So I FINALLY did Boiling Lake. Let me tell you, I've actually been scared to do this hike for the past year. This is one of the "big 3" hikes in Dominica (and the longest at 10 miles). Some people say of the big 3 that it is the easiest, but it is definitely an endurance test. I purposefully did several long hikes (5 milers) that were moderately rated 2-3 out of 5, and then some harder rated hikes 4-5 out of 5, that were short in duration 1-1.5 hrs. This one takes the cake though...rated 5 out of 5 and takes anywhere from 2-4 hours...each way...yes, you are reading that correctly, a 4-8 hour hike. I finally decided this semester that I was going to do it, even if it killed me. So early last Saturday morning we head down south to Roseau to the start of the trail near Titou Gorge (where I've done the Canyoning trips). We started with 15 people (and we ended with only 13!) up the trail at around 8:30am. Now, I'm not fast (5 ft in height can only give you such large stepping ability), but I'm not the slowest person on earth either so I figured I'd be in the middle of the pack. As soon as we get there it starts raining (and rains the ENTIRE hike)...which I was actually glad for because it was a pleasant temperature and I'd much rather rain and slightly overcast rather than hot sun! The majority of the hike was in covered forest and much of the hike was stairs (basically this hike was 10 miles on a stair master). Quite a few river crossings and some scrambles up and down old river beds. The majority of the hike there is uphill. It trick ya...its kind of a low grade initially, then come all the stairs. There are some downhill parts, but everytime I came to those, I couldn't help thinking, damn, I have to go back up those (there is a pic on my facebook account if you want to see). :( I can do low grade incline nicely, but the steep parts are what always kill me. Luckily I knew that if I just took my time, I would eventually get there. When we finally got to the top of the first mountain, the views were amazing! And better yet, the next part was all downhill!!! We get to this crazy section where we are actually climbing down a waterfall (I kinda slide down it on my butt...I'm more secure that way) and then arrived in the Valley of Desolation (see pic above on bottom). This place has been described as "other worldly." Which I guess is true, especially if you are in Dominica where everything is green. Here you have to be careful because these are active fumaroles, so if you step in the wrong place (like I did), you sink into the mud/quicksand like areas and lose your shoe (I eventually got it back). There are streams running through here, but they are VERY hot, so you want to avoid them. The Valley of Desolation was pretty cool. After this, you walk through the (now) warm river, cross over another river, and more stairs up a second mountain, and then over another river. (Yes, I know by now you are singing "To Grandmother's House We Go!") A short scramble up an old river bed and then a short walk to arrive at the Boiling Lake (see pic above on top). And it only took me 3 hours to get this far!!! It is the 2nd largest boiling lake in the world. Not entirely what i expected though. There was a ton of steam (to be expected) and the majoring boiling part is in the middle (I thought it would be more like a rolling boil everywhere). This is because there is a magma chamber underneath it. We ended up on a ridge right above it, so I didn't go down right to the lake (it's not like you can take a dip in it anyways), but it was still pretty cool. (Take note that I get dehydrated REALLY easily so I came prepared with 2.5L of water and 500ml of Gatorade...At this point I've gone through 1.5L of water and the gatorade). We chilled out here only for about 30 minutes (I know, 3 hours of walking just to get there and we didn't stay very long), but this is because it started raining and it was FREEZING!!! I was huddled under part of a rock with another girl shivering, so we decided to head back. The hike home was uneventfuly, except that I did 90% of the hike back by myself! The fast group went ahead (took them 2 hours to get back), I was in the middle (took me 3 hours to get back, the rest of my water, and another liter after I was done!), and the slow group was behind me (4 hours to get back). See, going up was harder for the cardio, coming back was harder on the body (imagine walking down stairs for 3 hours). Let's just say, the next day the parts of me that were sore were my calves and my quads (not my butt like I thought)~ was unsore about 4 days later. Now, a little over a week out, the only nagging injury is a blister that burst on the way TO the lake (and then I had to hike 3 hours back with it), so I've got a hole in the side of my foot that is slowly healing, but I'm having to treat it like it was infected (I don't think it was, but just to be on the safe side...I like having all my extremities). So, when I got done with the hike my comment was, "One and done!" I'm glad that I did it (and in 6 hours, under my goal time of 6.5 hours) and it was cool to see and I can say that I've done it, but I don't know that I would ever do it again! :) I'll let you know when I do the other 2 hikes on the "big 3 list!"
