After a very rough night I was ready to go for the final phase of this SoCal trip through the National Parks. Back at my brothers after a week of living out of an economy hatchback, we were up at 5am in order to get to Ventura Harbor to board the ferry for Santa Rosa, the largest of the Channel Islands.
We grabbed our tandem kayak and boarded the ferry. I don’t do well on slow rolling waves so I popped a few different colored pills about an hour before departure. I probably did not need to as the ocean was calm. Here is a link to the park Map
Download Santa Cruz Island Hiking
Soon after we got underway the animals of the ocean began to entertain us as if they were on the charter's payroll. Hundreds of common dolphins surrounded the ferry and jumped through the bow and stern waves (I think that is right). I grabbed this picture below of some close ones. If you look close you can see some underwater as well, about to surface
Soon after our captain spotted a Minkie whale and then a few Humpbacks surfaced. They dive for about 5 minutes so we hovered and waited for a good shot. The fluke of the tail shown below is a sort of fingerprint with each being unique.
It was a quick hour ride over to Scorpion dock, but it was cold. I learned my lesson and packed a bunch of my brother’s clothes to warm me on the cool island nights.
We grabbed our gear and kayaks and set up camp about a quarter mile down the road. Before we could go anywhere we got lectured by the park ranger. Really no one listened, just staring at her sidearm, wondering under what possible circumstances she would be forced to use it. Setting up camp, we came across a visitor the ranger warned us about, a clever fox
Apparently the wildlife has gotten good at unzipping packs and stealing food. Later we were treated to the sight of a huge raven flying down opening a pack and flying off with a ziplock bag full of trail mix. We got back to shore and came upon a kayak tour group. I opted for the rental instead because I did not want to be mixed in with a bunch of people who did not know how to paddle. The price was about the same. The one thing we did notice that they all had wetsuits, life preservers and helmets (ewe did not). The water was chilly, but I assumed we would warm up once we get going. For someone who plans out these grand adventures I always seem to be ill prepared.
We grabbed some helmets for the caves, as instructed, and were off.
We entered this cave full of seals and although most swam away, the little guying below came out to see us and dart around the kayak for a bit. A highlight of the trip to be sure.
All along the water's edge were tons of starfish, below is one of the larger clusters I spotted.
There was one part where we entered this cave not much bigger than the kayak. We could not see anything but the 6 ft swells of water as they rushed into the cave and quickly receded. You will notice Bryan chose to take off his helmet for this part, only supporting his mandana, which I recently learned makes him "undateable."
I wanted to press on deeper, but my partner was scared, which was probably for the best as nothing good could have come from that. I understand how strange that last sentence sounded. We made it back, extremely tired from all the paddling, Bryan a little more so because I took frequent brakes claiming a need to shoot pictures. Once back I took a 2 hour nap and then we hiked about a 4 mile loop around the island. It used to be a farm for sheep, back in the day, but floods have decimated the farm, leaving tools strewn about. The meadows of grass made it feel more like a stroll through middle America, but a few shots from the cliffs reminded us the beauty of our surroundings
I had not eaten lunch or dinner, but was comfortable sleeping right through till morning. Bryan would rather have eaten, but I had all the cooking supplies. If he was real hungry he would have kicked over my tarp I am sure. The next morning we woke and packed up around 7am. Amazed that all the others tenters were still asleep. How anyone can sleep in while camping is beyond me. It was comical as these people trudged out a whole house from the mainland. Everyone had grills, coolers and all kinds of cooking apparatuses. Why would you want to carry all that? Just eat oatmeal and granola bars.
We made a final 7 mile hike to some Smuggler’s Cove and back in time for the boat. We watched everyone else board as we knew last on would be the first packs out of the hull. When we landed back in Ventura we were off the boat in a flash. On the way over we learned this strategy the hard way as we ended up helping the crew carry all the other customer's bags.
I had about 10 hours to kill before my flight so we went into Hollywood and Rodeo Dr so I could some shopping. Not really but when looking for a restaurant in West Hollywood we noticed that there was nothing but guys on the streets. I looked in some of the bars and all the bartenders were guys with their shirts off. I looked up on my phone and realized we were in gay heaven. I thought it was kinda funny, but my "partner" was less amused. I guess that is because he had on a short pair of Daisy Dukes and was getting whistles from the crowds.
I made it to the airport for the redeye and landed back home at 10am, ready for a nap. Trip was a lot of driving (2K on the hatchback), which was ok if I was not also sleeping in said car. The parks were impressive and have a good feel of where I would want to spend a few days on a more relaxed trip, if I ever do decide to do a relaxed trip.
Until next time,
Darren
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