Kathy, Norah, and I regrouped on Sunday after going our separate ways for the past three days. Our next stop was Channel Islands National Park. We had reserved a campsite on Santa Cruz Island, the largest and most accessible of the Channel Islands. We awoke very early on Monday morning and began the drive to Ventura Harbor where we would catch our boat to Santa Cruz Island.

The boat ride from Ventura to Santa Cruz island was wonderful. The sun was shining bright, the temperatures were warm, and the breeze was refreshing. This was Norah’s first time on a boat and she really enjoyed it. The rocking motion of the boat put Norah to sleep in my lap. When Norah was awake she liked to get near the front of the boat so the wind could blow through her hair.

Once on Santa Cruz Island we received a short orientation from the park rangers, then carried our backpacking gear to the campground to get set up for the next two nights. Over the next two days we took two very nice hikes to Potato Harbor and Smuggler’s Cove, played in the ocean at Scorpion Harbor, ate wild oranges, and observed the rare Island Fox. Even in February the vegetation on the Channel Islands was green and the flowers were just starting to bloom. At times it even felt HOT, if you can believe that - it just didn’t seem like February to me.

Channel Islands National Park was definitely one of the highlights of our trip to Southern California. We want to go back to visit some of the other islands, or perhaps do a backpacking trip on Santa Cruz Island. The scenery was amazing and it was hard to believe that 10 million people live within 50 miles of these deserted islands.