ST. JOHN (USVI) - December 2024

St John, US Virgin Islands              December 6-14, 2024

Among the many things on our bucket list was to do a National Park volunteer work trip.  Several years ago, I noticed REI had a work trip in Yosemite, but it was always full as soon as I’d notice it.  Recently, I’d learned that those trips were now through an organization called Conservation Volunteers International (conservationVIP.org), with a mission to support some of the world’s greatest landscapes, cultural heritage sites and biodiversity.  Indeed, on this list are many places we’ve already had the privilege to go, and several others still on our list:  Scottish Highlands, Machu Pichu, Alaska, Yosemite, Cinque Terre, Torres de Panne, Costa Rica, Galápagos Islands, Tanzania and St John (US Virgin Islands).  We shared the idea with our hiking group, and soon Jeff and I, along with Dan and Tam were booking a trip to St John!

Jeff and I had been to St John twice before and knew it to be a unique kind of paradise.  Dan and Tam have traveled to the Caribbean a lot but hadn’t been to St John before.  I originally learned about it as my parents had traveled there several times, camping in the Malo Bay platform tents and hiking the trails of the National Park.  Most of the island is the “Virgin Islands National Park” encompassing gorgeous beaches, tropical forests, and relics from the island’s history.

Jeff and I first travelled to St John in 2008, sort of by default.  We’d had our business going for about 16 months by that point and had hired a few staff and were ready for our first vacation in nearly two years!  In 2004, we had done a Barefoot Cruise out of Granada and loved it, so we booked another out of St Thomas … but then we were notified that the company went bankrupt!  Since we already had flights booked, we decided to go to St John instead as my parents had enjoyed it so much.  We booked a week at Concordia, which was an eco-preserve on the far side of the island.  We had an amazing week, completely unplugged, enjoying hiking to secluded beaches, snorkeling and just laid-back island time. 

In 2011, we won a BrightStar President’s Club trip to the Four Seasons in St Thomas.  We extended that trip and spent 4 days in the platform tents at Concordia on St John before meeting the BrightStar gang back on St Thomas (we enjoyed the eco tents more than the pretentious Four Seasons)!

Five years ago, St John was hit by back-to-back hurricanes (Harvey, Irma and Maria), with Irma being the most devastating.  Concordia was completely destroyed, which broke our hearts.  The island was all but shut down for nearly a year, and even getting electricity and utilities restored was difficult.

Long story short, Jeff and I were excited to get back to St John!  We left Madison very early Friday morning.  Some stress to make the flight … we’ve gotten quite nonchalant, living so close to the airport.  We arrived at the airport about 15 minutes before boarding was to start, checked our bags and walked to Precheck only to find the longest line we ever saw there!  When we got to the front of the line, we were rejected (yup, we were those people!).  Apparently, our Precheck had expired, and we were unaware.  Back to the regular security, with long lines and grumpy TSA workers.  We made it, but I didn’t need the stress at the beginning of a long day of travel with some tight connections to make!

The rest of the travel day went perfectly.  Quick transfer in Atlanta, wonderful feeling stepping off the plane in St Thomas to warm gentle breezes and beautiful green hills, all bags arrived (yea!), and easy rental car pick up.  For some reason unknown to me, traffic travels on the opposite side of the road on St John and St Thomas.  We picked up the rental car at the airport and Jeff quickly adapted to driving on the left.  It’s not far to Red Hook where I’d booked the car ferry, but it took us about an hour with traffic.  We arrived at the ferry about 40 minutes before our scheduled boat, and Jeff backed into the line as instructed.  We got out and went into the shop to buy some cold beers while we waited, but quickly realized the ferry was loading!  It was an odd combination of workers ignoring us, then barking instructions, but we squeezed into the spot they’d designated for us!  Then, they started loading a huge truck with a flatbed containing a backhoe and a bobcat!  We couldn’t believe it, but in two tries they squeezed it in (unlike us, it went in frontwards and backed off first).

It’s just about a 20-minute ferry ride, and our hotel, The St John Inn, was just a few blocks from the ferry.  We were greeted by Moriah there.  She showed us around and we were drinking Rum punches with her before the sun set.  That’s a successful day of travel!

Feeling a little buzzed from the punch, we settled into our rooms, changed clothes (it’s so hot!), and headed down in search of food which we found at High Tide, a place in the view of the passenger ferry dock.  Staying with the rum theme, we drank “Dark and Stormies” and had yummy food.  From there, we walked down the beach to the Beach Bar where we soaked up the gorgeous night as we enjoyed the music.

