Not quite a walk in the woods

The trail was easy to follow at first, but my Tevas were not comfortable once they got wet and muddy , and we were heading downhill.

In honor of Columbus Day, our family went exploring.  We didn't discover any new lands, but felt like we were in the wilds on our hike, known as a boonie stomp in these parts.  This is because you literally have to stomp through the boonies to get to where you are going, in our case a couple of waterfalls on the east side of the island.  Taking a hike here is not like the kind of walk in the woods you do at a nice state park, or even a small wildlife refuge, where you walk along a well marked path with a clear idea of where you are going and what you face along the way. Instead you look for an opening in the brush and head towards water.

You know you are in the boonies by the deserted cars.

We weren't sure if this guy was friendly, so instead of cutting across his property, we walked through the creek.

Some friends who lived here a few years ago gifted us their “Best Boonie Tracks on Guam” book. Though printed in 2004, we were able to find the dirt track it described as the head of the trail.  But the rest of the directions were a little vague and in some cases, downright wrong.  Nonetheless, we were able to find the falls, if not climb down them, and enjoy the surroundings.

Trying to decide which way to go according to the book.

An abandoned structure. Is the carabao skull to warn away the taotaomo'na, the ghosts of the wild?

My 7 year old wondered if this used to be a daycare.

While walking through an abandoned structure, I wondered if this was what it was once like in England, when novel people set off across the countryside on an amble of a couple hours. Only hotter and more humid and buggier.

What looks like tangerines in the back are kalamansi, which are bitter when orange, and lemony when green.

Bananas or plantains?

One of the falls. The pool at the bottom was too shallow for jumping.

Excuse the bad date caption. I just loved the expression of our youngest hiker. 

Adventurers trying to figure out a way down. Only these two made it to the bottom.

Although the trek was only about a mile and a half, according to the guide book, it took us nearly three hours, including stops to play in the pools.  We made it back to the car in front of a torrential downpour, and only were lost once for a short time.  No one fell or was injured, other than a few sword grass slices, and we all enjoyed the adventure of exploring and the slight adrenalin rush of not knowing whether a mad carabao was going to rush us, or an angry boonie dweller chase us off his property.

I think we will have to have designated boonie stomp clothes and shoes: the mud refuses to be washed out of the white t-shirts the boys had on, and the shoes, although hosed off, are still tinted by the red clay.  

Must have been a wild big wheel ride.

According to the guide book, we still have a lot more waterfalls to discover, some mountains to climb, and some caves to explore, including a couple with ancient paintings and a replica of the cave where a Japanese soldier hid until 1972, apparently unaware that the war was over.

Scenes from our first boonie stomp, with just the older boys and me, when I led us all astray on the way home. Fortunately, we could just look for electric lines to lead us back to the road.

Although the trail was more discernible here, it split into multiple tracks, probably for mountain bikers, so we got a little turned around.

Colorful dirt. The blue isn't as vivid in the photo as in real life.  

I think this is bamboo orchid.