Buried on a hilltop overlooking Leinster Bay and an overview of his vast property holdings on St. John, is the grave of Irishman, James Murphy, a wealthy merchant and slave trader who died on St. John in 1809. The trail to Mr. Murphy’s grace heads off to the south just about 50 feet east of the trail to the Great House of his estate.

Grave of James Murphy

View from James Murphy's grave

One of two graves located just before Murphy's grave

Just before you reach  Murphy’s grave there are two more graves, one intact and another which appears to have been broken into.

Jeff Chabot and his crew of volunteers keep on with their good work making hiking on St. John so much more enjoyable. Now, thanks to them we have two new highlights on the Johnny Horn Trail, an overlook to the west and another one with views into Sopers Hole, Tortola and east.

Mara Hope South Map

The Maria Hope Road runs from Maho Bay all the way to the Reef Bay Trail, however, with the construction of Centerline Road and the enormous amount of fill used to create it, access to the old Danish road from Centerline was rendered steep and difficult.

An alternative access to the northern section of the road now exists and as a matter of fact that section of the trail, from Centerline to Maho, is now an official National Park trail.

On the south however there is no such access and hikers using the southern section of the trail have been accessing it from a point further east on Centerline near the intersection of the Bordeaux Mountain Road. The access is steep and slippery so be careful.

The southern section of the trail is not at this time an official park trail and as such receives no maintenance other than improvements carried out by local hikers.

The highlights of the southern section of the Maria Hope road include access to the ruins of the Paquerau and Hope Estates, and passage through a beautiful dry forest environment. All along the trail we passed by beautiful examples of bay rum, guavaberry and pepper cinnamon, as well as large West Indian locust, genip and turpentine trees.

The Maria Hope Trail winds through a natural dry forest	A stone retaining wall supports the lower side of this old Danish Road	Ruins of the Paquerau Estate
Pepper Cinnamon tree on the Maria Hope Road	Ruins of the Hope Plantation	Rollers used to crush cane stalks
Gungalo	termite nest	Golden Orb Spider

Although the road does eventually lead to the Reef Bay Trail, trail conditions below the Hope ruins area deteriorate and passage is very difficult.

On a recent hike I was shown a new and easier way to get on and off the trail at a point along the Bordeaux Mountain Road. (see map)

Circular structure near the Hope Estate

We also discovered a circular stone structure about 20 feet in diameter and four to five feet tall in the vicinity of the Hope Estate, the purpose of which I have no idea.

View from the Aubrey Goat Trail

the route

I’ve been meaning to go hiking with these guys for some time now, but yesterday was my first experience.

Let me tell you, this is a serious hiking club going on some serious “off the beaten track” (why do I like that term?) hikes.

We met at Salt Pond Bay at 8:30 in the morning. and head out shortly thereafter taking the dirt tracks that lead to Kiddle and Grootpan Bays.

Kiddle Bay

Our first stop is at Kiddle Bay where we relax for a while enjoying the cool ocean breeze and another beautiful St John morning.

Next stop Grootpan Bay the long cobblestone beach just to the west of Kiddel.

We walk the length of the beach lead by our fearless leader, Dick Corkhill, who discovers the entrance to the trail that will take us up to the hillside to meet the Tektite Trail.

Explorers at Grootpan Bay

Our Guide

Dick finds the entrance to the Aubrey Goat Trail

This narrow steep path is called Aubrey’s Goat Trail, as it was probably made by goats, but kept up by a man named Aubrey who lives nearby and who used the trail to get to his goats that grazed on the grassy hilltops above.

The trail is steep and can be slippery when wet, but the explorers negotiate it ease. At any point you can turn around and gaze out onto a magnificent scenic panorama.

Aubrey Goat Trail

View from Aubrey Goat Trail

At the top of the hill, we walk along the ridge until we meet the Cabritte Horn spur of the Tektite Trail

Next we walk out to Cabritte Horn Point, passing by a deep gorge and an overlook with a dramatic view down onto a cove formed by large boulders just offshore of the rocky headland.

