Trans-Catalina Trail 2021

This was a long weekend excursion I was fortunate to take with my old pal Doug, in November.  We kind of threw it together last minute and it ended up working out really well.  I was quite leery about a backpacking trip on Catalina Island–I expected we’d be sharing the trail with golf carts full of drunken bachelorette partiers.  But not only were the towns fairly deserted, but the interior of the island was completely empty!

We took a ferry from San Pedro to Two Harbors.  During the peak season I’m sure it’s bustling, but in November it felt nearly abandoned.  It gave the trip an almost eerie vibe, like we were in some banana republic harbor that had been abandoned due to a popular uprising.  The tiny market was the only thing open, so we loaded up on a few provisions and hit the trail.

Our first few hours were spent in a grueling and exposed climb up a couple thousand feet to a fantastic view of the north end of the island.  The marine layer collides with the island and spills around both ends, creating a little pocket to leeward.  It looked like a slow motion river flowing over the hills.  Coming down was even more brutal than going up, and we barely dragged ourselves into the beachside camp before dark.

The next day we worked our way around the NE edge of the island back to Two Harbors.  (So named because it sits at a narrow isthmus where you can walk from one side of the island to the other in about 3 minutes.)  We then made another steep climb up into the mountains and began working our way south.  We walked the crestline for a few hours, with panoramic views of where we’d been and where we’d soon be.  The next night was spent at a little surfer camp nestled under palm trees.

For Day 3 we hiked up to the Catalina airport and enjoyed some giant burgers and a beer.  A single engine plane landed while we were there; it looked to be a dad and his little girl out on an adventure.  That night we camped at elevation in a lightly forested area.

It was definitely a more challenging hike than I anticipated–water was nonexistent, the climbs and descents were quite steep and shade was a precious commodity.  In fact, it was exciting anytime a tree was spotted.  I can’t imagine doing it in the summer!  We never saw any bison, but we saw 7 Catalina Foxes, which are endemic to the island. 

We walked out of the mountains into Avalon and grabbed some well-earned micheladas.  Then it was a ferry back to Lang Beach and a long train ride home to Doug’s place.  Success!