Belgium 2022-02-19 - Ardennes - Packraft Ourthe Occidentale

A packraft is a fun and versatile piece of kit, however it is also pretty expensive. Question therefore is whether in winter, sportive rivers in the Belgian Ardennes can also be paddled with something dead cheap, such as an Intex K2 Explorer inflatable kayak for instance. These kayaks used to be on sale for merely 80 EUR at selected shops, but prices have recently slightly gone up.

Renzo would like to see the above question answered, and therefore joins me on a trip on the western fork of the Ourthe river (known as Ourthe Occidentale) with his K2. The plan is to paddle from the village of Berguème to the confluence with the eastern fork of the river (Ourthe Orientale) and hike back across hills and valleys from there. There’s only a short window of opportunity, since a severe storm struck yesterday, and tomorrow another one is expected. Today however should be a dry day with a mix of sun and clouds, and manageable winds. Due to yesterday’s storm, most rivers in the Ardennes today have a flow that is above the allowed level for paddling, Ourthe Occidentale being one of few exceptations.

We put in at 10:30 am with a temperature slightly above zero and immediatly notice that there is a good flow and the current is swift. We make decent progress and tackle many fast sections, wave trains and small rapids. It quickly becomes clear that the K2 is able to manage the river just fine, which is helped by the fact that there are no sharp bends, nor any obstructions that cannot be easily circumvented.

We reach the first dam, which I jump via its regular passage on the right. The dam cannot be jumped without touching the concrete floor though, and Renzo therefore decides to carry, not to risk damage. At the second dam, I stay behind for a while to play in backwater, and afterwards again catch up with Renzo.

Right before the third dam, which marks the beginning of the artificial lake of Nisramont, we both play in the backwater of a nice rapid. Afterwards, we carry around the third dam and take out for lunch a bit further. After lunch, we paddle to the confluence of the two Ourthe forks, take out again and prepare for the return hike.

The return hike immediately goes up steeply and it becomes clear right away that Renzo is in for a very tough haul with his heavy and bulky kayak. He however knew this would be the case, and therefore bravely pushes on.

The hike first leads along open plateaus and villages, but then descends to the valley of the river we paddled this morning. The area around here is quite wild and not often visited. Suddenly, two fury animals jump out of the bushes and cross the trail right in front of our feet. We can only observe them for a second, but there is no doubt they are two wildcat (felis silvestris), probably male and female. Wildcat used to be very rare, but numbers in the Belgian Ardennes seem to be growing.

Darkness starts to set in and around 6:30 pm we finally return back to the car in Berguème. Today we paddled 19.5 km and walked 15 km, all in the span of 8 hours. Nice trip!

(Ortho: 18.8 m3/s)