Sunday was a beautiful day. Bright blues skies held a few puffy clouds and a brilliant sun. Early on a heard from Gordon that he and his wife would take me up on my offer to take them out to the Spanish Steps. They can't get on the base because they don't work there. Gordon's been here 30 years and his wife was born here. Neither had ever seen the steps.

Now, the myth is that the Spanish built the steps so they could get water from the well at the bottom of the cliff for the fort at the top. That myth has been passed around so often the edges are worn off. It has a nice comfortable feel. However, it is a lie. Larry has done the research and knows they were built by the U. S. Marines around 1900. He mentions it every time someone mentions the Spanish Steps. His objections are starting to feel worn too.

We started out at the cliff top ninety feet above the jungle. There is a nearly vertical drop with a length of 2 inch nylon braided hawser running down the cliff. There are plenty hand and foot holds but climbing backwards down a cliff is not the most secure feeling in the world. That only runs about 15 feet or so and then there is an old iron ladder for another 10 feet. After that you are on a steep path that works its way down the slope. Here and there are the remnants of the "Spanish Steps". They are concrete and coral structures built into the cliff face. They certainly don't look Spanish to me. The rope runs on with additional ropes to help out as needed. They are very useful. There is loose gravel underfoot and a dizzying drop to your right. The jungle is thick and quiet. We aren't anywhere near the water yet.

After a few more short vertical drops we reach the jungle floor and the well. It is a square stone structure jutting up from the ground. It's about 6 feet deep. There is no water. It has been filled with dirt over the centuries if that's how old it is. While Larry claims the Marines made the steps he has no knowledge of the age of the well.

Now we have to walk in single file along a path recently cut into the jungle. It winds through the stands of Frederica, Fadang, Papaya, Daok, Myrtle, and the various vines that hang from the trees. Spider webs surround us and huge hermit crabs trundle along under foot. The jungle is quiet. There are almost no forest birds left on the island thanks to the tree snake. We see old lures for attracting the coconut crab hanging from the steep cliff walls. I hear an occasional whine of the Guam mosquito. There are old rotting coconuts underfoot with holes cut in them by the crabs. At one point we see a broken coconut swarmed by hermit crabs.

After a relatively long walk we emerge into the sunshine. We have found a tropical paradise. Before us in a long wide ribbon of brilliant blue-green is a flowing tide of water surrounded on all sides by jungle and cliff walls. A ridge of rock make a 10 foot high island topped with green plant life. Through the space between that rock and the main land is a mushroom shaped rock, worn at the bottom by the continuous wave action and topped with more green plant life. The water would be crystal clear if it weren't for the current flowing through. It is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.

The beach is not sand but coral fragments and limestone. The jungle is thick at our backs. The sun is bright and reflects off the white rocks. We take pictures of each other and the surroundings knowing the camera will never to justice to the sight.

It's hot. We are sweaty and we didn't come prepared to swim. We sit in the shade and drink the water we brought. If you freeze a bottle of water and carry it with you then you will have cold water to drink along the trail. It helps. There is very little trash on the beach. Gordon picks up an ancient Coca Cola bottle and a twisted hunk of metal that may be bronze or copper and stuffs them into his pack.

After we leave that beach we head in to find the other beach and the cave that is supposed to be down there. Larry had said the cave was off to the left of the trail. We figure we will have to cut through the jungle to find it and are discussing our options when the cave appears in front of us. It's deep and tall with walls rippling with curves. There is light at the other end from the back entrance. This was supposedly used in the pre-latte time frame around 3500 BCE. Archeologists have excavated artifacts that place humans there at that time.

We wander now back to the well and take the other path. After scrambling up and down through some rough ground we come out on a big sand beach looking at the harbor entrance. There are some people here sitting on towels in swimsuits. We wander down the beach to where the cliff meets the water. There is a bit of surf and the waves are noisy. There by the cliff face the waves bounce off and form reflection waves the meet the new surf at and angle and make for a wild spray of water. The colors are bright blue and white and the sand is soft under foot. There is a lot of flotsam on this beach, trash that has washed ashore and will be exchanged for different trash in the next storm. There are ingle shoes and flipflops, foam buoys, a huge rubber ship's fender, bottles and cans and a tangle of two fishing reels and monofilament. Gordon tells of watching the surf from the Glass Breakwater there across the harbor mouth and how two waves collided and sent enough water into the air that it swept three of them off their feet. One of them dislocated her shoulder and two of them lost their glasses but they stayed out of the bay.

We finally head back up to the cliff. I dread the climb but we take it easy, resting along the way. The mosquitoes are thicker up here but they are nothing compared to Maine's mosquitoes. Finally we are at the top and back at the car. It's almost 4:00 and we are hungry. As we drive out Gordon talks of the fossil crabs he used to collect at Dadi Beach. We head over there and walk the beach studying the sand. He starts to find them almost at once. He has a good eye but the sun is low now and the shadows are lengthening. He says this is the hardest time to find them. In less than an hour he's picked up about a pound of crabs. None are complete but they are all distinctly crabs.

All in all it was pretty nearly a perfect day.

Sorry about the present tense of this post. It seemed to flow that way.