Lost on the Circuit d’Absalon
Part two of Friday’s adventure found us going for a new-to-us hike in Martinique’s interior. To get from Les Gorges de la Falaise to the trailhead of Circuit d’Absalon had us driving down a beautiful, tree-covered road with numerous hairpin turns. The more we explore the island of Martinique the more it reminds us of Grenada, at least as far as the terrain is concerned (the road we drove on is much like the Grand Etang road in Grenada; the one that bisects the island, up and over the mountains).
Once we arrived at the trailhead, we took the advice that some friends had given us, and set off hiking the trail clockwise, the opposite of what is typically done. That, I think, would be our downfall, as this hike now holds the distinction of being the only one that we have ever lost the trail on!
After hiking for close to an hour, we came across a landmark that I remembered from a previous hike. Even though we were on a well-developed two-track road/trail, seeing this made me start to have my doubts about our route. When I checked our location on our iPhone using our new favorite app, it seemed as if we had missed a turn. Backtracking from that point, up-hill, we carefully looked for the turn that we should have taken. In spite of paying extremely close attention, the turnoff never materialized. Ultimately, we ended up hiking all the way back to the trailhead the way we had come.
On the bright side, the total distance that we covered was likely equal to what the normal circular route would have provided us, and we got the benefit of seeing the trail that we first covered from the opposite perspective, often a nice experience. It remains a mystery though where we went wrong. Next time we’ll have to do the hike in the normal (proper!) direction to find out.
It sure was us!
Not sure where we went wrong. 🙁
It was nice, nonetheless.
That’s two hairy walks that I would never ever attempt. Bad head for heights, bad heart, old and useless and a devout chicken!
You seemed to enjoy them however.
There seems to be a large amount of bamboo in your pictures. Even so, it doesn’t seem to have done a complete take-over of the vegetation which is what I have found elsewhere when that stuff gets a foot-hold. All interesting stuff.
That looks to be SOME land crab. How big was it?
Mike
The truth is that neither hike was really strenuous. On a 1-5 I’d say both were about a 2. I’m sure you’d be fine.
As for the crab, he was about the size of my hand.
Just curious about how much water you take on hikes. Looks like Rebecca is carrying none and you (might) have a camelbak?
That really depends on how long the hike will be. As you noted, I was carrying a 1.5l Camelbak, and we shared the water in it. We had been drinking water all morning in the car too. On longer, hotter hikes, we each would have had a Camelbak, and maybe even additional bottles too.