Sunday Morning Sunrise

Chocolate Hole, St. John US Virgin Islands (USVI)
Notwithstanding the Flash Flood Warning and the high probability of rain, my weather forecast system of looking out at the sky served me well and yesterday’s hike was rain free.

Last night however, it rained like crazy with thunder and lightning and high winds. So far this morning so good, but it sure looks like rain. Unless it looks better later on today, I’ll probably cancel my planned visit to Jost Van Dyke.

Being that I’m in the process of another book reprint for St. John Off The Beaten Track, I’ve been revisiting the island’s trails to check for changes since the last printing. I’ve also been concerned about trail conditions after the winds of Hurricane Earl and the flooding from Hurricane Otto. Following are reports from last week’s St. John trail hikes.

Francis Bay Trail
The Francis Bay Trail remains in good condition with the exception that part of the new boardwalk constructed for handicap access is now under water. This is undoubtedly due to the unusual amount of rain we’ve experienced lately and will correct itself in the coming months.

Maria Hope Road
The Maria Hope Trail is still in good condition even though there been no improvements or maintenance done on the trail by National Park contractors. The one good overlook has filled in with vegetation and although still providing views they’re not quite as outstanding as before.

Guinea Grass (photo by Yelena Rogers)

Tektite Trail
Like the Maria Hope Road, the Tektite Trail remains in good condition despite lack of maintenance. The sections of trail passing trough fields of guinea grass are beginning to become overgrown and may be difficult to follow in the future if the trail does not continue to be well used by hikers.

L'Esperance Estate

L’Esperance Road
The L’Esperance Trail is also in good condition as are the L’Esperance and Seiban ruins cleared by volunteers last year. These estates, however are beginning to show signs of being reclaimed by bush if a campaign of maintenance by either contractors or volunteers is not initiated.

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.