Island time - Day 1

SA Guide: Airport in the Sky to Little Harbor

Look into camping on Catalina Island and you'll inevitably come across this quote from Sunset magazine, "One of the best campgrounds in the West," referring to Little Harbor campground. Though I couldn't track down the actual source of the quote I wasn't about to be skeptical. I'd always wanted to visit Little Harbor, on the island's windward side.

We were planning a backpacking trip to coincide with Laura's birthday - allowing us to take advantage of Catalina Express' "Ride free on your birthday" deal - but unfortunately she had a group hike to lead just two days later back in Orange County. Still, Little Harbor beckoned, and although it seemed likely that one night wasn't really going to be enough I figured there was no way to be sure we'd be back again. So off we went...might as well be left wanting more rather than wait and possibly never go at all.

We boarded the boat at the San Pedro Catalina Express terminal. Normal departure would have been from either Long Beach or even Dana Point, but as we wanted to be dropped off in Avalon and then picked up in Two Harbors the only way to make the schedule work was to leave from the brand-spankin'-new-looking facility in San Pedro (complete with a small diner-snack bar and other nice amenities).

Once in Avalon we headed over to the Island Plaza, a departure point for several transportation and tour services. There we caught the Safari Bus up to Airport in the Sky, Catalina's picturesque little airport which includes, as it turns out, a surprisingly good cafe (and gift shop) called the DC-3 Grill. We'd planned on filling up here so that we wouldn't have to pack in as much food. So we really had no choice - duty (and fries) were calling, and we happily answered.

Forty-five minutes later, and a few potatoes heavier, we rumbled down the road from the airport and picked up the El Rancho Escondido Rd. portion of the Trans-Catalina Trail, a hiking and biking trail that runs nearly the length of the island. Our hikes this day and the next would take us over 11 miles or so of the 37 mile TCT, and wanting to see more of this trail was the reason we arranged to catch the return boat in Two Harbors rather than retracing our steps back to Avalon. This turned out to be a good decision.

At the beginning of our trip from the airport to Little Harbor we were treated to views of open sea on both sides of the island. But as the hike circled to the west and headed down in earnest, we had the backside coast, and Little Harbor as well, in our sights most of the way. My interest in macro fauna (I really wanted to see an endemic Island Kit Fox, and expected to see introduced bison) unfortunately went unfulfilled the entire day. On the other hand, Laura's search for wildflowers was richly rewarded, most notably with extensive patches of Catalina Mariposa Lilies.

But the best part of the day was getting to Little Harbor. I haven't seen enough western campgrounds to be able to comment on Sunset's rating, but it really is a sweet little spot. The campground is nicely maintained and sites are decently spaced, with plenty of room in each. There are beach showers and porta-potties (which weren't disgusting at all...no really!) and of course there is the harbor. Actually the little bay is split in two by a low, climbable promontory (where we watched the sun set) with Little Harbor to the north and Shark Harbor to the south.

We set up camp and immediately set out to explore the area, barely finding time to make some dinner (and barely needing it thanks to the fries) before scrambling back to the little headland for sundown.

Tired from a long day, we made a fire - at first more out of habit than desire, but of course the allure of a fire when camping is powerful, and irresistible - and finally dragged ourselves to our tent knowing there was lots more to do and see than we'd have time for in the morning.