Ride Good David/The misty Blue Mountain Range

Some of the happy hikers

I can't forget the first time I met David Linehan some years ago. He was a little Englishman, probably in his 70's who had  been in Jamaica for quite a few years. I have no idea why the conversation that day was about how we would like to die, but  his version of the perfect exit was to be shot by a jealous husband. He was on about his third marriage at the time. Not only did David have a great sense of humour but also he was addicted to cycling and impressed  us with many of his escapades including his having entered the Tour de France in his youth. After that, I saw him riding often, sometimes with others but more often by himself.

It wasn't a jealous husband who killed  David though but unforgiving cancer, but even after it was diagnosed and he was receiving treatment, I often saw him riding although he did admit that sometimes he was feeling quite weak. He however would have been overwhelmed by the send- off he received from his many friends and admirers from just about every cycling club in Kingston who gathered at Newcastle in the Blue and John Crow mountain range, to ride to Buff bay in Portland and back on Sunday 10th January, as a tribute to him. 

Ride good David.

Yes I admired David and wouldn't have minded doing a cycling stint in his honour but definitely not the 20 mile return journey back from Buff Bay for it is uphill all the way.

So I happily joined in with a few people who decided to accompany the cyclists to Newcastle and hike to Cascade Waterfall at Regale.

It was an absolutely wonderful day to hike as the hills were overcast and a gentle drizzle accompanied us most of  the way .

 When  we got to Green Hill, Chuck showed us a shortcut to the waterfall but as the path was wet and we suspected it would be slippery, we opted to stay on the road.

It was while we there discussing the options that Mikey rode up and advised us that his bike was a taxi but we declined the offer of his  services. Shortly after,  the rain started to really pour down  but while some persons jumped into the support vehicle being driven by Chris, the rest of us soldiered on.

Chuck and Miss Bunny wait on the coffee to boil

At Section it was quite an experience as we stopped at Dennis Coffee shop where you can get the total Jamaican coffee experience. For there the coffee is taken through every stage before your eyes if you are a tourist and wish to see it prepared.  That is, the beans are roasted, then beaten in a mortar and boiled on a wood fire.

Flash poses beside the mortar in which the coffee beans are beaten

It was there too that we met a colourful character who said he was called Flash.

 He had a glass of white rum in his hand (at around 9 am) and was sipping happily. When asked why he was indulging so early, he explained that he was on his way to church and since the parson  had his "owna spirit" he had to get his too.

After coffee Flash staggered along with us downhill to where his church was at Padhouse. He even sang one of his songs for us for he assured us that he was a successful entertainer but I am not sure I agree with him there!

After leaving Section the rest of us walked along the breakaway area but Charles was taking no chances and went on the new road.

I remember when we were going to Avocat the new road had not yet been constructed so we have to push our cycles along the breakaway section but it looked less scary now. I suspect it is because the bottom of the deep ravine is now fully covered by bushes so you can no longer see the dept to which the road had collapsed during the landslide which created the breakaway.

 It was an easy walk downhill from Section in weather designed for a hike in the mountains. Not much further on, we were surprised to see Chully zipping up towards us. We thought he had morphed into an outstanding rider, leaving the experts like Maurice behind, but he assured us that after it took him over an hour and a half to ride 10 miles downhill, he was not about to complete the entire journey as it would mean him getting back home too late.

Amazingly however, not too long after we saw Barry bolting up the hill and he assured us he had completed the entire journey to Buff Bay and was on his way back to Newcastle.

We eventually got to Cascade but were told that the waterfall was about another mile down, so trodded on.

 We were soon joined by a gentleman who told us he was a part-time tour guide and he sung the praises of the waterfall.  It was a really nice walk down to Regale but by the time we got there it was heavily overcast and we could barely see the falls in the hills. Our companion wanted to take us up to the falls anyway but the track he pointed out was slippery and most people were not about to face the possibility of slipping and hurting them-self on the tiny path and besides it was too cold to swim anyway. So we decided that another trip to Cascade waterfalls would have to be be organised for some time during the summer months when the water would be much warmer. (hopefully!)

Cascade waterfall on a clear day

It was a good thing we took that decision too for shortly after we piled into the support vehicle, a very heavy mist descended and at times I swear Chris never had visibility of more than about a foot.

We could barely see the waterfall because of the mist

 As it was an open back vehicle, the men were in the back and I heard them, bawling for cold as we drove along. On quite a few occasions too, vehicles that had been invisible in  the thick mist, suddenly appeared in front of us and Chris had to do a lot of reversing and maneuvering to get us back safely to Newcastle.

We then went to Cafe Blue for breakfast, about three hours after we had asked them to prepare for us, but they were most obliging and accommodated us. It was really a wonderful  morning of hiking in the scenic, healthy Blue Mountain range, now a UNESCO site.