Day 0: Avalon to Hermit Gulch Campground - 1.5 miles (4.21.2021)
Our first day on the Trans-Catalina Trail technically started at home in Washington state as my friend, Madalyn, and I flew from Seattle to Los Angeles. We took an Uber from the airport to San Pedro, where we then took a ferry to Catalina Island. We were the only people in the ferry terminal until we noticed four other people with large backpacks heading our way. “Look, other backpackers!” I whispered to Madalyn. As the group approached us, they asked if this was the place to board the ferry to Avalon and we said yes.
Waiting to board the ferry in San Pedro
A few minutes later, we all boarded the ferry. I was kind of surprised that there were only six of us on the ferry, but I reminded myself that it was a random Wednesday afternoon, so it probably wasn’t actually that weird. The captain announced that the ride to Catalina would be approximately 90 minutes, so I made myself comfortable. The rocking of the ferry actually lulled me to sleep for a little while! When I woke up, we were almost there.
First view of Catalina Island
As the ferry docked, one of the guys from the other group came up and introduced himself to us. He told us he was hiking the Trans-Catalina Trail with his girlfriend and the other couple that was with them. We soon discovered that we would be staying at the same campground for three of the four nights! He also told us that his group was getting dinner at a restaurant on the edge of Avalon called The Sand Trap, which was a restaurant I’d read about in my research. Madalyn and I said we would try to join, but we had to stop at the grocery store first and didn’t know if we would get to the restaurant before it closed.
After we got off the ferry, we quickly walked to the grocery store, Von’s, set on finding a few things. I wanted to get a lighter and Madalyn needed stove fuel. I had paid for a can of fuel to be delivered to our campsite, since we hadn’t been able to fly with one. Unfortunately, we could not find any fuel canisters, so we decided to share mine until we got to Two Harbors.
Golf carts in the grocery store parking lot
As we walked through Avalon towards the restaurant, we noticed that most people were driving golf carts around town. In fact, the parking lot at the grocery store was filled solely with golf carts and did not even look big enough to accommodate full sized cars! It was pretty amusing to watch, but I guess that’s just island life!
We soon found The Sand Trap, and the group we had met on the ferry waved us over to join them. I ordered a strawberry daiquiris that was delicious after a long day of travel. We stayed until the restaurant closed at 7pm and then we all walked up the road to Hermit Gulch campground. Hermit Gulch is a pretty big campground, but somehow, Madalyn and I ended up in the campsite next to our new friends! We pitched our tents at our site and then joined the other group for a small fire before going to bed.
Our campsite at Hermit Gulch Campground
Day 1: Hermit Gulch Campground to Black Jack Campground - 9.2 miles, 10.7 miles total (4.22.2021)
Madalyn and I had a slow, leisurely morning at camp, knowing we only had to hike 9.2 miles to our next campsite. Our friends had not been able to get a site at Black Jack, so they were hiking all the way to Little Harbor Campground, which was 17.4 miles away! They left camp much earlier than we did.
Starting the trail!
We took a few pictures by the trailhead sign and then started hiking. Immediately, the trail started climbing. I had been a little worried about this climb because of a few things I’d read online, but it actually wasn’t too bad. There were a lot of switchbacks that made the elevation gain pretty moderate. In fact, I think this first climb was actually the easiest of the major climbs on the entire trail. Once we got to the top, we could see Avalon and the Pacific Ocean below us and the rolling desert hills stretching out in front of us. I was filled with such joy knowing I was about to explore the island in such a unique way.
At the top of the first climb, looking back at Avalon
At the first trail junction, we found a sign warning us that bison roam free on the island and that they can be dangerous. The bison are not native to the island: they were brought over for a movie and never taken back to the mainland. Before the trip, I’d really looked forward to seeing the bison and was worried that we wouldn’t see any at all. That worry was short lived. After hiking for about 4 miles, we started to see evidence of the bison: hoof prints in the dirt and piles of dung next to the trail. Sure enough, we came up over a hill and saw a herd of about 20 bison on the next hill over!
Herd of bison!
We could also see that our trail went right through the herd. Thankfully, there was a road near the trail that we were able to use to detour around the bison. It was so cool seeing them in person, but they are massive and we didn’t want to get too close!
We continued on the trail for a bit until we found a picnic table overlooking the ocean and realized it was lunch time. I enjoyed my tuna and rice chips while gazing out over the sky blue Pacific Ocean.
Lunch view overlooking the ocean
Once we started hiking again, the trail turned away from the ocean into the center of the island. Even without the ocean views, the scenery was still spectacular. We saw lots of cacti, several of which had flowers in bloom. The yellow blooms were a dazzling splash of color across the desert landscape. We passed through valleys with tall bushes and trees, which were quite different from the barren ridges we had walked in the morning.
A cactus in bloom
We were about 1.5 miles from Black Jack campground when we started to get tired. It was only 1:30pm, but we were both ready to get to camp. Dark grey clouds moved over the island and I think that sabotaged my mood even more. We came to Southern California to escape the clouds. They seemed to have followed us. We also realized that we had one more steep climb into camp, which neither of us were very happy about. This climb was harder than the one in the morning. Unlike the first climb, there were not many switchbacks to spread out the elevation gain. It was pretty much just straight up the hill.
Grey clouds before the last climb into camp
Finally, we arrived at Black Jack at about 2:15pm and located our assigned campsite. We were one of the first groups to the campground that day. We set up our tents and I changed out of my hiking clothes into my sleeping clothes to stay warm. Even though it wasn’t that cold, there was a constant breeze that made me a little chilly. I really just wanted to lay in my sleeping bag, but felt bad about doing that since it was so early in the afternoon.
Madalyn and I tried to have a fire, but the wind kept blowing it out. That was pretty discouraging and we got bored. I was feeling pretty bummed out, but then I looked up and noticed a lone bison at the other end of the campground. He was just minding his own business, eating grass. I took some photos and admired the beast from afar. Eventually, other groups started arriving and setting up camp. Madalyn and I made friends with another group and they invited us to have dinner at their campfire since they had better luck with a fire then we did. A warm fire, good conversation, and food did wonders for my mood.
Bison at Black Jack Campground
Right before it got dark, the bison wandered through the campground to a water trough on the other side. Everyone in the camp, including me, stopped what they were doing to watch the bison and take pictures. The bison completely ignored everyone. After he got some water, he wandered back across camp to the grassy area. It was very cool and I felt grateful to be on the island, doing something I love even though I’d had some bummer moments earlier in the day.
I stayed up enjoying the fire a little longer, but went to bed fairly early. Our next campground was about 14 miles away, so I wanted to get a good night of sleep!
Perfect fire after a long day
