My St John: Lameshur Adventure

When the wind is up, like it was today, it's a good time to do ........

the Lameshur Trail!

Because the first part is exposed and rocky, the heat can be intense. A strong breeze will really help. Getting there by 8.30 is a good plan too, I'm off!

I can't believe how bad the Lameshur Road has gotten! Just getting out there is an insane drive. The rocks stick out of the ground like teeth, like giant thorns. I was sure I'd blow a tire. The Jeep tilted sickeningly sideways as two wheels sunk into the water filled holes and rode the ruts. The worst places have been paved, which is good, but why not grade the rest? Without a 4x4 you won't make it out there. I crept along at 3mph doing a macabre seat dance.

I parked down by the rum factory where the trailhead is signposted. It's 8.45AM, no one is there.

Lameshur Bay Rum Factory

The Lameshur Trail is another plantation road that links to the popular Reef Bay Trail. To see the Reef Bay sites I prefer this trail. It is less intense and much less traveled, but don't be fooled, it's still a workout.

Tamarind Tree

The beginning of the trail is flat and shady. Soon I come to the huge Tamarind tree, the Spirit Tree. This tree is gigantic and is still alive even though it's been split in half. It must be almost 200 years old.

Soon the trail begins it's climb and it will go up steadily for half the hike. Lately there's been a lot of rain so there is some shade and the trail is lined with tall Guinea Grass. The rain also means the two vistas that I worked on to clear with the Trail Crew have all but grown up. Park (lack of) maintenance. This is why I quit. If I wanted to dig a hole, fill it, only to dig it again I could do that without fooling myself that I was actually doing some good.

At times the trail is soft with leaf cover and packed clay. But most of the time it's a variation of this - loose rocks and scree. I do well going uphill, downhill is a strain. Holding myself back on rocks is tiring on the legs, and the uneven terrain is hard on the ankles and soles of my feet. I've learned to use Lambs Wool, like ballet dancers put in their shoes, to protect pressure points and inner soles for padding. Wool socks are better than cotton because wool wicks moisture. But these old roads are beautiful. In the 1700's when they were built with slave labor they would have been paved with even stones, now they are simply a narrow road or a single person pathway. STJ was denuded of trees, the hillsides would have been pasture and crops.

Nice!

More Typical

I like to stop in on the Reef Bay Great House. A short spur trail that follows the old driveway takes you up to the house on a hill. It's a beautiful example of plantation architecture perched on a hill overlooking the valley. Sadly, it's falling more and more into disrepair. The Trail Bandit website has photos of what it (and other buildings) looked like when the Park took it over only 50 years ago. Its fate is the same as the rest of the historic structures within the Park. Teetering. Today the back door is open and it looks like there's been some clean up inside. It used to be a haven for hundreds of bats, the floor was thick with their guano. It would be a wonderful gift if they would renovate the house. It would be so easy to do this and have a display of the period building. STJ has nothing like this, unlike St Croix, an island that seems to take more pride in their heritage.

c. 1950

The house would have had a central hall with living and bedrooms on either sides. This house has galleries or porches, off the bedrooms. Behind the house is a little visited or encouraged area of ruins consisting of the cookhouse and a tall wall, maybe part of a large storage building.
The front porch portico is gone, the stairs with it's "welcoming Arms" railing is covered in Mexican creeper vine, as is most of the building.

Inside the House

Everywhere is the tall Sansevieria or Snake Plant. It was brought here as an ornamental, has run amok and is considered an invasive species. The driveway would have been open and pretty impressive as it wound up the hillside to the front door, now the garden plant has taken over. The good news for us Land Detectives is this is one of the plants whose presence most likely means there was a house near by.

Great House "Driveway" with Snake Plants

Below these ruins is the scattered debris of living over generations. Some artifacts are from the plantation era, some the trash from later households. The ground it littered with the detritus from the property as it was reused and re-inhabited up until the 1940's. I find bottles, what might be enamel chamber pots, cooking pots, Clorox bottles, pottery, tin corrugated roofing. It's against the law to take any artifact from the National Park, so treasure hunters have to be satisfied finding their loot and photographing it.

Later Bottles and an Enameled Mug

Early Iron Cookpot

Chamber Pot or Wash Bowl?

