Spring Break Hiking of Trans-Catalina Trail

Got back from my trip to Catalina Island on Friday night (9APR21) after an enjoyable week of backpacking the Trans-Catalina trail with the Sylvinator. I managed to convince her to edit the video of the trip and we already have it up on Youtube.

We left on Sunday afternoon from Dana Point. Holly was kind enough to drop us off there. Our packs felt quite heavy as we had five days of food with us. The trip over to Avalon on the boat was uneventful. I think there were only 6-8 people on the boat. We had to wear our masks the whole time and there was no eating allowed on the boat either. We mostly stood by the doorway and looked out at the ocean going by. It was a short hike up to our camping spot at Hermit Gulch when we arrived in the late afternoon. We found our camping spot easily and got set up. Even the campground was pretty quite. We were camped close to some young guys out camping who were quite entertaining as they burned their dinner and then went on to complain about it all night to each other. Had a good night’s sleep but was a bit on the cool side. Was wondering if my choice of the summer quilt was going to be a problem or not.

In the morning we had some breakfast before packing up and heading out. I worked on trying to get the Sylvinator to light the camp stove. She struggles with both the lighter and the stove with some irrational fears of both of them that make it impossible for her to actually light the stove. Oh, well something to work on. We set out up the hill. Out first full day of hiking and our longest day as well that started with a long climb up to the ridge above Avalon. It actually went quite well as we reached the road at the top of the ridge. We picked up a bit of speed once we were on the road and then dropped back down to Haypress reservoir for lunch. We were doing okay so far. While the morning involved our big climb the afternoon consisted of some ups and downs that last time wore me out to the point that we hitchhiked around the last one and into camp at Black Jack. We were slow but I was doing okay and we finally made it into camp having conquered that first ghost from our previous trip. A bit of questioning to find out camp spot and we set up camp. As we were preparing dinner a couple buffalo wandered through camp. All good till one started huffing and snorting at us and we decided to move away to the other side of the area we were in. Luckily, they just wandered past our tent and into the forest. We did keep an eye for them while we ate our dinner though. It was a good opportunity to meet our neighbors and talk a bit with them. Got to bed and slept well except for definitely hearing a buffalo go through the camp during the night.

In the morning there was a buffalo not more than about 8 feet from my tent munching on grass. It seemed to ignore me but I was quite nervous about it and tried not to move around too much until it had moved well away. I had confirmed that the Airport grill was open so was looking forward to a late breakfast or early lunch there. We were a bit slowed packing up and getting going. I was quite stressed but trying not to bother the Sylvinator too much. I think she appreciated that I was trying not to be too rushed. We finally got going and made our way over to the airport. The Sylvinator was definitely slowed down this morning. We got to the airport and I had a bison cheeseburger and fries while the Sylvinator just had fries. We had a good rest before heading out for the walk to Little Harbor. Shortly after the airport we got to a point where a herd of buffalo were on the road and there were a bunch of people standing around not sure what to do. I just walked right through all the people and proceeded to detour around the buffalo. I motioned for the Sylvinator to stay close behind as we made our way around the herd. After a couple minutes I noticed all the people following my route as well. We were definitely going quite sloe as everyone shortly passed us on the trail. We finally got to the big downhill portion into Little Harbor and got to camp a bit later than I would have liked but in plenty of time. We set up in our spot only to discover we were in the wrong spot when first firewood in someone else’s name showed up and then the rightful campers showed up. A quick phone call sorted it out for us and we were in the same spot as we were in last time. After getting camp set up I washed my shirt and got it laid out to dry on my tent. We had dinner and went to bed. The Sylvinator did manage to light the stove after a lot of stress and messing about. I was a bit worried about my camp spot as I was right in the path to the toilets and as I was going to bed had a lot of headlights in the tent as people went by. My tent doesn’t have a lot of privacy so I was worried about it. Turned out okay as I slept well and didn’t have any disturbances from headlamps during the night.

