In early October, Paul, Lavonne and I set out on a kayak-camping trip to Santa
Rosa Island. We arranged kayak rentals from
Island Kayakers, and booked a passage with
Island Packers.
We nearly had the island to ourselves: other than us, there were but a handful of hikers in
the campground, and a lonely hiker camping on the south beaches. No one
else was kayaking on the north shore.
On Friday, we paddled north against the current from the landing at Becher's Bay,
around Carrington Point and west to Lobos Canyon where we camped. On Saturday, we
paddled further west to a stretch of open beach past Brockway Point and camped there.
Then on Sunday we paddled back – or rather steered back – with a strong current pushing
us along. We stopped for lunch at a sheltered bay on the east side of the island.
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Friday: Our boat made a stop on Santa Cruz island before proceeding to Santa Rosa. Here is a view of some bluffs near the Scorpion Anchorage on Santa Cruz.
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A view of a guano-covered rock off of Santa Cruz.
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After a 3.5 hour trip, and a briefing by a dour Park Ranger, the adventure began. Here are Paul and Lavonne loading up the kayaks on the beach at Bechers Bay.
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Lavonne, stuffing her dry-bags.
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I have a water-proof camera housing, which made these pictures possible. However, water droplets on the lens covering and condensation are persistent problems. Here's an (obscured) view of Lavonne paddling through a narrow, shallow opening through the rocks on our way to Carrington Point.
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She makes it through.
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A hole in the cliff wall just before Carrington Point.
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We arrived at our first campsite, Lobos Canyon, after a three hour paddle, at 4:30pm. It was a narrow opening in the cliff walls, with a short stretch of beach. Beyond the beach was a small pool of fresh water from the canyon stream. Here are Paul and Lavonne huddling for warmth.
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I put on my wetsuit to do some late-afternoon snorkeling.
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Paul asserted that he wasn't getting wet again that day.
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Saturday morning: Paul unpacking our breakfast material.
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A view out of Lobos Canyon towards Carrington Point.
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Lavonne returning from a morning stroll.
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As the song says, "It's gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiny day".
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I'm not sure if I was quite awake at this point.
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On the park map, there were little icons of birds and seals at various spots. This was definitely a spot deserving a bird icon.
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We didn't mean to disturb them, but the birds (pelicans, cormorants and gulls) would often scatter in spectacular fashion when we approached.
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Lavonne wearing her grandmother's hat.
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Yet another view of the area around Lobos Canyon.
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There were birds here before we scared them off.
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"I give you ... Santa Rosa Island."
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A disheveled camper, early in the morning.
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Lavonne with Carrington Point in the background.
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Enough site-seeing. It's time to start paddling. A view up Lobos Canyon.
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A shot of me paddling (out of focus, unfortunately).
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Another shot (again out of focus – I've got to look into the auto-focus settings on my camera).
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Lavonne out at sea.
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Surf pounding on rocks near Brockway Point.
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A better view of the same location.
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Surf pounding a narrow inlet.
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We hadn't made a decision to land yet, but Lavonne got caught in the surf and washed ashore (without rolling her kayak!). You can see her pink kayak off to the left.
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I decided to join Lavonne, but got caught in a wave, and tumbled all the way to shore. Here Paul makes a proper beach landing.
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There's no denying it: beach landings are fun.
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A view of the beach where we camped, looking north towards Brockway Point.
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Who would have guessed that we would be spelunking?
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What's this? Random markings in the sand? Ancient art left behind by the Chumash Indians? No, it's a buxom, headless mermaid drawn by Paul.
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We took a late afternoon stroll down the deserted beach after setting up camp. I spotted something on a hill-top that I thought resembled an elk. A long discussion ensued as to whether this was an elk or a gnarled little tree. It turns out that I was right! We soon spotted other elks on the hillside.
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There was a great tide-pool area at the west end of the beach. You'll notice that Lavonne is holding an abalone shell. She had no intention whatsoever of keeping it, since we all know that taking souvenirs from National Parks is absolutely forbidden.
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Beautiful green gunk on the rocks (my camera housing was fogging a bit at this point)
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Paul and Lavonne posing with the green gunk.
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Paul and Lavonne by the tide pools.
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Me, with a view of the beach looking east behind me.
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Sunday morning: a view of our humble campsite as we were about to depart.
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With the wind and current blowing and flowing in our direction, we were making great time on the paddle back. Most of the effort was simply in keeping our kayaks pointed in the right direction. (For some reason, this was challenging in the strong current). Here's a view of the tallest cliffs, somewhere east of Brockway Point.
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Rounding Carrington Point was a bit of a challenge. The swell was considerable – perhaps 8 to 10 feet – and the waves crashing against the rocks looked menacing indeed. However, that all changed after rounding the point. It was like crossing from the stormy North Atlantic to the placid South Pacific. In a sheltered bay, there was a curious phenomenon: water swelled and then spray erupted (probably due to trapped air), as shown in this picture.
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We stopped for lunch at another sheltered bay. After lunch, I went snorkeling. It was a great spot for it, but the water was just too cold, even with a wetsuit.
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Here's a view of me in the bay. It looked almost tropical.
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Paul.
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And Lavonne.
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Pelicans look like tasty birds. Why don't people eat them?
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Up-close, Pelicans are impressive birds, with subtle coloring (red, yellow, blue) on their heads.
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On the ride back, the boat pulled into the famous Painted Cave on Santa Cruz Island.
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Although not much can be discerned in this picture, the cave is spectacular.
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