Hiking Guam - Atillong Acho, Cetti Bay, Fouha Point
This may be one of my favorite hikes on Guam thus far! It has some ridge line trekking, some climbing, walks along beaches and coastlines, a nice snorkel spot, as well as some trails through the jungle. However, I wasn't very prepared when we had to walk into waist deep water. The description on the Guam Boonie Stompers, Inc. Facebook page didn't include having to walk through waist deep water on slippery rocks. I would have brought a trash bag to waterproof my back pack!
The trailhead starts right off Route 2, which I was surprised to find out. I've parked at the Cetti Bay Overlook spot along a long, red wall numerous times before to hike Mount Jumullong Manglo and Lamlam across the street and never realized there was a trail leading to Cetti Bay right there!
We start the hike off by going up and down the ridge lines to reach the two volcanic black rock hills, known as Atillong Acho. While there are no volcanos on Guam, geologists claim that the island was formed by them millions of years ago. Some parts of the trail were extremely steep, but easy to climb with the help of some lengths of knotted rope a fellow stomper added some time ago.
As the trail progressed, it actually became more visible. It starts off with slightly bent and folded sections of swordgrass but eventually came to be a clear dirt path that was easy to navigate through. If attempting this hike without someone who has already completed it... just hiking in the direction of up and over the ridge lines is the best way to stay on track until the trail becomes more obvious. Climbing up the hills, Cetti Falls can be spotted in the distance. I have yet to visit the falls but hope to soon. Being able to see it from so far away makes me think how amazing it would be to look up on it from the base of the falls.
After completing most of our elevation gain of the hike, we are treated to a spectacular view of Cetti Bay, our next destination. Cetti Bay is listed on the National Register of Historic Places due to its rich history and remains of ancient Chamoru civilizations. Looking over the bay, Mount Schroeder and Cocos Island can also be seen. Mount Schroeder looks so massive from this distance, that I can barely believe I made it to the top just a few weeks ago! For more on that hike, you can visit my other blog entry by copying and pasting the address below into your web browser.
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/809694304206659584
After getting lots of pictures of the beautiful landscape, it was time to climb down the steep slopes to the coastline. A large piece of styrofoam was wedged into a tree, marking the area near the trail to begin the descent. One of our leaders was explaining how another leader, who didn't join us on the hike, had placed it there to serve as a landmark. I can't believe he actually brought it all the way down! He must have strapped it to his back or something or threw it along the way because I couldn't imagine hiking those hills while holding onto such a bulky object. I know it's probably very lightweight, but still... I wouldn't have bothered!
Finally, we reached the coast! While the hike down wasn't too challenging, it's always nice to walk on level ground again... even if it is rocky and sandy. Speaking of sand, did you know Guam is one of four places in the world that has green sand!? I had no idea! As we started to walk along the coast to reach Cetti Bay, one of the guides points to the ground and goes, "This green sand is apparently pretty rare..." and continues walking. Of course I'm like, "oh shit, lemme get a picture". Glad I did because there wasn't much of it around and when I researched it later, I found out just how rare it is!
In Cetti Bay we rest, snorkel, and snack. I didn't bring my fins because I didn't want to haul them around knowing we wouldn't stay for long. I considered bringing my rope sandals to use as water shoes but decided against it. Instead, I brought an extra pair of socks and just used the ones I had already been wearing for protection while snorkeling. During my quick swim, I saw some pretty little fish and lots of what I think were sea cucumbers but nothing spectacular. Hoping to return to Cetti Bay in the future with more time dedicated to snorkeling. After drying off my feet and putting on my clean socks I'm feeling refreshed and ready! Some in our group swam across the bay to continue our hike while the rest of us just hiked around. I considered swimming across but I didn't want to burden anyone with having to carry my backpack, boots, and fanny pack along with their own belongings.
