Bright and early! (was almost 9:00am, sleeping is great:) Glassy 70° mornings, one after another, are continually therapeutic.
Today we hiked the Reef Bay Trail in its entirety, which is an out-and-back route. I think it was about five miles or so with some decent elevation gain on the return trip.
These large trees are some of the only old growth on the island and mostly contained within this trail property.
Lots of cane factory ruins out here. Also visible occasionally (though vaguely by now) are some of the terraces which made up the land around the factories. Most of the island was clear cut and terraced for farming cane.
Of all the places to find a white-tailed deer...
Out of the forest and into the sunshine, we arrive at the Reef Bay Sugar Factory. This place is in great shape and huge. There's no big estate house here but the factory itself is the best we saw.
Mechanicals for the crushing press are all here.
Apparently the daughter of a previous land manager was killed when she got wound up in this gear......and you'll note the nice guard they put over it afterward is still in place.....
These are hermit crabs which have fallen into a small pit. They all still appear to be alive. They are pretty much everywhere, you just get used to hearing rustling along the trail when you're walking. The crabs seem to be sensitive to vibration or sound and like to head back into their shells as people approach.
Here's the steam-engine which powered the crushing press outside. I'm not sure the steam for this was generated by fires under the boiling kettles or not, but that seems pretty efficient since the kettles have to run anyway.
The small wooden structure is the center of the horse mill which would have been used if the steam-engine failed.
A couple hundred feet or so from the factory is this nice chunk of beach.
We saw some (I think) eagle rays messing around just a little way from shore.
Good beach combing here too!
On the return trip, we checked out a small side loop which has a waterfall at the end of it. Not too much going on here but I'm sure it really rages when there is rain.
After some big climbing, we arrive back at these stairs which pop you out on the road.
Later we snorkeled Salt Pond Bay again and found this little guy:
Fabulous views as always,
Time to head back to shore I think?
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