Paris Hill – A Tangled Mind In Motion

The Chef, His Wife, A Cave, And A Tree Hugging Hawaiian

March 1, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged boulder climbing, Caribbean, cliffs, Great Hill, Hiking, nature, outdoors, Paris Hill, photography, rock climbing, Saba, Tent Rock, the whale, video, views, whale tail5 Comments

Michael Chammaa Summits The Whale Tail, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Day Off, Mr. Chef? Nothing A Precarious Climb Can’t Cure

Michael Chammaa is the Lebanese born chef and proprietor of the Brigadoon restaurant, along with his wife Tricia. He also happens to be a bit of a fitness freak, a divemaster, and as readers of my blog may remember, he also knows some rather challenging off trail excursions that really put me up close and personal with Saba’s rugged volcanic terrain.

A couple days ago, I asked Michael to return with me to Great Hill and the Saba whale, in an attempt to tackle the tail, which I didn’t do on my own when I came last. One side story: the great whale tail is also the namesake for Saba’s celebrated dive sites Tent Reef, Tent Wall, and Tent Deep, as the rock, covered with red lichen, is clearly visible from the sea below, and looks like a three pointed tent (or maybe a teepee to me).

It rained like crazy on our way up Paris Hill to get to the whale, and as usual, Michael had other plans as well; we popped on headlamps, climbed up some boulders and came across a cave entrance straight out of Indiana Jones, with hanging vines at its mouth, a dark cavern beyond. For the next hour, the Chef challenged my fat butt with corkscrew and cliff hanging moves and descents into the belly of the whale. The good news? It was a dry, dusty cave, no goat droppings, threatening stalactites, and no signs of insect life. (Slightly) bad news? When we had penetrated roughly 120ft (38m) in and 40 ft (12m) down into the volcanic nether regions, we came across a main cavern room that had dropped rocks on an entrance hole since the last time Michael had been there, 18 months earlier, which had me momentarily uneasy, if a few more rocks decided to drop. But it was solid in there, and we climbed our way out with no issues, and I had another unique Saba adventure under my belt. No pictures…too dusty and didn’t want to risk dropping the camera along a shelf into the darkness.

We came out and it was still raining and blowing with gusts up to 30-40mph (50-60kph). I told Michael I needed a better day to tackle the tail, and of course, he ignored me and went straight there, where I filmed his rapid 2:12 second ascent. I hope the pictures give you a scale and perspective on how intimidating this climb is up close, with its dropoffs. I’m sure it’s a pithy effort for bouldering/rock climbing specialists, but for big Hawaiian dudes, its a challenge for another drier day. But if you’re interested in seeing a quick, crazy climb, check the short video out to watch Michael use weak weed roots to climb up in his tennis shoes, up volcanic boulders shining slick with rain. Yikes. The things we do on Saba when we’re bored. D’Oh!

The Yucca That Ate My Lunch Won’t Be Having Any More Suppers

February 22, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, clouds, cottages, Landscape, Mt Scenery, nature, ocean, Ocean views, outdoors, panorama, Paris Hill, photography, Saba, sky, St. John's, The Bottom, writingLeave a comment

South Coast From Paris Hill, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Hilltop Pastorale

I talked to Chef Michael from Brigadoon, and indicated I’d like to take another crack at climbing the monolithic whale tail on Paris Hill. Hoping he can come with me, as he’s done it several times before, and it’ll help me to see how before I tackle it. We’ll see. In the meantime, here’s a sample of the gorgeous south coast views of Saba from Paris Hill. I’d like to especially thank the foreground yucca for acting like a mini-sunrise accent to the picture when only minutes before, that seemingly innocent sunny plant’s serrated edges had ripped a variety of tiny holes in my calves when I came over the ridge to the summit. Flora dualism or have I finally reached a point where I’m anthropomorphizing Saba’s durable vegetation as a lame cover for poor hiking skills? I’ll leave that opinion to you, dear readers. Cheers and have a great day!

Mellow Dramatic Tree On Gay Paree

February 21, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged black and white, Caribbean, Hiking, nature, ocean, Ocean views, Paris Hill, photography, plants, Saba, The Bottom, tree, views1 Comment

Bleeding Out On The Paris Hill Boulder Scramble

You may recall an earlier blogpost of the whale on Paris Hill, above the village of The Bottom. Today’s hike was to summit the hill and get up close and personal to said whale, but it proved to be anything but trivial. Indeed the hike up to the base of the whale was literally 12 minutes, but then it was a sheer, steep boulder scramble up sawtooth yucca and other cactus, that ended up taking an hour and a half. This rock climbing was easily comparable to the off trail route to Hot Springs (a no access trail) that Chef Michael from Brigadoon took me on a few weeks ago. Lots of route calculating as far as where my feet were going and where I was going to get handholds on the volcanic rock. In the end, it was worth it, as I snapped lots of pictures from the dramatic views up there. I managed to make it to the tail, called Tent Rock, but I just didn’t have the huevos to haul my fat butt up that sheer red face with 1400 foot dropoffs to the cliffs and bay below. Maybe another day. The yucca and cacti took a bloody chunk out of my legs on the way down; I’ll wear long pants next time I’m up here.

Another fantastic morning on Saba!

Cap’n Ahab Lost A Whale On A Mountain

January 29, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, Paris Hill, photography, Saba1 Comment

Whale On Paris Hill, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

I Love Paris (Hill) In The Springtime

Continuing a three day Thais Hill photo extravaganza; Thais affords you views of all the villages on the Saba except Hell’s Gate. It’s one of two big hills–the other being Paris Hill–that flank The Road’s descent to Fort Bay harbor from The Bottom. I’ve read a lot of literature and websites on Saba and find it interesting that virtually no one mentions the whale atop Paris Hill (in the picture, viewed from Thais Hill), because visitors refer to it a lot. For locals, I suppose this is a consequence of grew-up-here-familiarity, but it is rather cool. If you look closely (or click on the pic to make it full sized), this fella has a shrub eye and blowhole, and even a rudimentary mouth.

Perfectly fitting that he–or is it a she?–is trying to get off the mountain and into those blue waters. Good luck wit’ dat, Mr. Large Fluke.

Today, I did a gorgeous early AM hike down the ridge to Spring Bay and up Kelby’s Ridge with Michael Chammaa, Brigadoon’s chef extraordinaire, and very very fit dude. I’m glad he slowed it up a little for my big Hawaiian self…gotta get back there with camera in hand. A goat even posed for a sun silhouette; missed opportunities! I also think a climb up Paris Hill is calling my name…and soon. So much still to see on this most excellent rugged rock.