day nineteen

This was it. The day of all days. The hike that could potentially be my last. Six hours, 4747 feet up, and 3.5 miles of trail. I was over this trek before it began. After a silent 6:30am breakfast, we piled into the vans and took off. Our mountainous climb began when we turned up a precarious road, going nearly vertical up the hill. At about 1900 feet up, we drove by orange, grapefruit, and other citrus groves, plus the ever-present banana trees. Upon arrival at the beginning of the Morne Diablotin trail, we detoured to a public restroom, only for it to be locked up. A foreboding sign to the already dismal day, with gray clouds looming overhead. Alex decided to stay back with a stomachache (no fun at all) as the rest of us lined up singularly behind the guide. The trail had three sections, each one lasting about an hour. The first: straight up both stairs built into the mountain and natural stairs made of roots. When the guide book described this as a “spinning class mixed with American Gladiators,” it wasn’t kidding. After barely conquering the never ending staircase (the neat looking trees and parrot calls made it easier), we encountered the next obstacle: mud and vines. The ground for the next hour consisted of a gloopy, ankle deep pool of mud, escapable only by using the vines and tree branches overhead as monkey bars (cue Tarzan music). Granted, a few times I fell into the mess (only to pull my soaked boots out with a slurping noise from the ground), but the adventurous environment was so much fun. By now the group had split up based on speed. I was in the “one step at a time” group, along with Haley, the professors, and two other guides. Felicity joined us by the end of our time in the mud pit, as we ran into the most challenging segment of the climb: rock walls. Looking back, walking up sheer rock with few roots to grab seems nearly impossible. Not sure how I managed it, but my muscles are still sore. A bit over three hours from the start, we made it to the top! Only to see nothing, as the mountain’s peak lay above the cloud line and everything below was obscured. Still, it was a moment of pride – I had just climbed the tallest peak on Dominica, the second highest in the West Indies! After a photo sesh, we began the trek down: everything we had just done, we were going to do backwards. Three hours later, I was about to rol into the parking lot. Covered head to toe in mud, I had given up a long time ago on staying clean and chose to focus more on getting down quickly. I was impressed with how much I’d done on the way up – the way down seemed to take longer! As the group was an absolute mess, and Skell wasn’t going to let us into his prized van that dirty, we walked up the road to a creek to wash up. I laid down in the cool water in a vain attempt to clean off. It was probably my favorite part of the day, just relaxing in the water and seeing how much mud I could get off (note: socks are good for scrubbing!). After a while in the creek, we passed Skell’s inspection and clambered back in the vans, physically exhausted an hungry. We ate some oranges from the side of the road (thanks to Skell and Alex for picking them!) and wished for our beds on the ride home. I found some ferns in my hair later, and a few bumps and bruises on my legs and arms. Totally worth the adventure! After a brief visit to J.R.’s, Felicity, Kristen, Alex, and I headed back to La Flamboyant for dinner. Dr. Seraphin had two friends over for a group dinner at the hotel, but the students left early to go to bed. Lights out before 10 – an impressive day not to be forgotten!