From the time John told me we were moving to Guam, I started reading the local newspaper, the Pacific Daily News, on-line as well as two Guam blogs. I would check one particular blog, Latitude 13, everyday. Latitude 13 is a smart, funny and very Guam-positive blog. It gave me a local’s perspective regarding life on Guam.
It was on Latitude 13 that I first heard about Boonie Stomps. It’s a public hike every Saturday to a beach, waterfall, cave or WWII monument. The Boonie Stomps are rated easy to very difficult and, when reading the announcements for upcoming stomps, I noticed the easy ones are few and far between. So, when I saw an easy hike listed in the newspaper for the first Saturday we were here, we decided to give it a go.
As we got out of the car at 8:45 am, the thermometer read 94 degrees. Racing through my mind was how do I get out of this since it was my idea in the first place. John and Logan were not about to turn around so I just kept drinking lots of water in the hopes that I wouldn’t succumb to heat exhaustion. Really, what was I thinking?
There were between 30-40 people at registration but I was more concerned with why they were offering gloves for sale. I figured at $1.00 a pair I’d best get all of us a pair.
The hike was a half mile STRAIGHT down a hillside on an unmarked path. There were big spiders perched on the trees and bushes along the way. We actually used these same spiders as landmarks on the way back up the hill so they became less manacing and more of a useful tool. The gloves were used for grabbing onto a tree or bush as I slid down the hillside ~ all I could think was “best three bucks I spent all week.”
Was the hike worth all the effort?! You bet. We ended up at the beautiful Ague Cove with no one else around except us hikers.
We met a couple of really nice people. Most of the hikers had their snorkel equipment with them and spent most of their time at the cove in the water (note to self: buy snorkel gear). The hike was actually on private property but the BoonieStompers had been given special permission.
Personally, I would not have rated this hike as easy. Let’s just say I am a little scared to attempt medium or difficult hikes.
After 10 stomps, you get a free t-shirt! I’ll let you know when I get one LOL
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Displaced Beachbums 