Wolf's Bluff, Bird Cave, Mars Bay and Shelly Beach Hikes

 

The view from Wolf's Bluff.

Looking down from the Wolf's Head. It was a 30-foot vertical climb to get here. Easy though as there are plenty of holds for hands and feet.

The howling wolf's head. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the letterbox after much searching. So no stamp for my hiking book. That has been the case on a few other hikes. It seems as though some letterboxes are placed to make them harder to find. Maybe I'll hike this again for another look.

A very interesting story about Mars Bay.

Thousands of nesting Sooty Terns made a big fuss as I walked by. So I turned around and went another way. I'm glad I was wearing my bike helmet as they dove at me.  I circled way around the nesting area. The runway on Ascension was made during WWII and was called "Wideawake Field" due to the noisy birds. The airfield is still called Wideawake Field.

Looking back at Dark Slope Crater where I started the Bird Cave hike. The wind turbines are no longer in use.

I found Bird Cave! Sometimes the letterboxes are very difficult to find.

The letterbox is in an old lava tube.

Another letterbox stamp in my hiking book.

A nice view of the runway and my workstation.

The location of Mars Bay and Shelly Beach.

Shelly Beach

It was a tough hike across sharp lava fields on the way to Shelly Beach. This was my second hike here.

A Sooty Tern following me.

Shelly Beach. Filled with shells and coral pieces.

A great place to explore many tidepools. These are all open to the ocean through underground tunnels.

I found another letterbox and stamp.

A rough map of the island shows running and biking miles. It is all uphill to the village of Two Boats. It takes me 50 minutes on the bike to get to Two Boats but then 15 minutes back to the base on the back road. My favorite swimming /snorkeling beach is English Bay which is about a 40-minute bicycle ride from my barracks.