Park 12: Channel Islands

Getting Ready to Leave the Marina

8/17/12. We left early this morning to arrive at the marina to catch our 8 am boat to Santa Barbara Island in the Channel Islands. We only had one day to actually go to the islands and we chose Santa Barbara because it is one of the most remote. The Island Packers, the only company to run boats to the islands, only takes about 3 trips out to Santa Barbara each year and we hit one of the days they were going.

Sea Lions on the Bouy as we left Ventura Harbor

We boarded the catamaran ferry with plenty of water, peanut butter sandwiches, snacks, sunscreen, hats, and jackets.  After and hour and a half, the boat landed first at Santa Cruz Island which gaves us amazing views of the volcanic rocky shore. Next we spent another 3 hours to get to Santa Barbara Island.



Santa Cruz Island Shoreline

The Pier at Santa Barbara Island

Sea Lions at the Pier on Santa Barbara

Starting our guided tour

Giant Coreopsis - dry from the lack of water

The boat pulled up to the small pier and we got out and climbed a steep slope up to the tiny visitor center and research building. We were surprised to find an NPS stamp on a small shelf by the visitors log, since this was such a remote and barren island.

We waited for one of the park volunteers to unload her camping gear, and she joined us and a few other visitors for a guided hike around the island. She was wonderful -- very knowledgable and interesting and she seemed to intuitively know when to stop and talk while we rested.




Crystalline Iceplant

Fields of non-native crystalline iceplants which are taking over much of the island

Jason and Catherine overlooking the cliffs with our tour guide

The crystal clear water around the island

 The island was incredibly dry and barren - although there were plants covering all of the area, and some were showing signs of getting some water recently. There is no source of fresh water on the island. We walked around one tip and stopeed to enjoy the cliffs and sights below. Then we hiked up a larger hill and sat down to each lunch on a wooden bench between the two main peaks on the island. Jason decided to climb the second, higher peak to see views on the other side of the island, which is 1 mile long.


Catherine and Muriel eating lunch

Jason climbing down from the peak

View of Catherine and Muriel from the top of the peak



View of the far shore of the island

Fields of dried grasses on the peak

Smaller island on the side of Santa Barbara



The Island Packer ferry



By now it was almost time to meet the boat to return to the mainland, so we walked the path back to the pier by ourselves. The ocean swells had become larger at this point and they had trouble getting the boat into the pier. We were able to get on quickly in one of their tries, but others had to take the dingy to the boat.

On the four and half hour ride back to the mainland, the pilot stopped three times so that we could see three different kinds of dolphins that were frolicing around the boat. It was very exciting and reminded me of watching a nature special on TV!



Inside the main cabin with our new friend, Bob

Catherine and I started feeling queasy on the way back from the big ocean swells, and we were glad to pull into the dock around 7 pm. We discovered that the marina in Ventura has a lovely set of restaurants along the water so we stopped to have dinner at an Italian restaurant. We then drove back to the hotel in Oxnard, exhausted!

 

The next morning we drove back to the Marina to visit the Channel Islands Visitors Center to get the passport stamps and see the exhibits. This center is very well done, with interesting displays, video, and other educational activities. We left midmorning to visit the Santa Monica Recreational Area.