive natural scenery and is technically quite straightforward. Under normal circumstances, the only obstacles are a fish ladder and a crumbled old barrage.
At the fish ladder, I decide to carry, as there is simply not enough water to venture into the fish ladder itself, nor the original river bed to the right of it (one has to take into account that part of the water is diverted to a fish pond at this location). The remnants of the old barrage I do paddle however. There are lots of rocks, so the ride is a bit bumpy, but also good fun.
I arrive in Ouren at noon, take out, and start hiking back via the hills and woods to the west of the river. I’m surprised to encounter some ice remaining from the past cold snap at a couple of locations. I have lunch on top of the plateau, with a view into Luxembourg.
After lunch, I descend into the valley, and hike back in the direction of Auel via the Vennbahn bicycle / walking track (which used to be a railroad in the past). I have another rest at the former railway station of Burg-Reuland, before taking on the last stretch.
After a generally scenic and – to be honest – quite relaxed hike, I return to my car around 4:30 pm. Total distance covered today is 26 km (12 km paddling + 14 km hiking).
(Flow: 6.3 m3/s)
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