Trans Catalina Trail, Hiking the Island

Well summer has arrived and what better way to celebrate than spending 4 days in the Channel Islands off the coast of California. Our destination was Catalina island to hike the fairly new Trans Catalina Trail (TCT) that was officially opened back in 2008. My friends wife Michelle has been wanting to do this ever since she had heard about it so this was her trip to coordinate. What she discovered is that since this trail has really only existed for a few years, there is not much information floating around out there about it. Our goal was to not only do the hike but also document it well enough that this blog posting will serve as a great reference document for future hikers of the TCT. Our backpacking group consisted of Michelle, co-workers Mike D., Clark and I as well as a good friend of Clark and Michelle, Mike Y.

Officially the TCT is just over 37 miles and stretches from just south of Avalon to the northwestern point of Starlight Beach. Since you cannot easily get dropped off or picked up at either end of the trail, a little extra hiking and backtracking is involved which made our hike a total of 52 miles with about 9,000 ft. of elevation gain and we planned on covering it in 4 days. Three of those days would be used to complete the TCT and the last day was to get ourselves back to a port we could catch a ferry home from. More on that later. How can a hike on an island with a high point of 2,010 ft. have 9,000 ft. of elevation gain you ask? Simple, there is NO flat trail on this island!

The island of Catalina sits about 26 miles off the coast of California. It is mostly managed by the Catalina Island Conservancy. The Conservancy was responsible for completing the trail and appear to be the promoters of this route. What we found when researching the trip is that apparently few people have actually hiked the whole thing and even fewer have it done it in a contiguous manner. Most who had done it before complained of difficult navigation and it being a very strenuous route.

The planning stage was rather difficult for the above mentioned issues. We decided we could get away fror 4 days to complete the route. We were able to view some of the camping locations and to do the route in 4 days we planned on day 1 from Avalon to Blackjack, 15 1/2 miles, day two Blackjack to Two Harbors, 13 miles, day three Two Harbors to Starlight Beach and back to Parsons Landing, 16 miles, and day 4 Parsons Landing back to Two Harbors via the coastal road, 7 miles. Michelle booked campsites online for Blackjack, Two Harbors and Parsons Landing with the Catalina Conservancy.

Michelle informed me that I was in charge of maps and navigation. Well I have not gotten any of us lost yet so I accepted the job. Finding maps proved difficult. Since the TCT was only officially completed in 2008 you will need a fairly recent map. I checked for maps at the usual places and had no luck. Some have said that you can get a map of the trail at the Catalina Island Conservancy located in Avalon but I really wanted this information long before I got there. I finally found what I was looking for after poking around the Catalina Island Conservancy website where they have a great collection of maps as pdf files available for free download. With the maps in hand and some additional information on the trail segments from the Conservancy I was ready to do my research and get a feel for the route. One of the best maps they provided had the full trail shown along with the elevation profile. I realized quickly that this was not going to be a flat hike! They even have a smartphone app to help but since I NEVER rely on electronic devices on the trail I ruled that out.

I had been to Two Harbors to camp in the past and Clark, Michelle and Mike Y. had been to Parsons Landing to camp. We all knew what to expect at those locations. Two Harbors has everything, food, water, bathrooms, showers, store, the works. Parsons is primitive. They have pit toilets and your campsite includes a bundle of wood and 2 1/2 gallon jug of water in a locker. You can purchase additional water/wood if needed ahead of time and get a key for additional lockers. Blackjack was to have water and pit toilets and again a locker with a bundle of wood came with the site.

Michelle had made our ferry reservations. We utilized Catalina Express out of San Pedro as they had the earliest arrival times in Avalon and also serviced Two Harbors. We boarded the early boat which got us to Avalon a little after 9AM. Once we arrived we had to find the location to check-in and get our hiking permit and locker key. This location is known to change so it is best to get that info directly from the Conservancy when you place your reservation.

The street to begin our hike in Avalon.

We were finally ready to begin the hike.I had to look over some instructions provided by the Conservancy about the actual start point as the TCT does not begin in town. It officially begins about a mile and half south of Avalon at the intersection of Wrigley Rd. and Renton Mine Rd. which you can easily view on Google to figure out how to get there. The road to get there starts off with a good climb out of Avalon. I was happy to have lightweight gear on this trip. My pack was only 26 1/2 lbs with 4 days of food, fuel and 3 liters of water. Less food and water it would have been 15 lbs!



Official start point of the TCT.

 The views as you climb up along Wrigley Rd. are great. You can really get some nice photos of Avalon as you make your way to the official starting point of the TCT. As Wrigley Rd. begins to descend you will quickly reach the start point on your right clearly marked with a sign showing the Trans Catalina Trail and pointing up Renton Mine Rd. From here you are heading up a dirt road that is only accessed by hikers and bicycles. They did do a good job at keeping the TCT free of vehicles. While a little over half of the entire route is road, you will not see cars as they are not allowed on these sections.



