Sea Cat's assistant Desmond had promised to pick us up at
shortly after 7 AM and take us to shore so we could catch a maxi-taxi bus to the
trailhead to the Boiling Lake. When he hadn't shown by 7:45 Barb
called Sea Cat and he came out and took us to the pier in front of Ft. Young
Hotel. We walked from there to the bus station near the Botanical
Gardens, where we were told that the bus would not be there until 9 AM.
Darn. We had just settled in for a long wait when a maxi-taxi stopped with
a passenger at the corner. Barb asked if it were going toward the
trailhead, and the driver indicated that was not his route, but that he was
willing to go for $60 US. When Barb talked him down to $15 US, we
jumped in and were taken on a narrow twisty mountainous road up to the trailhead
near the entrance to the Mountain Tram. So by 9 AM we began the hike
described by cruising guidebook author Doyle as a 7 to 9 hour round trip, although we had also heard a
time of 6 hours. The first quarter of the hike was through dense forest
over a well-maintained path that rose fairly gently. Lots of boards and
logs placed as steps, but occasional flat places were muddy. The
second quarter or so was much steeper, along a path that traversed a rising
ridge from which we could hear through the trees noisy rivers far below on both
sides. The third quarter was up and down: way down to a river
to be crossed and then way up and then way down to another river, and then --
well, you get the idea. And then a very steep descent into the
Valley of Desolation, with its steaming vents and sulfurous odors and bubbling
mud-holes and lack of vegetation. Just as we reached the center of the
desolate valley we were overtaken by a young Czech girl/woman and her local
companion who was serving as her guide. And just as they overtook
us, the guide uttered a loud profanity. And no wonder, for there along the
path was a boa constrictor. The guide was as amazed as the rest of
us, for he had never seen such a snake in that unlikely location. He
took pictures of the girl -- who later told us she was crew on a yacht that was
in St. Martin, and had flown in for a quick holiday -- as she teased the snake,
and so I grabbed the chance to snap a few as well. The path got harder to
follow as we left the Valley of Desolation and followed along and across and
along and across a stream bed that was running with warm/hot water white with
minerals. No signs, and no indications of where the path was.
Maybe that is why so many folks recommended having a guide, including Doyle.
But Maggie and Dean (Rain) had gone without one just a few days earlier
and told us there would be no problem. So we carried on and found our way.
(The youngsters had left us so far behind that they were no help.) The
Boiling Lake was indeed. Boiling, that is. The lake steamed so
vigorously as to totally obscure the surface down in the 50-foot-diameter
crater. But then the winds would shift and swirl and sweep the steam
briefly in the other direction, and massive roils could be seen, in this, the
world's second largest boiling lake. Awesome, and well worth the effort to
get to it.
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Early in the hike we walked along this pipe delivering water to a hydro plant
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Thick woods and thick mud early in the hike
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See what we mean?
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First steep ascent
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Mystery fruit growing along the path
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Sign one hour in from the trail head
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Up an interminable ridge
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Panorama to the northwest
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At the top of the ridge
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Panorama northeast toward the Valley of Despolation and Boiling Lake
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Much later, a view from on high: portion of Valley of Desolation on right and mist from Boiling Lake on left
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The descent toward the Valley of Desolation
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Descending down to the Valley of Desolation
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Descent into the Valley
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Later in the descent to the Valley of Desolation
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Barb entering the Valley of Desolation
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The Valley
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Panorama of the Valley
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One of the vents in the Valley
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Boa constrictor in the Valley of Desolation!
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Young Czech girl poses not too near to the snake
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But when it crawls into a crevice, is emboldened to grab its tail ...
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... and becomes surprisingly comfortable with the idea
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Traversing from the Valley of Desolation to the Boiling Lake
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Right after this was taken, Barb slipped and fell into the river
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The acidic water leaves a white slippery scum on the rocks
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On the last little hill before the boiling lake (its vapor in the background)
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Peering over the edge at the Boiling Lake
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Huge ...
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... roil ...
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... in the lake
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Returning toward the Valley of Desolation after seeing the Boiling Lake
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Dominica: Boiling Lake, Jan. 31, 2009