An even slower start this morning. We did talk about taking the shuttle but as there was no information available it wasn’t an option. My clothes in the tent were wetter in the morning than the night before. With quite a bit of condensation it took a while to dry out the tent. I put my damp shirt on and it dried quite quickly from my body heat. We eventually got packed up and headed out. Today was our second ghost as we took the shuttle last time we were here. So today we were going to hike it the six miles up and then down to Two Harbors. We were rather slow getting going but made it up to the sun shade structure in time for an early lunch at the halfway point. It was a steep climb but not too bad. Now there was a bit of a ridge walk and then a steep downhill into Two Harbors. The Sylvinator had turned down bringing hiking poles but had changed her mind on day one. So we were sharing the poles each using one. I was glad I had a least that but would have loved to have had both poles for this descent which was quite steep. It was on a road so it wasn’t too bad. Towards the end though I took off eager to get to Two Habors and the grocery store to get some cold drink and ice cream. The Sylvinator was a bit annoyed as I did leave her behind a bit. We got to town and found a shady spot to site while I drank my cold drinks and had my fruit popsicle. It was VERY good! I was quite dehydrated and managed to drink 2.5L of Gatorade. The Sylvinator was quite impressed. After a good long rest and using the restrooms we headed off to our campsite. My memory of Two Harbors campground is the nasty walk from the village to the campground and it didn’t disappoint this time either. After some confusion we found our spot and got set up. The Sylvinator was struggling with some chaffing on her thigh. We talked about going to Parsons Landing the next day and decided that if we could get another night in Two Harbors we would skip going to Parsons Landing. We got online and were able to confirm a spot for Thursday night and that helped the Sylvinator relax. It also meant that despite conquering our second ghost today by doing the hike from Little Harbor to Two Harbors that we wouldn’t conquer the third and final ghost the next day. I felt it was okay as it was the Sylvinator’s spring break and if she was miserable that wasn’t worth it. After it got dark I saw a fox go through our campsite while the Sylvinator was at the toilet. Our spot had a lovely view but the hike to the toilet was not pleasant. We hung our foodbags in a nearby tree as I wasn’t sure what else to do with them. All the other campgrounds had food lockers for them.

In the morning with no where to go we had a relaxing morning. I got up and walked into town to confirm our camping arrangements. I managed to get a better spot than we had reserved online and also got a refund of our spot in Parsons Landing. I also bought some snacks at the grocery store. When I got back the Sylvinator had left a note that she was down by the beach. I moved my tent and my things to our new spot and then set off to go look for her. I didn’t find her but sat down by the beach to read for a while. She got back to our camping spot and saw me down at the beach. She then moved her stuff and we discovered that a bunch of animals (squirrels, crows, seagulls and pigeons) had got into my food bag which I had just left on the picnic table. They had got into the snacks I had just purchased and left everything else. Luckily, they hadn’t damaged my food bag too badly and only got into those snacks. We threw them out and tidied up. I was nervous about leaving my food as we went back to the beach to hang out. I read a lot more in the afternoon as we just relaxed and hung out. I made the Sylvinator light the stove again but with the wind and her stressing out I finally just lit it. That night we decided to hang our food bags in a nearby sunshade. It was quite warm and I slept well. In the morning the tent was quite wet from condensation but dried quickly as the sun came up. We packed up and headed into town. We found a nice spot in the shade to sit. I finished my book while the Sylvinator did some drawing and went down to the beach. In the afternoon I went for a walk to the other side of the ithsmus. I also cleaned myself up and changed into clean less smelly clothes for the trip home. Finally, came time for our ferry home. It was a bit more crowded on the ferry. I was very happy though as we didn’t have to put our luggage in the hold and were allowed to put it on some chairs at the front of the boat. The boat went to Avalon and picked up a bunch of people before heading to San Pedro. Coming into San Pedro it was neat to see all the large container boats loading and unloading. Holly was there to meet us when we got there which was nice.

It was a lovely trip and even better to go with my oldest daughter. Had some good conversation with her and good hanging out time. Still some unfinished business on Catalina Island but that means there is a reason to go back. All of our camping gear worked well and we had no major issues except some sore feet and chaffing. Good trip!