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STJ August 3-10, 2021 - Part 5


I asked a vender at Trunk Bay if she had been to Salt Pond or Lameshur lately, curious about the sargassum!! Told her if it wasn't stinky we wanted to hike to the Reef Bay ruins via Lameshur, she suggested we go via Fish Bay. We've never hiked in from that direction, thank you nice vender lady! We have an old handy Trail Bandit guide and it's called Parret Bay Trail.


We drove through Fish Bay, crossing a small bridge, made a wrong turn and really were in the middle of nowhere! We tried another unpaved road and eventually found the trail head with the clues the vender lady gave us, "drive until we see the red rock and power pole, there's a rope going down the hill" Once you see it....it makes perfect sense!! There was just enough room to squeeze 2 jeeps against the "red rock".


The rope is there for a reason, it's a little steep descending into the trees and onto the beach. If you have questionable knees I don't recommend this route. Very little sargassum on the beach, no smell whatsoever!













Walk the beach to a point where you do a little rock scrambling, then back to a beach on Genti Bay and up into the hillside before dropping down to the Sugar Mill area. Not sure of the distance, maybe 1.5 miles to this point? beautiful views!










At 45 minutes we reached the Reef Bay trail, decided to go left approximately 1/2 mile to the Petroglyph trail and another 1/4 mile to the waterfall/Petroglyphs, beautiful stone walls line parts of the trail. We saw a couple hikers along the way and one deer! we had the petroglyphs to ourselves for a while. We brought plenty of water which is a serious must have! But I'm always prepared, I snuck two cold beers in koozies in my dry bag to share, put a smile on everyone's face!!












We were getting hot, soaked in sweat, but we all agreed to climb up to the Reef Bay Great House to see what condition it's in..up, up, up!! Over many years I've seen this place in disrepair and being maintained and repaired by the NPS. Last time we were here our daughter was probably 11, the house had a front porch, had large entry columns and unfortunately little remains of those details. It was grand and should be maintained better, here's a link of old pics https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.vi0011.photos/?sp=1












Now back down the trail to the Sugar Mill ruins, we thought downhill would be easier huff huff!!














Always a great place to wander and wonder what it must have looked like in the 1800's. We had another 45 minutes to hike back to the Jeep deciding which beach to go to!!













After 3.5 hours hiking we decided to head back to the villa for a quick swim and to pack the cooler etc. The gang voted and our afternoon would be spent at Francis Bay! Francis might be our new favorite quiet spot!


A couple days prior I walked into Shaibu's Garden Oasis Restaurant and made a reservation with Shaibu himself for tomorrow's final dinner, the place is beautiful inside. During the hike we decided that instead of spending $500 on dinner we would put that towards a boat day!! We were able to reserve a boat online...I'm getting ahead of myself, back to Francis for a great afternoon!!













To be continued, CHEERS!!.........

Tracked down a 2007 pic I took of one of the large entry columns at the great house. I saw both columns on the ground and couldn't locate the date stone 1844, probably face down underneath or removed. 1844 was the date of first remodel, original build around 1832?

Really enjoyed the Reef Bay Trail, but we took the easy way back and got picked up by a NPS boat at the bottom of trail. A short boat ride with a cold rum punch and voilà we were back in Cruz Bay

I still laugh about the Lady Bird Johnson outhouse at the bottom of the trail.
Never let it be said that people in high places can get something done not in island time on STJ.

We did the boat thing on the SadieSea if I remember correctly? also talked to some people heading back up the trail, they said the NPS isn't offering the boat ride right now? Glad we didn't have to hike back up to Centerline, been there done that!!

Slight pause in the reports part 6 soon come! Spending a lot of time at our WV cabin…Happy Labor Day!!

I was wondering! Looking forward to more!

Ha Ha... Sent him a PM yesterday asking the same thing.
Lots going on at the Beerman house, but I think we will see new pics and stories in the coming weeks.
Yeah!

Well, long story short, new appliance deliveries are proving complicated in these parts!!! I’ll be in the hills another week to finish this project before finishing the reports. It is peaceful here and the beer supply is plentiful! CHEERS!!

Looks good Beerman. I love that part of the country. Are you on well or cistern there?

Cheers, RickG

Rick, we are on well water. We are up against the GW National Forest, Virginia/WV boundary just up the hill from our cabin.

BEERMAN, perfect area. I am jealous and have had my eye on that area for a while.

Cheers, RickG

Rick, i know you’re local to my neck of the woods, but I’m jealous of your transition down there! We completed building this cabin 2 months before the attacks on Sept 11, 2001. My family was able to use it then and now retired it has been invaluable for my sanity during the pandemic.