Mud & Slopes

On my final full day in Montserrat, I decided to take on something which I always wanted but never got the chance to - tackling the tallest peak in the Centre Hills, Katy Hill. According to the Montserrat Tourist Board website, they mention that "you will definitely need a guide" and "hikers should be prepared for a very strenuous experience, as well as mud and moisture in the Katy Hill cloud forest". As such, I managed to cajole Paddy to take Gerren and myself up the Katy Hill North trail, which is the most direct way up and down the summit.

Little did I know that I was to end up embarking on the steepest hiking trail I've ever done. Hiking seemed like an inappropriate term in this case - towards the end of the trail, we were scrambling up 60-degree angle slopes and traversing 2-foot wide ridges with 80-degree drops on both sides. It was certainly not for the faint of heart - indeed, I'm surprised that over all these years no one (that I know of, at least) has fallen off! The trail was extremely steep and uneven throughout, and coming down was more of exercise of sliding down on your bum and hoping that the wet, slippery mud doesn't send you flying off the side of the hill.

Nonetheless it was rewarding work, despite only being able to catch glimpses of the stunning scenery through gaps in canopy, and with no distinct summit marker it was a little hard not to put off the "oh, so this is it?" feeling. Should you ever visit Montserrat and decide to embark on this trail, be prepared!

Making our way back down the muddy trail.

Taking a scenery break.

View of the north end of Montserrat from the slopes of Katy Hill.

With Montserrat being such a hilly island, hiking certainly is a great way to tour the island and soak in the views from the numerous vantage points scattered about. Indeed, Monty has more cliffs than beaches, giving it its imposing character when seen from air.