Trans-Catalina Trail

A couple of weeks ago I left for Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California. The weather boded well, with daytime temperatures in the 70s and nights a bit colder in the high 50s. In other words, perfect for hiking and grabbing some end of the year tent days before the cold really sets in. 

It was the first time I had traveled since COVID-19 consumed the world of travel and my usual international trips. Mexico had been planned but ended up being a wash with the pandemic still alive and well, so I focused my energy and planning skills on the Trans-Catalina Trail instead. I heard about this trail on a podcast (thanks, Backpacker Radio) and had been wanting to do it ever since. It sounded perfect and something I could easily do by myself. I have a healthy respect for bears - we have an abundance up here in Washington - but Catalina Island is blissfully bear-free. There is, however, the small issue of free-roaming bison. Yes, bison, brought over in the 1920’s for a movie and left to range without fences or natural predators. Well, at least they are not bears.

Back in July, I called the Catalina Island Conservancy to make the camping reservations and was able to get nights at Hermit Gulch outside of Avalon, where I would be landing on the ferry, and subsequent nights at Black Jack, Little Harbor, and Two Harbors. The much sought-after Parson’s Landing, which has very few sites, was all booked up but I ended up reserving two nights in Two Harbors instead and could then do Parson’s as a 15.5 miles day hike. It was easy making the camp reservations, as was making the reservations for the ferry. The campsite reservations doubles as the hiking/backpacking permit so there was no need to do anything additional. A cheap flight to LAX later and I was on my way.

I stayed the first night at Anchor Point Inn in Wilmington, then took the ferry at 8:45 am the following morning. The Catalina Express took about 70 minutes to reach Avalon, accompanied a bit outside the port by schools of Pacific bottlenose dolphins. What a great way to arrive.

Bottlenose dolphins

Avalon is very touristy but it has all the essentials – lots of restaurants, a Vons for groceries, and the unbeatable Catalina Conservancy store where you can buy the very pretty Trans-Catalina Trail Map and a variety of fuel, including for Jetboil stoves. They also sell backpacking meals in case you did not bring your own. I’m a “dehydrater” so I had everything packed in Ziplock bags, which was good because everything was pretty pricy. I paid $10 for a 4.4 oz fuel canister that would usually run about $4 on the mainland. I did not check the price of the meals.

My first campground, Hermit Gulch, is just outside of Avalon and it was easy to find. The staff was very nice and laid back. There was not much in the way of privacy but in my experience that’s pretty typical for a near-town campground. After setting up my tent and having lunch, I walked up the road a bit to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanic Garden. I am bit of a "plantophile" and really enjoyed seeing all the different trees, shrubs and plants brought in by the Wrigley family, and all the endemic species. There are a number of interesting plants and trees only found on Catalina Island, as well as the Catalina Island fox that I was hoping to get a glimpse of at some point along the trail. I hiked the Garden to Sky Trail from behind the large concrete memorial building, a 2.4 miles roundtrip to the summit overlooking the south end of the island. It was a nice uphill all the way and a good warm-up of what was to come. 

Garden to Summit Trail

The following morning I was off on the Hermit Gulch Trail which starts right behind the campground and goes for about 10 miles up and down the interior mountains, with amazing views all around. The island is not very high but I still ended up with 2381 feet of ascent. It took a bit over 5.5 hours, not including a nice long lunch break after passing the Haypress Recreation Area. The trail is very well marked but at times I did end up consulting Gaia GPS and giving directions to a few other hikers. In mid-October, the trail is very sparsely populated. On that first day I met only three people. I had my first bison encounter that day, a large male munching away the morning in the shrubbery. He looked at me for a short while, apparently found me not very interesting, and resumed eating.

Black Jack Campground was nestled beneath Black Jack Mountain (summit at 2,010 feet) in a grove of rainbow eucalyptus and pines. It has 10 sites and sits at 1,600 feet in the island’s interior. There was a privy, several water taps and food lockers like the ones we use for bears in Washington. It ended up filling by the time I had dinner, but my site (#3) was about as private as possible at the end of the canyon. As the sun set and painted the cacti bright orange, a full moon rose. It was a great finish to a beautiful day.

Black Jack Campground

On day two I got up with the sun, packed and headed towards the next campground at Little Harbor. An important stop according to all the web information I had read was the Airport in the Sky’s DC-3 Grill & gifts and their infamous Killer Cookie. I could not possibly deny myself this legendary treat so after having hiked a few miles, I reached the airport and ordered a chocolate-walnut cookie and some coffee. There is a nice patio to sit on which overlooks the hills beyond. I met some other backpackers, chatted a bit, finished half the cookie and packed away the rest for an afternoon delight. It was, after all, not even 10 am yet.

 

 

Author in Happy Place :)

The trail to Little Harbor was only about 8.5 miles, but with lots of stops to take pictures, rest at the wooden shelters that sit with comfortable frequency atop a number of summits, it took me almost five hours to get there. The route was part foot path, part road walking but these were all primitive gravel roads with no asphalt in sight. From Landing Road, the trail continued northwest and passed a nice promontory at the intersection with Empire Quarry Road where I had lunch. Again with the great overlooks. This trail certainly did not disappoint on sweeping views. From here it started south towards the ocean along the Big Springs Ridge Trail which eventually spilled me into the palm-tree studded Little Harbor.

