Location: Dominica
Hi friends and family!
If you couldn’t tell yet, we love stairs, so we were very excited to find so many on our hike. It really made everyone’s day, especially Nat’s. In all seriousness, the Boiling Lake hike was an amazing 10-mile hike through the jungle, over mountains, and through hydrothermal valleys. Starting off strong were Tim, Demop, David, and Will, who all ran ahead of everyone less than a quarter of a mile into the hike. Nick, Claire, Peter, Brina, Elene, Shuman, MG, Elisabeth, Max, Beau, Golden, Zoe, Emma, Ellie, Nat, Elder Gabe, Audrey, Nolan, and I were close behind to start, but after our first big rest stop atop a mountain, we realized that four (who soon became the “Gorgetet”) had been left far behind. Pancho, our guide, came to update us with news saying that they were coming, but they were saying, “This was torture.” About halfway through the hike, the trail switched from lots of steep jungle mountains to a hydrothermal valley complete with sulfuric smells and a hot stream. Here, we boiled some eggs and smeared mud on our faces (apparently, the mud there is good for your skin) because why not. We followed the blue stream down the valley before crossing it and finally hiking up to the boiling lake, which is the biggest in the world! Our groups became fragmented on the way back but were kept mostly connected via our guides waiting at tricky trail sections, Will running between groups, and Tim dancing and cheering for us at streams. I won’t even say how many times we all tripped, but the lush scenery and otherworldly hydrothermal areas made it worth it. However, our day did not end with the hike. Nearby was also a gorge full of beautiful water that we could explore and sit under a waterfall! This is where the Gorgetet got their name, and lots of Pirates of the Caribbean songs were sung. Turns out, Titou Gorge was in the second movie, where everyone was trying to escape from the cannibals by swimming through the gorge and dodging arrows. Our adventurous and mud-filled day was completed with a delicious veggie lasagna dinner prepared by Ben and my squeeze question of “Describe the person to your left in one word.” Some replies were sweet, like Claire calling Shuman “selfless” and Ellie calling Audrey “everything.” Others were more abstract like Peter calling Nolan “butter” and Elene calling Nat “foamy”. I was personally described as “water” by Beau. Even though everyone was exhausted after our fun-filled day, we had a wicked great time, and all had more pictures than the ones posted to show friends and family.
Shoutout to my friends (I miss you all), my family (see you soon!), and Nana (who I heard is the blog’s biggest fan). Love you all so much!
Signing off for the last time,
Katie 🙂