Herberg 'T Zwaantje

St. Jansberg on a day in early spring

by egonwegh

These are pictures of a walk we made on March 6, 2005, a day on which - according to meteorologists - spring had already begun. We don't have blizzards and avalanches, but we had this rather exceptional snowfall in March - up to fifty centimeters in some regions of the Netherlands. My guess would be that some twenty centimeters fell on St. Jansberg. Not an awful lot of snow, but it's still a beautiful sight!

A narrow path that leads along the small brook on St. Jansberg (St.. John's Mountain).

Here a stone bridge crosses the brook.

Close up of the bridge - ice crystals.

Another small bridge (this one's made of wood) across the brook.

Mookerhei

by egonwegh

"The Mookerhei or heath near Mook"

A mill dating back to the 18th century. The water comes from a brook that flows along the slopes of St. Jansberg or St. John's Mountain. The only water mill in this region, its wheel - with a diameter of 7 m (ca. 23 feet) - is said to be the second largest in the Netherlands.

On the heath looking north.

On top of Mookerhei ...

On the heath looking west : a splendid view across the river Maas (Meuse) and the town of Cuyk.

A nearby valley, called het Zevendal. Now partly eroded, it was shaped by huge masses of ice during the Ice Age. It's rather strange to stand at the bottom of this valley, realizing that the landscape we see today was in part created by ice and meltwater many thousands of years ago ...