THE COPTIC CHURCH

                                    

Here is a “real ride’ in Bikenutz terms, for climbers and descenders.

The Climb:Boogie explored it with Wayne, on a motor bike and mapped and photographed it. It begins on the eastern exit from Yallahs with a sharp lef turn and a 10% tarmac gradient that does not let up for nearly and hour. It is being surfaced but the top half is still stony marl and needs the “granny” gear, or a good warm up before you start.

There is a great view of the Blue Mountains at the top and a rocky descent and further climbing to the beginning of two trails, near an abandoned car and before you go up to the signal tower above Yallahs. Riding time, at least an hour and a half.

“Real Riders” can do the climb and then tackle the descents as we did.

The Descents: Once you take the single track on the left it is easily rideable, other than passing a barb-wire fence. You then arrive on a plateau, with two choices.

Option one-along the ridge:

Boogie and I took this and did some clearing of bamboo and de- bushing but halfway to the house we could see (this means a trail down) we realized there was too much clearing work for that day and retraced to the plateau. We will go back and find the descent to Rozelle.

Option two-the Coptic Trail: This is a wide trail on the right on the side of the ridge, with only a single track rideable and plenty of rocks that used to form the base of the wider trail.

This means that the whole single track is an Andy Giles Carlton Pass style rock garden. I managed it on my hard tail bike, but a full-susser would be better. The legs as rear suspension took quite a beating.

It is not too steep but we will need to go back and mark the deviations from the wide gully track that is blocked in places. Locals have walked by-pass route that we managed to find, save one.

We enjoyed some newly fallen mangos but missed a turn, so Boogie had to do some machete work that brought us to a path and what seemed like civilization.

 

In fact we arrived at the still inhabited ruins of one of Jamaica’s Coptic communities. They are famous for the wrong reasons- see my footnote. The church in the circular style of the Thorn of Crowns is the centre piece for the ten souls who still live there.

We talked to Granny Iris and were told to follow the trail straight, don’t take any turn offs. Back to the rock gardens and a fallen road bridge over the river. Fortunately it was dry and with Boogie’s help I managed to climb up the opposite bank and saw a mirage- tarmac!

It was a disused road in perfect condition. Downhill and we saw the sign-Coptic Road. Turn right and continue downhill on a normal Jamaican road with jumps and holes and you come to the last corner on the uphill main road at White Horses and Audrey’s East End Bar with cold beverages.

Mission accomplished!

 Footnote:

Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church is a mansion of the Rastafari movement that flourished in the 1970s in Jamaica and was incorporated in Florida in 1975. Members of the movement say it is based on the teachings of Marcus Garvey and that they use cannabis as the Rastafari sacrament.[1]

In 1979 the group was accused, tried, and convicted of smuggling massive amounts of potent cannabis from Jamaica to Miami in actions that kept the Jamaican economy afloat that decade. The incumbent Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga told a U.S. interview "It's just a little sin semilla that it keep the country going right now". The Coptics published a free newspaper promoting Garveyism and the decriminalization of marijuana. They were also featured on a sensational episode of 60 Minutes on October 28, 1979. The group's leader was Thomas Reilly, also known as Brother Louv. In 1986 the organization participated in the Drug Enforcement Administration's hearings on cannabis rescheduling in the United States.

On August 8, 1994 Jim Tranmer, a former member of the group, wrote a letter to Carl E. Olson while meditating on his 35-year prison sentence and his departure from the EZCC's "malicious hierarchy".

The EZCC is not associated with the Coptic Orthodox Church or the Coptic Catholic Church, both based in Egypt. The Coptic Orthodox Church has an Ethiopian sister church, which is also unrelated.

The Zion Coptic Church was featured in the 2011 Billy Corben documentary Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja, whose first section concerns the group and features interviews with former members.

Also see below a video about the Coptics, showing images of the place from 1979!

By David Linehan

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