On February 21, I hopped aboard a boat to Catalina, where I spent 4 days hiking the Trans-Catalina Trail. Officially, the TCT is a 38.5 mile trek across Catalina island. I began in Avalon and hiked to Two Harbors, before continuing on to Parsons Landing for one night and taking the boat back to the mainland.
Preparations
After hiking the San Diego Trans-County Trail again, I came back with a bunch of beat up gear. I replaced my trekking poles, tarp, and poncho, in addition to generally trying to clean and refresh my pack. With that done, however, I practically had a whole new pack to do a shakedown on, so I began brainstorming.
The idea of doing the Trans-Catalina Trail has been bouncing around my head for a couple of years now. I had never been to Catalina previously, but it looked really cool. So, I began some research and decided to jump on in.
Unfortunately, this is an expensive hike. Campground reservations are required at around $20+ a night, and if you have to pay for the Catalina Express to get to the island, like I did, that’s not cheap, either. Add in food/drinks in town and such, and parking if need be, too.
The worst part of preparation for this one: after booking everything, I received a phone call the night before I set out: Parsons Landing was closed because the road in had washed out with all the recent storms. I swapped it to a Little Harbor reservation and hoped that maybe the situation might change when I got to the island. I packed up and headed to the trail.
Day Zero
The boat over to Avalon was largely uneventful. I parked in the related parking garage in Long Beach and jumped on board the boat. The waters were a bit rocky from the wind and weather, but nothing that I really minded in any way.
Arriving in Avalon, I was pretty confused about where to go. I had booked a campsite at Hermit Gulch the first night, so I didn’t really have to hike far, Hermit Gulch being within Avalon. As it turned out, the people at the conservancy center in Avalon told me to just go ahead and check in at the campground. There wasn’t anyone there, though, so ultimately, I just ended up going to my reserved spot and setting up for the night.
As night set in, I kept seeing some adorable Catalina Island Foxes exploring their way through camp. Probably hoping me or the other campers might drop some sweet morsel for them. Noone did (that I saw). The things are about the size of house cats, and even more cute. I fell in love watching them wander before I turned in for the night. I would continue seeing them moreorless every day on the trail, and they’re just the absolute best thing ever.
Day One : Hermit Gulch to Black Jack
Waking up at Hermit Gulch, I decided to pack up and head down to the Nature center for a bit. The center didn’t open until a bit later, but I was able to sit outside, drink some Nuun Energy to get the day started, and charge my phone to be ready for the journey ahead.
By about 10am, I decided it had been long enough and set up the trail. From looking at the map, it seemed possible to either head the official route up the Hermit Gulch Trail, or take a longer stop through Wrigley Memorial and Botanic Garden. I opted to just take the official route this go, up the Hermit Gulch Trail.
Of course, this began immediately with a climb up to the higher elevations in the center of the island. Thankfully, it was actually quite a beautiful climb, as it began following a small creek that was flowing mildly before climbing up the ridgeline to some incredible views at the island around me.
At the top of the first climb, the trail followed a dirt road for a while before turning off back to single track as it made its way through the Haypress Reservoir area. I actually got confused and almost road walked right past the trail at the reservoir, but I ended up quite glad that I noticed and kept to the trail. While the views the first day largely paled to the following days, at least staying on single track proved nice while I could.
Just beyond Haypress, I also saw the first two bison of the trip. The bison on the island are not native: they were brought there for the filming of an old movie, and then just left there. The population is managed at 100 members, leaving quite a bit of opportunity to see some, but I only saw the occasional few. I enjoyed them nonetheless.
From there, there was one surprising water crossing at Upper Cape Reservoir. After stopping at the edge of the reservoir for a moment and considering my options, it was clear that others before me had just walked through the water. So, I just took off my shoes and socks, and trudged through the edge, where a small stream was feeding in. It felt like quicksand as I tried to quickly lift my foot from one sinking hole to the next before finally making my way through to the muddy other side. As if not already covered in mud from the gross feeling trudge, I had to stop for a moment to clean my feet and get going again.
Finally arriving at Black Jack around mid afternoon, there wasn’t anyone else around yet. I found my reserved campsite and made a quick business call I needed to do, and then sat and hung out for a bit. The campground, surprisingly, ended up totally filling up with hikers. I guess a bunch of people opted to take this weekend to do this one. I chatted with a few for a while before heading to sleep for the night.
