Belgium 2021-10-24 - Ardennes - Packraft Semois

On an absolutely gorgeous late October Sunday, I drive to the valley of the river Semois for another combined hiking / packrafting solo day trip. My initial idea is to paddle from Vresse-sur-Semois to Bohan and hike back through the woods. As I near Vresse, it however becomes clear the valley is engulfed in fog. It would be a pity to paddle through fog the whole time and take out by the time it lifts. Better is therefore to drive to Bohan, do the hiking part first and take to the water around the time the fog lifts.

So, I park in Bohan and start hiking at 9:30 am. The moment I want to enter the woods, I notice that today access is forbidden due to hunting activities. Bummer. The only way to get around this problem is to hike to Vresse along the road. Not so pleasant, but the advantage is that it is faster than through the woods. I will hence be able to start paddling sooner.

I reach Vresse around 11:30 am and am happy to notice that the fog has lifted in the meantime. I hence prepare my raft and start paddling as soon as possible. Conditions are amazing: blue sky, colorful forests, a good flow and absolutely no-one on the water except me. Less than 2 hours later I already reach Bohan, and since it is still very early, I decide to continue paddling to Les Hautes Rivières, across the French border. In the middle of the river, I encounter an empty boat that is adrift and is slowly making its way downstream (possibly, it got loose somewhere during last summer’s floodings). Just before Les Hautes Rivières, I take out, have lunch, pack up and start hiking back to Bohan via the GR 16 trail.

Before descending to Bohan, I reach a viewpoint, have a very short rest, and since it is still only 3:30 pm, I hike to another viewpoint with a nice lookout tower. After having taken in the view at the latter, I start the final descent to Bohan, where I arrive at 4:30 pm, after a fantastic trip of 31 km in total.

(Membre Pont: 16 m3/s)