St. Thomas hills river camp confronts decades-old nightmare at abandoned village site

A group of campers pushed up a wild river into the St. Thomas hills to reclaim a riverside spot and spend the night where one member has dreamed of escaping pursuers since he was seventeen.

The camper said the recurring nightmare places him in what feels like the 1700s, running through an abandoned hillside community while people chase him. He always gets away when he crosses the river, moves through the bush, and reaches this stretch of hillside. He had planned a similar trip near Islington in St. Mary, but a curfew and advice against overnight camping there sent the party to St. Thomas instead.

Before dark, the group briefly lost a car key while setting up gear, then recovered it from a bag. They unpacked water filters, ramen, fishing line, foil, a pot, a compass, night lights, and other supplies, and tried to catch fish with jackfruit and mangoes from the riverbank. Brothers Mario and Nico joined a friendly contest to build bush shelters for sleeping, with one shelter judged better built than the narrator’s.

The site sits beside water, fire, and shelter needs, but the camper said an old cemetery lies just beyond the bushes—a relic of a community that once filled the hills and is now largely abandoned. He called the area spooky and said several graveyards remain nearby, with a further site he planned to visit on the hill.

Through a cold night in shorts, with mosquitoes and an active fire, sleep came hard. After 3 a.m. the blaze was still going and soup was added to the pot. By morning the phone showed a moisture warning and would not charge reliably, but the group had made it through the night.

Just after 6 a.m. they climbed toward Mount Lebanon village and areas referred to as New Grand and New Moon. They found a family plot with two old graves, stone walls, fruit trees including oranges, and foundations that may mark forgotten buildings—the kind of ruins the camper said keep appearing in his dreams. They ate thinking toe on the hillside, retraced tracks past living yards without trespassing, and returned to the river.

Before leaving, they tore down camp, carried out their bag, and left the riverside clean. The camper called the trip his first real camping outing and said he had faced one of his worst fears in a place that had haunted his sleep for years.