St. John is covered in trails that criss cross our rocky, steep island. One quite popular trail is the Reef Bay Trail. This trail is several hundred feet above sea level providing it with a lush, moist climate, quite different from the rest of the island. It's almost like being in tropical rainforest. It is 3 miles down to Reef Bay and the Reef Bay Sugarmill ruins with a .2 mile side trail which takes you to the petroglyphs which are carvings in a rock adjacent to a rock outcropping that after a rainy few days produces a beautiful waterfall. These petroglyphs are believed to be carved by the Taino Indians, a precolumbian population that at one time inhabited St. John and many Caribbean islands.
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| Some of my fellow hikers - Ki'Andra, Malena and Kayla |
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| This tree is covered with sharp spikes all over the trunk. It's name reflects it's prickly exterior, "Monkey No Climb". :) If we had monkeys they certainly wouldn't want or be able to climb this tree. Yes, those little pokies are very sharp. |
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| Our group in front of a Banyon Tree |
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| Reef Bay Trail is known for some petroglyphs from the Taino Indians. They are unsure of what the symbols represent. It has been believed that perhaps they symbolize water, but they are possibly several hundred years old. |
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| After several days of intense rain this is the most spectacular waterfall, but unfortunately there had not been alot of rain recently. |
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| Caneel Bay Resort has taken this symbol as their own. It's popular to see if in jewelry and as part of logos. It's basically a symbol of St. John. |
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| Reef Bay Sugar Mill ruins |
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Reef Bay - Once we reached the bottom we went for a nice swim. Then it was back up the hill 3 miles. It was a long three miles back for some of our intrepid hikers. :) Yet, we did make it.
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