We walk along ridge to meet the Tektite Trail

gorge

Cabritte Horn Point

Leaving the Cabritte Horn Trail, we proceed to the Tektite Trail intersection, where we head out to a shaded overlook above the Tektite snorkel and dive area.

After a brief rest we backtrack to the trail intersection but this time follow the Tektite Trail to the trailhead at main road just above and to the west of greater Lameshur Bay and from there we walk back to the cars at Salt Pond.

Explorers at Cabritte Horn Point

View to the west from Cabritte Horn Point

rest stop above the Tektite snorkel area

I have some prior commitments to do so I don’t continue on with the explorers for the second part of their weekly get-together, which for today’s hike is lunch at Miss Lucy’s and if I heard right, lots of cold beers.

Another hike with the Trail Bandit and Mary

View of the sir Francis drake Channel from the Brown Bay Spur

map of brown bay ridgeline spur

We met at the East End entrance to the Brown Bay Trail. The trail is now in beautiful condition. There’s parking off the road for hikers and the trail is wide and clear. A dirt road near the trail head leads to the police gun range.

Our stated goals for the day are to photograph the ruins on the beach, try to locate the road that must have once connected these ruins to the main Brown Bay Trail (now the only open access is along the shore from the beach), photograph the two overlooks on the Johnny Horn Trail cleared by Jeff Chabot and the volunteer trail crew and find the trail to Murphy’s grave, none of which we accomplished.

The Hrmitage Ruins just off the brown bay Trail

We began in good faith walking up the hillside on the south passing the Hermitage ruins on our right. Interestingly, although I have walked this trail many times over the years I never noticed these ruins that so prominently stand  just a few yards off the main trail until they were cleared just recently. Shows you how easily you can miss stuff in just a little bit of growth.

At the top of the hill where the Brown Bay Trail makes a small turn and begins to descend toward the north, we notice a narrow spur trail heading over a ridge to the south.

As we are standing there we meet another hiker, a local it turns out, who walks the trail just about everyday.

The hiker tells us the story behind this spur trail.

There’s this guy who for several years has been clearing this trail, and this is no easy trail to clear. This area was heavily grazed for many years and the worst kind of scrub has taken over in many areas and I’m talking catch and keep. But he pushes on, following the ridge over three hilltops, we’re told. He does a good job too; takes away his trash; doesn’t leave old, dead catch and keep anywhere near the trail.

Now, cutting trails in the park is against the rules. In this case, it’s obvious to me, at least, that he’s doing no harm. the environment being so messed up by overgrazing anyway, but nonetheless, he’s not supposed to be doing this.

For whatever reason, he’s left alone; no one complains, and he continues his work. He flags the trail with ribbons to mark the route and at the end of the day, he leaves his tools at the end of his trail and goes home.

One day, I think it may have been about a year ago, he heads out to work on the trail and the ribbons are gone. He walks to the end of the trail and his tools are also gone. The hiker telling us the story speculates that this setback as well as talk around town of increased enforcement of park rules leads to the discontinuation of the trail project.

But the trail is there, and although it is no longer being improved or maintained, it is passable and obvious, and it’s obvious that other hikers have been on it since the original trail blazer stopped working.

Intrigued, we decide to leave the Brown Bay Trail for the time being and see where this trail leads.

Catch 'n' Keep

At first its kind of tough going, some of the cut back catch and keep has grown over the trail and needs to be strategically avoided. If anyone else ever decides to hike here, I would suggest long pants, gloves and perhaps a small clippers to cut away some of the catch and keep.

The trail soon takes us to a small ruin, probably the domain of some poor subsistence farmer.

Standing within the ruins it came to mind that this trail, although probably never an established roadway, was possibly a walking or donkey trail used by the residents of what are now the two ruins located on the mountain ridge that the path follows, this one, and a second one located further along the ridge near Princess Bay.

