usvi-on-line
STJ Fall 2010 Trip Report - Day 9
STJ Fall 2010 Trip Report - Day 9
Link to Day 1 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18383
Link to Day 2 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18387
Link to Day 3 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18398
Link to Day 4 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18434
Link to Day 5 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18446
Link to Day 6 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18454
Link to Day 7 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18490
Link to Day 8 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18567
It was breezy and raining off and on when we got up today. After a little while the sun did chase the clouds away, even if it was still windy.
Rather than trying to figure out where conditions would be OK for snorkeling we decided to do something we'd talked about doing, but never had - hike the Reef Bay trail. We took Marina Rd. to Centerline Rd., via Gifft Hill Rd, then headed east.
There were no other vehicles parked next to the trail head by the road, and so, at just about 8:30AM, we began the trek down the trail towards Reef Bay.
The morning sun hadn't made it's way through the overhead canopy yet, and the leaves on the plants were all still glistening with dew. Maybe this little guy was getting a drink!
We took our time on the hike down, stopping along the way to read the signs that described some of the plant life as well as pieces of ruins, or other historical facts. The trail was muddy and/or had puddles in a few places due to all of the recent rains, but the early start and the breezes blowing kept it from being miserably hot.
As we neared the bottom of the trail we followed the side path that takes you to the petroglyphs, and, courtesy of all of the recent rain, a beautiful waterfall.
After that detour we got back to the main trail and walked the remaining short distance to the Sugar Mill ruins:
From there, we walked back up the trail a short distance, then walked another side trail, this one leading to Reef Bay. We found a place to sit down in the shade and retrieved our sandwiches from the backpack and had a very welcome lunch break! Before we began the long trek back up the trail, we dawdled a little bit to take some pictures of the bay:
While our elapsed time walking back up the trail was a lot less than on our way down, I'll admit that we were getting worn out by the time we made it back to the top! I took to stopping and reading the names of the plants backwards (since I had read them forwards when we were going in the other direction). At first I did it to try to be funny, but by the end I was doing it as an excuse to stop. Fortunately, we did bring enough water with us to get down and back up, so, eventually, we managed to drag our weary bodies all the way to the top, and back out to Centerline Rd.
The jeep, which wasn't full when we had picked it up (details in day 1 report) was now getting perilously close to empty, so we headed back to town and filled 'er up. Then we found a place to park near the VINP dock and decided we needed smoothies from the stand across the street. Most likely our hike had a lot to do with it, but they were great! Then we went into St. John Spice, and to our surprise and delight, Ruth was in. We took advantage of the glorious air conditioning in the store while I bought some spices and "stuff" (trying to not run off her other customers with the smells of the trail!) and Leslie and Ruth chatted.
Once we'd walked all the way past Mongoose Junction to get back to the jeep we agreed that it would be a shame to be so close to the north shore beaches, and so in need of a swim, and not get wet, so we headed east back out of town towards those beautiful stretches of sand, sun, and water. The parking lot at Hawksnest looked pretty empty so we pulled in there and, lo and behold, there was a silver Nitro that looked suspiciously like the one the folks at La Papaya were renting for the week. We grabbed towels, walked down to the far right end of the beach, and sure enough, there was shopper3 and Larry, nacarfan59 and Becky, and Billy.
Before long, while Leslie and the ladies got caught up, I joined the others for a summit in the water where we drank a few cold and refreshing beers and talked of many manly things...
Before long everyone seemed to have had their beach itch sufficiently scratched, and our thoughts turned to happy hour. They invited us back to La Papaya to continue the fun and we were only too happy to take them up on it. We enjoyed the view from up there, shared some pictures that were still on everyone's cameras, and had some of shopper3's famous pudding shots!
We finished the day off back at the villa, where I put some of the spices I'd just bought to good use while grilling some tuna steaks. I'm fairly certain that it wasn't too much longer after dinner that we called it a (long) day!
Link to Day 2 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18387
Link to Day 3 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18398
Link to Day 4 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18434
Link to Day 5 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18446
Link to Day 6 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18454
Link to Day 7 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18490
Link to Day 8 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=18567
It was breezy and raining off and on when we got up today. After a little while the sun did chase the clouds away, even if it was still windy.
Rather than trying to figure out where conditions would be OK for snorkeling we decided to do something we'd talked about doing, but never had - hike the Reef Bay trail. We took Marina Rd. to Centerline Rd., via Gifft Hill Rd, then headed east.
There were no other vehicles parked next to the trail head by the road, and so, at just about 8:30AM, we began the trek down the trail towards Reef Bay.
The morning sun hadn't made it's way through the overhead canopy yet, and the leaves on the plants were all still glistening with dew. Maybe this little guy was getting a drink!
We took our time on the hike down, stopping along the way to read the signs that described some of the plant life as well as pieces of ruins, or other historical facts. The trail was muddy and/or had puddles in a few places due to all of the recent rains, but the early start and the breezes blowing kept it from being miserably hot.
As we neared the bottom of the trail we followed the side path that takes you to the petroglyphs, and, courtesy of all of the recent rain, a beautiful waterfall.
After that detour we got back to the main trail and walked the remaining short distance to the Sugar Mill ruins:
From there, we walked back up the trail a short distance, then walked another side trail, this one leading to Reef Bay. We found a place to sit down in the shade and retrieved our sandwiches from the backpack and had a very welcome lunch break! Before we began the long trek back up the trail, we dawdled a little bit to take some pictures of the bay:
While our elapsed time walking back up the trail was a lot less than on our way down, I'll admit that we were getting worn out by the time we made it back to the top! I took to stopping and reading the names of the plants backwards (since I had read them forwards when we were going in the other direction). At first I did it to try to be funny, but by the end I was doing it as an excuse to stop. Fortunately, we did bring enough water with us to get down and back up, so, eventually, we managed to drag our weary bodies all the way to the top, and back out to Centerline Rd.
