Preparations for Hiking the 100km Dutch Mountain Trail in Limburg

During the covid-19 pandemic we went for family walks much like everyone else. During that time I became aware of the existence of a hiking route in the south of The Netherlands called the Dutch Mountain Trail. It is approximately 100km long starting in Eygelshoven and ending in Maastricht. If you have ever been in that neighbourhood you know there are many hills to climb and some famous bicycle races, the most famous probably the Amstel Gold Race. The DMT passes over the so called 7 summits of the area and some of the climbs are quite steep. It is claimed that it is very similar to hiking in Austria for example. Ever since I read about the DMT I have been wanting to go there and actually walk the trail. But because of its length I never managed to find enough time to do it. The official guide has the DMT split into 4 stages but this is considered quite a strenuous walk. If you arrive the evening before the first leg and leave the day after the last leg it is probably manageable if you are fit enough and used to walking. Certainly don’t attempt it without proper walking gear like for example the people I saw descending in the Grand Canyon on slippers. If you read Dutch you can check out this blog post from Wandelvrouw (although, nowadays AI will probably be able to translate it for you without problem). She recommends to take it easy and traverse the trail in 5 to 7 days. Of course, if you are on the other end of the spectrum of taking on challenges, you can run the whole 100km in one day as well. Anyway, this year I will finally walk part of the DMT as I only have 3 days at my disposal which will include traveling to the area from home and back by car. We will also stay in a central location and then drive to the starting point of the day and take public transport back to the beginning at the end of the stage for that day. So no luggage to take along the way.