We push on and the thick scrub gives way to dry forest,which is easier to pass through. There are tall turpentine trees and thick mampoos and we even several lignum vitaes.

Dry Forest

Lignum Vitae

mampoo

Overhead we hear the screams of a large Jamaican Hawk circling above. Thinking about the vista he must be experiencing, I notice the potential for incredible views from the hilltops that we pass while continuing on the ridgeline path.

view from north side of trail

Princess Bay Ruins

If any of these hilltop overlooks were ever cleared they would offer almost 360  degree views of some of the most spectacular views in the Virgin islands, Tortola and the islands of the Sir Francis Drake Channel on the north and around to East End and Coral Bay on the south. As it is peering through the bush in those areas where the catch n keep keep you away the views there are some fantastic views to be had.

The ridge takes us to the Princess Bay ruins and from there we bushwhack down the steep hill to meet the east End Road.

It was a really nice hike after all even if we didn’t accomplish what we started out to do. This trail will most likely grow over if it’s not used, so now is the chance to do it if you’re so inclined…

For more about Brown Bay click:

http://www.seestjohn.com/trails_brown_bay.html

http://seestjohn.com/st_john_life/st-john-usvi/st-john-virgin-islands-brown-bay-trail-revisited/

http://seestjohn.com/st_john_life/st-john-virgin-islands-trails/st-john-trails-two-brown-bay-spur-trails/

Trunk Bay Trail
Years ago, my friend, John Gibney told me about this old trail that he remembered from his childhood that ran from Trunk Bay up to Centerline Road. I searched for it with him, but we never found it. To tell the truth I never really believed it existed until I was shown the old Oxholm Map of St. John in 1850, which clearly showed a road extending from Trunk Bay to what is now Centerline Road., but I was till convinced that it was irretrievably lost in the bush.

Not that long ago, another hiker, Bob Garrison, known as the Trail Bandit, told me that he was searching for that same trail. I warned him, that he was wasting his time. Gibney had been all through there and I had did a little exploring myself. “Not there,” I remember telling him.

But lo and behold, he found it,  and yesterday I walked that old road with Bob through the beautiful forest above Trunk Bay.

We headed into the bush just a little to the west of the large Trunk Bay ruin on the North Shore Road.

Just about 20 yards from the road we came to a small ruin that had been recently cleared.

Trunk Bay Ruin

Ruin	Stairs at Entrance

Continuing on we made our way further up the valley. The forest was cool and shady and had more guavaberry trees than I have seen anywhere and I made a mental note to pass through here in November when they bear the berries used to prepare guavaberry wine, preserves and pastries, traditional Virgin Islands Christmas treats.

At the higher elevations we started seeing more big trees such as the West Indian Locust or “stinking toe tree” and old gnarly hog plum trees. Also noteworthy were the large rock formations covered with lush anthuriums and bromiliads.

The old Danish road was well defined by the dry stacked stones that served as retaining walls for the track’s lower side. Although the trail could definitely use some work, It is a fairly comfortable hike, not too steep, shady and easy to follow, at least for now.

Trunk Bay Trail

Trail

Stone Wall

There was at least one point on the trail where with a little work, there could be a magnificent overlook. It can be appreciated somewhat right now, but that awesome full panorama view is obstructed by bush.

We continued up the valley until we reached a two foot high barb wire fence just before reaching Centerline Road. The  trail continues on the other side of fence, but runs through private property.

In order to stay on public land and rather than go back the way we came we took an intersecting side trail leading to the Susanaberg Road. This trail is in poor condition but we followed it anyway.

Being that the trail to Catherineberg is in even worse condition, I would suggest that unless things change, as they always do, that you enjoy the Trunk Bay Trail up to the top of the valley and then go back the way you came once you meet the fence.

Newly Cleared Overlook

Yesterday it was off to Bordeaux Mountain and the Bordeaux Mountain Trail to photograph the newly cleared overlook that Jeff Cabot and the volunteers had recently finished.

