A few days ago, I saw a post on Facebook that ANT, Anguilla National Trust, was planning a series of hikes that, over the course of the year, would explore the entire coast of Anguilla. The first hike of the series would be in West End from the Arch to Barnes Bay. This sounded like it would be a lot of fun, so I decided to go.

We were to meet up at the Cove Castles parking lot in the West End at 6 am. This is about a 20 minute drive from my home, so I set my alarm for 5:20 am. It was still dark when I left with my camelback backpack and hiking stick. The light was just beginning to appear when I arrived at the parking lot. The promo for the hike said it was an easy-moderate hike, so I felt confident that I would be able to handle it, especially since I had my walking stick. I’d done the hike from Katouche Bay to the Cavern the week before. I’d considered the Katouche Bay hike easy-moderate. Little did I know!

The assembled group began walking from the parking lot, around the salt pond to the road that led to the Arch. I’d been to the Arch a few times, so I knew that this would be an easy walk.

Once we gathered at the Arch, our leader took a group photo. I didn’t see the iguana this time, but…

And that was the end of the easy part of the hike for about 20 minutes as we had to pick our way across the rubble rock-strewn coast down and up the cliff side. For someone my age, this was more difficult than ‘moderate’, but the three children on the hike bounded over the rocks and up the cliff side, definitely earning the name ‘kids!’ Fortunately, a very nice young man, Kwame, came to my rescue, helping me navigate this stretch of the trail. Without his help, I would have had to turn back, which would have been very disappointing.

There were beautiful views from the beaches.

We turned inland at a few points, crossing grassy fields where horses roamed free. One horse approached me almost nose to nose! I waited until I passed it to take a photo. It was looking for its next ‘friend’. We also passed the historic Little Pink House.

There was one more little tricky bit just before Barnes Bay where we had to hug a narrow, rocky ledge along a wall. But with some help again from Kwame, I successfully made it to the beach.

The hike took about 90 minutes. Although there was a truck waiting to ferry hikers back to the parking lot, someone said it was only a 2 km walk, so most of us set off down the road. Fortunately, the driver came back to pick up those of us still straggling down the road.

I really like the idea of hiking the entire coast of Anguilla and plan to attempt the next hike from Barnes Bay to Long Bay. Stay tuned for more adventures!

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