two if by land, many if by sea
Pinnacles National Monument
After an aborted attempt to dive the Channel Islands earlier this year where I was thwarted by the
weather I was determined to make another attempt, this time when the weather should be calmer. In order
to make the drive down to Southern California a little easier I decided to break it up by stopping
partway and since I had never visited Pinnacles National Monument I thought this would be a good
opportunity. Despite the promise of caves no one from our local caving club was able to join me for the
somewhat lengthy trip except for David Smith from Chico who not only would be able to join me for
caving at Pinnacles but also kayaking and diving at the Channel islands.
Friday morning we loaded up in his truck and made our way down to Pinnacles. We checked in at the
ranger station and were pleased to find the Bear gulch cave was open for visitors. We decided to take
the short trail up to check out this cave and save the longer hike to Balconies for the next day when
we'd have more time. The trail was a pleasant one, not too steep and with a fair amount of shade. This
was a good thing as the afternoon was rapidly turning into a scorcher. Soon though, we retreated into
the coolness of the cave. The caves at Pinnacles are described as talus caves, composed where a stream
has carved through the volcanic rock and other rocks have fallen, sealing the top. The stream was still
trickling through the cave despite how hot and dry it was outside and it certainly was nice and cool
inside. We proceeded on up through the cave to the source of the stream, a small reservoir on top the
hill then headed back down to the campground. The campground at pinnacles was very nice with shaded
spots and a swimming pool. We missed the six o’clock closing time for the pool though and had to settle
for cool showers instead, though we vowed to get to the pool the next day before it closed. There was
an abundance of wild life present, a rabbit made several trips through our campsite and I pointed it
out to a family in a nearby campsite, much to the delight of their children. There were also numerous
birds including large families of quail.
Quail
The next day we planned on visiting Balconies caves and then possibly continuing up the high peaks
trail, but after consulting the visitor’s guide we realized it recommended starting on the high peaks
portion of the trail first while the day was still relatively cool, then progressing to the cave and
the shadier portion of the trail as the day got hotter. We agreed that this made sense so we would head
to the high peaks first. At the trail head we met to women, Diamond and Petrina who had not hiked this
trail before either and so we decided to hike together. The hike which is approximately six and a half
miles long and goes up over 1400 feet, was a fairly strenuous one and we all agreed we were glad to
have the steepest part out of the way while it was still fairly cool. After a brief stop at the
Chapparal ranger station for water we headed into the canyon leading to the caves to eat lunch in a
shady spot. We even spotted a deer on the trail. We enjoyed going through the caves and once more there
was still a stream visible in parts of the cave. Once we left the caves though we began to experience
the full heat of the day and when we finally reached the trail head where we had parked we were glad to
sit in the shade for a bit. That afternoon Dave and I enjoyed an ice cream from the visitor center’s
shop and a cool dip in the pool which felt wonderful.
Balconies cave
Dave in Balconies cave
Ventura Pirate
Following the heat of pinnacles it was really pleasant to head for the cool coast as we made our way
down to Ventura the next day. Here we did a little grocery shopping in preparation for our 2 days on
Santa Cruz Island while kayaking. We also decided to head down to the harbor to check out where the
ferry would be departing from the next day. We arrived at the harbor to find a huge amount of commotion
and people, it wasn't long before we learned we were witnessing "Pirate Days" an annual event in
Ventura. Numerous folks walked around dressed as various forms of buccaneers. Despite the crowd we made
our way to the dock easily enough checked on the departure area and time for our ferry, then watched
the pirates perform for awhile.
Ventura Pirates
After a good nights sleep, we boarded the ferry for the hour long trip to the island, along the
way we witnessed numerous seal lions, pelicans, a few cormorants and dolphins.
Sea lions
There were several groups going kayaking as well as campers, and day hikers on the ferry so upon
arrival at the Scorpion cove landing it took awhile to sort out who was going where but before too long
Dave and I had met the other four kayakers in our group and our guide Tony. Tony with over 20 years of
experience kayaking the Channel Islands was a great guide and I enjoyed his stories as he led us around
the island and through numerous sea caves. The other people in our group were Felice, John, Breann and
Dave. We all got a chuckle at the fact that we had two Dave’s and two Johns on the trip. During the
first day we didn't paddle very far though we did get to visit some great sea caves, I especially
enjoyed paddling through the green room where an opening just below the surface of the water allowed
sunlight to shine in giving the water a lovely green glow. This was even more dramatic as the sun broke
through the fog giving us a beautiful sunny afternoon.
Sea cave
After our introduction to kayaking through sea caves it was time to find the campground and set up
camp for the night. The main campground on Santa Cruz Island is nestled in a small canyon where the
sites are all shaded by a large grove of eucalyptus. I got several opportunities to take pictures of
the endangered island foxes as they wandered near or through the campsites. By then though the fog was
rolling back in and I retreated to my tent for an early night.