I hiked down the trail to Lameshur Bay and back up the way I came. The elevation at the top end of the trail is more than 1000 feet. The trail being only one mile long with an additional 0.2 mile track down from the ranger’s house to the bay, is obviously steep, to put it mildly.

Swale

Going down was easy. I found the trail to be well maintained and in exceptionally good condition. Although most of the trail runs straight down the montainside, with a potential for quick and severe erosion with every rain, the trail crews have mitigated this hazard by creating numerous swales across the trail sending rain water off to the sides and into the bush rather than allowing it to run down the trail.

On the upper elevations, the Bordeaux Mountain Trail runs through a shady forest. As the trail descends the environment changes to dry forest and then scrub with way less shade.

As I said going down was easy, birds singing, beautiful trees and tropical flora and outstanding dramatic views. Going up was another story. Let me just say, pace yourself and bring plenty of water.  To borrow the publisher of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee’s, catch phrase, “‘Nuff Said!”

Flora Along the Trail

Bordeaux Mountain Trail, St. John Virgin Islands

Flora on the Bordeaux Mountain Trail: Anthuriums, bromiliads and cactus

Pinguin also known as False Pinapple, beginning to flower

As you descend the trail more views open up, but they are not nearly as spectacular as the one that the volunteers cleared. It is one mile from the trail head to the intersection of the trail and the road to the ranger’s residence. Lameshur Bay lies about a quarter mile further on down the hill, where there are some nicely cleared ruins and the entrance to the Lameshur Bay Trail.

Bordeaux Mountain Trail

View of the Valley from Overlook

View of Lameshur from Lower Section of the Trail

View of Lameshur Bay from Ruin

Leinster Bay Trailhead

Donning my trusty Camelbak backpack, GPS and digital camera, I set out to photograph some items of interest on two spur trails off the Brown Bay Trail.

I parked up at the Annaberg Parking Lot and headed down the Leinster Bay Trail. It’s a really beautiful walk, starting out under the shade of a canopy of dry forest trees and then opening onto a shoreline trail. The view from the Leinster Bay Trail is nothing less than spectacular, the trade winds generated breeze refreshing and the trail is comfortable and easy to walk, level and well cleared.

Passing several groups of hikers on the way, I was impressed by how popular the trail has become. There were many yachts on the moorings, beach lovers at the beach and snorkelers plying the waters near and around Waterlemon Cay.

At the beach I headed up and inland on the Johnny Horn Trail.

The guard house near the top of the hill has been well cleared and there are great views of the bay and beyond from there.

Continuing on the Johnny Horn, passing the spur to the Murphy Great House on Windy Hill, I come to the Brown Bay Trail intersection and head north and down hill towards the coast. The trail is now well cleared and easy walking.

I’m looking for the spur trail that goes to an old graveyard. Heading east along the shore, I come to a salt pond on my left and begin looking out for the narrow, but supposedly easy to find spur trail to the cemetery, which I was told was located about 100 feet south of the Brown Bay Trail just before reaching (to the west of) the side track to the beach.

True to my friend’s word, the trail was easy to find and a short walk through the low lying forest leads me to an impressive cemetery, surrounded on four sides by beautifully constructed stone walls. The four feet high walls form an approximate square about 100 feet long on each side. Two pillars, one of which has since fallen down, at one time supported a gate.

Ornate metalwork surrounds the actual grave where a two year old boy was buried in 1860.

Returning to the trail and again heading east, I pass the beach and begin to ascent a hill. On my left I find the steep path leading down to the coast where there are the remains of a stone structure, which I am told once served as an abattoir.

Old Stone Stone Dam

Camelberg Trail

Thursday
On Thursday I hiked the Camelberg Trail, an old Danish Road that had recently been rediscovered and then made passable to some degree or other.

My goal was to get photographs of the trail’s two highlights, a ruin, previously lost in the bush, and what had been described to me as “a beautiful old stone dam.”