Saturday December 7, 2024

Tam and I were up early for yoga on the pool deck.  I made water for tea but couldn’t find any cat treats to pacify the three cats that live here, Bob, Mustache and Ginger.  They took turns laying on my yoga mat and shrieking at me!  The night didn’t cool off and it was warm already - delightful in the shade on the pool deck though.

We had breakfast at the hotel (toast, coffee and weak orange juice … not terribly impressive but glad they offered breakfast).  We changed into our swimsuits and secured our snorkeling gear and made a plan for the day.  We started out heading to Sam and Jack’s Deli (recommended by Moriah) to pick up sandwiches for lunch.  It was on the third floor of a shopping center, and I went into the grocery store on the first level to buy some fruit and cat treats. 

We headed out of town on the Centerline Highway - following a line of cars behind a truck carrying flammable something?!  The road is barely passable, with the oncoming traffic too close for comfort for me, yet, cars were passing the truck anyway - yikes.  White knuckled, and I wasn’t even driving.  As we got closer to Coral Bay, we saw donkeys and goats grazing along the road - didn’t remember that on St John before!

We made our way to Concordia, it still looks rough post-hurricane, but they’re making their way back.  I chatted with the lady in the gift shop, and she gave us permission to go up and look at one of the platform tents.  That brought back great memories for us, but I think Dan was thinking it was a bit rustic!  I recall the simpleness and serenity being part of the magic when we needed a break from working so hard!

We drove back to Coral Bay and stopped at an outdoor market and poked around there a bit.  It seemed a bit incongruous as there was a group of kids singing Christmas songs but we were viewing island crafts and sweating in the hot sun!

With great expectations, we headed down to the North Shore Road to Waterlemon Cay for snorkeling.  To get there, we parked at Annaberg ruins and hiked a mile along the Leinster Bay trail about a mile - good to stretch out our legs!  It was warm and sunny, a relief when the trail would tuck into the mangroves and be in the shade.  The trail ended on the beach, and we walked out a bit further and found a lava output to sit on and have lunch.  We joked about how when we were kids, people always said you had to wait 30 minutes after eating to swim.  We didn’t heed that result - it was hot, and we were anxious to get into the water!

We struggled to get into the water from our rock.  It wasn’t the most graceful entry, but we were in.  Just off the shore, a large shark swam under me and Jeff.  I was too stunned to panic, and it ignored us and swam on by.  As we were swimming to the island we saw rays, a large turtle with fish attached to it, several star fish and lots of beautiful tropical fish.  The coral wasn’t what we’d remembered 10 from our previous visits - so sad, but that’s what we heard about coral all over the world.

We intended to head back up to Centerline Road, but a wrong turn led us back to North Shore Road, headed back towards Cruz Bay.  It was a beautiful drive, past the beaches of Maho Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Peter Bay, Trunk Bay, Jumble Bay, Hawkness Bay and Caneel Bay.  However, between each beach, the road climbs the steep volcanic hillside and winds and twist - torture for our driver, plus the sun was in his eyes. 

We reached Cruz Bay and headed back on Centerline Road to the Windmill Bar, where we heard the sunset scene is the place to be!  The windmill was part of a former sugar plantation, built in the late 1700s, and the estate was powered by enslaved people taken from Africa.  The enslaved people were freed on July 3, 1848, and their descendants now own the plantation. We snagged a fabulous table, ordered Dark and Stormies, and ate some snacks we’d brought in.  A duo set up to perform, a man with great guitar skills and a woman providing wonderful harmonies.  The view from there was fantastic.  We couldn’t see the sun set into the sea, but the sky was gorgeous.

We headed back down the hill before dark, back to our hotel. There we took turns taking showers and drinking rum punch while we were waiting.  Properly buzzed, we walked the few blocks down into town in search of dinner.  We tried to get into Morgan’s Mango, but didn’t want to wait to be seated at 8:30pm so we kept going down the road.  We found space at Greengos where we enjoyed Mahi tacos and margaritas.  We watched an exciting Georgia-Texas football game, then went across the street where a co-ed softball game was taking place.  We sat in the bleachers to watch, and learned it was teams from the Dominican Republic, here for a tournament.  After an exciting end to that game, we headed back to the Beach Bar to see what they had going for live music.  It seemed to be a local jam session with the stage full of musicians, and the duo from Windmill were part of it!  Another fun night in paradise.

