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.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 9th, 2010 at 2:32 pm and is filed under Life on St. John USVI, St. John Virgin Islands Trails. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.