Day Two : Black Jack to Two Harbor
Sleeping was a lot more rough at Black Jack. The night was cold. Cold enough that I noticed frost spread intermittently throughout camp on the ground in the morning. Catalina almost never has a frost event, but there it was. And with a full campground, it also meant waking up in the middle of the night to neighbors snoring and all of that kind of fun. Overall, I got the sleep I needed, although it was a lot of tossing and turning. I ate breakfast and set off on the trail.
Airport in the Sky came up quick. I stopped in to check it out. Some military guys were around and said hi, and I spent some time gazing in the gift shop and eyeing the menu at the restaurant. I decided to just grab a small bite out of my pack instead of ordering food there, and then I continued on. When I get back in the future, I’ll have to actually stop and eat there!
The trail after the airport is some of my favorite of the trail. After a short bit of hiking, the trail overlaps with Big Springs Ridge trail, down to Little Harbor Campground. As the name suggests, the trail primarily follows along a high ridge before dropping down to the beach. With views on both sides left, ahead, and behind, I was impressed by what was just a hint of that to follow.
Finally making it all the way down from the ridge, I stopped at Little Harbor Campground for a bit to eat some lunch. A lot of what I read online about this hike spent a lot of time praising this campground. And, honestly, I can see why. This is the kind of campground a lot of people would love. For me: it was okay. I’m not remotely heartbroken that I didn’t stay, honestly. But I enjoyed staying at the beach, eating lunch, and taking a moment to relax before the next, grueling climb.
The section from Little Harbor to Two Harbor is also often cited as having the best views of the whole hike. That’s probably true. While I thoroughly enjoyed Big Springs Ridge, the way out of Little Harbor was up, up, up, until even more amazing views of the island than any preceding came into view.
This section is also the one that got my fear of heights the most. During one point of the climb, I had to sit down and let some hikers coming down from the opposite direction pass. The worst part of this was a steep climb up to a small, covered picnic table with an absolutely unbelievable view. With the combined steepness of the trail and a steepness of both sides of the ridge (it probably felt significantly worse to me than it is), it was a bit freaky! I took it slow and shakey and stopped to scream my lungs out at the top.
Once I made it up to the small, covered picnic table and continued along a wider double track on another ridge, the trail finally began its descent down into Two Harbor. Along the way, I ran into another group of bison in the middle of the trail that I had to wait a few minutes to get out of my way. Otherwise, it was just a pleasant, beautiful stroll into the small town at the isthmus of the island.
Getting in to Two Harbor, I checked in for my campground at the visitor services building and walked the quarter mile to camp. I didn’t realize that a small trail leads along the beach, with less climb, to the campground, so I followed the actual road in, meaning I actually hiked there more than necessary. Nonetheless, I stayed up in Two Harbor for the night and enjoyed a campsite with a view, albeit also with tons of noise from the plentiful numbers of other campers there.
Day Three : Two Harbor to Parsons Landing
Waking up Sunday morning, I packed up and headed back in to Two Harbor. The restaurant has some outside seating with outlets that I was able to sit at and charge my phones again for a while. Eventually, I headed back in to the visitor services building, where I discovered that Parsons Landing had reopened, and I was able to once again change my reservation back there. After a small breakfast at the galley, I set out on the way to Parsons, excited to actually be able to hike the whole Trans-Catalina Trail.
Following the long climb up out of Little Harbor, I really wasn’t excited about the steep climb out of Two Harbor. While there are 2 routes, I wanted to take the steep route in and leave the easy road walk for the final day back to Two Harbor.
While making the steep climb up the canyon, I turned on Pink Floyd’s The Wall on my phone for some extra motivation. I absolutely love that album, and it always seems so fitting to listen to it leading up to or during a big, difficult climb like this. This was no exception. The music was amazing, and before long, I had made it to the top, where I followed the trail along yet another ridge before making the extremely steep way down to Parsons Landing.