Sunday December 8, 2024

Woke up to do Yoga again on the pool deck.  I was a fan favorite with the kitty treats in my yoga bag today!  This morning was clear, and it was already sunny and steamy, so I was shade seeking!

After yoga, we sat on the patio and chatted for a long while.  We realized it was nearly 10am, so we packed up our rooms, put our suitcases in the SUV and headed out for brunch at Sam & Jacks.

After we ate, we walked back through town and stopped to buy new swim trunks for Jeff (he’d lost the elastic!).  Then we set out on the Lind Point trail to Solomon beach, about a mile.  It was a gorgeous beach, with the view of many islands including St Thomas.  There was a lot of boat traffic - so different than the intimate experience at Water Lemon Cay.  The snorkeling wasn’t that great, but the entry was a lot easier on the sandy beach!  Tam stayed out longer than JT and me, and she saw an octopus and some rock lobster. 

We started the walk back to town.  Jeff was hiking in his flip flops, because his hikers got wet yesterday.  Besides the rough terrain, he started getting blisters, but he toughed it out.  He stopped at a surf shop to buy a clamp for his snorkel, and I went next door to Vibe and bought another fish hook bracelet.

Back to the car, we arrived at Cinnamon Bay around 4 pm.  We found our secret camp and met our leaders, Susan and Mark.  We unloaded our car and got settled into our platform tents, home for the next six nights.  They’re comfortable, except for lack of air movement!  Each tent is twice as big as our biggest tent with room to stand up.  Ours has three cots, one for each of us and one to layout our suitcases and gear.  We’d been instructed to bring air mattresses and light sleeping bags.  Besides my trusty blowup mattress, I brought my silk sleeping bag liner and my puffy blanket, which should be enough.  I also have a pillowcase and stuff my puffy jacket in it for filling.

At 5pm, we gathered to meet the rest of the group.  We’re 12 people in total, with a variety of experiences and personalities.  It’s already apparent the sarcasm will play heavily with this group!  Mark served us a rum punch welcome drink, and we went through introductions and expectations for the week.

Besides us, the group consists of:

• Mark (co-leader) worked for the National Park Service for 42 years, serving most recently as the Superintendent of the USVI National Park.  He helped develop these work trips to the USVI, and also has led many trips to the Galapagos.  He now lives with his wife in Puerto Rica.

• Susan (co-leader) has been part of these trips since they were part of REI and has led the trips all over the world.  Originally from The Netherlands, she now lives in Washington State where she is involved with mountain Search and Rescue, volunteer trail work and backpacking guide. 

Other volunteers:

• Jan (from Minneapolis) - will call her JD as there are 2 Jan’s

• Jan (Fortuna CA)

• Bob - from South Carolina, 5th trip here

• Mike - Connecticut

• Dave (from Oregon WI), started volunteering with this organization in 2006 and does 1-4 trips a year (found out later that he’d worked with my brother at MG&E)

• Bruce - from CA, volunteers at Joshua Tree NP regularly

  
  

Mark told us that our work here brings the park service “hope,” as the upcoming change in the administration makes all federal agencies nervous.  Our commitment shows them that the parks mean a lot to people.  The trails are ancient trails, and vegetation grows like crazy with the temperate climate.  And like everywhere else, there is exotic vegetation that is taking over!

In the 60+ years since the park was formed, it’s not been without controversy.  The park is the majority of the island, and often plans emerged to relocate all the locals to St Croix and have the entire island be park!

We were served a Spaghetti dinner, then we were given training on dish washing (backcountry style).  Keeping birds and mongoose out of the kitchen and our tents is critical - as with any wildlife that live around campgrounds, they’ve become pests at this camp.  We’re not allowed in the kitchen (only Susan and Mark who do all the cooking) but we have a dish washing roster.  Camp is rustic, but Dave has been here many times and told us about the many improvements (such as lights in the toilets!).

After dinner, we walked down to the beach and to the Cinnamon Bay pavilion where they have Wi-Fi.  Other than using their Wi-Fi in the evening to check for important emails and do a couple Duolingo Spanish lessons, I’m on airplane mode for the rest of the week.

Back to our tent for early night.  I love sleeping with the sounds of natures - frogs and other bugs, and the sound of the surf (but not people coughing and rolling over on their cots).  My big bites are beginning to itch, so I took a Benadryl which will help me sleep!

