We awoke early to another sunny morning in Southern California; a great day to explore the islands.
To ensure our timely arrival at the marina for our boat ride to Channel Islands National Park, we were out of the hotel by 7:45. We made a brief stop at the local Subway to pick-up sandwiches for the day as there is no food service in the park. By 8:30 we had checked in with Island Packers and were waiting for the boarding announcement to embark upon the MV Island Explorer for the one hour cruise across the Santa Barbara Channel to the island of Santa Cruz.
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Today there would be only one trip to the islands and back.
The destination would be Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the island chain.
Santa Cruz is a divided Island, the east end owned by the National Park Service
and the larger west end owned by the Nature Conservancy.
After receiving our safety instructions and a review of
general boat rules by 9:00 we were underway from the Ventura Marina. After
navigating through the intricate series of jetties and breakwaters the boat
entered upon the Santa Barbara Channel. The MV Island Explorer, new in May
2013, cruises at 20 knots and therefore makes the 19-mile crossing in just
about one hour. En-route the crew watches and advises of wildlife sightings,
this morning limited to sea lions in residence upon a channel buoy and a pod of
dolphins feeding in the channel. As always the common seabirds, gulls,
cormorants and pelicans were in abundance.
To my surprise our foursome opted for the independent
wanderer plan perhaps to maintain our own pace of travel or perhaps because we
knew the island so well. In either case we were soon off, down the trail or
more correctly, up the rocky road toward Potato Harbor, a 3-mile round-trip of
easy-to-medium difficulty.
As we passed the ranch house an Island Fox, an evolved species known only to inhabit the islands ran across our path but was gone before we could get a picture. Continuing along the trail we passed through a campground and began the climb to a mesa overlooking the Santa Barbara Channel. Arriving at a fork in the road, “we took it”. Actually we could have taken the 0.5-mile trail to the North Bluff or the 1.5-mile trail to Potato Harbor. With all feeling pretty good and the go-forward trail looking to be relatively flat we opted for Potato Harbor. Along the trail there were a number of overlooks for viewing the sheer cliffs down to the sea with a myriad of small kelp-filled coves.
After an hour or so we arrived at the terminus of our trek, Potato Harbor. The overlook is high above this small cove reminiscent of Hanauma Bay in Hawaii though much smaller. Looking down into the bay, the kelp is clearly visible in the crystal blue water.
At this point we broke out our provisions for a hiker-healthy lunch consisting of Subway sandwiches, Doritos, grapes, trail mix, M&M Peanuts, Snickers and cookies. Our lunch site of choice was a ledge overlooking the picturesque bay below, and quite the ledge it was. Though the seats were secure, there was no recovery from an inadvertent slip, so when Sheila dropped her can of Perrier and lunged to keep it from hitting the ground we came close to being a party of three. When the grapes slipped from her grasp they were left on the steep ledge to later serve as bird food for the local ravens. In any case we enjoyed our lunch and made preparations for our descent to the boat landing.
Remembering the rocky road we had taken to the top, the alternate route of what appeared to be a vehicle road was taken going down. The “vehicle road” was fine until we reached the down-slope where the “road” abruptly became a water washed-out gulley with slippery slopes interspersed with rock strewn troughs, no longer eligible for the name “Easy Street”.
Once we could see the campground in the distance, everyone
knew we were home even though it would be another ¼ mile to flat ground. Upon
arrival in the campground we settled in to a picnic table for a break. We had
over an hour before the return boat trip so we had time to burn. Soon another Island
Fox appeared in a creek bed adjacent to the table. The fox was clearly digging
for something and seemed to have no interest in our presence. We were able to
get a lot of pictures of the wily creature, a small dog/cat looking creature
with a fox like bushy tail and coloring. After being bored with each other, the
fox with us and we with the fox, both parties moved on.
Back at the ranch house we entered the visitor center and of course secured a few park stamps. We then made our way down to the dock area just as the MV Island Explorer was returning from Prisoner’s Harbor an alternate stop in the park.
We embarked and by 3:30 were underway for the mainland. En-route this afternoon we came upon two large groupings of porpoise feeding in the channel. There would be no whales today, but just as in the morning it was a beautiful crossing.
One eco-political thought occurred to me as we transited the Santa Barbara Channel. Though the liberal elite of California might berate the oil companies and suggest that oil and gas not be produced in the state, they certainly enjoy the fruits (aka tax revenues, employment, etc.) generated by the production from the 19 or so oil rigs located along the coast.
Okay back to the trip. We arrived back in the harbor around 4:30 and made our way to the hotel. It’s fair to say that we were glad to have visited the Channel Islands but it’s a place to which we will not likely return. The islands are beautiful in their own right as desolate preserves for nature and for visitors to get a sense of what southern California of old might have been like. In that the park is only accessible by boat, it’s a park that will likely never be over-crowded, as such a visit to Channel Islands can offer a day enjoying the sights and sounds of silence accented by the noise of nature.
Back at the hotel it was an easy decision to stay in and finish
off the collections of foods we had accumulated over the recent days and watch
the sixth game of the series, the game that brought home the bacon for “The Sox”.