The next stop on my route is my favorite road, the Par Force spur. When I first found this road about 10 years ago it was gone, reclaimed by nature. I came upon it by accident when I was going to the Great House, which was also uncleared. Maybe it was a legal Park trail, I don't know. Clearing it was illegal but I did it anyway. It's been made legal now when the new trail map was approved in 2009. I remember pushing through the tangle of bushes and vines and making my way slowly. Each time I went back I cleared more using loppers and a folding hand saw until it was passable. Now it's a well used and documented trail. I think it's one of the prettiest and shows the beautiful stonework construction on the downhill side. This road has survived for over 200 years!

The Beautiful Par Force Spur Road

Retaining Stonework on the Downhill Side

I have to walk it even if it does come out in a more sinister feeling place, the ruined buildings of the Par Force sugar factory. This is one group of structures that won't last long; every time I come the walls have fallen more. Maybe it wants to fall, to return to the earth. In contrast to how pretty and light the trail here is hugging the hillside, overlooking the Reef Bay Valley, the ruins are dark, foreboding, unwelcoming. A cloud moves in casting an even darker aura over the hidden walls. I feel like I'm being watched. I get the shivers.

This Is Falling Down Fast

Par Force Sugar Mill

Creepy

I don't stay long, too creepy, just long enough to take a peek. Nothing new. Unless I turn around and go back to the Great House there's no avoiding it as a shortcut to the Reef Bay Trail and the petroglyphs.Forward!

On the main trail, the ever popular Reef Bay, a left turn takes you to the spur path to the Petrogyphs.This is another pretty road with some fantastic stone walls. The Reef Bay Trail is the Park's baby. Every year hundreds of tourists traipse it, visiting the factory ruins and the Petrogyphs. Some pay to take the interpretive guided hike that includes taking a boat back to town so they won't have to make the return 3 mile trip uphill. No argument, it's a doozy of a hike with lots of cool ruins, plants and environments, but not the best on the island, in my opinion.

To the Petroglyphs

It's a short walk to the waterfall and the Petroglyphs. Today the waterfall is off. No water is running, just a trickle, but there is always some water in the two pools. The water is brown, like tea, but clear enough to see crayfish and squiggly bugs. Large red dragonflies skim the surface. It's like Rivendell - without Orlando Bloom, so what's the point.

And I forgot about the resident Mongoose! I should have brought trail mix or part of a sandwich. He hangs around waiting to get any picnic leavings.

Ye Mongoose of the Sacred Pool

Aside from a couple sitting quietly by the upper pool. I have the lower Sacred Pool to myself. The trickle from the waterfall is a soothing sound.

I don't know what the carvings mean, it's thought they were made by Taino Indians, the people who were here before the Spanish came and sent them packing or killed them off with disease. The Spanish were good at that.

But suddenly the peace is broken. There is screaming and screeching! The birds fly away, the mongoose darts into the woods.

It's.... little boys!

The boys proceeded to run over the rocks, slide on the carvings, jump from one rock to another, pick up sticks and sword-fight then dig into the carvings, stabbing them as if they were space aliens - all the time Mom is saying "SSHHH" and "Don't do that, it's slippery" and "Don't touch the carvings!". Obviously, the unfortunate boys were DEAF. The first couple left. Then it started to rain, really rain, torrential rain. The gods are angry. I was soaked in less than a minute. This only fueled the boys who were slipping on the rocks which were now like deadly, slimy ice floes, climbing on the slick, sheer rock sides above the pool. Mom is still making useless sounds. I couldn't watch because now someone's head was surely going to be split open and their brains become mongoose food. Meanwhile, the father was trying maniacally to make a sort of tent out of a trash bag and herd the boys under it. Time to bail.

There was nothing more important to these parents than their kids' desires. There was no lesson to be learned about respecting nature, a quiet place where others were enjoying a reflective moment, about the value of antiquities. The world revolved around them, they are in for a surprize. It was annoying to be sure, but also a pathetic statement about how parents have lost the sense of being a parent.

Minhoca HU Ha Ha

Hiking when you're sopping wet is ok. When the breeze blows it really cools you off. The sun was strong by now. I decide to call it a day and head back. My ankles and toes are starting to hurt.

I get a second wind by the time I reach the flats again close to the car, so I take the spur trail to Europa Point. This is another little known but pretty road with a gorgeous view when you reach the end.

Time to wrap it up, it's 1.15, hot, I've gone about 5 miles, and it's the end of an excellent day on the old roads.