Hiking Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands

We planned a 4-day camping trip to Channel Islands National Park, but, as we reported before, we fell victim to Ducklings Quack, and by Monday, the day before our scheduled departure, we knew we wouldn't be healthy enough to camp out in the cold, wet, windy weather.  So we opted instead for a day-trip today.

We selected Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the five islands making up the national park and marine sanctuary.  While it is the most popular and most heavily visited, which wasn't necessarily the most appealing to us, it was the most accessible and provides the widest variety of hiking activities.

We had to be up bright and early for the 9:00 am departure.  It was a 1.5 hour boat ride across VERY CHOPPY SEAS to get to the islands.  While it looked like the weather would be clearing, it had been overcast early this morning, and when we left port, the winds were very strong:

Our whole trip was straight into the wind and waves, and by the time we got to the islands, more than one passenger had tossed their cookies.  Thankfully, we didn't, although Kathy's gills had a slight greenish tint to them when we set foot on land again.  It seemed to us, as we sailed along, that we'd stepped into an episode of "Gilligan's Island":

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, 

A tale of a fateful trip 

That started from Ventura Port 

Aboard this tiny ship. 

The crew were mighty park rangers, 

The skipper brave and sure. 

Thirty passengers set sail that day 

For an eight hour tour, an eight hour tour. 

The weather started getting rough, 

The tiny ship was tossed, 

If not for the skill of the fearless crew 

Kathy's cookies would be lost, Kathy's cookies would be lost. 

However, we made it safely and were not tossed onto a deserted island.  Here's a photo of Santa Cruz Island as we approached our destination in Scorpion Harbor:

The boat was filled with day-trippers and campers.  Here they are disembarking from the boat:

Santa Cruz Island was operated as a single private ranch by various owners for most of the period from 1839, when it was granted to Andres Catillero by the Mexican Governor, until 1987, when the latest owner, Carey Stanton, died - a period of 148 years.  During that period, the owners engaged in a wide variety of activities:  cattle ranching, sheep raising, potato farming, vineyard and winery, orchards, and other related activities.  The islands have been preserved much as they were in the later ranching days.  Many pieces of old farming equipment can be found in various locations on the islands:

Knowing that we only had about four hours to explore the island, we chose to begin with a hike along the northern headlands to Potato Harbor, and then back to Scorpion Canyon.  The headlands are dramatic, especially when set against the deep blue of the ocean:

Every turn of the trail brought a new view of cliffs and sea:

In the photo, we were approaching the Potato Harbor overlook and had only to hike past this final spine of land jutting out into the ocean.  Note our boat steaming past the point in the distance:

To get to Potato Harbor, we had to hike a dirt road, through fences once maintained for the sheep and cattle.  Here's Kathy sizing up one of the fences where it intersects the road:

The high winds, infrequent precipitation and relatively poor soil result in a nearly sub-arctic or high desert environment, where every plant struggles to maintain a fragile foothold.  Here, Kathy examines a beautiful ground cover that bears red berries in the fall.

If you note, Kathy is bundled up.  While it was 60F, which itself is not so cold, there was a wicked wind, which caused us to be chillier than we otherwise would have felt.  Those few times we could get out of the wind, the sun baked us and we had to strip off the extra layers.

Here's a view of Potato Harbor and its beautiful crescent-shaped beach:

And another from Potato Harbor Overlook:

We tried to find our way down to the beach, but the obvious trail came to an end halfway down the watershed of a small creek leading to the beach - and following the watershed itself would have been too steep.  So we sat down in the sun, sheltered from the worst of the wind, and had a yummy lunch of our standard peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  You can tell Dave likes this particular menu entry:

The cliffs on the north side of the island contain several large sea caves.  These caves are so huge that they can be entered by kayak, or even by Zodiac boats.  Tours are offered of them, but we demurred on this occasion.  Here's a photo of one of the smaller caves:

We hiked back to Scorpion Campground.  Here's a photo of the Upper Loop:

Having a little extra time left, we decided to hike up Scorpion Canyon.  We made it up to where the trail separated from the canyon proper and snapped this photo of the canyon as it continued on its way.  Note the ubiquitous fences:

Hiking back down through the campgrounds, we reached the Lower Loop just in time to see one of the native foxes on the prowl.  As soon as he saw us, he scampered away.

Foxes almost became extinct on the island because of a mistaken decision by the National Park Service to introduce Golden Eagles.  The eagles thrived on the foxes and had no predators of their own.  Eventually, the NPS realized what it had done, trapped the few remaining resident foxes to help them perpetuate their line in captivity, while the NPS captured or otherwise eradicated the golden eagles.  Once the golden eagles were gone, the foxes were reintroduced and seem to have thrived.  This is but one of the many sad stories of human interference in the natural way of things on these islands.

We finally made it back down to Scorpion Harbor, where we would catch our boat home.  We decided to explore the beach.  While Kathy took off her boots and waded in the cool waters, David strolled down the beach and caught this scene of natural beauty:

He returned in time to catch Kathy making friends with the sea foam:

We poked around the on-site information center and chatted with some park rangers while we waited for the boat.  It was a little late but finally arrived.  Thankfully for Kathy and many other passengers, the ride home was fast and smoother than the morning odyssey had been.  We made it back to port without incident and hurried home to warm our toes by the fire and write this story just for you!