Backpacking on Santa Cruz Island (Channel Islands)

Where: Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands
When: July 4-7, 2019
Who: Bora, Wes, Anna, Kate, Aaron, Angus
Note: make camping reservations via Recreation.gov and boat reservations at Island Packers. (To get dropped off in one harbor and picked up at the other, you can’t use the online reservation system. You have to call).

The biggest factor in planning our 3-night/4-day backpacking trip to Santa Cruz Island (part of Channel Islands National Park) was water.

We planned to get dropped off at Prisoners Harbor and spend two nights at Del Norte backcountry campground before hiking to spend our final night at Scorpion Ranch Campground and getting picked up at Scorpion Anchorage. There would be potable water at Scorpion but until then, we’d have to bring all the water we’d need for drinking and cooking. So how much water would that be?

Given that it was the July 4th weekend in Southern California (read: hot), we opted to be conservative and planned on 4-liters of water/person/day. We knew we could technically get by on much less but since this was a pleasure trip and not mean to be a feat of survival, we decided “more is more.”

A liter of water weighs 2.2 lbs (sorry for the uncouth mixing of metric and imperial measurements). Budgeting 4-liters/person/day meant — that was a lot of water weight to carry. Since we would be backtracking and returning to Prisoner’s Harbor for a guided hike the next day, we decided to cache (aka hide) the bulk of our water and “only” carry 6-liters per person to our campsite.

If you’re feeling like I’m kind of going on and on about the water situation, that’s how much it was on our minds.

Del Norte campsite is three miles from the harbor and 1,500 ft above sea level but getting there involves going up and down and up and down and up, in and out of two canyons. The outstanding views and trail mix with M&Ms kept us going until we reached our destination.

Del Norte campground is a gem, with only four sites and breathtaking views. (1 & 2 are exposed but have a view; 3 & 4 have tree cover).

For dinner, I had brought dehydrated refried beans but had forgotten the ratio of beans-to-water. We ended up with bean soup instead, but–and this is one of the beauties of backpacking–we were hungry and nobody cared. The next morning, we woke up and realized that I had left a bag of the aforementioned trail mix with M&Ms in my daypack (instead of storing it in the food box) and that enterprising bluejays had opened the pack and absconded with our favorite trail snack. Doh! We were all sad about that one. #rookiemistake

The next day, we hiked back to Prisoners and met up with a friend who is working as a carpenter for the Nature Conservancy (which owns the two-thirds of the island that isn’t a part of the national park). Colin was a great host and took us on a hike onto conservancy land (You have to go with a “conservancy guide,” which you can do via the boat company, Island Packers). On the way, we swam at a deserted Tinkerbell Cove (so lovely!) and at Pelican Bay, we had the rather odd experience of enjoying the aqua blue water and the tidepools in the presence of a large yacht flying not one, but two, Trump flags. #peopleareweird

Our host Colin told us to keep an eye out for a rare succulent found only on Santa Cruz Island called Dudleya nesiotica, aka Santa Cruz Island Live Forever. I was eager to see this rare plant, but no luck.

On our way back to our campsite, we picked up more water and — realizing we had plenty — dispatched what we didn’t need to good use.

The next day was our long (10-12 miles, depending on whom you asked) hike to Scorpion. We woke to a heavy fog, but since we would be hiking all day along an exposed ridge, we were grateful for the cover as long as it lasted, which turned out to be until lunchtime.

“Ridge walking” still meant lots of up and downs and we arrived at Scorpion tired but satisfied.

On our final morning, we took a short stroll to Potato Harbor before packing up and catching the boat back to Ventura. Once I got home and downloaded all my photos, Kate pointed out that I had inadvertently captured the rare succulent in a photo without realizing it. I texted this photo to Colin who confirmed that, indeed, this was the rare Dudleya nesiotica. Ah, so much for my power of visual observation.

Thankfully, even I couldn’t miss what happened on the boat ride back.

The drive home from Ventura was long but punctuated by one of the most enjoyable aspects of camping and backpacking: that first large meal after the fact. For us, it was Mexican food in Salinas. Yum.