I didn’t shower today, so I’m slightly crusty and sandy from our time at the beach today!  I tried my best to clean up with disposable wipes.  I’m feeling a bit yucky, but not bad enough to try out those cold water showers in the dark!

Monday December 8

We had a heavy rain during the night.  I laid awake for a while to ensure it wasn’t coming in the windows, but it seemed to be straight down and our tent platforms have roofs with enough of an overhang that the rain didn’t come in our open windows.  Since I was awake, I put in my ear plugs to drown out the sounds of the Insects / frogs - and slept well from about 1am to 6:30am when it was light enough to make it to the toilet without my headlamp.  At 7am we got the call that coffee and lunch fixings were ready, and at 7:30am breakfast (eggs, bacon and potatoes) was ready.

At 8:30 am Frank arrived.  I’d expected him to be an old, retired guy, but he is a twenty-something from Colorado, been in this role for two years.  Frank works for the Friends of the Park, which is a large philanthropy organization that supports the park on St John, coordinating work groups such as ours and putting on educational programs.

Into the van, we drove across the street to the shed / nursery to pick up tools (loppers, hand saws and two string trimmers).  Frank talked about the plants in the nursery and said they’re a bit low on inventory right now as they’d just had an event where they gave away plants to the locals, trying to encourage native planting on the island.  He also gave us a tool / safety talk, but we’ve already been well trained by the Ice Age Trail group.

We drove to the L’Esperance trail head by way of Cruz Bay.  We walked about 0.5 mile, then broke into teams to work.  It was hot, but we were working mostly in the shade.

Among the invasives we were working to eliminate was one called “Catch & Keep” which had these barbs that grabbed your clothing and skin.  By the end of the day, we had little scratches all over our arms.  We were also on the lookout for “Christmas Bush,” which is like a poison ivy, and Tan Tan (Wild Tamarind).

Two volunteers (Tam and Dave) were on the weed-whacking crew, and they went ahead and cleared the trail back to the standard 6 ft wide and 8 ft high.  The rest of us worked in pairs looking for invasives and cutting back overhanging vines and trees.  It quickly became apparent that some of our group were hard workers, and some were talkers, which is usual I guess.  We stopped at 11:30am for a lunch break, and Tam was covered in debris from her weed-whacking job! 

We knocked off work at 1:30pm and got back to the van about 2pm, and about a 30 min drive to camp.  Tam and I headed to the beach for swim, and a nap in the sand before the beach showers opened at 4pm.  Jeff did a quick cold shower at camp.  The guys met us at the Raintree Cafe, where we split a bottle of wine as the bartender wouldn’t make us Dark and Stormies.  Back to camp at 5pm for dinner, then back to the cafe for a delightful “Turtle Talk” and the use of some Wi-Fi.

Jeff and I retired early to write and read - but sleeping by 9pm (ear plugs and Benadryl for me!).

Tuesday December 10, 2024

Breakfast was served by the time Jeff and I woke up!   I slept with earplugs the whole night, and slept well.  Frank picked us up just after 8:30am, and we headed to the Annaberg parking lot.  From there, we walked the Leinster Bay trail, and then turned up the Johnny Horn trail.  This trail leads to two cool ruins, but at the point where the Brown Bay trail should split off (would take you to Coral Bay), it was really overgrown.

Today I joined Tam on the weed-whacking team.  It was hard work, but I really enjoyed it!  I had my long sleeve shirt on, a ball cap, and put a bandanna on my face so I didn’t get as dirty as Tam.  After some training, I got the hang of it and could start it up and change the string … with the thick and rough bushes, we went through a lot of string today.  I’d never thought about where the string goes before today, hadn’t considered that it just disintegrates into the environment!?

We worked about two hours, then broke for lunch.  We ate lunch on the ruins of a former watchtower for runaway slaves.  The ruins were overrun by another invasive, Coral Vine, which was a beautiful vine plant with pink flowers.  Tam and I sat on a picnic table overlooking Water Lemon Cay. 

After lunch, Frank said we had just 15 minutes left to work, as we were scheduled for a tour of the Annaberg Sugar Mill ruins.  We went back to our weed-whacking and Dan & Jeff were clearing trees in our section.  We probably worked about another half hour, and as we were walking out, we noticed that we’d been long abandoned by the rest of the group!  I liked the work today, but hauling the weed-whacker 1.5 miles was the really tough part, however, I was glad for the workout!

