blue mountain peak

If you'r in Kingston and you have a day to spare and you don't mind getting a hike you should definately get a hike to go for the Blue Mountain Peak. First thing you should consider is starting fairly early (i'd recommend around 8) so you won't have to get down from the peak in darkness.To get there from Kingston (let's say half way tree) you need to get to Papine with a route taxi (about 150$JMD per capita). Then get a route minibus to Mavis Bank. We had to wait a bit for the minivan to get packed but it happened evenetually :) The ride to Mavis Bank takes around 1h and should cost not more than 250$JMD p/c. Once you'r in Mavis Bank your adventure starts.One thing you should definately consider is if you want to hire a guide or not. If you have any experience with hiking and you are there before noon i don't recommend it. Its just a waste of money - not knowing that we hired one for 5000$JMD - which IMO was a waste of money since the hike is pretty strainght forward. Anyway one thing you will have to hire is a 4x4 from Mavis Bank to Pennylyne Castle. IMO the easiest way is to go to the police station in Mavis Bank and ask the policeman there - they should be helpful. 4x4 climb from Mavis Bank to Penylyne Castle takes around 1h - 1:15h. We paid another 5000$JMD for the ride and the driver took us to penylyne castle, waited for us and took us down. Be sure not to pay him all in advance, 50/50 should do it. Just when you finish hiking the first part - Jacobs Ladder - there's a ranger station on the route, where you can get some spring water.Now the hike itself is great. You should be reasonabely fit to event try this sice it's pretty steep. Definately good hiking boots are advised, since it can be pretty slippery. Don't be too excited to see Cuba from the peak, from what i heard there are only cuple of days in a year when the visibility is good enough. Hike from and to Penylyne castle took us about 5h, 5:30 h but even the guide was suprised how fast we could walk :-) Don't forget to get some change clothes, it can be chilly on the top. Get something to eat and a bottle of water. I hiked the whole way in a t-shirt, my wife had a hoodie and a waterproof jacket.Take Care!

First of all, getting here was HELL ON EARTH!! The roads to get there are SO BAD, it was more painful than the 14 mile hike. We started at 2 am on the hike in the dark with a guide and headlamps. We made it 7 miles in 2.48 hrs. Got up before the sunrise but the fog and rain moved in so we never got to see it. That trail is difficult, and definitely kicked our butts and we live in Seattle and hike often. The last 1.5 miles of the trail take seemingly forever. I would recommend doing this trail maybe during the day so you can see stuff, We missed out cause of the weather but it could have been amazing otherwise. Its all a crapshoot really. I would say do it if you have the endurance cause you will need it , for the hike AND the car ride!!

The Journey travelling through Jamaica was interesting, enjoyed the scenery and the history spots and stories from the tour guide, however reaching the Mountains was not what I expected I think I had too much excpectation which wasn't met and I don't ride bikes so stayed on the bus, don't really know if that made much difference. The tour provided food which was good. I would probably visit again from the other sides just for the experience from a different view.

Very good view I would like to go once more someday I went to though hike too so I am planning to go

My experience was filled with enjoying the company of my old friends and making new ones! The cool jewel toned heights, are lush and tranquil. I cant wait to go back!

Getting to the hiking trail to blue mountain peak was not as hard as people say. We drove to Hagley Gap and found a local guide ready to help. He called a 4wd truck for us to get to Whitfield hall. The drivers name is Mr. Southerland cell # 859-1443. We didnt use the guide. I told him i would blog his number and he said that was fine. At whitfield hall its a nice smooth 1mile hike to the trail head. After that its mostly up hill. The most difficult part of the assent was Jacobs ladder. There is a ranger station close to half way. It has a restroom shower and camping area. The rest was what you expect on a tropical island.The entire hike was 14miles. It took 3.5 hours up and 2.5 hours down. The peak is 7400ft. whitfield hall is at 3800ft.

We hiked by flashlight at 2am and it was amazing. I was a little nervous at first because there was plenty of lightning - imagine climbing all the way to the highest point of Jamaica just to get struck by lightning! But the weather cleared up after a while. Doing it at night is almost like hiking a loop rather than out-and-back because you can appreciate the scenery only on the way down. There were portions of the hike I could not recall doing on the way up. The guidebooks suggest that the first half (jacobs ladder) is the worst but I found that to be quite easy. But the rest of the hike stretches on forever - I had to stop a few times to catch my breath as the altitude increased. The trail is very well marked and you don't need a guide if you do it during the day.

3 hour slog up and 3 hour walk down. Shady and well formed path. Weather is unpredictable and we were unlucky to hit cloud so had no views from the top, but imagine it's pretty spectacular. No-one else was walking, so we had the mountain to ourselves!

The trail from the ranger station is narrow but well maintained, and the gradients are comfortable. It was not as precipitous as some accounts suggested it might be, but I am glad we did it by day rather than by torchlight. The tree ferns and bromeliads are spectacular. We didn't see much but cloud from the top, but there were some lovely views from further down and we had a very good day.