When I reached the part of the trail that I was supposed to navigate in order to come upon these highlights, I  became discouraged due to the lack of a discernible path and by the rain that had begun to fall. Little did I know that when I made the decision to give it up and to return to the top of the trailhead on Centerline Road and to my dry, warm parked car, I was standing no more than ten yards from the modest ruins. I realized this upon returning home while I pored over my maps.

Ruins on Camelberg Trail

I resolved to return to the trail the next day and take my photographs.

Friday
Finding the ruins was easy this time, but as the hiker who turned me on to the trail had already told me regarding the ruins: “they’re not much, but they’re there.”

After photographing the not so impressive ruins, I set out on the “track,” which was to lead me to the “beautiful old stone dam.”

bromiliad

Previously I had used the word “passable” to describe the degree of difficulty presented by the Camelberg Trail. Perhaps I spoke too soon or at least too optimistically.  I once again became discouraged after a few minutes spent extricating myself out of a tangle of stickery bromiliads, which I had encountered in the forest after losing the “trail,” marked from time to time by ribbons tied to the trees, that I had been following.

After a few more little trail-related mishaps I found myself once again abandoning my quest to find the “beautiful old stone dam,” which in my mind had now become the “damn dam,” at least for the time being.

Saturday
Yesterday I resumed my search for the damned dam, more determined than ever to get my photos. This time, however, I followed a new route in order to access the damn dam. This was a far more gentlemanly way to get there, and one that I was confident would result in success. The new route was the L’Esperance Road, a veritable superhighway when compared to the Camelberg access.

L'Esperance Road

The L’Esperance Road
My plan was to hike the L’Esperance Trail as far as its first intersection with the Camelberg Trail and then either follow that track up to the dam or, if that failed, continue on to the gut and scramble up the gut until I reached the dam.

I arrived at the L’Esperance Trailhead at about 3:00 in the afternoon. There were five vehicles parked there and I was struck by the realization of how popular this once hardly known track had become.

And no wonder, this is a really beautiful hike, something you realize right from the start of the trail where the road descends following the lush Fish Bay Gut. It’s an easy, comfortable walk (at least downhill) with beautiful foliage and rock formations accompanied by the sounds of songbirds and (at times) water trickling in the gut.

Yesterday a full-sized buck stood on the trail just about 20 yards away, staring at me for an instant or two, before gracefully bounding off into the safety of the forest. Another time I saw a wild boar in that same area.

Estate L'Esperance Bridge

Estate L'Esperance

Just about a tenth of a mile from the trailhead, you’ll come an old stone bridge leading to the ruins of the recently cleared L’Esperance Estate. About a mile further on there are two short spurs leading to Estate Seiban also cleared by volunteers. Seiban is the location of St. John’s only Baobob tree that at one time was so lost in the bush that many disputed its very existence.

I could go on and on about this trail. There’s a beautiful bay rum forest, an old daub and wattle cottage full of old bottles, the ruins of Estate Mahlendahl, as well as access to the Reef Bay Trail, the Great Seiban and the Camelberg trails.

But it wasn’t always like it is now. After Hurricane Marilyn struck in 1995, fallen trees became covered with catch and keep, and as more and more scrub grew up, the road was rendered just about impassable.

Along came the Trail Bandit and groups of concerned hikers who spent years clearing the road little by little. Of course there was resistance from those that oppose trail improvement, but the hikers prevailed.  In 2007, volunteers, this time park approved, did some trail maintenance and  the L’Esperance Road was accepted as “a valuable addition to the VINP hiking trail system.”

More recently, both Seiban and L’Esperance were cleared by Jeff Chabot and volunteers from the Appalachian Mountain Club in conjunction with the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park and the VINP.

Now the trail is a delight to all and the opposition’s nightmares of wholesale abuse of the land never materialized.

And the Damn Dam?
This was supposed to be an article about the dam on the Camelberg Trail and so it will be.

