''This landscape remains green even in autumn''

Day 1: From Den Helder to Groote Keeten

I begin my three-day hike at Den Helder station. With a symphony of roaring engines in the background, I walk to the dike, where the sounds dissolve into a sea of space. Waves gently lap against the basalt blocks, and seagulls circle high in the clear blue sky. The Lange Jaap, the tallest lighthouse in Europe, stands proudly above the dike.

Beyond the lighthouse lies Fort Kijkduin, a Napoleonic fort now housing a museum and a sea aquarium. Inside the fort, you can explore the history of the fort and Den Helder. The museum features fossils, and more recently discovered wine bottles and jars from the year 1800. Scale models of military vehicles and old news reports provide insights into the fort’s wartime past.

Day 2: From Groote Keeten to Van Ewijcksluis

On the second day, I see nothing but mist, roads, and field edges. After an hour of walking, the sun breaks through the clouds, and the mist disappears within minutes. I see vast fields, some completely underwater. This flooding helps kill all the pests in the soil before new crops are planted. Birds love this shallow water, rich in nutrients from the soil and small creatures. The fields are dotted with farms featuring pyramid-shaped thatched roofs. These stolp farms are typical of North Holland. The triangular shape of the roof provided ample storage space for all the crops harvested from the fertile fields.

After a few kilometers along a sea dike, I enter the village of ’t Zand via a floating bridge. In the past, the bridge was made of wooden rafts tied together. The middle rafts were pulled under the slanted rafts at the quay to allow boats to pass through. The rafts have since been replaced with sturdier materials, but the current bridge still functions in the same way.

Along the Zijperdijk, I walk to the next village. On both sides of the dike, fields stretch as far as the eye can see, but it was quite different until 1845. Less than two hundred years ago, you would have looked out from the dike over the sea and the island of Wieringen. As I walk through the fields, I pass the 370-year-old sluice in the village of Oudesluis and the Kleine Sluis in Anna Paulowna. I enjoy a well-deserved break at a café before walking another five kilometers through expansive landscapes. With eighteen kilometers in my legs, I reach my hotel in Van Ewijcksluis. With a well-filled plate of food, I look out over the water. Birds float calmly in the rippling water, while the sky turns deeper shades of pink and orange. A new moon hangs in the sky, and the stars are clearly visible in the clear night sky.

I walk the final kilometers along the sea dike. At Vatrop, there's a nature reserve with brackish pools and tall grass. During high tide, wading birds from the other side of the dike come here to wait for the tide to go out. Oystercatchers probe the ground with their long beaks, and ducks nap with their heads tucked under their feathers. On the other side of the dike, there's a bustling scene. Small birds scurry along the waterline in pursuit of each other, and hundreds of gulls float on the sea. At Den Oever, I leave the birds behind and cross the harbor to my car. My three days of hiking have come to an end.