🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ fairy fallmaxxing hike! 🍄🧚🏽✨

Hiya queer hikers 🌈🌳

Calling all woodland fairies, hiking gays and nature-loving theys! It's time to enter our enchanted forest era. Think fairycore, but with muddy hiking boots and cozy times, or what Gen-Z calls fallmaxxing 💅🍂
This time, we're heading to the southern edge of the Veluwe for the 18 km NS Belmonte hike, from Ede-Wageningen station to Wageningen centre. With autumn in full swing, the forests should be putting on quite the show. And frankly, we deserve a little seasonal drama during these dark days. 🍁

We'll start at Landgoed Hoekelum, before making our way through the woods past prehistoric burial mounds (the original resting queens 💀) and along the winding Molenbeek. As we continue through the forests of Oranje Nassau's Oord, expect plenty of opportunities to channel your inner woodland creature.

Further along, we'll climb towards the Wageningse Berg, where the forest opens up to beautiful views over the Rhine and the open Betuwe area. Perfect for a little main-character moment, preferably with a dramatic breeze and a Florence + The Machine soundtrack. 🎶🏞️

We'll finish in the cozy student city of Wageningen, where we can grab a well-deserved drink or snack before catching the bus back to Ede-Wageningen for our trains home.
So lace up those boots, gather your fellow forest fairies and join us for a day of queer frolicking in the woods. 🌈🍄

Schedule
10:00 Gather at Utrecht Centraal
10:24 Train to Ede-Wageningen (Direction Nijmegen)
10:49 Arrival at Ede-Wageningen station
10:50-11:00 Introductions & start hike
~13:00 Lunch/snack break along the way (there are toilet opportunities en-route!)
~16:30–17:00 Finish in Wageningen, optional drinks and bus back to Ede-Wageningen or directly to Utrecht

Practical info
📏 Distance: 18 km
🫱🏾‍🫲🏻 Meeting point: Utrecht Centraal at 10:00 / Ede-Wageningen around 10:50
📍 Start: Ede-Wageningen station
🏁 End: Wageningen bus station (bus back to Ede-Wageningen)
🥾 Level: moderate-hard – some hills and potentially muddy forest paths, and quite long distance
🧚🏽 Essential cultural component: embracing your inner forest fairy. Fairy wings optional, frolicking mandatory.
🌿 Route (in Dutch): https://www.ns.nl/dagje-uit/wandelen/belmonte

Pack your:
🍱 lunch & snacks
🚰 water bottle
🥾 good walking shoes
🧥 raincoat/umbrella
🍂 warm clothes suitable for autumn weather
💳 some money for drinks and the train/bus back
🍄 your most fabulous woodland accessory
🏳️‍🌈 anything else you might need
🌿 Route: https://www.ns.nl/dagje-uit/wandelen/belmonte

❌ If you signed up and cannot make it in the end, please cancel your RSVP attendance so we know how many people will show up and someone else can take your place instead.

💗 A voluntary donation helps us to keep the Meetup group up and running :) you can either pay via a Tikkie or in cash after we finish the hike.

Hiking Queers Netherlands