Hike to Boiling Lake

While the kids were off at school yesterday, we headed off for a hike we haven't done for 5 years. It's a beautiful route that took us 4.5 hours, starting at around 2,500 feet and topping out at nearly 5,000. Up and over the ridge, down into the Valley of Desolation, back up another ridge to the Boiling Lake and then all over again. Think "Stair Master" with mud, courtesy of the rain forest.

With only 70,000 residents on Dominica, more than half of them in the 2 cities on the west coast, there is lots of open land. Nearly 2/3 of the island is undeveloped land in the Morne Trois Piton National Park. This hike gives you a sense of that.

While the trail maintenance on this hike has improved dramatically, there were still several steep sections that were nearly impassable, with slick mud and not much to hold onto. The video clip here provides some additional info and perspective.

Today we rest and massage tired calves and quads.

I recommend watching this full screen because for some reason otherwise some of the frame gets cut off.