Fenton

Falls and Water Holes of the Fenton River

A map of St. Vincent calls the river "Warrawarrow River". Wow, a hard to pronounce name, probably of Carib origins! I believe nobody uses this name - and I wouldn't be surprised if it meant something like "Many Falls" - because this river does have many.
Fenton Falls 1 Nobody could give me any names for any of the falls - so I m calling them Fenton Falls 1, 2 and 3. And that's only the bigger ones, not counting a half dozen or so ones that are just a few feet high. Drive up the Fenton River Road that cuts across from Fountain/Goumea to Greenhill. At the low point of the road below Mt. St. Andrews you cross the fenton River - park here. Walking up a trail on the left side of the river for soime 15 minutes, after a short muddy and wet spot - go on in the river for a few steps until you see water cascading over some rocks on the right, under some bamboo. To the right of this a steep trail leads up, taking you within a few minutes to the foot of the Fenton Falls 1 shown on the right, the highest as far as I have seen. The pool at the bottom is not deep, just good for a "foot" bath...all surrounded by lush tropical vegetation.
		Hiking in the other direction, below the bridge, leads you to a series of pools, all 6-7 feet deep. Here I took a price winning photo of Teandra (below, in case you cannot find it) competing for a place in the Hairoun Calendar 2003. If it makes you hot - no problem: The water would cool you down. Maybe we should give a number to these small falls as well?
Rick is wetting his feet!
The Fenton Water Holes can be reached by descending the river from the bridge (better by following a trail down from back up on the road we came - with a prominent parking spot, less than 10 min hiking). They are located just belwo where the river enters the forest/jungle. A great place for a dip and some neat photos...		If Teandra makes you feel hot - just take a quick plunge in the deep, refreshing pool! That's what I did.
Fenton Falls 2.... Paul Cyrus told me about these: You reach them from below by not taking the steep trail up to Fenton 1 but continue in the river bed, following the main water flow. After a short stretch the river splits again, a trickle to the right, the main stream to the left - now you really are in a jungle. And after a short climb up the main stream falls and steep shoots block your way. Looking through the foliage, more falls are visible higher up in the distance. The falls I reached have no large pool - but higher up it looks like there may be one - one would have to try and reach it from the top (hiking off Falls 1). Actually, what I here call "Fenton Falls 2" is a series of falls and shoots - and I still have to explore the upper ones!
Fenton Falls 2...: Falls on the left, on the right and still more above, hidden behind the lush foliage:		A loser look at the one on the right - it has a small pool at the bottom, and the flow continues down another short shoot (not seen, but evident on the left picture):


While enjoying the Fenton Pools one day, a few young boys showed up. They fished for crayfish and followed the river downstream into the jungle. Recently I had to explore this, expecting more interesting river/jungle scenes. Indeed, after some 15 min of hiking and partly wading the river I met an obstacle: Rock walls closed in the valley, and the river plunged down some 20 feet. No way could I go an - so a week later I explored the river from the other side, hiking upstream. Eventually I found the place: The river plunged into a deep pool totally hemmed in by rock walls, then cascading down a few feet more into a second deep pool: Fenton Falls 3 (picture on right, looking from above). Below we are looking at the lower pool (left) and towards the upper pool (right) and the falls behind.		The obstacle: The river squeezes in between some rocks and plunges down to a pool: Fenton Falls 3. See the boulder wedged between the rock walls. There was no way to hike down.
Fenton Falls 3: The lower pool is more than 6 feet deep - Gilles and Rick enjoy a cool swim - sediment is stirred up from the bottom (left). The falls and pool above the lower shoot present an eerie view and don't see much sunlight (right): The upper pool (not visible here) is not as deep and has some fallen rock (see the huge boulder again, wedged between the walls):

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