Little Harbor Campground

 

As I approached the campground, I spotted a huge bison right on the campground. I stopped and stood for a while watching him. He did not move. I watched some more. Still no movement, not even the flicker of a tail. So I started thinking maybe it was a sculpture by a local artist. I started the final descent and when I was 20 feet from it, he suddenly looked straight at me. Backlit at it was I could not see the face but it was most definitely alive. I chose a side trail for my approach as he was right in the middle of the main entrance. I hoped they were not nocturnal and in the habit of visiting tents at night.

 

Little Harbor was my favorite spot. All of the sites are pretty close to the beach, a few are right next to it. Mine was set back a bit and I made a mental note to get one of sites 1-3 next time. It was a beautiful bay, surrounded by steep cliffs on one side, and separated from the adjoining Shark Harbor by the rocky Whale’s Tail promontory on the other. I spent the rest of the day resting my feet from the rocky trail pounding and after dinner climbed up the Whale’s Tail to watch a stunning sunset. It was great falling asleep to the sound of waves.

 

The next morning, I made coffee and climbed to the very edge of Whale’s Tail to watch the sun creeping up from behind the ridge and painting the cliffs orange. I had a relatively short day ahead. Two Harbors is only about 6 miles from Little Harbor on the north side of the island and I took my time packing up and leaving the quiet before entering back into some degree of civilization. I met a little Catalina squirrel on the way to the portapotty. Cute little thing.

Catalina squirrel

From the north end of Little Harbor, the trail left the beach before and made a fairly steep climb up the cliffside. And then there was a bison, right in the middle of trail. It was a huge lone male so walked a good 30 feet around him through the short shrub, careful not to brush against the prickly pear cactus. He watched me suspiciously but made no attempt to get any closer. Another hiker came up behind him and got a lot closer, apparently forgetting they are not domesticated.

Little Harbor to Two Harbors section

It was another beautiful day of hiking, most of it running along the south coast with amazing views. I met one couple and that was it. There was a beautiful overlook with another wooden structure put up by the Conservancy where I took a break, then continued the remaining 3 miles or so to Two Harbors along Banning House Road. Coming down from the hills to this cute little vacation spot gives you views of both Cat Harbor and Two Harbors, separated by a narrow isthmus. Both are very scenic.

Cat Harbor

The campground at Two Harbors is quite large, a little confusing in its layout but I got a great spot, No. 48, which sat on a little bluff overlooking the bay. A week before I left the Conservancy called and told me I had to move from my previous site since a film crew would be out there. As it turned out, it was an episode of Tough as Nails (never seen it) and it was quite a noisy affair. I walked down to the General Store and bought a cider and an avocado, then went back to camp to eat lunch.

Two Harbors Campground

There is not much to the town, just the one store, a dive shop, and a restaurant. I decided the spend the rest of the day chilling out on the little boardwalk away from the noise of the film set and returned in the early evening when they were done to have dinner. In the evening the raucous noise of pelicans drove me down the beach to take some pictures.

Two Harbors pier

The choice to rest for the afternoon was a good one since I had a 16-miler ahead of me the next day. My campground was fairly empty after the movie people left and I fell asleep to the sound of the waves. After a good night’s sleep, I got up early, packed lots of water and food, and was on the trail by 6:30 am as the sun started to climb over the hills. Watching the sunrise as the trail passed Cat Harbor and ascended rather steeply up a gravel road was lovely.

 

I made good time. It was 10:30 am by the time I reached Parson’s Landing, a little sheltered beach tucked in among the rocky outcroppings. The trail to get there crested the interior of the west section of the island and I met not a soul, not even a bison. It was up and down and very quiet with splendid views. Fenceline Road was interesting to say the least. It cuts across from the hills to the beach and was, for long sections, extremely straight down. I cannot imagine who would drive this! At Parson’s I dipped my toes in the very cold Pacific, ate an early lunch, and hung out watching the ocean for a while. 

 

Parson's Landing

Then, again having the trail entirely to myself, I walked the 8 miles back to Two Harbors. After a mile or so, it was all walking on dirt road. I took a side trail to Arrow Point and hung out a while. It overlooks a marine conservation area and is apparently a good dive spot. I saw a couple of pretty Grand Ole Ospreys scouting the water for fish.

Grand Ole Osprey

 

 

The road dips in and out of bays, some of which were populated with private camps and little harbors, and I started seeing a few people. Back to civilization then. That evening, feeling happily exhausted at having completed the 38.5 miles trail, I feasted on fish n’ chips at the restaurant. As an added bonus, that night when I went out to look at the stars, I discovered a little Catalina fox sleeping in a little hollow of grass right behind my tent. Mission accomplished. What a cute little guy.

Catalina Island is beautiful and fairly deserted in the Fall, but I would like to see it in full bloom. There is a wealth of endemic species and the weather is unbeatable. The trail was a great five day experience, a bit hard at times but never too much so. I highly recommend it and I will definitely be back.

 Feel free to write to me with questions if you plan to do this trail. I would be glad to help!