September 12, 2017 Day
96
My alarm sounded off at 04:30 and then again at 04:35 but I
didn’t want to wake up. I wanted
nothing more than to close my eyes, crawl deeper into the covers and continue
my slumber. Unfortunately, I had to wake
up if I was going to follow thru on all my plans to go to the Santa Cruz Island
within the Channel Islands National Park.
The last couple days I have been making hundreds of phone calls to plan
this trip from booking the boat to booking my campsites and asking a million questions. I have to say that for someone who hates
planning trips I am fairly decent at it.
So I got up and as my oatmeal cooked and my coffee grew in strength I
zombie walked to the showers to obviously shower and get dressed in my hiking
clothes. Back at my camper, I grabbed my
oatmeal and coffee and sat inside my camper while I ate; looking up some last
minute information. Then I put on my new
hiking boots, that I will now call my galaxy boots for they look out of this
world and are nowhere near my style but they are comfortable, and proceeded to
hook up and pull away from my spot. At
the entrance, I wrote a short note and dropped off my key and then I pulled
away from the best RV Park I have been to and I have a feeling that I will ever
be too. I know that as soon as I acquire internet service I will be writing up
an awesome review of that place.
The drive to Ventura, California was only an hour drive and
I had to be there by 08:00 so I left at 06:00 just in case I ran into any sort
of traffic. The closer to Ventura that I
got the fewer vehicles I encountered which I liked and as I pulled into the
marina a mist clung to the air. Since I
was an hour early I parked and called up my mom to let her know I made it. We talked for a while until I had to say
goodbye so I could make sure my pack was ready to go for my adventure.
At 08:00, the doors opened and I went in to sign my name,
deliver my campsite numbers, emergency contact and to receive my parking
passes. From there my pack was weighed
at 36 pounds and then I removed my water and fuel for transport on the
boat. Then I waited ever so
patiently…haha yeah right. Finally, at
09:00 we were allowed to board the boat and like always I went straight to the
top deck and I couldn’t believe how excited I was to be back on a boat and on
the water! I do miss operating a boat
and being able to go out on the water more than I thought I would.
The boat ride to the island was tiring to say the least and
after we saw my first wild sea lions I fell asleep only to abruptly jerk
away. Boy did I jump too! After an hour ride, I could see Santa Cruz
Island and we were docking at Scorpion Beach to let the first set of
passengers, gear and kayaks off. It took
quite some time to unload but I passed the time by looking over the boat into
the crystal clear water. I could see all
the way to the bottom and there was kelp and fish everywhere.
With those passengers finally off we boated an additional 20
minutes to Prisoner Harbor where I was dropped off; along with a couple that
was doing the same trek as I. Upon unloading,
I immediately took to the trail to the campsite for I didn’t know exactly how
many miles it was (later I found out it was 3.5 miles) and it was 11:00. Right away with the hills! I was breathing like Darth Vader immediately;
however, I was not really out of breath which I know that probably makes no
sense at all. The entire hike was
uphill with I think only one downhill section. My legs were on fire and I did
not anticipate that there would be such hills: I probably should have looked at
a topographical map. I just hope that
the 14 mile hike tomorrow is not this bad.
I have to say though that the views are to die for and make up for all
the uphill battles! Looking out over the
ocean the water is crystal clear and a brilliant blue and is accentuated by
sheering high cliffs.
When I arrived at the campground I chose the far site that
was under a tree and went about setting up my tent. Then I started to boil some water to add to
my re-hydrated meal of Chana Masala. I
seemed to sit there forever waiting for the water to boil and when it finally
was at a boil I poured it into the bag, stirred it and then closed the bag to
let it sit for fifteen minutes. During
that time, I walked around and the couple had now joined me at the campground. They sat down at a picnic table near me and
the woman remarked that she was not expecting such steep terrain and I
completely agreed with her and we both hoped tomorrows hike wouldn’t be so
tough.
With my meal cooked I sat there eating it and rereading the
label on it at least twenty times out of boredom. After only a few bites I was full but forced
myself to eat at least half of it so that I would have the energy needed for
tomorrow and the meal itself was delicious.
I then sealed up the rest and placed it in my pack and put my pack in the
“fox” proof box. It was only around
14:00 but I was completely bored and discovered that I do not do well being
bored. Next time I will for sure deal
with the extra weight and bring a book and my journal. There was nowhere nearby that I really could
hike to so at 15:00 I crawled into my tent and lay on my thermarest
mattress. I then proceeded to put on
every article of clothing I had with me since I did not have a sleeping bag and
knew that I would be cold tonight and probably not sleep well.
With all my clothes on me I did wake up throughout the night
freezing cold and uncomfortable for normally I would put my extra clothes under
my head to act as a pillow. I spent the
majority of the night on my stomach for I was the warmest in that
position. The only reason I continued on
this trip knowing I did not have a sleeping bag is because I knew it wouldn’t
get to the point where it would be so cold that it would harm me in any way; it
would just be uncomfortable. In my
opinion I could sacrifice the comfort of
luxuries to enjoy this adventure I may never be able to experience again and I
was not about to let something so small as having no sleeping bag prevent me
from going on this adventure.
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