Tired of Mud-Slinging? Put on Your High-Tops, Try Mud Walking in Netherlands

Hiking for hours in the sea, waist-high in water and knee-deep in mud, may not be everyone’s idea of fun.

But the Dutch have turned wadlopen, or mud walking, into a national sport that underscores their love-hate relationship with the sea.

From May to October each year, about 30,000 people undertake the treks from the northern Dutch coast to any of six islands in the Wadden Sea accessible by foot only at low tide.

“The pleasure--and the challenge--is in walking where you know there will be water in just a few hours,” said wadlopen guide Hank Frans.

The Dutch passion for mud walking is understandable in a country that lies largely below sea level and has seen as much of its land washed away by floodwaters as has been reclaimed by perseverance.

But on a recent 12-mile mud walk, pleasure at first seemed remote.

Shivering at dawn in shorts and high-top sneakers--shoes above the ankle are necessary to ensure that they stay on the feet--our group of seven stepped gingerly into the slippery silt in near-freezing weather.

Keeping our balance was a major challenge for the first 10 minutes as the cold mud oozed into shoes.

On the way, huge square barricades made of low wood pilings and bundles of branches, once part of land-reclamation efforts, spread before us with the symmetry of paintings by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian.

This elegantly simple method of retaining silt has helped the Dutch form pastures for cattle grazing for centuries.

Further into the sea, the barricades disappeared. The mud became less slippery, but it was up to our knees.

The early morning sun shimmered off the sea all around us. Birds in the thousands feasted on nearby sand bars, taking advantage of the low tide to nibble at worms and shellfish.

Much of the Wadden Sea, which the Netherlands shares with Denmark and West Germany, has been declared a nature reserve because it is an attractive feeding ground for birds, seals and some shellfish.

In a way, it is a reserve for humans too. The Netherlands is one of the world’s most densely populated countries, and mud walking offers the Dutch a rare chance to get away from other people.

The sport, probably practiced since the Middle Ages, became especially popular in the mid-1960s. After several inexperienced nature lovers lost their way--and their lives--on the treks, it became illegal to go without an authorized guide.

Half a dozen centers in the towns of Pieterburen, Uithuizen and Ternaard organize treks for groups of up to 30.

Typically, the guide carries a long pole to test the depth of the water along the way and communication equipment for contact with the coast guard.

“The biggest worry is the weather--a sudden mist that makes it difficult to keep one’s bearings or an unexpected storm,” said Frans, who acts as a guide on weekends.

In 1981, 150 wadlopers had to be rescued by helicopter when the high tide surged in unexpectedly.

Such dangers are rare. At most, hikers face falling or sinking into the mud and perhaps hallucinations about dry socks.

We put on dry shoes and socks, which were carried in backpacks, as soon as we reached the island of Schiermonnikoog (Gray Monks) at the end of a five-hour hike.

For those with energy left, the narrow, 8-mile-long island, named for the monks who first settled it in the Middle Ages, offered scores of bicycle paths and bicycle rental shops for splendid rides through dunes, pastures and forest.

To get back to the mainland, the group caught a ferry at high tide.