Channel Islands National Park

On a sunny weekend of July 2008 I went on for a three day excursion to Santa Cruz island in Channel Islands national park. Me and about a dozen or so people from a meetup group went on a Island Packers boat ride of just over an hour to arrive at Scorpion bay on the largest island of the NP. The campground is less than a mile from the harbor thus many people on the boat were caring large items such as ice chests to the campground making it feel more like car camping vs. backpacking. I guess the proper description would be boat camping. On the first day of my visit to the island I went on snorkeling in and around the Scorpion bay and for a short hike of about three miles to watch the sunset over Pig's bay. On the second day I went on another snorkeling trip this time trying to swim a bit further and try to check out some of the sea caves. I managed to go into some caves, however, most caves are best explored with a kayak unless you like swimming long distances. Next time when I am here I will explore with a kayak. Maybe even I go as far as Prisoner's harbor and check out the painted cave which is the largest sea cave in the world. After snorkeling I went on for a hike to Chinese bay which was almost 18 mile round trip hike which ended this exciting day. On the last day I went for a 12 mile round trip hike to the Smuggler's cove and an overlook to its right. Compared to the Chinese harbor the Smuggler's cove was not very exciting. Another boat trip and I was back on the mainland, with some views of whales thrown in.

Click thumbnails to see larger image and more detailed explanation of what is shown on a given picture.

whale swimming 3	whale swimming 2	whale swimming 1
whale splash from going up in the air	whale exchailing 3	whale exchailing 2
whale exchailing 1	water is clear and you can see the ocean floor around 15ft deep here	view just above the upper campsite
very steep rock around pig bay on sant cruz island	underwater caves in the clif just to the right of scorpion bay on santa cruz island	some of the higher 1600ft peaks of Santa Cruz island largest one in the interior of the island is almost 2500ft
smugglers cove from overlook at santa cruz isalnd	santa cruz island scorpion bay from the right bank	santa cruz island fox 3
santa cruz island fox 2	santa cruz island fox 1	santa cruz island cost line
sant cruz island from pig bay overlook	sant cruz island cost just before sunset	sail boats from the left of the scorpion bay on santa cruz island
sail boats at a small bay to the right of scorpion bay on santa cruz island in channel islands national park california	sail boat	our motor boat
more sea caves at santa cruz isalnd	more fog over the hills	looking towards the ocean
little valleys on sant cruz island interior	large sail boat goes back towards califronia cost	large fraighter moving few miles from the cost of sant cruz island
its a long way down towards the bay	it looks like the water is cold	from overlook to the right of smugglers cove on santa cruz island
fog rolling over the hills of Santa Cruz island	fog over hills of sant cruz island	day is almost over at bay of pigs
another place to park your sail boat on sant cruz island	another look at the mini mountain range	anacapa island see over rolling hills
anacapa island from the scorpion bay overlook of santa cruz island	abandomed oil scouting drill

Album created on 2008-07-27 and last updated on 2008-07-27