Hiking on "Alvin's Heights"

     Late Tuesday morning, while Dad and Jamie went kiteboarding yet again, the rest of us went on a long hot hike above Biras Creek Resort on Virgin Gorda. A trail leads along the waterfront of the Bitter End Resort, through a swampy mangrove trail full of skittering lizards, to several trails around Biras Creek. This resort struck us as the perfect escape: small, secluded, intimate, in a tropical setting overflowing with colourful plants and flowers, with a heavy price tag to match its tranquil setting. It boasts a location between three different bodies of water- the North Sound, the Atlantic Ocean and the strikingly blue Caribbean Bay. We've hiked the "Orchid Trail" several times now, passing up above the Bitter End for a nice view of the North Sound, then down to the far side of that resort. This time we took a path called "Alvin's Heights," which cuts up a higher hill to overlook all three bodies of water.

Biras Creek

     Scrambling up the dry red earth, the landscape gradually shifted from palm trees and turk's cap cactus to pipe organ cactus and frangipani. At the very top, the plants changed again and sun-bleached grasses crowded the forest floor beneath trees intertwined with green vines. Hiking to the summit was hot, sweaty work, but looking down on the North Sound from a new perspective brought smiles to our faces. After an out-and-back to "Alvin's Lookout," the trail turns towards the tragically-named "Lover's Leap," before descending over loose red rocks to a beach of stone and dried coral beside the simple luxury of Biras Creek's ocean suites. Back at the Bitter End, we discovered the perfect answer to our strenuous trek: a delicious, calorie-infused, melting-in-the-hot-Caribbean-sun, ice cream bar. Anyone who knows me well knows I love my ice cream. And how I've missed my daily fix since the boat life began!

All the best,
Nicole.