This is a must-do adventure for anyone visiting Jamaica. Too many tourists stay on the busy, broiling coastal regions of north Jamaica. Get up into the mountains for a cooler and more laid-back side of Jamaican life and climb the peak for beautiful views. We got to the top in thick mist, but things began to clear on the way down, so even though we didn't see Cuba (as you can on a clear day!) we took in some magnificent scenery.

It is a stiff hike. We start around 9 and enjoyed the wall up the hill. This is better than start at night because you miss out on the beautifull forest along the way.

Loved hiking through the lush, cool rain forest then experience the incredible view of the ocean, Kingston and surrounding mountains.

We started walking up the trail in the inky darkness at 5am from Jah B's Guesthouse, with bright stars overhead, me walking with in the pool of our guide Razza’s bright torch, the two guys sharing a dying Maglite. It was dark for about the first hour, the air electric with the buzz of crickets, and once the first twinges of dawn appeared on the horizon it was suddenly ‘Lights on!’ – fully bright daytime, in the very sudden way that it does here. The first bit of the trail is called Jacob’s Ladder, a zig-zagging loose-scree path that takes you straight up the side of the mountain, and honestly after about 2 hours I thought I was going to have to turn back (I'm 7 months pregnant!). My belly all felt OK, but my heart rate felt high and H made me stop often to take some deep slow breaths (good practice for labour for both of us!) I was gently teasing the boys and our guide about them being birth attendants up if it all started up here, but pretty much praying that that wouldn’t happen! Not sure H, his mate or a young Rasta would have been much use!Once we reached a little clearing called Portland Gap, I suddenly started feeling better – maybe it was just psychological, as this is the half way point, and that the steepest part of the hike was behind us. There was plenty more ‘up’ though! But mainly the path was in the shade, beautiful dappled morning sunshine cascading through the pines, ferns and dense foliage around us – a climate known as ‘wet montane forest’ where many plants and trees are decidious but don’t die back as the jamaican ‘winter’ never really gets cold! So unbelievabley lush…Wildlife-wise, on the way up, we saw a Red-billed Streamertail sitting in a tree, with an amazing iridescent green body, that made a weird whining hum when it flew off and also a flock of parakeets making an unbelievable racket as they straffed us like a kind of tropical luftwaffe on the track.One very timid little dog followed us all the way from Jah B’s, not so much I think for the walk, but on the 0n hope that we might throw it a ham sandwich! Having seen Jah B’s cat eating a sweet potato the day before I got the impression that his cats and dogs were also vegetarians, though not perhaps out of principle!Finally we made the top, with stunning views all around us. There was an American couple there, who’d overtaken us a bit before, who had FAR superior sandwiches (turkey and ham) in the dog’s opinion so it deserted us for a bit.I felt a huge sense of achievement (and relief) having made it all the way up, and promised myself that for the last 8 weeks of this pregnancy I would take it easy. Really easy. Like sit by the pool and eat ice-cream like what ex-pat pregnant ladies are supposed to do!As we sat having our lunch (at 10 am), as if on cue, a humming bird popped up right next to us, it’s tiny fat little body supported by impossibly fast short wings. At an altitude of 2250m, the day felt almost Irish, lovely sunshine with a cool breeze and we very reluctantly had to rouse ourselves to make the long descent.We were all fairly exhausted by the time we made Jah B’s (except Razza who’d been sort of skipping for much of the way!) and absolutely fell on another home-grown / home-cooked veggie meal made for our return by Jah B, this time Johnny cakes (little scones) with a cabbage salad and fried plantain. The drive down wasn’t so bad – at least on the way down you can hug the side of the mountain, so it (probably) won’t be you that drives off into the abyss!Read more of our adventures in Jamaica here: http://hotexpatmummy.wordpress.com

We decided not to start the hike to the summit in the dark but instead opted to set off from the 6 mile point just as day light broke. It took about 2.5 hours to hike upto the summit but I'm glad I didn't do it in the dark. It would of taken some of the views away. Hiking up the blue mountain is all about views and we were lucky to get good visibility once we reached the summit. Only the north side was clouded but we could see out to the airport and the ocean beyound.. On the way down we collected most of the rubbish , mainly empty plastic bottles that other less thoughtful people had left as presents for everyone to "enjoy for years to come" during the hike and put it in the bin!! I hope others do the same to keep this trail looking as beautiful as it should.

It was a beginning of our trip around Jamaica. The road to Lime Three Farm is challenging (or perfect if you like 4WD), but it leads you to a special place you want to come back to again. The views, the beauty of Blue Mountains, its quietness, far away from the noise and rush. But the most magnificent were people. The owners of the Farm - Suzie and Charlie - made us feel like at home (although they saw us for the first time). We were spending the evenings with them, eating together fantastic home made typical Jamaican food (Suzie is an amazing cooker), talking, laughing, listening to the Jamaican music. During the days we had trips over Blue Mountains, through the local, small villages and coffee plantations. After the trips we could rest in comfortable rooms and listened to singing birds. We saw, found out and understood about Jamaica much more than during next days of traveling. Our almost 7 years old son quickly became a friend with Alex - the owners 8 years old son. We did not want to leave the Farm at all. We really had a fabulous three perfect days there. It was the best part of our holiday,