STX's Gorgeous NW Coast

I've only been on St. Croix a little more than a month, and it seems that every day I find something new to dazzle my eyes.

I had the day off work, so I drove out northwest. I parked at the top of the Western Scenic Road near Mt. Stewart and hiked down perhaps 800 feet on a steep dirt road. At the bottom, I scaled down a small cliff to Annaly Bay and behold! A tidal pool on the beach. There are two or three areas (I can't remeber exactly) of flat, prickly lava rock rising about 3 feet above the water right at the shore. Each one is about the size of a tennis court, and the tidal pool is down in the first one. There is a low land bridge on the sea side. The surface of the rock looks like the moon. It's gray with weird coppery pink swirls. There is a small cove for hiding treasure just to the west. There were several small goats climbing and feeding on the cliff to the west. That cliff is about 80 degrees, so the goats must know what there doing.

I back tracked and took a forested road east. It was terribly washed out. Not even a jeep could have gotten through. I think I'll open a company called Tanks-R-Us.

I see a sugar mill ahead in the forest! I keep walking and round the corner, but where's the mill? I've run out of water already. I think I'm both dehydrated and delerious, bacause I can't find the mill. Suddenly it appears right in front of me on a hill. I stand outside and look at the inscription above the door: "AD 1796" carved in fancy letters. On either side is a curly vine carved into the stone. I go inside. The thing has six openings, and the trade winds are literally rushing through. I think, I wouldn't mind living here. Then I think about all the slaves who worked here and in the nearby fields.

I move on. The road is now a narrow, somewhat overgrown path. Now I'm in a very dark forest. Yellow and black butterflies are everywhere. I can hear the tradewind rustling in the top of the trees, but they aren't cooling me off down below. I walk awhile more, then suddenly I'm in a grassy field and looking down on the sea. Now the tradewinds are rushing straight at me.

I walk a bit more, and suddenly I see the Carambola resort down below on the beach. Civilization! I want lunch! I continue on the path, but the grass is getting very high. Why didn't I do the smart thing and bring a weed wacker? Suddenly I'm in the woods again on a slowly descending path to the beach and lunch. I stop and look down at all the decaying leaves-red, yellow, tan, brown, purple. On the down side of the hill just off the path, I see hundreds of rocks in places. Could this have been an old Danish road with retaining walls?

Finally I get to the resort and the waitress brings me an iced tea and food. I read in my guidebook that the path was, in fact, once a road. Probably when the mills shut down, there was no longer a need for a road.

After guzzling down ice water, I begin the climb back up the path. This time I turn down the road to Wills Bay. The road gently descends a valley with tall, swaying grass on either side and with the Caribbean Sea on the horizon. My book says look for tide pools at the northwest end. I scale about 50 feet of cliff side, get a wet shoe in the process, and there they are-two of them, each about 20X30 feet and six-feet deep. Nice jacuzzis. On the sea side, it looks like someone built a retaining wall to hold in the water. It's in a nice straight line.

Now I've got 800 steep feet to climb up to get back to my car. After about 45 minutes of rather gruling hiking, I see the car. It's one of the nicest things I've ever seen. Now I'll have to consider whether or not I'll join the hiking club. No seriously, I had a great time, and I am joining. But now I'm smarter. I'll park the car at a beach next time, climb up a mountain, then have an easy climb back down. Live and learn.

Soon, I'll have to go up to Saint Thomas and Saint John to see what beautiful things I can find there. And I want to learn Scuba. When am I going to have time for all this?