So I FINALLY did Boiling Lake. Let me tell you, I've actually been scared to do this hike for the past year. This is one of the "big 3" hikes in Dominica (and the longest at 10 miles). Some people say of the big 3 that it is the easiest, but it is definitely an endurance test. I purposefully did several long hikes (5 milers) that were moderately rated 2-3 out of 5, and then some harder rated hikes 4-5 out of 5, that were short in duration 1-1.5 hrs. This one takes the cake though...rated 5 out of 5 and takes anywhere from 2-4 hours...each way...yes, you are reading that correctly, a 4-8 hour hike. I finally decided this semester that I was going to do it, even if it killed me. So early last Saturday morning we head down south to Roseau to the start of the trail near Titou Gorge (where I've done the Canyoning trips). We started with 15 people (and we ended with only 13!) up the trail at around 8:30am. Now, I'm not fast (5 ft in height can only give you such large stepping ability), but I'm not the slowest person on earth either so I figured I'd be in the middle of the pack. As soon as we get there it starts raining (and rains the ENTIRE hike)...which I was actually glad for because it was a pleasant temperature and I'd much rather rain and slightly overcast rather than hot sun! The majority of the hike was in covered forest and much of the hike was stairs (basically this hike was 10 miles on a stair master). Quite a few river crossings and some scrambles up and down old river beds. The majority of the hike there is uphill. It trick ya...its kind of a low grade initially, then come all the stairs. There are some downhill parts, but everytime I came to those, I couldn't help thinking, damn, I have to go back up those (there is a pic on my facebook account if you want to see). :( I can do low grade incline nicely, but the steep parts are what always kill me. Luckily I knew that if I just took my time, I would eventually get there. When we finally got to the top of the first mountain, the views were amazing! And better yet, the next part was all downhill!!! We get to this crazy section where we are actually climbing down a waterfall (I kinda slide down it on my butt...I'm more secure that way) and then arrived in the Valley of Desolation (see pic above on bottom). This place has been described as "other worldly." Which I guess is true, especially if you are in Dominica where everything is green. Here you have to be careful because these are active fumaroles, so if you step in the wrong place (like I did), you sink into the mud/quicksand like areas and lose your shoe (I eventually got it back). There are streams running through here, but they are VERY hot, so you want to avoid them. The Valley of Desolation was pretty cool. After this, you walk through the (now) warm river, cross over another river, and more stairs up a second mountain, and then over another river. (Yes, I know by now you are singing "To Grandmother's House We Go!") A short scramble up an old river bed and then a short walk to arrive at the Boiling Lake (see pic above on top). And it only took me 3 hours to get this far!!! It is the 2nd largest boiling lake in the world. Not entirely what i expected though. There was a ton of steam (to be expected) and the majoring boiling part is in the middle (I thought it would be more like a rolling boil everywhere). This is because there is a magma chamber underneath it. We ended up on a ridge right above it, so I didn't go down right to the lake (it's not like you can take a dip in it anyways), but it was still pretty cool. (Take note that I get dehydrated REALLY easily so I came prepared with 2.5L of water and 500ml of Gatorade...At this point I've gone through 1.5L of water and the gatorade). We chilled out here only for about 30 minutes (I know, 3 hours of walking just to get there and we didn't stay very long), but this is because it started raining and it was FREEZING!!! I was huddled under part of a rock with another girl shivering, so we decided to head back. The hike home was uneventfuly, except that I did 90% of the hike back by myself! The fast group went ahead (took them 2 hours to get back), I was in the middle (took me 3 hours to get back, the rest of my water, and another liter after I was done!), and the slow group was behind me (4 hours to get back). See, going up was harder for the cardio, coming back was harder on the body (imagine walking down stairs for 3 hours). Let's just say, the next day the parts of me that were sore were my calves and my quads (not my butt like I thought)~ was unsore about 4 days later. Now, a little over a week out, the only nagging injury is a blister that burst on the way TO the lake (and then I had to hike 3 hours back with it), so I've got a hole in the side of my foot that is slowly healing, but I'm having to treat it like it was infected (I don't think it was, but just to be on the safe side...I like having all my extremities). So, when I got done with the hike my comment was, "One and done!" I'm glad that I did it (and in 6 hours, under my goal time of 6.5 hours) and it was cool to see and I can say that I've done it, but I don't know that I would ever do it again! :) I'll let you know when I do the other 2 hikes on the "big 3 list!"
