Backpacking/Kayaking on Catalina Island

Starting in the port of Newport Beach, CA we set sail early morning on July 3 at 9:30 AM. Being a holiday weekend, the Catalina Express reached capacity with a full boat and smooth sailing! The ride from Newport Beach to the town of Avalon takes approximately 1 hour and 15 mins.

Arriving on the beautiful island of Catalina around 11:15 AM, we checked-in at the hotel for our campsite where we were given our locker key. The locker key is available for purchase while making your online reservation. The locker key provides: 1 bundle of firewood and 2.5 gallons of water. Additional keys may also be purchased at the time of check-in.

We had some time to kill before our shuttle picked us up, so we decided to grab a drink at the local pub and go para-sailing!When shuttle arrived; we gathered our gear, picked up a 20 pack at the local Vons and headed to our first campsite, Black Jack campground. The shuttle ride from Avalon to the trail head of Black Jack is approximately 9 miles (40 min). The shuttle stops at the trail head where we hiked-in 1.5 miles to the campsite.

Black Jack campground is one of two campgrounds located on Avalon. This campground is a primitive campground sitting approx.1, 600 ft. above sea level. There are 12 campsites here. All camping on the island must be reserved in advance.

As the sun started to set on the peak of Mt. Orizaba, Catalina's highest point at 2,097 ft.; the temperature dropped to comfortable 62 degrees. We set up camp, built our fire, made chili dogs for dinner and watched the sun disappear. While eating our dinner we encountered a fox. This cute, little, cat-like animal didn't look harmless at all. The smell from our chili dogs must have attracted him. Later that evening, there were 6 foxes surrounding our campsite! We hopped in the tent while they tore apart our bags, stealing most of our food.

When we woke up the next day, Brandon was missing one of his hiking boots. We assumed the foxes were frustrated with us and hid it. Luckily, he packed a pair of sandals.

In the morning, we started our actual backpacking part of the trip. From Black Jack campground, we hiked 3.5 miles to the Airport in the Sky, the only airport on the entire island. We sat for lunch as we watched the private airplanes fly into the Catalina airport. Our original plan was to hike from the Airport to the town of Two Harbors with a stop at Little Harbors; approximately 10.5 miles. However having only 1 boot, we decided to take the shuttle from the airport into town.

Our destination is Parsons Landing, another primitive campground on the island. This campground sits right on the beach and is located approximately 7 miles from Two Harbors. When we got into town, we checked-in, grabbed our locker key and picked up our kayak. Before heading out, we packed our gear into dry sacks and trash bags and placed all of our gear at the bottom of our kayak. This was my second time ever kayaking so I was a little nervous; especially since this was our mode of transportation for the next couple of days.

Kayaking to Parsons Landing from Two Harbors was about 4.5 miles and we completed the wonderful journey in 3 hours. What an experience! We chose the perfect time to explore the ocean waters by kayak. This campground consists of 8 large campsites. All provided with a table and fire rings. We spent the next 2 days on Parson's Landing. Celebrated my 27th birthday by hiking back into town just to watch the fireworks; adding 14 miles to our trip and even went snorkeling.

Our last day on the island we woke up early, snacked on granola bars and peanut butter and packed away our gear into our kayak. Our trip back to town was a little rough, as we were now going against the wind. Each time we stopped to catch our breath; we were pushed back by opposing winds. When we finally reached town, we had enough time to explore the other side, and of course, by kayak. About half a mile towards Avalon, we kayaked thru some totally awesome caves before returning it. Again, the ride back to town was strenuous as the winds were not allowing us to move a single inch! When we arrived to town, we returned our kayak and hung out at the local restaurant bar where we tried a popular island drink called, Buffalo milk. No, this is not actual Buffalo milk but rather a very interesting alcoholic beverage. We waited for the last Catalina Express and boarded at 5:30 PM, just in time to catch the last beautiful sunset on Catalina Island.