The TCT leaves the road and transitions to trail.

Our first day was long and rather warm. We were relieved to discover that shortly after the TCT left the road and transitioned to trail that you reached Haypress Reservoir where you can fill up with water from the tap as they have a small picnic area there. The trail continues next to the playground and I missed it. Fortunately the others in the group spotted the TCT trail sign and we were back on the trail. The trail gets fairly faint intermittently for the next couple miles or so and you really need to keep an eye out for the little brown markers that say TCT next to the trail. We had no problem following the trail but then again we had five sets of eyes to spot the markers in the difficult sections. It is also nice that every mile on the TCT they have a short wooden marker showing your mileage.

Some of the buffalo herd brought to the island by the Wrigley's

The first nights destination was Blackjack campground and after looking at the map we realized it was adjacent to the highest point on Catalina which is 2,010 ft. with the campground maybe 200 ft. below that. The transmitter on the summit had been our marker all day as it had been in sight off and on throughout our hike. It was finally getting closer but not without yet another descent then climb back up to our final destination. We reached Blackjack around 6:30PM and all were exhausted. We are used to climbing mountains but the constant up and down is not what we typically do. We gained about 4,000 ft. of elevation on the first day and had clocked 15 1/2 miles. We were happy to see that there were outdoor cold showers at Blackjack. We had a nice campfire, ate dinner and retreated to our tents early as it had been a long day as we had been up since around 5AM to get to the port that morning.

See the little people on the ridge?

The happy crew at the airport.

Waterfront camping at Two Harbors.

Our second day was to be easy. Only about 2,000 ft. of elevation gain and a short 12 1/2 miles. We finally headed out of camp around 8:30AM after tending to blisters on Michelle and Mike Y. Our first destination was the airport. We arrived there in about an hour and enjoyed the shade, store, flush toilets, warm water and hospitality. There is a cafe there but we were too early. Snacks and beverages were available. We then headed down and easy road that descended all the way to the coast at Little Harbor. This was a campground as well and had a very nice beach. Some people were surfing in the the adjacent Shark Harbor and it made a great picture spot. We had lunch at a picnic table right on the beach and made use of the bathrooms and fresh water that was also available here. If we planned the hike again we all thought this would be a great place to add an extra day and finish day 2 here. That was not in our master plan so after lunch we were off to Two Harbors. Remember the 2,000 ft. of gain I mentioned? Well here it comes and most of it in the first two miles. The climb up out of Little Harbor was tough but the views off the ridgeline we were on were stunning. The trail finally dropped down into Two Harbors 5 miles later where we had all the amenities of a small town. Everyone frowned when they learned that camp was just over a small hill 1/4 mile away. Once at camp we set up our tents and cleaned up. A few spent the big bucks and walked back to town for a hot shower, 90 seconds of water for 50 cents, while the rest of us took semi-cold showers at the campground. We all met up back in town for buffalo burgers and a few fermented beverages were consumed.

Michelle's foot patched up for day 3.

Michelle and I near Silver Peak with clouds rolling in.

The view from Fenceline Rd. down to Parson's

Day three involved some tough decisions. It was to be our hardest day yet, 16 miles and 4,500 ft. of elevation gain. Two in our party had decided they were not up to uphill/downhill and opted for the shoreline road out to Parson's Landing. Three of us, including Michelle with her blistered and swollen feet were off to tackle the big hill between us and Parson's where hopefully we would all meet up for lunch and then figure out who was going on to Starlight Beach. This is a section of trail that is easy to follow on the map but not very well signed. You have to head back to the trail you came into Two Harbors on and continue to the right. I never saw a sign pointing you left toward the north side Catalina Harbor. We turned where I knew we needed to based on the map and followed the dirt road along the north side of Cat Harbor where we finally came across the mile 27 marker indicating we were headed the right way. Miles 28 and 29 will leave you cursing! They are steep and hot. Soon after you reach Fenceline Rd. which descends STEEPLY down towards Parson's Landing. This is the official TCT. In our opinion, it would have been better to route the trail onward to Silver Peak and down to Starlight Beach which would save several miles overall and in looking at the topo maps would save you from some very steep sections. Since we planned on doing the full TCT start to finish we followed the trail along Fenceline Rd. which was noted by others as being very steep. At first I wondered what all the fuss was about, it was steep but not that bad. After a awhile the trail really showed it's ugly self and I would rate it a 10 out of 10 on the black toenail scale. If you don't know what I am talking about, you really don't hike long, steep downhills do you?