Our tour of the Annaberg ruins was amazing.  It’s hard to imagine how they’d clear these hills and plant sugar cane!

After dinner, we headed to the Rain Tree Café for a presentation given by a local legend, Atal.  He played some reggae music for us, then showed us about 50 different native plants, along with what they traditionally were used for.  He was quite a fountain of knowledge!

Wednesday December 11, 2024

Today was our “day off,” which hardly seemed appropriate given that we’d only worked about 8 hours total so far!  Breakfast was pancakes and bacon, then we were given options to be driven to Maho Bay for swim / sun / snorkeling, or to town for exploring and shopping.  A few people opted to hang out at camp for the whole day, not a bad option since we have a great beach and access to Wi-Fi just steps away from our gated compound (that makes it sound more luxurious than it is). 

Our gang opted to go to Maho for snorkeling, but we drove ourselves.  I bought some anti-fog drops and I’m not sure if it’s those, or if it’s my yoga breathing, but I was able to snorkel more comfortably than I ever have before.  Maho is a wide expanse of a beach, so we decided to explore the edges.  What it is most known for however is a large grassy expanse in the middle, which makes it a likely place to see turtles and rays.

Tam and I went out first, and just as we entered the grassy section we came upon two turtles!  We watched them for a while, then swam toward the left shore.  On our way, we came upon several rays.  For no good reason, they make me nervous.  But I enjoyed watching them.  They seemed irritated with the fish around them and would make this stomping motion with their whole body, slamming into the sea floor and creating a dust storm.

As we got to the rocks and coral along the shore, we saw a lot of fish - hundreds of varieties and sizes!  We saw several that were more than two feet long, and lots of gorgeous colors.  We also saw more colorful coral and a wide variety of beautiful sea plants.  It made me happy, but when I’d smile, I’d “crack” the seal of my mask and take on water.  After a bit, we started getting cold, so we decided to swim back to the beach.  In the ocean, you have the benefit of buoyancy plus we had fins on, so I thought swimming that far would be easy!  But as I’d get going on my crawl stroke, I’d take in water through my snorkel and come to a sputtering stop.  Tam was faster of course, and she taught me the stoke she uses in snorkeling, where you lay on your side, put one hand forward and just kick your legs.  It’s not the classic sidestroke, but your body is more aerodynamic and moves through the water faster.  Also, the kicks seems to have more efficiency as you’re not breaking the surface of the water. 

Back on the beach, we warmed up and had a snack, then headed out to explore the other shore with Jeff.  We walked along the beach and chatted with the people from our group that had traveled there with Mark and Susan.  The other shore wasn’t that great, so we decided to take Jeff over to the side we’d originally been.  We had a brief break and water stop on the beach before going back out.  Again, I enjoyed the variety of fish and the pretty reef.  Swimming back again was really a good challenge.  I showed Jeff the side technique - it made me much faster, but I had a hard time keeping a straight line.  Just before we got back to the beach, we came upon another green turtle that was feeding on the grass.  We watched him for a bit, and then we were delighted to see him ascend to the surface for a breath (they need to breathe every 30 minutes or so).  So cool!

We ate our lunches sitting on the beach, then headed back to camp for quick cold showers before heading into town.  Our first stop was the National Park Visitors Center where our volunteer card gave us 25% off purchases.  I bought a little sail bag purse, a Christmas ornament, a new Turkish towel with a reed design and a dish towel.  My standard souvenirs that trigger great memories between our travels! 

We walked across the street to “Irie Pop” a cute little shop I’d taken a photo of on Sunday.  Dan got an iced coffee, Jeff a smoothie and I got a frozen chocolate popsicle coated in a fresh waffle cone drizzled with chocolate glaze - AMAZING!  We sat on a picnic table in the shade, and I was determined to get our Precheck status renewed!  After a few frustrating attempts online, I called the number and got a very helpful guy.  When I gave him my trusted traveler number, he said we are enrolled through GOES (Global Entry) and Precheck comes along with that, so we needed to get to a different site.  He transferred me to a lady that wasn’t helpful at all, but by then I’d also found the website.  Then we had to go through remembering which email we’d used originally, resetting our passwords, etc.  I finally got in and went through updating and certifying all my information, then paid $120 for renewal.  Then I did Jeff’s - a bit frustrating, but we did it!  Meanwhile, Dan and Tam went shopping at Mongoose Junction, and then walked to the grocery store to buy beer.  Just as we were finishing, the skies opened up and it just poured for a few minutes.  We were going to set out in the car to look for them when they appeared - slightly drenched.

