Channel Islands
National Park, March 23, 2012
Pics: Oxnard, Mandalay Embassy Suites, Anacapa Island, the new Far Western
Tavern
Weather: Clear
and cool, marine haze
Quote of the day:
A winter's day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island
DB has been planning this trip to
another national park for months and finally the time is right; after a visit
with parental units in LA, it is a short trip up the Pacific Coast Highway to
Oxnard, where we spend the night before an 8am boat ride to one of the five
islands that make up the Channel Islands NP.
Dinner the night before at Sea Fresh in the harbor: ahi tuna and
blackened halibut and veggie rice bowls, shared salad and bottle of wine $75.
We’re there at 7:20am to stand around
and admire the harbor and to try and stay warm, temp in the high 50s to low
60s. It takes about an hour for the boat to reach Anacapa, where the boat idles
backwards against a thin pier as each person negotiates a short leap on to the
landing, followed by 185 steps up the fairly flat small mesa atop Anacapa.
We opt to accompany Joel the
volunteer ranger on the short hike (it has to be short, the total of the hiking
trails on the island is 2 miles). This is when we find out that the trip for
the day before was cancelled due to high winds. PHEW! That was the day we had planned on going until the boat
company told DB they had booked the entire boat for drop off of campers, so no
NP visits.
Joel does a great job, explaining
the history of the islands, why we are seeing so many gulls (they breed in big
numbers on the island), the transition from native Chumash Indians to Coast
Guard to National Park Service, and of special interest to THB: the challenge
of trying to eradicate ice plant (THB is putting his money on the ice plant
surviving, just as it is in Monterey County after years of attempts to
eradicate it). Total time on the island:
around 2.75 hours.
Back on the boat, an hour back to
Oxnard harbor and then 2 hours or so up Highway 101 to one of THB’s all-time
favorite restaurants for a late lunch (or in this case, a very early dinner) at
the Far Western, in its new location in Orcutt (much closer to 101 than when it
was in Guadalupe). Steak for THB, hamburger and fries for DB (fries that THB
does more than his share of helping out with), two draft brewskies, $50. Perfect!
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