To ensure our timely arrival at the marina for our boat ride to Channel Islands National Park, we were out of the hotel by 7:45. We made a brief stop at the local Subway to pick-up sandwiches for the day as there is no food service in the park. By 8:30 we had checked in with Island Packers and were waiting for the boarding announcement to embark upon the MV Island Explorer for the one hour cruise across the Santa Barbara Channel to the island of Santa Cruz.
.jpg)
After receiving our safety instructions and a review of
general boat rules by 9:00 we were underway from the Ventura Marina. After
navigating through the intricate series of jetties and breakwaters the boat
entered upon the Santa Barbara Channel. The MV Island Explorer, new in May
2013, cruises at 20 knots and therefore makes the 19-mile crossing in just
about one hour. En-route the crew watches and advises of wildlife sightings,
this morning limited to sea lions in residence upon a channel buoy and a pod of
dolphins feeding in the channel. As always the common seabirds, gulls,
cormorants and pelicans were in abundance.
We arrived at Santa Cruz at 10 and along with about 25 other
passengers disembarked at the Scorpion Ranch Landing, a single pier and
anchorage area for tourists and logistics support for the Park Service and
Nature Conservancy employees stationed on the island for 8-day shifts. We would
be on the island for five hours before our boat ride back to the mainland. Upon
arrival we were met by the duty park ranger, in this case wearing three hats,
as the island’s law enforcement, fire protection and paramedic. The ranger
explained the rules and regulations pertinent to the park and then sent us on
our way to wander the island either as part of the guide led group or as
independent wanderers.
To my surprise our foursome opted for the independent
wanderer plan perhaps to maintain our own pace of travel or perhaps because we
knew the island so well. In either case we were soon off, down the trail or
more correctly, up the rocky road toward Potato Harbor, a 3-mile round-trip of
easy-to-medium difficulty.
The landing area is named after an abandoned ranch. The
ranch house is now a park building and a wide variety of rusting farm equipment
is spread around the property.
As we passed the ranch house an Island Fox, an evolved species known only to inhabit the islands ran across our path but was gone before we could get a picture. Continuing along the trail we passed through a campground and began the climb to a mesa overlooking the Santa Barbara Channel. Arriving at a fork in the road, “we took it”. Actually we could have taken the 0.5-mile trail to the North Bluff or the 1.5-mile trail to Potato Harbor. With all feeling pretty good and the go-forward trail looking to be relatively flat we opted for Potato Harbor. Along the trail there were a number of overlooks for viewing the sheer cliffs down to the sea with a myriad of small kelp-filled coves.
After an hour or so we arrived at the terminus of our trek, Potato Harbor. The overlook is high above this small cove reminiscent of Hanauma Bay in Hawaii though much smaller. Looking down into the bay, the kelp is clearly visible in the crystal blue water.
At this point we broke out our provisions for a hiker-healthy lunch consisting of Subway sandwiches, Doritos, grapes, trail mix, M&M Peanuts, Snickers and cookies. Our lunch site of choice was a ledge overlooking the picturesque bay below, and quite the ledge it was. Though the seats were secure, there was no recovery from an inadvertent slip, so when Sheila dropped her can of Perrier and lunged to keep it from hitting the ground we came close to being a party of three. When the grapes slipped from her grasp they were left on the steep ledge to later serve as bird food for the local ravens. In any case we enjoyed our lunch and made preparations for our descent to the boat landing.
Remembering the rocky road we had taken to the top, the alternate route of what appeared to be a vehicle road was taken going down. The “vehicle road” was fine until we reached the down-slope where the “road” abruptly became a water washed-out gulley with slippery slopes interspersed with rock strewn troughs, no longer eligible for the name “Easy Street”.
Once we could see the campground in the distance, everyone
knew we were home even though it would be another ¼ mile to flat ground. Upon
arrival in the campground we settled in to a picnic table for a break. We had
over an hour before the return boat trip so we had time to burn. Soon another Island
Fox appeared in a creek bed adjacent to the table. The fox was clearly digging
for something and seemed to have no interest in our presence. We were able to
get a lot of pictures of the wily creature, a small dog/cat looking creature
with a fox like bushy tail and coloring. After being bored with each other, the
fox with us and we with the fox, both parties moved on.
Back at the ranch house we entered the visitor center and of course secured a few park stamps. We then made our way down to the dock area just as the MV Island Explorer was returning from Prisoner’s Harbor an alternate stop in the park.
We embarked and by 3:30 were underway for the mainland. En-route this afternoon we came upon two large groupings of porpoise feeding in the channel. There would be no whales today, but just as in the morning it was a beautiful crossing.
One eco-political thought occurred to me as we transited the Santa Barbara Channel. Though the liberal elite of California might berate the oil companies and suggest that oil and gas not be produced in the state, they certainly enjoy the fruits (aka tax revenues, employment, etc.) generated by the production from the 19 or so oil rigs located along the coast.
Okay back to the trip. We arrived back in the harbor around 4:30 and made our way to the hotel. It’s fair to say that we were glad to have visited the Channel Islands but it’s a place to which we will not likely return. The islands are beautiful in their own right as desolate preserves for nature and for visitors to get a sense of what southern California of old might have been like. In that the park is only accessible by boat, it’s a park that will likely never be over-crowded, as such a visit to Channel Islands can offer a day enjoying the sights and sounds of silence accented by the noise of nature.
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| Sunset Over The Channel Islands |
With the park phase of our travels over; it was time to move on.
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