Caching on Catalina: Part 1

TCT marker near Two Harbors

In early August, my family took an epic, back country hiking trip along the Trans-Catalina Trail.  The TCT is a relatively new trail that stretches across almost the entire length of Catalina Island (located about 25 miles off the coast of Los Angeles).  It was a fantastic hike, and a good multi-day adventure for our family.  Although we are not novice backpackers, (we have done some segments of the Pacific Crest Trail and we have done several grueling treks across Anza Borrego desert to Red Top), this was a long hike by our standards.  There was a very recent blog post by SoCal Hiker (here) that provides a lot of information on how to do the TCT. Information on the Catalina Island Conservancy (TCT, camping, and boating information) can be found here.

Hiking along the ridge towards Little Harbor

Little Harbor: Our camp site was on the left edge of this picture

We took the ferry from San Pedro, and after a stop at Avalon (where most people got off) the ferry took us to Two Harbors.  Our plan was to hike from Two Harbors back to Avalon and catch the return ferry there.  We picked up our permits and purchased firewood in Two Harbors, and then stopped at the general store for a few last minute items.  Our hike began around mile 26 (if you want to follow along, here is a pdf map of the trail) and not too far out of Two Harbors was a cache known as 'With Child' (link).  Unfortunately, we would have had to backtrack a bit to get to the cache, so although I was only a couple of hundred feet from GZ, we had to let it go.  We passed two more caches on the first segment, as they were again located on trails that were out of the way for us. Finally, we worked our way down the ridgeline to the place we had been longing for all day.  My family will say it was the campground, but for me it was my first cache of the trip.  We dropped our gear off at Campsite 9, and my family wanted to relax awhile before setting up camp.  I wandered off to get the cache 'Out on a limb' (link). First published by Doxyluvr in September 2011, this cache had only been found 12 times before I came along.  A typical San Diego cache would get 12 logs in the first few days after it published, so this one is kinda lonely.  I had to walk through another campsite to get to GZ, so I was glad those people were not there yet. After a brief spin around the object at GZ, I made the find.

A couple of trackables at camp

After setting up camp, taking some travel bug pics, and eating dinner, we explored the harbor.  We followed the beach to its northern end to look for a cache called 'Marley's cache' (link).  I was barefoot at the time and when I got to GZ, I realized I would have to go back to camp for shoes.  There were a lot of coordinate issues with this one when it first published, and I wasn't sure how far off the beach I was going to have to tread. Cactus thorns and long hikes do not mix well. Fortunately, the cache was a quick find, even though it was very well-cammo'd and the coords were off a bit. I was 6th to find since Sept 2011 (Doxyluvr hid this one, too).

A wonderful evening at camp

The last cache near the camp was 'SOS Rock' (link) and with a 3-star difficulty and terrain rating, I was a little hesitant to go after it.  The approach from Marley's cache looked difficult and previous logs suggested it may be quite treacherous (the owner, BMKSS, even put a 'dangerous cliffs' icon on the description).  I was tired and could not afford an unnecessary injury, so I let that one go. Besides, it gives me an excuse to come back to this wonderful little campground!  By dusk, I was the only one awake, so I took a glass of wine back to the beach. I can post pictures, but it really doesn't capture the peaceful nature of this spot. Particularly at heavy dusk, when the purples come out in the sky and the who-whish of the waves is the only stimulus.  This is why I like to geocache in these crazy places, to see things that few people ever get a chance to enjoy.