Boonie Stomp to Lower Sigua Falls

Last Saturday I wen on a Boonie Stomp to Lower Sigua Falls which was organized by Jeff Johnson at the Lutheran Church of Guam. The group is arranged over a WWII American tank. Jeff thought it was Japanese but someone saw some print on it and it was English. It was VERY shot up with bullet marks all over and big shell holes.


The 4 teenagers pictured trotted down and up arriving at the falls and back at the vehicles at least 1/2 hour ahead of the rest of us. I climbed, sat and slid, and scrambled down with the help of Pastor Jeff. On the way up it took Pastor Jeff and Mike standing IN the tank at the lower right to pull and shove me up the hills. It rained and the ground was red clay which turned to slime. I'm not in the picture because I was behind the camera.

Wes was the photographer. He emailed the 3 included out and I will be getting a complete set. It will be interesting to see if there is a picture of me and the complete degree of mud coating I received. By the time we got up, my legs were impervious to sword grass (gives paper cuts) due to the thick layer of tried mud everywhere. I have a tee shirt which will always be red/brown - especially the back.

I asked Pastor Jeff how it compared to another boony stomp I had gone on and was told it was about the same -- not. The trail books list this one as very difficult. But, the trip was worth it.
At one point were were on top of a ridge and I could almost see my house. There is a building called Ladera Tower that really sticks out because it is the only tall building in the area. I live about a mile away. The Ordot dump was also very visible -- which Guam Gov. has been talking about closing for years.

There were wild orchids and hybiscus. There were swaths of palm trees with a short ferny looking plant between. One thing I like about Guam is that you can park along the road and walk down a trail and almost immediatly you are out in the middle of nowwhere.

Below is our first view of Lower Sigua Falls. Thiere is a swimming pond out of sight at the bottom. This was taken before the going got really tough although I thought it had already been tough. We had to go down and up and down in some places almost vertically. Some places had ropes strung but this was not like anything I have seen in the lower 48. The path was made by people walking it and the ropes were provided by prior hikers. Nothing official.
After getting to the bottom the reward was swimming. This is a picture of Pastor Jeff jumping off the cliff. The pool was well over my head but there was no way I would jump. You can see Pastor Jeff is sporting some of the mud that probably will never come off.
I enjoyed the swim. Could you believe it was a bit chillie? I had to get out to sit in the sun and warm up.

After an enjoyable time at the pool it was time to climb back up. That's where the help of the guys really came in. There was one place where the next step up was about 4 feet. On the way down, I slid down. On the way back it too pushing, pulling, and squirming into a place less than 2 feet wide. With help I made it!

If Pastor Jeff had told me this trail was rated very difficult, I would not have gone and I would have missed this great opportunity. I probably won't go again unless I lose at least 20 lbs and get more upper and lower body strength. I hurt just about everywhere except my back, chest, and head.

I thank the Lord for giving me this wonderful experience in his glorious nature. It was such a blessing that I cannot express it other than thank you.