The final trail to Parson's Landing just ahead.

Clark at the terminus of the TCT, Starlight Beach.

The view of Parson's below me as we return from Starlight.

As we neared Parson's Landing we met up with the others in the group. We all arrived at Parson's for lunch which was yet another stunning beach to enjoy. We ate and Michelle was thinking hard if she would continue. Her feet were in bad shape and we knew we had 9 miles and 2,500 ft. of gain left in the day. The Catalina Conservancy information is very deceiving at times and it lists the elevation change at 666 ft. for this section. They only list the total difference from the highest to lowest point, one way and leave out the fact that you will gain it several times....each way! Three of us left Parson's together but Michelle turned around about a 1/2 mile out of camp. She wanted to make the end so bad but realized she also had to get back, not just to camp, but back to Two Harbors the following day. It was a very difficult decision to make and in hindsight it was the best one. Clark and I continued on to the end at Starlight Beach and the so called trail had some exceptionally steep ups and downs that would have torn her feet up even worse. Clark and I finally made it to Starlight and took our pictures and put our feet in the ocean for the first time on the trip. We both wanted to swim as we were rather hot from the strenuous hike out here but didn't have a towel and feared the hike in wet clothes would be rather destructive on our already worn out bodies. It was great to make it to the end of the TCT but sad we could not all finish it together. We left Starlight and kept a brisk pace and returned to Parson's with our one way time at and hour and a half. It was now 5:30PM and the breeze was blowing and I was cold once I stopped hiking. Clark still went in the ocean, I needed to but did not want to freeze so I put on some dry clothes I had washed the evening prior. I nearly fell asleep in my tent as laying down felt so good after the exhausting day that included the completion of the TCT.

Great sunset at Parson's Landing.

Mike Y. serenades us with his didgeridoo.

Clark & Michelle's tent and the Big Dipper.

That night we used up most of the food we had left, had a raging campfire and Mike Y. who had carried his didgeridoo on the whole trip played a little for us fireside. The sunset view at Parson's is unbelievable and we all took a few photos of the event. I headed to bed a little ahead of everyone else who played a marathon game of UNO that lasted over an hour for a single hand. I did wake up as they were going to bed and grabbed some nice shots of the stars before I was done for the night.

In the morning we all wished we had an extra day. Michelle felt she could have gone to Starlight that morning after having a good rest. We had a boat to catch back in Two Harbors at 4:15PM and only 7 miles of flat trail/road separating us from our destination. We lazily packed up camp and headed out. The final hike back to Two Harbors was very scenic, following the coastline the whole way. We walked past a couple of the Boy Scout camps on the island, Emerald Bay and Cherry Valley as well as several other camps. The sight of Two Harbors brought joy to all of us. Our feet were tired and we were hungry. We did not plan a lunch for the last day as we would enjoy what the town had to offer. More buffalo burgers and fermented beverages were consumed. We limped around town with all the other folks there. We even met some guys with a ukelele that were playing some lovely island music who took interest in the didgeridoo. I said they need to work up a duet for the two instruments, jokingly I thought. These guys used the WiFi access and looked up one and had a little jam session there at the bar. A strange combo of instruments indeed but plenty fun none the less.

Cherry Valley BSA camp.

The boat ride home was calming and drew to an end yet another incredible adventure. We discussed what we would do differently if we did it again. Adding two days would be great. One extra day to stay at Little Harbor and another at Parson's Landing would be ideal. It would let you alternate hard days with easy days and provide more time at the end of every day (except the first) to play in the ocean while it is still warm and the afternoon winds and clouds have not developed. We also would have preferred to not taken Fenceline Rd. and instead head from Two Harbors directly out to Starlight Beach and then back to Parson's. We still are not sure why this is not the official route of the TCT. We also all agreed that the published information from the Catalina Conservancy is a little misleading. While they post elevation gain for each segment of the trip, they do it by only comparing your starting elevation to finish elevation for that segment. This leaves out all of the ups and downs along the way of which there are many. The most grossly understated elevation change is the final trek from Parson's to Starlight as I had mentioned earlier. This was a strenuous hike and this is coming from us who have hiked numerous peaks and logged hundreds of miles climbing the highest points in California. For an island with a high point of 2,010 ft., the TCT's elevation gain will kick your butt!

Our final view of Two Harbors as we approach it for the last time.

This adventure was a major change from my recent snowbound journeys in the Sierra's. I will admit, I prefer the mountains over the beaches but that is my personal preference. Perhaps growing up and working in Huntington Beach for all of my 41 years has filled my enthusiasm for beaches. With that said, if there ever was a beach journey to take, the TCT should be at the top of your list.

The full collection of pictures can be viewed by clicking here.