The jeep, which wasn't full when we had picked it up (details in day 1 report) was now getting perilously close to empty, so we headed back to town and filled 'er up. Then we found a place to park near the VINP dock and decided we needed smoothies from the stand across the street. Most likely our hike had a lot to do with it, but they were great! Then we went into St. John Spice, and to our surprise and delight, Ruth was in. We took advantage of the glorious air conditioning in the store while I bought some spices and "stuff" (trying to not run off her other customers with the smells of the trail!) and Leslie and Ruth chatted.
Once we'd walked all the way past Mongoose Junction to get back to the jeep we agreed that it would be a shame to be so close to the north shore beaches, and so in need of a swim, and not get wet, so we headed east back out of town towards those beautiful stretches of sand, sun, and water. The parking lot at Hawksnest looked pretty empty so we pulled in there and, lo and behold, there was a silver Nitro that looked suspiciously like the one the folks at La Papaya were renting for the week. We grabbed towels, walked down to the far right end of the beach, and sure enough, there was shopper3 and Larry, nacarfan59 and Becky, and Billy.
Before long, while Leslie and the ladies got caught up, I joined the others for a summit in the water where we drank a few cold and refreshing beers and talked of many manly things...
Before long everyone seemed to have had their beach itch sufficiently scratched, and our thoughts turned to happy hour. They invited us back to La Papaya to continue the fun and we were only too happy to take them up on it. We enjoyed the view from up there, shared some pictures that were still on everyone's cameras, and had some of shopper3's famous pudding shots!
We finished the day off back at the villa, where I put some of the spices I'd just bought to good use while grilling some tuna steaks. I'm fairly certain that it wasn't too much longer after dinner that we called it a (long) day!
Come see us!
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Tracy in WI
- Posts: 1624
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:39 am
- Location: Wisconsin
Steve I am really loving your report. You both sure know how to make the very best of your time. So glad Leslie got to see her spotted eagle rays. The one you have a photo of looks huge. I have to laugh when I look at your pictures of the ruins on the Reef Bay trail. I hiked that about 13 years ago and never looked up while in the ruins, I had no clue that there were bats all over the ceiling. We were in the pool at Cruz View later that day talking about our hike to another couple when they asked about the bats, I was a bit embarrassed that I had no idea that they were there. I would have loved to have seen them. Maybe in June I will try that hike again and hopefully be a bit more aware of what is around me. I am dreading your report coming to an end. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and pictures.
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SOonthebeach
- Posts: 1707
- Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:01 am
- Location: Texas
. Sounds like ya'll had an awesome day.
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Augie, I so enjoyed reading your trip reports and photos; thanks for the great read!
I noticed in the last installment you and Leslie walked the Reef Bay Trail down and back in sandals! (Tevas?) Kudos to you!! Obviously from the photos you both are in great shape, but do you think it is doable for us normal, more sedentary type? I will leave the hiking boots home but maybe running shoes might be a better option for stability, and we’ll probably just hike the one way down.
Was the “bat” photo taken at the Sugar Mill Ruins? They look like the size of small dogs…scary! I will want to avoid that place.
Just one more question...on the day you rented the dinghy from Calypso Charters, did you find it difficult to climb back into the boat? Is that the type of dinghy that is not allowed to be taken ashore? Did you use the mooring balls or anchors? And would you recommend a dinghy day with Calypso?
Thanks, again, for sharing your fun-filled vacation!
I noticed in the last installment you and Leslie walked the Reef Bay Trail down and back in sandals! (Tevas?) Kudos to you!! Obviously from the photos you both are in great shape, but do you think it is doable for us normal, more sedentary type? I will leave the hiking boots home but maybe running shoes might be a better option for stability, and we’ll probably just hike the one way down.
Was the “bat” photo taken at the Sugar Mill Ruins? They look like the size of small dogs…scary! I will want to avoid that place.
Just one more question...on the day you rented the dinghy from Calypso Charters, did you find it difficult to climb back into the boat? Is that the type of dinghy that is not allowed to be taken ashore? Did you use the mooring balls or anchors? And would you recommend a dinghy day with Calypso?
Thanks, again, for sharing your fun-filled vacation!
spindrift - thank you for the compliment, but I think the camera just flattered us this time around! Yes, we were in hiking sandals - other than my dive booties, it was the only footwear I brought on the trip. I think that, particularly if you're only planning on walking down the trail, that just about anyone can do it, just take your time.
There are little handles on the sides of the dinghies. During the orientation we were instructed to grab the handle, give a kick with your fins while pulling on the handle, and there you were on the side of the dinghy. In reality, as long as there's one person that can get in that way they can help everyone else in with little trouble. waterguy advises to bring a length of rope and put a loop in it to use to help you get back in.
I'd highly recommend using Calypso. Their boats are the ones that you can't take to shore, so it's helpful to know how to tie off to a mooring ball if you want to use them.
There are little handles on the sides of the dinghies. During the orientation we were instructed to grab the handle, give a kick with your fins while pulling on the handle, and there you were on the side of the dinghy. In reality, as long as there's one person that can get in that way they can help everyone else in with little trouble. waterguy advises to bring a length of rope and put a loop in it to use to help you get back in.
I'd highly recommend using Calypso. Their boats are the ones that you can't take to shore, so it's helpful to know how to tie off to a mooring ball if you want to use them.
Come see us!