TCT: Day 2

Trans-Catalina Trail: Day 2

6/5/2022

Black Jack Campground - Little Harbor Campground

Miles hiked: 8.2 mi

Elevation gained: 928 ft (1,501 - 1,700 - 0)

Animals seen: bison, fat-ass squirrels

Elevation chart created on AllTrails.com

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Woke up sweating. Not due to illness but rather too warm of layers and too warm of a sleeping bag. We attempted to sleep in since the airport grill doesn’t open until 8:30am and crawled out of the tent around 7am. After a leisurely break down of camp with cold coffee (stoveless, remember?) we hit the trail at 8:30am.

We got not even a hundred yards from camp and we run face-first into a very large, very real bison. Took us completely by surprise as it had been sleeping in the ditch next to the trail with very high grass. It must have heard or smelled us because once we were right next to its hidden sleeping spot, it stood up and stared at us. We turned tail and ran. I had no intention of dying by bison that day, or any day really. It didn’t chase us, but it was clearly not leaving so we bushwacked through some cactus and up a steep incline to a nearby road to detour around the beast.

See trail, see bison, see Jake & Sandra scramble through cactus

We made it back onto the TCT and followed the trail down to a little valley of sorts, complete with a stream. The foliage was very tall and did a great job of hiding the trail. We only got lost once but were quickly back on trail. It wasn’t long until we were climbing to the airport grill.

Airport at the top of the hill

Enjoying the food

We sat in an outdoor booth within an hour of hitting the trail and enjoyed some morning brewskis and brekkie burritos. It was delicious. We exchanged bison stories with a different foursome. It apparently didn’t care about them and stayed asleep while they passed. The grill conveniently had a to go menu so we got two massive cookies to enjoy while hiking.

The day was relatively easy, mostly downhill cruising with some amazing views. The couple trailing us yesterday ended up blazing the trail for us today. After the burrito fueling, we were feeling mighty fine and would take frequent breaks to allow the couple to gain some space. Not to say we were outpacing them, but… We had some fun with Leinie, letting him run between us for a stretch in a meadow.

The meadow turned into a dirt road which turned into a ridgeline trail following the peaks to the west side of the island. We had a cookie break on one of the high points and enjoyed the views.

Ridgeline before our cookie break

After the cookie break, it was all downhill. I was feeling great, Leinie and I blazing ahead. Blazing too fast apparently, because one minute we are flying down the trail and the next I am on my butt with a twisted ankle. The trail is a bit rocky, but it is well worn and I am just that clutzy. Trail running will never be in my future. But all my fingers and toes were crossed that the remainder of the TCT was.

I stood up carefully and attempted some weight. The ankle was clearly not pleased and it was already a bit puffy but I was able to walk gingerly. We continued, but at a much slower pace. Jake also managed to tweak his knee so he hobbled along as well. Despite the injuries, the views continued to captivate us and we were still thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

Camp straight ahead

We made it to Little Harbor campground by 1:30pm. Our campsite was oceanfront and picturesque. We took advantage of the afternoon to be beach bums. The ocean was freezing, the sun burn painful, and wind soothing.

Picture perfect camp spot

While setting up camp, a very bold, very fat squirrel was making himself very comfortable in our site. Leinie decided to show the squirrel his place and took off after him. They went a few circles in camp, both almost ran into me and then the squirrel figured out to climb a tree while Leinie almost caught him. Jake and I were rolling in laughter. This poor squirrel had probably never had such a work out, hopefully it didn’t sustain a heart attack.

Herb and garlic tuna burritos for dinner. We had ordered firewood delivery and were able to enjoy some good ambiance but were up way past hiker midnight (9pm) and were falling asleep watching the flames.

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