Island fox
The next morning it was still foggy and a little chilly but we managed to get packed up and down to the
beach for an early start anyway and beat the other groups of kayakers to the water. We traveled along
the coast past a large Stellar Sea Lion Rookery and through our guide Tony's favorite cave called back
door cave, Tony remarked that he wished they'd given it a more dramatic name and I have to agree it was
more impressive then the name implies. A long passage through the point, there was a side passage that
led out to open sea though I don't think I'd risk going that way, then more passage that flowed into a
sheltered cove. From here we progressed to a rocky beach where we stopped for lunch. This day though
the sky didn't clear so we were getting chilly as soon as we stopped paddling, it wasn't long before we
hopped back on the kayaks so we could start paddling again and warm up. We went back past the sea
lions, this time several came out into the water to check us out as we went by. We also spotted what
may have been one of the island's bald eagles on top of a point as we went by. All too soon we were
back at Scorpion landing. Dave and I had brought masks and snorkels but since the sun didn't want to
come out we contented ourselves with walking along the beach and watching the junior life guards that
were participating in various activities during their day on the island. After loading our gear on the
ferry, we were heading back to Ventura.
Sea cave
Back at the Ventura harbor we located our next ride out to the Islands, the dive boat Spectre.
There was no one aboard when we arrived but we spotted someone dropping off some supplies who assured
us it was ok to go aboard and pick out our bunks for the night. We met two other divers that were
coming aboard to spend the night, Casey and his daughter Elise. Then we walked over to a nearby Greek
restaurant for dinner. The next morning there was breakfast served on the boat and while we cruised out
to Anacapa Island we had plenty of time to set up our dive gear. There were a fair number of divers,
but it wasn't a crowded boat. The diver stations on the Spectre are very convenient with plenty of room
for tanks and gear. Tank fills are done in place at your station which is nice. I got my gear in place.
The Spectre itself is a large steel hulled boat that used to service the oil platforms. A good boat for
rough water but we didn't experience any of that. It was nice and calm and fairly warm despite being
very overcast. It was nice after the hot, blazing sunlight of the valley. I initially had trouble with
my buoyancy as I had borrowed a weight belt from Dave and underestimated the lead I'd need by a couple
of pounds, but the dive master onboard quickly remedied that by clipping a soft weight to me. Quickly
enough we were headed down toward the bottom. There were 3 dive sites that we visited, Landing cove,
Cathedral cove and The Goldfish Bowl. It was a wonderful day of diving, the water was about 59 degrees,
we saw lots of sheepshead, and Garibaldi, various small fish, sea hares, and the rocks are covered with
colorful algae, various sea cucumbers, and anemones - a great assortment of invertebrates. We even saw
some spanish shawl nudibranchs and a good specimen of California’s biggest spider crab, Loxorhynchus
grandis, commonly called a sheep crab. That evening we ate dinner at a nearby seafood restaurant and
were joined by Donovan and Laura two of the divers that had been aboard the Spectre with us. Donovan
was originally from New Zealand and they had some great stories about traveling around doing filming
and recording in interesting parts of the world as well as their home in France. After dinner we met up
with Casey and Elise again who would also be joining us the next day onboard the Peace for another trip
out to Anacapa.
Spanish shawl
Colorful underwater
Our second day of diving was just as good as the first though I was pleased to find that the
food on the Peace was even better then the great food we had on the Spectre. The diving was similar to
the previous day's at nearly the same locations, though this time we spotted a couple of large
jellyfish which I had fun photographing and we visited swim through rock, a small sea cave or arch that
is completely underwater, here I got to video a sea lion come flying through the opening and go flying
past me.
Jellyfish
Lobster
During the last dive of the day Casey spotted a lobster and pointed it out so I got some pics and video
of that as well. We all enjoyed a dessert of apple cobbler with ice cream on the ride back to Ventura.
After getting back to shore Dave and I headed up the coast to San Luis Obispo where we checked into a
motel for the night and enjoyed a surprisingly good cajun dinner with a live jazz band. The next day we
took our time driving up the coast on highway 1, we stopped to watch the elephant seals near San
Simeon, and walked around point Lobos to check out the diving conditions there. All too soon though, we
were back in the valley enjoying the blazing sun again. I can't wait to visit the sea caves of the
Channel Islands again and I think I may try hiking at Pinnacles again in the spring when it's cooler.
Elephant seals
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Comments
Yeah, I have no idea what real 17th century pirates looked like but they certainly appeared authentic
Yes, there was tons to see and the water was nice and warm (well, compared to Monterrey) can't wait to go back.