July 21, 2012 --- When Nathan and I went to Santa Rosa Island in January, we flew over Santa Cruz Island and found it very interesting. Since then we had always thought of going there once in our life. Luckily one of our friends invited us there with her wonderful host-family who is working with Raytheon and they had a special rate for her guests, so Nathan and I decided to join them.
At first we planed to do a lot of sea-cave kayaking, but unfortunately we couldn't find any rental kayak, so we decided to do some hiking and swimming instead.
It was very foggy and cold on the mainland, but it was fairly clear on the island. We left Santa Barbara really early in the morning to go to Ventura Harbor for our boat ride to the island. Island Packers is the boat company that takes passengers to all five islands of the Channel Islands National Park. They also provided breakfast for all passengers. The boat ride was pretty bumpy on the way to the island, and quite many people got seasickness. I somehow managed to not get sick by sitting straight and looking outside to the ocean the whole way.
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| The petroleum platform off the CA coast |
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| Scorpion Anchorage |
Scorpion Anchorage
Scorpion Anchorage was our destination. It's on the eastern end of Santa Cruz Island, and it took us a little over an hour to get there. This coast has no sandy beach, but rather a rocky beach. The water is clear and has a lot of seaweed and fish around the pier.
As we arrived, we had to climb up the 90 degree angle metal steps to get on the pier. The Island Packers crews worked really well in helping us get all the stuff on shore. If you bring a kayak on the boat, there will be a person who manages to get your kayak to you at the beach, so you don't have to worry that you have to do it all by yourself.
Once everybody got on the land, there was a volunteer hiking leader who gave us an orientation about the island and all the activities we could do there.
Then we walked to the picnic area to put our food and other belongings in the storage boxes provided at the picnic area. Because there are a lot of unique island foxes looking for food and some food can be poisonous to them, so we all should keep our food and trash in the animal-proof storage the park has provided and never feed the animals.
Potato Harbor Trail
This trail is about 2 miles one-way, and the view of the mountains was gorgeous here. We started our hike around 10:30 a.m., and at first we walked on the Potato Harbor Road to get to the top of the hill. On the way we walked pass the campground and saw a little island fox going through the stuff in an opened food-storage box. Later we saw another island fox on the hill. They were very small and seemed to be harmless to people.
As we got to the very top, there was a junction of the trial leading to the Potato Harbor and the coastline trail called North Bluff Trail leading us back to the picnic area. We decided to continue to the Potato Harbor because it didn't seem too far from where we were and the trail was flat.
The Potato Harbor was gorgeous and worth the walk. There was no access to the beach, but we were satisfied with the view from the cliff. We took a little break here before heading back to the picnic area by taking the North Bluff trail.
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| From left to right: Nanda, Nathan, Toei, Mock, Jainie, Jami |
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| The flat trail leading to Potato Harbor |
North Bluff Trail
This is one of the most beautiful trails along the coast I have ever hiked on. We saw some people kayaking and boating in the ocean down the bluff. The trail was pretty well maintained and easy to follow. This is definitely one of those trails that shouldn't be missed.
Cavern Point Loop
Cavern Point is one of my favorite vistas on Santa Cruz Island. From here you can see the Scorpion Anchorage, and it is gorgeous! On a clear day you will be able to see Anacapa Island from here. The park map also said that it is a seasonal whale viewing spot. This trail led us directly down to the picnic area where we kept our food and other stuff. We didn't get there till 1:30 p.m. for our delicious lunch provided by our beloved friend, Toei.
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| The island fox always come to the picnic area searching for food. |
Snorkeling Time
After lunch we had only an hour to go swimming and snorkeling. Nathan and I changed to our swimming suits right away at the changing room. Nathan gave me a wetsuit as my birthday present, and I was so excited to used it for the first time. I also specially bought a snorkel set for this trip, and I planned to bring it to Thailand for my future snorkeling trips in Thailand's gorgeous seas.The water was cold, but it didn't bother me in my wetsuit and water-boots. We swam around the pier seeing a lot of small fish and seaweed. I think it would be more beautiful under the water if we went somewhere far from the pier. However, we didn't have much time and we didn't have a kayak to go anywhere.
After the swimming, we had to use a bottle of water to wash our faces because there wasn't any fresh water provided at the picnic area. Then we changed back to our dry clothes and packed up our stuff ready to get on the boat back to Ventura.
Overall this trip was so much fun and we hope to go back there again if we ever visit California.