Remember, my previous attempts had been frustrated by a rainstorm and a lack of commitment that allowed me to be scared off by a tangle of bromiliads and the scratches and bruises caused by not paying enough attention in an inhospitable environment. Add to this the verbal attacks launched against me for having revealed in my blog the existence of a now passable Camelberg Trail and this DAMN DAM was starting to cause me some grief.

Problem Solved
Between the two rough tracks leading from the ruins on the Camelberg Trail to the L’Esperance Trail, there is a gut where the dam is located.

I took the easy way out. Combining an enjoyable hike down the L’Esperance Road with a short scramble up that same gut, I easily reached the old stone dam and took my photos.

Although I had come this way in order to photograph a damn stone dam on the Camelberg Road, I returned with, not only some fairly decent photos of said damn dam, but also, a renewed appreciation for the L’Esperance Trail and to those whose selfless dedication and hard work have enabled so many to enjoy the beauty of St. John and hopefully to walk away with an understanding of its unique natural environment.

Camelberg Trail

Camelberg Trail, St. John US Virgin Islands

Some intrepid St. John explorers turned me on to this not so well known hike, which follows an old Danish Road below Camelberg Mountain, as shown on Peter Oxholm’s map of St. John, published some 200 years ago.

The old Danish Road is apparent, but overgrown, the trail over the road is rough, maintained apparently by the few hikers that use it. Although the trail is fairly obvious and is marked in placed by ribbons, I used a GPS and a good map to reassure me of my location. An excellent map of St. John, containing most of the trails, as well as the old Oxholm Map of St. John can be purchased for the low price of $2.00 each or downloaded free of charge at http://www.trailbandit.org/store.htm

At first you will be following a mountain ridge, on a relatively flat forest trail shaded mostly by native dry forest trees. In this area you’ll pass by stands of smooth shiny barked, guavaberry, aromatic pepper cinnamon and bay rum trees and beautiful rock formations, decorated by algaes and colonized by anthuriums and bromiliads.

As you descend towards the L’Esperance Road, more sun penetrates the canopy and you’ll start seeing tyre palm stands and patches of bromiliads growing closely together.

The following is a description given to me by a previous explorer:

“The Camelberg Trail runs between Centerline Road and the L’Esperance Road, beginning just east of the BVI overlook on Centerline. There is parking on the south side of the road about 200 feet east of the overlook. Walk back toward the overlook, and when the bank in your left is about three feet high above the road, head into the woods. It is easy to see as others have gone before you. The route is whacked out but not cleared for a trail so don’t fall on the pungie stakes.

This old road is superb all the way out past Camelberg and you should have no trouble following it. As you head down toward Fish Bay, the trail is less obvious, but well hacked out. You should see tapes in the trees.

Camelberg Trail Ruin

As you approach the L’Esperance Road the trail forks near an some old ruins that aren’t much, but they are there. There are also many orchids here too. After the ruin, the track bears right and works it’s way down toward the gut and down to the L’Esperance Road. Ok, there aren’t any great views, but the part of the trail before you head down the hill runs through a beautiful forest. If you are interested, there is an old stone dam in the gut and a road heading to the south east from the dam. This road is hacked out part way but there is a 100 foot section that isn’t.

Ah, just when you thought you were done: turn left and hike toward Reef Bay on the L’Esperance Road. After you pass the gut that runs down to Fish Bay, and are heading up hill toward Reef Bay, turn left on the old road that heads north. Follow this road and diagonally up to the saddle. From the saddle, stay to the left side of  valley and you will find a track that takes you along the ridge, then turns left and down to the gut. Cross the gut and walk along to the next gut, and turn left and up the second gut. Keep looking to your left, and you will see the stonework on the side of a road that heads up and back toward Camelberg. It is back from the gut a bit so look closely. Follow this road steeply up the hill. After a bit, the road runs out, (probably it switchbacks up someplace). Just make your way up and left to the top of the ridge. There are various tapes in the trees from previous explorations. Once on the ridge, you should be able to follow the track of previous travelers, all the way back the Camelberg Trail. Turn right and walk back to your parked car.”