For the longest time, I'd heard that driving Hwy 1 along California’s coast was a beautiful drive. One summer, I drove a small portion of that highway between Monterey and Big Sur. Indeed, it was gorgeous. This time, I decided to take the opportunity and drive the portion between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Finding the coastal highway in Los Angeles wasn’t too hard, but staying on it proved to be tougher than expected as it wound through the city. I often became distracted by random street art, or surfers, or gas prices, etc. The day was overcast and hazy. I couldn’t tell if it was fog or smog, It was probably both. In any case, there wasn’t much of a view in any direction.
Channel Islands National Park, CA
The Channel Islands are a group of islands located off the coast of California. There are 8 in total, of which 5 belong to the National Park Service. I think of the Channel Islands as the United States’ version of the Galapagos. There are several species which are endemic to the islands. In other words, the flora and fauna of the islands have been removed long from their mainland relatives to have developed into their own unique subspecies.
All adventures to the Channel Islands begin with purchasing a boat ticket through Island Packers in Ventura, CA. Island Packers is the National Park’s concessionaire and the only company that is allowed to dock its vessels on the islands belonging to the National Park. It was rather easy to get a spot on a boat to Santa Cruz Island the next day. All I had to do was to find a place to stay. The map showed Los Padres National Forest as being the closest place and that’s where I went.
Los Padres National Forest
It rained all morning the day I went to the Channel Islands, which limited visibility, but kept it nice and cool.
Santa Cruz Island covered in fog
On my hike up from the beach, a woman asked me to borrow one of my hiking poles. I initially hesitated because it would mean I'd be stuck hiking with her until I got it back. But, I decided that she probably needed it more than I did, so I agreed. I ended up spending all day with her and her husband and son on the island. Since the parents were slower going, I hiked mostly with their son who was super interested in the accounting profession and asked me all sorts of questions about the subject. All I could think of was that I was not the ideal person to be talking to about the merits of the accounting profession as I was just getting out of it. Other subjects covered included: investments in real estate, substitute teaching, nursing school, and life in Vietnam.
Santa Cruz Island looking inland after the sun came out
In addition to being a place to see some unique plants and animals, the Channel Islands are also a really great place to witness the success of the National Park Service's (NPS) work in restoring the islands to what they would have been like before human presence. I learned that in the 1990s, the NPS professional hunters to come exterminate thousands of feral pigs, sheep, and other human introduced animals on the islands in an attempt to restore the islands to their natural state. I guess the park didn't think having the islands' plant life mowed down by farm animals gone wild was a good thing. The NPS also helped reintroduce bald eagles to the islands after having been wiped out by the use of pesticides such as DDT. Eagles were eating fish contaminated by DDT which is poisonous to adults and weakens their eggs so that they crush their own eggs while sitting on them.
Island of the Blue Dolphins
All in all, a day on the Island of the Blue Dolphins was enjoyable and I'd totally go back to do an overnight trip there as it's rather easy to camp on the islands.
