Hiking with the Judges

On Saturday, Land Court Judge Skebong organized a hiking trip to Ngeremlengui Waterfalls. I had visited the falls as part of my bike trip back in June, but I couldn't resist going again with the judges. Justices Miller, Salii, and Materne joined Judge Skebong and her husband along with a few of the judges' children and LB and I. Having just arrived earlier that morning, we left our new court counsel to rest.

Saturday morning was dark and rainy and when we met at the KB Shell it was pouring rain. Never to be dissuaded by a little rain, we piled into the judge's big SUVs and headed up the west side of the Compact Road. The Compact Road was deemed complete a few weeks ago, finally ending a long and laborious project. Now the task is upkeep and we saw firsthand some of the maintenance where small mudslides had covered parts of the road. Large rain gutters sweep the rain away form the road and it doesn't flood, but Babeldaob's eerie bright red mud is sometimes difficult to contain and will spill out over the road.

In Ngeremlengui we met up with our guide who drove us out to the noni farms at the beginning of the trail where we parked our cars. The heavy rain had passed and was reduced to a gentle rain as we set off down the soggy path. Avoiding puddles was not really an option and we just plowed right through them.

At the first stream crossing we discovered something much more than a stream. When I had visited in June, there was a small gully with a stream 7-8 feet below that I crossed over using an old tree trunk. This time, the heavy rains had flooded the stream causing a solid wall of water between us and other side. Our guide swam across and we tossed a few bags over before each swimming the short distance. It was a quick swim across and I had no problem with it other than getting completely soaked. The judges are not avid hikers and were a little apprehensive about swimming the stream. LB stood behind them gentling coaxing them on and keeping them from turning back. When their turns came, they each made it across.

The trail continued through open grassy area and we took a nice pace and chatted. We soon reached the second river crossing using the old support beams from a Japanese bridge. The last time I had visited, the beams were twenty feet from the water, but this time the water was only a couple feet below. The high rushing water actually made it easier to cross the makeshift bridge because there was no issue with heights.

Once across the river and through another grassy area, we reached the jungle path along the series of waterfalls. The river was surging with water and the smaller waterfalls we saw at first were larger than the last time I had visited. We made our way along the path marveling at the swollen river and rushing falls.

Eventually, we reached the large falls and climbed out to the pools at the top of the falls. Normally, the water moves slower and you can swim in the pools, but with the surging fast moving water we just sat on the edge and had a snack. The rain had stopped and it was a nice spot to sit and chat. As we sat, we noticed that the water levels were visibly dropping without more rain. After a nice break, we walked down to the base of the falls and got a good look at it.

On the return trip we spread out at bit as we hiked through the jungle. When we reached the river crossing, the water levels had really dropped and the makeshift bridge was now fifteen feet up. This made it a little more difficult to cross, but we took it slow and everyone made it across without problems. At the stream crossing we found it was once again a stream and a gully, but there was no log bridge. We had to slide down one side, cross the stream, then climb up the muddy bank on the other side. With a little help from our guide everyone made it up. We soon reached the cars and were tired, but happy after a great hike.

We were going to drive into Ngeremlengui village, but the road into the village was flooded. They're building a raised bridge to avoid the flooding, but it isn't finished yet. The villagers just park their cars on one side, cross to the other, and then either walk or get a ride on the either side into the village. We couldn't get through, so instead drove south back to the KB Bridge. Judge Skebong had brought along food and we had a picnic at the park on the Koror side of the KB Bridge. It was the end to a great day with the judges.

Saturday night the Australians had a birthday party for two of their members at Aussie Acres. LB and I brought along Erin and Ben and introduced them to a large percentage of the expats on the island. I'm sure the could barely keep straight all the people to whom they were introduced, but they had a good time. Aussie Acres is a great place to have a party and it was an enjoyable evening.