Trans Catalina Trail

My 32nd birthday wish was to hike the Trans Catalina Trail (most of it!)

 

We took the ferry across from San Pedro to Avalon. We checked into our hotel, got our permits, paid for the 3rd person at our campsite, got water to fill our packs, and got ice cream! It was a beautiful hot day and would have been a perfect for sitting on the beach and playing in the water all weekend. Instead I had a genius plan to hike about 50 miles in 4 days! 


We found a cute Italian place to have an early carb load dinner at and went back to the room pretty early. We made sure our bags were all packed with everything we needed and all of our phones charged. 

Saturday morning we got up, loaded everything in our bags, and headed for breakfast. Leaving a little later than planned we were off. After reading a lot of reviews many said that the first 5 miles on the exact trail were not really worth it so to shorten the first day a bit we went from Avalon to Black Jack via Hermit Gulch. It was still a long first day with a lot of uphill. We made it to camp with a couple hours before sunset. We set up camp. Rinsed off in the outdoor shower, which was so cold but still awesome! Black Jack had very few people besides a squatter who came to visit us with his beverage. We cooked dinner, watched the sunset, and headed to our tents for an early night.  

The next morning all of us were feeling the day before but knew we had a long day. We made breakfast and started to pack up. We only had a couple miles to get to the airport and it was already HOT! The airport was really cool. We got drinks and ICE for our water and AMAZING! We got snacks and cookies! One of the girls got a Bison Burger to go. This was genius and the bites I had at little harbor were heavenly. I enjoyed little harbor the most. We went in the ocean and had our lunch here. This is where I also realized my feet were worse than I thought they were. I had blisters between my toes and on both heels about the size of quarters. It was painful and I wasn’t sure I could walk much more.






After more moleskin, new socks, and pain from cleaning them we were off with the pain of every step up the next part which I felt was the steepest part! This day was incredibly hot. I used my umbrella a lot this day and the rest of the trip. It was a must have item for me and I am so glad I had it!




We made it to two harbors and I think we were a little crazy at this point. There was another buffalo on the trail and he didn’t look happy to see us. We went around and through a fence and would be happy if we were done seeing them. We went straight to the restaurant/bar! We found a table outside and dropped our packs, got drinks, chips and salsa, and charged all of our phones. After we figured out where the camp site was the sheriff offered us a ride to the campsite once we were done! Sweet we would take it! It was my first time in a cop car! We stopped at the top of the hill to watch the eclipse. It was really beautiful out there.  

Once to camp we realized we either didn’t get our firewood or someone snagged it before we got there. It would have been nice to have a fire but we also were ready to shower and get to sleep. We set up our tents, cooked a little food, cleaned up and went to bed. The next morning was incredible. We were one of the closet sites to the water looking over the main harbor. We wanted to pack up and leave but everything was damp. They had washer and dryers so we decided we could throw all of our damp stuff in to dry and it shouldn’t take too long. We got bottled water and a large bag of ice to fill up our camelbacks. Everything took much longer than planned but we finally got everything packed up and were off. The ice water was perfect.


I went the whole day with my umbrella and even applying sunblock often we were all getting some crazy tan lines. The day was pretty long getting to Parson’s Landing but wasn’t as bad as the day before. We got there a few hours before sunset and met a couple girls who came up on their kayak. The other two girls borrowed their kayak for a little bit to go play while they set up camp. We made a fire, dinner, and watched the sunset. Crawled into our tents early and planned to wake up early to finish the end of the trail to starlight beach.

Our alarms went off pretty early and we had a quick snack and headed towards starlight beach. It was a hilly up and down all the way to Starlight “beach”. I was honestly expecting this beautiful untouched beach. It was more of a cliff that you could climb down into this small rocky cove. I was not really impressed. We stayed for long enough to collect some sand and a couple rocks and headed back to pack up camp. We were planning on walking most of the road back because it was mostly flat but still had to put in a few miles. Most of the coves where beautiful and the water was very clear and blue. After a few miles in we saw our friendly sheriff again who offered to give us a ride back to Two Harbors! We took it! Our feet were aching and it would be good to get a drink and a real shower. We stayed at the Banning House and it was perfect. There was a buffalo just up from the house and it was like he was saying buy to us. We all got showers and headed to dinner down the hill. It was great and I even got dessert for my birthday! Even the server played in on it and gave me a little gift. I absolutely loved my trip there and would go back and hike again. It is a beautiful challenging Island and I am happy to say I have seen almost all of it!



The next morning, we took our time getting up and getting to the ferry. It was a nice ride back and I fell asleep. The drive home was pretty quick and we all went back to our life. It was a little odd trying to get back to our life at work and surrounded by more people when it was just the three of us for about 5 days. There were days when we talked very little or just put in our headphones to help making up the steep climbs a little more enjoyable. It was a change going back to day to day life and I realized on most of my trips I may want to get back into real life a little slower.

This birthday definitely goes down into one of the best!!

Money 
Ferry ticket                  $75
Hotel in Avalon           $250
Camping                      $66
Hotel in Two Harbors $270
Food/drinks                 $80
Experience                   PRICELESS!