Ascension Island! Part 2: Hikes

While you might think that these pictures consist of messing around on Government time, the real truth is that we were ensuring that our physical well-being was taken care of! The Air Force Requires it! :)

This picture is of our first successful hike. We made it to the top of Sister Peak...Without knowing for sure, I am sure this is what hiking a peak on the moon would be. For every step up, you lose a half of step backwards...at the top there was a "letter box" that has a sign in sheet and a stamp to prove that you were there. This was our first and by the time we were done, Chappy and I had completed 8 letter boxes. Not a bad haul considering we were working a lot!

Anyone who is familiar with Physics knows taht what goes up must come down...These two pictures consist of me "Skree Skiing" down the back side of Sister peak. The rock was so loose and small that you basically run down the hill and hope that you slide and don't hit a bigger rock. There were a couple of times my ankles hollered at me, but they never did give out! It was a blast, and made sure we got down faster than we got up!

When we reached the bottom Chappy Chris and I posed for a picture in a "lunar" basin. We were actually told that the lunar rover was brought here and tested prior to making its trip to the Moon. I don't know if they were pulling our leg or not, but after enduring this terrain it is definitely believable.

The top of Cross hill. Anyone who knows me will look at this picture and see that I didn't sweat and call me a liar. So to put that to rest, we actually rode to the top of this mountain in an air conditioned Explorer to get a better idea of Rob's domain. It is really an impressive view, and you can see "Green Mountain" behind me with the clouds over it.

Speaking of Green Mountain, this is a picture at the saddle, just before we entered the Bamboo forest. This mountain was the active Volcano many years ago. When the UK Royal Marines first set foot on this island in the 1800's, the whole thing looked much like the previous pictures. They decided to begin planting greenery on the top of Green Mountain and nurtured it. Over time they artificially changed the climate on top of the mountain and it now actually has a tropical rain forest on the top. Quite and interesting history, and it makes for some beautiful hikes to the peak at 2,800+ feet.

This is a picture of me entering into the bamboo/rain forest. Quite lush and still amazing that this was generated by a bunch of Royal Marines who didn't like looking at the surface of the moon!

We were victorious...the only problem is that while were at the highest point on the island of Ascension, you can see there is no good view. When you have a bamboo forest with the shafts 2-4 inches in diameter and over 20 feet tall, you can't really see that far. A small price to pay, to say I have now climbed the tallest point on Ascension, Antigua, and the CONUS.

On Tuesday morning Rob was actually confident enough in our ability to send Chris and I out on our own...This was after we found one letter box and followed "directions" to another one. Unfortunately the directions of "Follow the Hash! (Hash is shredded paper used to lay trails for the Saturday Hash club)." Unfortunately on an island 6x6 miles, there is HASH EVERYWHERE and we apparently followed the wrong stretch. It was a very cool hike and a good view.

The last letter box we were able to find was Wolf's Bluff, you can see the Wolf to my right on the horizon. We found this one out of pure luck as we followed a crew of Brits who "had to be going to Wolf's Bluff". Unfortunately when we caught them, they were just looking for obsidian! We headed back the way we had come, and climbed up, up, up...fortunately I stumbled on the cairn marking the box, just as Chappy and I were about to quit! All in all our hiking experience on the island was PHENOMENAL and I would love to go back and get the other 18 or so letter boxes another time.