I had actually read quite a lot of warnings about how steep and slippery it is on the way down to Parsons. The steepness was certainly no joke. As my knees hate that shit, this part especially just sucked. The views were pretty spectacular, and the ground being a bit saturated actually seemed to make it more spongy and easier to get a solid footing (if it was actually wet, that probably would not have been the same story). It still seemed to take just forever, and my knees complained at me with every step.
Alas! With a little persistence, I made it down to Parsons Landing! The campsite that I ended up at was basically the longest walk from the road in, but it turned out to be a private little campsite nestled in a nearly private cove on the beach. It was stunning.
It was already mid afternoon when I arrived at Parsons. I didn’t hike especially slow, but I had gotten a late start in the morning. Taking some time to setup camp, I looked at my watch, studied my map, and… I decided to just stay in Parsons for the night. Some part of me had wanted to go to Starlight Beach, but with not even expecting to make it to Parsons that day, I was perfectly content. Instead of hiking on, I turned on some music (starting with Celebration by Kool and the Gang) on my phone and just enjoyed myself in camp for the night.
Thankfully, for Parsons, I bought a locker, which includes a bundle of firewood, a firestarter, and 2.5 gallons of water. Clearly, others before me didn’t use all their water, as 3 of those jugs were in the bear box at my campsite (many campgrounds have bear boxes on the island, to prevent the foxes and other critters from getting in the food, like they inevitably do). I would leave a fourth after topping off my own water bottles.
Day Four : Finish
I actually went to bed pretty early on the final night, just a bit after sunset and once my fire had died down to just a pile of embers. As such, I ended up waking up at like 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I was fully rested after more than 8 hours of sleep already. Happy, I spent some time hanging around camp and watching the sunrise.
The thought of getting up and going to Starlight Beach in the morning had crossed my mind the night before, but ultimately, I was just content to get back to Two Harbor, eat a Buffalo Burger at the restaurant, and get off the island. So, I decided to skip Starlight altogether and just follow the road on back to Two Harbor.
The easy route here was… well, it was the easier part of the whole hike! But it also gave its own rewards, as the road largely followed the coastline the entire way in. With such an easy hike to finish on, nothing eventful happened until I finally got to Two Harbor and finished the hike. The hike was completely flat relative to the rest of it, and it spent the entire time on just the one road. I enjoyed it for its simplicity.
Finally arriving in Two Harbor, I got that Buffalo Burger, checked in for the boat, and left Catalina for the mainland again. The boat from Two Harbor stopped in Avalon before going to San Pedro, where I hailed an Uber back to Long Beach and finished the entire experience.
Reflections
Overall, I did end up doing all of the official 38.5 miles of the Trans-Catalina Trail. Unfortunately, I really didn’t do any of the side trips along the way, opting to just get through this one pretty quick. Unfortunate, but I don’t regret it. A quick hike like this was kinda what I was feeling, what I was able to make work, and rewarding and fulfilling in all of its own right. I wouldn’t change it.
Interesting points about this hike: My pictures are probably unusually green and watery. Waking up to frost on the ground is extremely unusual on Catalina. It was actually downright chilly for more of the hike than it was warm. And the campgrounds were full, and kinda loud, to be frank (I may have contributed to that one night, as I hung out with other groups in Black Jack). That last point might prove to be common, but otherwise, I got to see a side of Catalina that’s not quite as common. It’s typically hot, not nearly so green, and certainly not nearly so much water actively flowing around the island. I’m really glad to have gotten this experience as such.
And I want to go back. Primarily, I would like to take a little bit longer to do the hike, but do a lot more side trips. Eat at the airport. See some of the lookouts and things that I skipped by. Spend more time in Avalon; I really didn’t do an Avalon experience on this trip, but the town is SUPER adorable.
With all of that said, what about my lovely readers? Well, I definitely do recommend this one, if you’re up for the hiking. It is steep and difficult. But anyone who’s up for it could try it. It’s an extremely developed thru-hike, with most of the dangers coming from the wildlife and exposure, as opposed to some of the more deep wilderness dangers (it’s still just as much true, though: any time you go out in wilderness, it is a survival situation). The expense of it kinda sucks, but you get an ease of traveling and having civilized support behind you in exchange. That’s exactly the kind of thing that I think is good for the more beginner backpackers, so yup: I recommend it!
I’m gonna be dreaming of returning to this one for a while…
