We've been vacationing on
Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands for a few years. There are beautiful beaches, great restaurants, and friends that welcome us back every year. There are hills too. This tiny island, with a population around 200, requires visitors to navigate up and down hills by foot or car. The other option is to boat around them.
There are two roads that lead into White Bay (the beach area). The main road is paved, has some huge hills, and is well lit. This is part of the
JVD 5K course.
The other road cuts steeply up from sea-level and is partly-paved. For some unknown reason this year, we decided to walk to Great Harbour (town) on this road. Leaving early was the key to fight off some added degrees.
The first part of the road was paved concrete and felt like we were climbing a 60 degree slope. Probably not that bad, but it did require a couple of stops. We marked break points by telephone poles. BTW we stay in the little house in the top-center of this photo.
We found a house at the top of this hill and a sharp-right turn leading to another hill. This is where the dirt and rock portion started.
A few more start-stops and we got this view of Tobago Island and the back-side of Jost Van Dyke. Next, time for some more hills.
The pattern of walk-stop continued for some time. The least rewarding part of the experience was the over-growth at the highest point, around 700 ft. Dave was really hoping for a panoramic photo opp.
When we got to the start of the down hill portion, we had a little fear we missed the turnoff for Great Harbour. Going back was not something we would look forward to. We also didn't want to climb that big hill on the left in this photo.
Luckily, we did not miss the path and the rest of the trip was downhill. There were places where walking down was treacherous because of erosion and washouts. Lots of big rocks in one portion.
Finally, Great Harbour came into view.
Here's the hill as seen from town. We took the main road back - by cab.
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