Trans Catalina Trail, Days 1 and 2: Avalon to Blackjack Campground

This is the first in a series of post journaling my thru hike on the Trans-Catalina Trail off the coast of California.  I had the special treat of hiking it with my best friend from my undergraduate days at Auburn University.

If you’d like to read my post on planning for a thru hike of the Trans-Catalina Trail, click here.

Day One:  Avalon to Blackjack Campground (11.2 miles)

We wake up after a good night’s rest in the Catalina Island Inn and are eager to get started.  First, however, we have a bit of housekeeping and need to find stove fuel.  We strike out at both Von’s Express locations, but luck out at Chet’s Hardware.

The official start of the trail in Avalon is in an area of construction for the Conservancy’s new home, so we walk across the street to a sculpture of “Ben,” a famous sea lion that residents of the island were fond of for many years (he’s since passed).  We walk through town past the commercial district and then past several cute residential cottages, climbing gently past the island’s nature center, until we reach a trail junction with the road.  Here, the trail veers to the right and shortly past the Hermit Gulch Campground.

Past the campground, the trail continues to climb, but now on a single track, dirt trail.  The views of the Pacific Ocean and Avalon start to emerge and we stop a few times to soak it all in.

At the 3-mile mark, the trail reaches a junction and the covered pavilion provides a nice spot for a pack-off break with a view.  A short distance further, our throne awaits….as in, a porcelain throne in a trailside, brand new restroom!  There’s definitely not a primitive feel to this trail yet, but no complaints from me!

We continue on, the trail following the course of the dirt road with sweeping views of the Pacific before us.  The wind is fierce and my hair won’t stay put, no matter what I try to contain it with (which to be honest, is just kinda the way my hair is on any given day).  A friendly ranger stops and says hello, reminding us to refill our waters at the picnic area we’ll pass at the Haypress Reservoir.

The conversation flows freely between Marnie and me.  It has been over 20 years since we’ve attended Auburn University together.  Everything has changed and nothing has changed.  We always pick up where we left off the last time we were together (which is typically about 5 years), and I knew my introverted self would have no trouble spending the week with someone I love so dearly.

The trail eventually veers from the road and winds its way down through the small canyons between the mountains, passing by the Cape Canyon Reservoir.  There is a final push upwards after the reservoir, and Marnie, who hails from the flatlands of Orlando, Florida, is tackling these climbs like a boss.

We reach the campground and there are a few other parties camping here too.  We talk with a trio of backpacking friends who got a late start today and hitched a ride with a ranger for a few miles to this campground, to avoid night hiking (I’m gonna guess it was the same one who spoke with us).  They had initially intended to visit Joshua Tree National Park, but the snowy forecast convinced them to head to this balmy island instead.  They are animated and fun and remind me of some of my hiking buddies back home.

Marnie, a novice to tent pitching, takes it in stride and figures out the steps to construct her temporary home.  We make dinner, call our husbands (there’s a cell tower right next to the campground!) and hit the sack.  I’m so proud of my friend and I go to sleep with a smile on my face, relieved that she isn’t threatening to track down that helpful ranger to take her back to Avalon for a more civilized vacation!

Day Two:  Blackjack Campground to Little Harbor Campground (8.6 miles)

We wake the next morning and pack up, taking our time.  We are eating lunch just a couple of miles away at Airport in the Sky, so we don’t need to rush out of camp.  We eventually leave and climb a short distance out of the campground and then descend into another canyon below.

We think we’ll see Bison today, especially since we’ve seen so much evidence of them on the trail (dung).  Sadly, they continue to allude us, but I’m going to see a Bison one way or another, even if it’s on the burger I eat soon!

We talk about TV shows as we hike, comparing notes with trashy reality shows we have no shame admitting we enjoy.  If reality TV had existed 20 years ago, I can only imagine how much fun we would have had watching them in our dorms together.  Days of Our Lives was as crazy as we got in those days.

As we approach Airport in the Sky we begin to see and hear planes landing on the runway.  I grew up around small airports, aviation running thick in my family’s blood, and the nostalgic buzz of planes approaching the airport takes me back to an even more distant time in my life than college days.

We enjoy a delicious lunch at the Airport.  I feast on a fully loaded Bison burger while Marnie enjoys a tri-tip sandwich.  There are signs around the outdoor patio, telling patrons to not feed the Island Foxes who like to hang around the restaurant.  I’m itching to see one, but they too continue to hide from us too.  Maybe that means people are obeying the rules of not feeding wildlife.  If so, I’m happy to never see one.

After lunch (with a cold beer!), we reluctantly pull ourselves away from the oasis and continue our trek towards Little Harbor.  We descend and pass Buffalo Springs Reservoir (with nary a buffalo to be found).  We climb one last hill then make our final descent into Little Harbor.

As we get closer, Marnie points out what she thinks is a Bison in the campground!  Could it be?!  It is!  We squeal with excitement, elated that the week won’t pass without spotting one of the most unusual inhabitants of Catalina Island.  From my summer of working in Yellowstone National Park I know how important it is to stay a healthy distance from Bison, but there’s only so far you can go in a campground of this size, so I keep my eye on them as we set up camp.

There are actually two of them grazing in the campground, but they seem indifferent to our presence.  After our thru hike, we learn that a man was gored in this very campground just two nights before we arrived (and he supposedly wasn’t provoking them, just sitting on a log in his site and eventually backing away further when they got closer to him).  He was airlifted off the island and survived, but clearly they are not as indifferent as they appear.

We set up camp near our friends from the previous night at Blackjack and join them after dinner around their campfire, but not before watching the most spectacular sunset I think I’ve ever seen on a backpacking trip.  I exchange emails with Gerry, a.k.a. “Mountain Man,” loving how tight knit the hiking community is, even when you’ve just met.  I offer them a place to land for a night if they ever head to the Smokies again (they have quite the story of their first backpacking trip in the Smokies, years ago).

 

We head to bed, thankful for another day of successful and rewarding adventure!

Instead of including my typical “Trail Report Card,” head to my post on planning a thru hike of the Trans Catalina Trail for logistical information of this hike.  Coming soon, days 3, 4, and 5 of our adventure.  Spoiler alert:  We are treated to views of even bigger wildlife than Bison!  Sign up below to be notified of when that post goes “live.”

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GPS Tracks for Days 1 and 2

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