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Excerpted from St. John Off The
Beaten Track ©
2006 Gerald Singer
The terrain of St. John is mostly mountainous. Between the mountains
are valleys. When it rains, water seeking its lowest level, flows
and seeps down the hillsides of the valleys and makes its way
down toward the sea. In the Virgin Islands, these rain-collecting
temporary valley streams are called “guts.”
When it rains hard, water rushes down the guts taking with it
soil and sediment that have collected during dry periods. The
bottoms of the guts are left as bare rocks. Along the edges of
the guts, the plant life grows profusely due to the abundance
of water available to them. These gut environments are usually
tropical and jungle-like.
Some of the most accessible and beautiful guts are in the Fish
Bay area. Most often hiked are the Fish Bay and Battery Guts,
which come together at an elevation of about 200 feet in the
Fish Bay Valley.
These are difficult and challenging hikes and should only be
undertaken by those in good physical condition and who possess
knowledge of rock scrambling techniques. It is extremely important
to exercise the utmost caution. The rocks may be slippery and
the ways out of the gut and back to civilization are limited.
Do not attempt this (or any) hike alone!
The Fish Bay and Battery Guts, along with the Living Gut in
Reef Bay and the Guinea Gut, are the only south side guts that
have some degree of permanent water. Pools and waterfalls along
the gut provide homes for several species of freshwater fish,
crabs and crayfish.
The gut environment is dynamic. It will change considerably
depending upon the amount of rainfall and the time of year. The
hike along these natural pathways will, therefore, vary in difficulty,
and you will have to be creative at times to find the best ways
around obstacles such as waterfalls, pools, fallen trees, thorny
vines and unfriendly plants.
The Fish Bay Gut can best be accessed from the Fish Bay Road
on either side of the bridge that crosses the gut.
In this low-lying area, the gut can be crowded with thick vegetation,
but getting through is not as difficult as it looks. Be prepared
to get wet, especially in the early morning when there is a lot
of dew on the grass or after a night of showers. As the elevation
begins to increase, there is less vegetation in the gut, and
the going is easier.
The tall trees along the sides of the gut filter the sunlight
and create an exciting tropical atmosphere. Watch for orchids
growing in the nooks and crannies of trees and rocks. You will
find bright green moss, lush tropical ferns, and an assortment
of flowering trees and other plants.
The freshwater pools contain fish whose eggs can lie dormant
for years at a time when the pools dry up. They will hatch
when there is sufficient rainfall to support life in the pool.
Also look for freshwater crabs, which scurry for shelter when
they see you approach, and crayfish that look like little Maine
lobsters. Colorful dragonflies often hover above the pools. Here,
the forest is alive with the buzzing of bees and the songs of
birds attracted to the water in the pools.
After about a quarter
mile, you will come to the intersection of the Fish Bay and Battery
Guts.
The Battery Gut is the western (left) fork and continues up alongside
the Gift Hill Valley, where it begins in the vicinity of Neptune
Richard’s Laundromat. On the way, it passes the Pine Peace
School where there is an exit trail.
About 0.1 mile from the gut intersection is a 70-foot-high waterfall.
There are fresh water pools on the top and bottom of the cliff.
The base of this waterfall is a wonderful place to stop and relax
for a while before the return trip down the gut.
Experienced rock climbers, however, can climb this steep rock
face, which offers a variety of hand and foot holds. Above the
waterfall, the gut becomes more overgrown. There is access from
the Battery Gut to Gift Hill Road next to the Pine Peace School.
This narrow trail will be on your left as you ascend the gut.
During the slave rebellion of 1733, the Free Negro Corps led
by Mingo Tamarin pursued a party of rebellious slaves down the
gut from Beverhoudtsberg Plantation where a battle, which was
then called a batterie, was fought at the bottom of the high
waterfall. The Battery Gut was named after this battle.
At the intersection of the two guts the eastern (right) branch
is the Fish Bay Gut, which leads to Centerline Road running for
a time alongside the old L'Esperance Road. There are several
opportunities along the way to access the L'Esperance Road before
climbing through the increasingly thick underbrush as you approach
the upper levels of the valley and Centerline Road. The rarely
traveled L’Esperance Road will provide much easier access
to Centerline Road and civilization.
The Fish Bay Gut has several fresh water pools as well as a
beautiful waterfall that descends much more gradually than the
Battery Gut waterfall; be extremely careful climbing the waterfall
because the rocks can be very slippery.
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