Backpacking Santa Cruz Island: Prisoners Harbor to Scorpion Harbor

 

Following two months spent out in Thailand plunging my butt off I'd gone through seven days in Texas seeing family and now I was back in Southern California. 

While plans have changed a piece from the underlying plans Jen and I have been working under the suspicion I would spend the following not many months accomplishing provisional labor until we start the Pacific Crest Trail. At first, I would have been accessible for work on the first of January 

We'd been peering toward exploring across Santa Cruz Island since the time we did the Trans-Catalina Trail in 2018 however the circumstance and climate hadn't actually been correct. And afterward, it turned out they were shutting the principal jetty Scorpion Harbor in late 2019 because of the development of another wharf. 

However, they returned to the harbor for a short period and we figured out how to catch campgrounds just before it shut again on January fifth. You may read more ‘How to make a scorpion island’?

Santa Clause Cruz Island Backpacking Planning Details 

As consistently with any of the islands off the southern California coast your must compensation more than expected for an exploring trip. To get out to Santa Cruz you can purchase a section on a boat by Island Packers here. They let you bring 50 pounds of stuff and they can drop you at one or the other Scorpion or Prisoners. 

There are just two campgrounds on the scorpion island. Scorpion is the one a great many people go to because of the reality it's the greatest. There are gathering and individual locales and they give water, fox boxes (bear boxes with a cuter name), and pit latrines. 

The other campsite is called Del Norte. It's a stroll in just and there are just 4 locales. There is no water however they do have fox boxes and a little pit latrine. 

We decided to begin at Prisoners, climb into Del Norte, go through one night there, and afterward do the 12-15 mile climb over to Scorpion the following day. I loved this arrangement since it begins you out on the more far off a piece of the island and you have breathtaking perspectives as you're coming down to Scorpion. 

This implied we needed to convey two days of water however the climb into Del Norte was uniquely about 3.2 miles and 1,250' so it was reasonable.

Day 1: Boat to Prisoners Harbor and Hike to Del Norte 

The boat out to Santa Cruz withdraws from Ventura Harbor which is a 2-3 hour drive from South Orange County. So we had an early morning. We showed up and checked in by 8, had our packs gauged and stacked, and afterward were on our way by 9 am. 

They do ask that you pack your water and oven fuel independently. They additionally had us eliminate any lithium batteries from our packs and get them our portable bags. 

The intersection to the island required about 60 minutes. They had a lunchroom in the boat and we had an intermittent dolphin experience to keep up engaged. 

Most everybody on the boat got off at the primary stop at Scorpion Harbor. We saw many individuals conveying coolers and such clearly barely out there to unwind. 

After another short ride, the boat dropped us off at Prisoners Harbor where we needed to ascend a short stepping stool to get up on the harbor. There were just two different gatherings exploring and a couple of joyriders getting off here to do a day climb with a naturalist. 

The explorers had instructions from a recreation center officer on the dock and afterward, we were turned free. 

We were the solitary ones wandering over to Scorpion Harbor so our water circumstance was somewhat more fragile. So we had a bite and drank as much as possible prior to setting off. 

There is a washroom at Prisoners and a few structures used by the recreation center or conservancy. Heading along the street we passed the all-around marked intersection to the conservancy lands climbed a slope, and killed on a solitary track trail. 

The decent thing about Santa Cruz was that it was not normal for Catalina; you continually have perspectives on the sea making it clear you're on an island. 

Because of our initial lunch, we'd set out later than the other two gatherings and we passed one of them sunning on the path. Other than that we were separated from everyone else.