Submitted by Rachel King on the 2019 winter session program in Dominica sponsored by the Department of Geography…
Tuesday January 29th, 2019 – Boiling Lake
Long, daunting, slippery, mud, rain, are all words that describe the trek to Boiling Lake. It took us seven hours to make it to and from the Boiling Lake. It rained on us the entire time. I’ve never been more soaked before, it seemed as if I had jumped into a pool or the ocean for as much water that my clothes absorbed. Between scaling slippery rocks, to using rocks to heave ourselves up and down, to just climbing up step after step, my body was numb; my calves were burning and my thighs were on fire. On the way there, we would stop every hour or so for a quick reprieve so we broke up the hike into three phases.
First stop was at the Breakfast River, where everyone’s shoes, if they weren’t already wet, became completely drenched by walking/wading across the small riverbed. We all sat down on the rocks, stretched our legs, and consumed some snacks. Fifteen minutes later, we resume our march. We’re going up, up to the peak of a mountain; the amount of steps we climbed up is uncountable, they never seemed to stop. At some point, we all knew how high we were because we were walking in a cloud, no matter where you looked there was white surrounding us. But when we reached the summit, even with the cloud cover, there was a stunning view. All around rose other mountains and we could see down below from where we came from.
Now we make our way down to the Valley of Desolation. It’s called this because nothing grows there due to the volcanic nature of the island. Sulfur covers a lot of the ground and the small river that flows through is hot and at some points boiling. It reeks of eggs and sulfur in the air, but we’re all intrigued by the colors from the riverside to the sheer cliff side closing us in. Next, all we have left is to get to the Boiling Lake, another hour later and we finally arrive. It was a lot to take in when we first got to see it, between hiking for three hours in the rain and then being able to witness the second largest boiling lake in the world, a lot of us didn’t know what to think.
The hike back was brutal. Everyone was already tired and it still was raining. Three weeks ago we were all strangers, but on that hike, we became whatever anyone in the group needed, we relied on one another, through the slips, the complaints, the “Oh, I remember this part”, the cramped muscles, and the smell in the car ride back to the hotel. It was one of the most physically and mentally challenging events I’ve participated in, but I wouldn’t trade our adventure for anything else.