Back to camp, we drank beer and played some cribbage - Jeff played against Dave on my iPad, and I played against Bruce on a crude board someone had made and left at camp.  We had Chicken Fajitas for dinner, then went to the pavilion to hear Atel playing traditional music on bongo-like drums, maracas for us to play along.  We danced and enjoyed the rhythm.

Tonight, as I got ready for bed, brushed my teeth in the outdoor sink with a large beetle in it, arranged my stinky and damp clothes, I thought about the creature comforts of my home(s).  Roughing it like this sure makes me appreciate them!  Three more sleeps and I’ll be in my Waunakee bed and have a hot shower and wash everything in my suitcase!

Thursday December 12, 2024

I slept well, seems like only Tam and I reported sleeping well - earplugs and comfy blanket are my secret. 

I haven’t mentioned the weather, but it’s been amazing.  It was forecast to be highs 85 and lows 78 and that probably what it’s been.  It’s kind of liberating to not have Wi-Fi or cellular access and I don’t wake up and check weather, news, email or Facebook!  Almost every day we’ve had some light rain - sometimes even with clear sky above us!   Nothing that made me reach for my rain poncho.  Every night we hear heavy rain, but the ground doesn’t stay wet for long!

Susan and Mark have a goal for zero leftovers, so meals from here on out are going to be creative leftovers!  Eggs, bacon, potatoes and “scones” made from leftover pancakes for breakfast today.  We had about an hour of free time then before Frank arrived to take us to work today.

We drove to Coral Bay and to the trailhead of Brown Bay.  No one volunteered to be weed-whacking so Dave and I stepped up.  It was hot and humid today.  We started our work right at the trailhead and climbed from there.  I was unaware of how much climb until I went back for my backpack!  I’ll say I didn’t enjoy it as much today, the weeds we were whacking were eating up the string, so lots of stops to reload and fuss with it.  Dave was a big help checking on me with my string issues, and helping me get it restarted after I refilled the gas.

I was relieved when lunch break was called at 11:30am!  That’s when I saw how much I’d climbed while working.  I found Jeff and collapsed on the trial and started peeling off layers.  After lunch, I laid on the trail and napped for about five minutes, which helped.  Tam volunteered to take over my job and handed over her lopper to me. 

I’d wondered why the lopping crew hadn’t made much progress, but I quickly understood!  There was a lot of tan tan and catch & keep, but it was so entangled with vines that it was really tough!  We worked until about 1pm, then they told us to wrap it up. 

Frank drove us back to camp and JT, Dave, Tam and I went to the beach. It felt great to immerse in the water, and then have a little nap on the beach.  Back to camp for showers and happy hour.  Tam had bought a bottle of wine and we shared that and ate some of the snacks Susan is trying to get rid of. 

Early dinner of leftovers then we departed for Lucy’s for some local entertainment.  It was a really fun night with over three hours of music. The local band featured a family (woman with amazing vocals on keyboards and her husband on guitar, their 14-year-old daughter sang a song she’d written and a younger brother on percussion; an older gentleman on keyboards and accordion, a drummer and another guy with a keyboard.  They performed a few songs, but then it was “open mike” with many talented locals performing and many of them playing various instruments:  guitar, keyboard, mandolin, harmonica, oboe, ukulele and dulcimer!  It was a local scene, would have been hard for tourists to find, and they recognized us for the work we’re here doing this week.  Dave from our group signed up to sing along and did a good rendition of John Denver’s “Country Roads,” seemed like a stretch for an introverted engineer.  Atel was there and performed a few Bob Marley songs with the group.  It was fun to dance and sing along. The setting couldn’t have been more perfect, just a few feet from the water under the beautiful nighttime sky.

Friday December 13, 2024

Early wake up, coffee at 6am, on the road at 7:15am to Frances Bay for a guided bird hike by a former National Park employee (Laurel) that used to work for Mark.  Besides our group, there were about 15 other people joining us, which was too many people!  Laurel was fun, and quite knowledgeable.  But with that many people, it was impossible to hear everything and we were doing the “shuffle walk” which makes my back hurt.  I started feeling yucky - was it low energy or just a bad attitude?

