I keep waiting for it to be warm. Where I live, February is
not warm. Pinkham is not warm. Boston is not warm. When we land in Puerto Rico,
I think I’m home free but the airport is air conditioned to a chill and my
layover is too short to justify an exit. Finally I’m on the ground on St Thomas
and the airplane crew pops that cabin door --WHOOSH. I’m eagerly peeling off my
layers even as I walk the tarmac towards the taxi line. Other travelers are
giving me strange looks, especially when I stop to attack the laces on my boots
and banana-peel off my socks to swap them for the flip-flops in my pack. Ha-ha! I think. I am someplace new and
different, and I have a whole week to explore what most people call paradise.
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Cinnamon Bay - Home to our Crews |
The taxi ride to Red Hook takes me though St Thomas. Lush
grasses and brush grow from every patch of soil, they encroach on the bright purple
funeral home, the splashy billboards advertising rum, the sullen, abandoned
cerement husks of homes. Once on the
ferry to St John I’m struck by the views. The water is a color I’ve never seen
before in real life: aquamarine. Of course! The sky is a deep blue dotted with white
fluffy clouds, and lumpy green islands spot the sea. The whole place is vibrant with ridiculous
color.
Threading through the busyness of Cruz Bay, over the crazy
hills and curves the taxis lumber against, the tourists snapping photos off the
viewpoints, I finally arrive at Cinnamon Bay, my home for the week. The rest of
the crew is out exploring but I will meet them soon. Our humble camp is lovely;
I am immediately at home in my cozy cot and airy tent, surrounded by green. There’s a constant low din from the forests
as all manner of small things sing their songs. An idyllic beach is just a few minutes’
walk from my tent, and at night, it’s virtually abandoned. Walking the beach
every night, I find bioluminescence plankton washing up in the surf. Little
green flakes floating around my feet, glowing on the sand, reflecting the
stars.
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Using the Grip-Hoist to Move Boulders |
There’s an immense satisfaction in hard, physical work – as
any gardener or hiker knows. Many of us can’t really see what we do, on a daily
basis. Work all day and our accomplishments are visible only by a time-dated
trail in the outbox, or discretely updated files. So it does feel like a
vacation to spend all morning moving dirt and rocks, and walk back up to the
van over newly rehabbed trail – a well-designed rock step, a sturdy waterbar.
These improvements will likely outlast us, a quiet legacy. And of course the
company is fantastic. Monday I collect fill with Carol. Tuesday Sue, Steph, I
work the grip hoist together and haul a dozen monstrous rocks ever closer to our
construction site. Wednesday, rocks go airborne and, with our crew leaders’
patient help, send those rocks down tensioned cable to the project site. We are
all giddy! Thursday and Friday we set the flying rocks into the permanent home
on the trail. It is exhausting, inspiring, and so rewarding to hike back up
over our work site each day at noon, stepping on staircase, traversing our
check steps, anticipating a well-earned lunch back at camp, and an afternoon of
exploring.
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Reef Bay Ruins |
With my free afternoons I go hiking, snorkeling, and
swimming. The hiking is spectacular – while St John is mountainous, many of the
trails were once Danish roads so are well-graded and easy to walk. There are
ruins to admire and a rich, tragic past to explore, and I find myself wishing
I’d brought a history book to learn more about the place. The water is pure
indulgence. That brilliant Caribbean blue and cold enough to be refreshing and
warm enough to stay in for hours. The abundance of life is striking! I see more
fish than I can count and describe, manta rays, urchins, and intricate corals.
Hermit crabs are everywhere on the beaches and in the forests, as are friendly
brown lizards and white-tailed deer. Trees and flowers cover the landscape –
everything from cacti on the southern, drier areas of the island, to lush ferns
and flowering brush on the northern end.
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The Crew Enjoys Lunch on Honeymoon Beach |
We celebrate our last day on the island with a hike from
L’esperance to Genti Bay, and back via Reef Bay and the petroglyphs. Last swim
in warm waters, last ruins to ponder. Later, looking over the water, sipping my
last fancy island cocktail, I’m looking forward to my walk on Cinnamon Bay
beach tonight, watching the light wane and the stars appear, the
bioluminescence shine, feeling my toes in the warm sand.