I can’t count the number of times over the years that I’ve driven the Pacific Coast Highway from Ventura to Santa Barbara and passed the silhouetted Channel Islands without giving them a second thought. It was a visit to friends and family in Ventura that created an opportunity to give them a serious look.
Ventura harbor, California
It’s overcast as I board the ferry from Ventura harbor to cover the 20 miles to California’s largest island, Santa Cruz.
Its 100 square miles of terrain and 77 miles of coastline make it the centerpiece of the Channel Islands National Park.
Seal lions sunning on channel buoy
Along the way we pass seals sunning themselves on a channel marker. Oil rigs dot the water in the distance.
Sea caves from above, Santa Cruz Island
Kayaks ashore, Santa Cruz Island
As the ferry approaches, the Island’s rugged mountain ranges loom larger, and coastal tidepools, beaches and sea caves come into view.
The Island’s Painted Cave may be one of the world’s largest and deepest and a big draw for divers and kayakers, but I’m ready to be back on dry land after almost an hour on the ferry.
Kayaks in tow
We anchor in Scorpion Bay and I take to the trail and a climb to a better view.
This island is home to more than 600 plant species in ecosystems range from marshes and grasslands to chaparral and pine forests.
Millions of years of isolation have resulted in adaptation to the island’s unique environment by many distinctive plant and animals species, including 9 found nowhere else in the world.
Santa Cruz was first inhabited more than 9,000 years ago by Native Americans, and here the Chumash tribe produced shell-bead money used by tribes throughout California.
Europeans first arrived on the island only late in the 16th century, and more than 200 years would pass before a Mexican land grant established what would become the largest privately owned island in the U.S.
Scorpion Ranch, Santa Cruz Island
It also marked the beginning of a ranching operation which introduced non-native species including French Merino sheep to the island, and the herd swelled to over 20,000 head during the Civil War as demand for wool army uniforms peaked.
Scorpion Ranch house, Santa Cruz Island
Ranching continued until 1984 through several changes of property ownership. The ranch houses, barns, blacksmith and saddle shops, and wineries all still survive.
Scorpion Ranch farm implements, Santa Cruz Island
Scorpion Ranch cellar
The introduction by Europeans of non-native animals and plants is responsible for the severe disruption of the island’s native plant communities and its archeological sites.
Rooting by pigs gone feral has created bare ground that is easily eroded and colonized by invasive weeds. It has also damaged a large number of Chumash archeological sites.
Feral piglets provide a year-round food source for golden eagles, and the eagles’ growing numbers drove another of their prey – island foxes – to the brink of extinction.
The Santa Barbara Island song sparrow and the Santa Cruz Island monkey, once found only on these islands, are already extinct.
The Nature Conservancy acquired much of the island’s property in 1987 and the Federal government completed acquisition of the remaining land in 1996. In and effort to rescue 10 species from the brink of extinction and to protect more than 3,000 archeological sites, the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy embarked upon a long term program to restore Santa Cruz Island.
Their eradication of feral pigs, European rabbits, sheep, and burros has already enabled a tremendous natural recovery. In addition, a captive breeding program for island foxes has successfully re-established a wild population and golden eagles have been captured and relocated to northeast California.
Native bald eagles – the last of which perished in the 1950’s from DDT poisoning – have been reintroduced to drive off any returning golden eagles, and for the first time in more than 50 years bald eagle chicks have hatched unaided from two separate nests on Santa Cruz Island.
Coastline, Santa Cruz Island
Now hikers encounter sweeping ocean and mainland vistas almost completely free of human imprint, broken by deep canyons dotted with year-round springs and streams.
Cypress tree, Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz deserves far more than a day trip, and there’s overnight camping available on the Island. Just remember that whether you’re an over-nighter or just a day-tripper this rule applies: You pack out everything that you pack in.
Antonio Ramblés travels 