After that, we drove to the Annaberg parking lot and had to wait about 30 minutes for Frank to arrive with the tools.  I had a snack and a bit of a nap on the sea wall where the surf drown out the sound of the meaningless chatter, and I felt better by the time Frank pulled in.

We hiked the Leister Trail along the beach again, then took a right turn to another ruin and overgrown trail.  I walked at my normal pace and felt great again.

Jeff and I set out to remove a patch of Mexican creeper vine that was about 10’ x 20’.  It was in the sun with no breeze, and I don’t recall ever having sweat so much in my entire life!  We worked hard, and we weren’t quite done when Frank made us quit.  We collected our packs and went out to the beach to eat our lunches.  I’d wore my swimsuit under my clothes, so I went for a swim before I ate my lunch – I’d been thinking about that all morning. 

As we were eating lunch, several turtles were popping their heads up out of the water, and a small (3’) shark swam right by the edge of the beach – crazy! 

We finished eating and hiked back out to the van.  As we reached the parking lot, a woman who had been diving thanked us for our trail work.  We stopped to chat and learned she was a volunteer coral monitor, and told us this year the coral is really suffering due to the warm water temperatures.  It can withstand 4-8 weeks of hot temperatures, but this summer they had 20 consecutive weeks above where coral can thrive – so sad.

We got back to camp a little after one.  I laid on my cot and fell sound asleep – I guess the heat took a toll on me today! I barely had time to get ready for our 3:15pm departure for our sunset sail.  We drove to Skinny Legs in Coral Bay, and Captain Karl was there at the dock to shuttle us to his gorgeous catamaran in his little dingy.  We motored out of the bay towards Rams Head.  Unfortunately, there was no wind, so we didn’t “sail” at all, but it was still a beautiful evening to be out on the boat drinking rum punch and listening to great music.  Tam and I sat out on the netting on the front of the boat where we could drag our feet through the water.  Besides no wind, the clouds blocked most of the sunset, but it was a fun evening anyway.

Mark and Susan had arranged for us to have dinner at Skinny Legs, where they typically don’t take reservations.  We’d preordered our dinners (I had a Mahi-Mahi sandwich and a side salad – both were fantastic), and the first round of drinks were on the house as a “thank you” for our trail work. 

We arrived back at camp a little after 8pm, a subdued group.  The others are leaving around 7am tomorrow, we have more time with a 4pm flight.  I’ve packed most of my suitcase, but I can’t recall it ever being as full of clothes as dirty as these are!

Saturday December 14, 2024

I woke up to the sound of people packing (lots of zippers) and sweeping out their tents.  I had a quick cold shower, glad it’ll be the last one, and got dressed for the day.  Mark and Susan were going to drive to others to the ferry, but before they left, we all gathered in the little camp pavilion.  Dan shared the poem that he wrote, as he’s done for our group at the end of our adventures.  It got a lot of laughs and some tears too.  Then hugs all around, and we said goodbye.

We finished our packing and cleaned out our tents and headed into Cruz Bay to find breakfast, before catching the 9:30am ferry back to St Thomas.  We had time to kill, so we took a different route to Charlotte Amalie.  I googled ideas to find something for us to do and learned there was a market in town.  We did a drive by, and saw that its wasn’t much, so we headed to the airport and turned in the rental car.  Getting through the customs and security lines took a long time, but eventually we got through and into the crowded terminal!  There we saw several of our trip mates, so we hung out for awhile before saying goodbye again. 

Uneventful flights to Atlanta and Madison, and we happily arrived home around 9pm.

A Gathering in the Islands of the Saints (by Hiker #7)

But first, a crass little poetic detour:

The Red Hook car ferry dude was a tad bit rude

His Partner was in sort of a mood

While they could have had our group in stitches

They’ll forever be known as the car ferry bitches

We came to labor in the islands of the saints

To build community, amongst the beautiful colors de paints

We fought the Catch & Keep

On roads the utmost in steep

Non see-um attackers & PM weed-whackers

& Dave

They came from the US

And borders beyond,

From …

Logistics & teaching

Postal & engineering

Leadership & business

Tech & science

Dark & stormy’s a plenty

The sensibilities a wenty

Alter egos emerged

Lax sensibilities converged

We mingled with the rum &

A beer of the root

We all, but especially Bob, had a hell of a hoot

Our sweat dripped on the trails of this magnificent park

With gifted & spirited leaders in Susan and Mark

Roses are red & violets are blue

It was a delight meeting all of you!!