Quiet time for the Hiking Diary

Swallowtail and Opuntia

Hey Readers (all 6 of you):

Things are likely to be quiet around here for the next couple of weeks -- we're going on vacation!  That's right, on Friday we are Boston-bound.  We are slated for a 13-day immersion in American history, from the Pilgrims to the whalers.  Two hundred and fifty years in just a fortnight.

I hope to get in a hike in New Hampshire -- so look for that posting here... Otherwise all the family vacation fun you could ever want to read will be available at Hubby's blog, Life in Two Harbors.

View toward Little Harbor from the Trans-Catalina Trail

What's on the horizon for July?

• recommended hikes and logistics for a weekend at Parson's Landing
• more about getting around Catalina -- a one-stop post for information about how to navigate the island by land
• camping at Little Harbor with the family, with the requisite hiking involved
• Cape Canyon hiking

And, for my local readers, where should I hike next?  East End?  Please suggest destinations in the comments -- I'll do the two most popular ones in July!

Salton Sea NWR

We visited the Salton Sea NWR way back in April.  Read out our trip, lost car topper and all, at Hubby's blog -- Life in Two Harbors.

I advise you to stop in at the Visitor's Center first.  The person there was very helpful and suggested a driving route that helped us to see a lot of birds -- including more than 20 burrowing owls and the barn owl hanging out in a palm tree at the Center itself.

Goat Whiskers Trail (again)

Date: 26 May 2011

Click to enlarge elevation profile

Who Hiked: Me

Route: Goat Whiskers Trail -Water Tank Road - TransCatalina Trail

Time: 0920 - 1315

Weather: sunny with some clouds, 60s to 70s, breezy

Distance: 6.9 miles (measured on GPS)
Elevation range: 0 ft - 1284 ft

This hike offers some lovely views of the West End of Catalina, both of the ocean and the near-side coves and of interior valleys. There are some lovely oak groves that attract resident and migrant birds. On clear days, you get great looks at the mainland and San Clemente Island. The ascents and descents are fairly steep, but not unusually so for Catalina trails.

I hiked some parts of this route previously. You can read about them here and here.

WWII Sunday

Elevation Profile of Road to Camp Cactus

Date: 22 May 2011

Who hiked:  Me, Hubby, Things 1 and 2, SuperC

Where:  Camp Cactus

When: 1255 - 1420

Weather:  overcast at first, turning mostly sunny; temps in 70s

Distance: 2.9 miles (measured on GPS)

Elevation Range: 480 - 780 ft
See end of post for a zoomed-out view of location.

Today the family plus a 10-year old friend (SuperC) took a short hike to Camp Cactus. We had first seen these buildings during our Bullrush Canyon hike. We didn't know anything about the site then; later I learned that it had been a radar facility during World War II.

Rain? Really?

I know I won't get any sympathy from my midwestern and eastern family and friends, but I'm ready to be done with rain.

It has rained here three out of the last four days...

And I want to go hiking.

But rain on on Catalina = mud on Catalina.  Really thick, slippery mud.  Making hiking treacherous and certainly a lot less fun.

I'm hoping to hike tomorrow to Cape Canyon Reservoir...  keep your fingers crossed for a sunny afternoon to dry out the roads and trails!

Bolsa Chica #3

Where: Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach

When: 11 May 2011, ~1010 to ~ 1145
Who:  me, Dr. Centrocercus, Mrs. Centrocercus, Dr. Quiscalus

I was so pleased to see some old friends this week: my PhD advisor (Dr. Centrocercus), his wife (Mrs. Centrocercus), and a friend/colleague from grad school (Dr. Quiscalus).  They are in town to go on a birdwatching cruise from Long Beach to Vancouver.

All are birdwatchers (an understatement for the two Drs...) and we had a morning together, so I decided to take them to Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.

West End Catalina Fire

Those of you in SoCal have probably heard about the recent fire on the west end of Catalina.

I wrote an article for The Catalina Islander about the fire. What I submitted is below.  I've inserted some of my pictures in the text -- some of these ran in the paper as well.

Fire Pushed Back from Banning House Lodge
6 May 2011
by Lori Nelson

A fire broke out on the hillside below the Banning House Lodge near Catalina Harbor in the afternoon on May 2. By the next morning, the fire had scorched 117 acres, narrowly missing the 101-year-old Banning House Lodge.