I wanted to kick myself for not thinking about the fact that I'd have to cross the portion of Cetti River that flows into Cetti Bay. DAMN IT, so much for dry feet! Where the river meets the bay, the flow wasn't very strong nor extremely deep, so it wasn't a big deal. My boots were able to repel enough so that my feet didn't get soaked. A man gave his wife a piggy back ride so she didn't have to get her feet wet, making me wish my husband would put the video games down for once and come hiking with me! It's fine though, I'm a big girl... I can handle some wet toes.
Wrapping around the bay, we come to a section of the beach that dead ends. Some of the group in front of me are starting to walk in the knee deep water. These are the same people that stopped to take off their shoes and socks to cross the weak, shallow, section of the Cetti River that I just stomped through. I wasn't trying to get my feet submerged... I was so proud of myself for bringing dry socks and I didn't want it to end with pools in my shoes! A few of us made a trail of our own into the jungle to avoid walking in the water. During our detour, we spotted a lusong. Lusongs were bowl-like holes carved into rocks by the ancient Chamoru. I've been told that they were used to grind food and other materials... but I'm sure it had an abundance of other uses as well. I don't have a still picture of it in this blog but it makes an appearance in my video that will be posted at the bottom! 😁
After getting to the opposite side of the bay, mostly dry, we had no choice but to go waist deep in water hugging the walls of the coastline. I'm sure I could have found a dry route if I back tracked through the jungle, but the leaders weren't going that way and it looked like it was mostly steep cliffs... smart choice is to just swallow my pride, get wet, and follow the group. We held onto the jagged cliffside walls to steady ourselves while walking over the super slippery rocks. The periodic waves that crashed against us didn't help. At this point, I'm regretting the decision to leave my rope sandals at home because they are great for walking through water and over slippery surfaces. One of the leaders said something about the tide being very high, so I assume this leg of the hike isn't usually this deep.... It would also explain why this wasn't in the description! Luckily, I had a few of Pepe's doggie bags in my backpack so I was able to keep my phone and other valuables dry. Good thing too, I definitely fell to my neck in water not long after starting. It wouldn't be a good hike if Anna didn't fall at least once! 😋 I found a solid hiking stick during our jungle detour that I used to help keep my balance at times... but it doesn't help much if the stick slips on the rocks!
After nearly busting my ass a dozen times, we reach Fouha Point. I was so happy to have such a lovely, dry, beachy, rocky coastline to hike on. Fouha Point is the location of Fouha Rock, the object of many ancient Chamoru legends. The goddess, Fu'una, is said to have created the universe and then transformed herself into the rock, also known as Lasso' Fu'a. The legend says that the first humans emerged from this rock. It's a pretty cool creation story... if you're interested in the entire story, check it out at the web address below!
http://www.guampedia.com/fuuna/
The legend of the world's creation makes this site an important landmark of Chamoru culture and rituals. Close by, I happened to spot an area of arranged objects of what I assumed to be a recent ritual in honor of Fu'una. I don't know much about the spirituality of Guam (other than that most of the island is Catholic due to early Spanish influence) in this aspect, so it would be interesting to find out more information about ancient rituals and practices.
A clear trail from Fouha Point leads us out to Route 2, just a few miles south of where we began. A short walk south down the road leads to the parking area of Fort Santo Angelo on Umatac Bay. This is where we enjoy our lemonade (it's really half and half... which I like better anyway!) and begin the carpool shuffle back to our cars up the road. For anyone wanting to just visit Fouha Point, the photo above marks the beginning of the trail that will get you there easily. It's not a very long hike down and Fouha Rock is definitely worth checking out!
This hike was rated Difficult but I would put it somewhere in between Medium and Difficult. The hardest part was climbing up the hills during the first half of the hike. It was tiring at times and there was very little shade, but, really not that bad. Also, once you get to the coast, the rest was for the most part, easy. Walking in the water was a little unexpected but not too terrible... I was just sour because I put on dry socks for nothing! Hahah, overall, I really did enjoy this hike. Not too challenging, but not just a "walk in the park" either.
Guam Boonie Stompers, Inc. meets every Saturday at 9AM!
Check out the video below for a closer look at the hike!