Submitted by Mallory Davis on the 2019 winter session program in Dominica sponsored by the Department of Geography…
On Monday, this week, we finally were able to hike the infamous “Boiling Lake/ Valley of Desolation” trail. We had heard from many locals that this hike was more of a climb and is the most difficult hike on the island. After hearing all of this, our group was quite nervous to begin. Of course, right when we arrived at the beginning of the trail, it began to pour rain, making the rocks and steps very slippery. The first two hours was basic in that we were climbing stairs the whole time. Once we got to a river, which the locals call the “breakfast river”, we became aware that the next hour would mostly be climbing on slippery rocks. This was extremely tedious because we had to watch everywhere we placed our feet and had to use our upper body to pull us back onto rocks to ensure we didn’t fall. The next milestone was when we arrived to the “Valley of Desolation”. This valley is named this because of the steam that spouts through the surface of the land and the small pools that have boiling water in them from the volcanic activity of the island. We met some other people who stopped to rest here and began to boil eggs and eat them; a tradition of the locals who say if you eat one of the boiled eggs, you will live forever.
After stopping to rest and have a snack for about 15 minutes and going on hour three, it was time to continue our last hour journey to the Boiling Lake. After about another hour of climbing up and down more slippery rocks and over huge roots from trees, we finally made it to the Boiling Lake. While the rain was still pouring down on us and the steam from the lake was covering the area, we were still able to see small glimpses of the lake when a strong gust of wind would blow away the steam. This boiling lake is the second largest in the world and was an amazing site to see. After resting there for a short 30 minutes, it was time to turn around and head back the same way we came. Surprisingly, the most tedious part about the trip back was the last hour of hiking through pouring rain, seeing all the same scenery, and not knowing when or if you would get back to the starting line. All in all, the hike took about seven hours to complete. Even though many of us were already starting to feel the burn and we were totally beat, we all felt very accomplished to be able to complete a hike that most locals don’t even try.
