Catalina Bikepack 12/12-13, 2019
What a run up to the little getaway. In addition to gearing up my old bike I had to get a flurry of work in so I could these two days.
Caught the midmorning ferry to Avalon and was. The saddle by 11:15. Started with a pretty brutal road climb - no warm up. That was the first hour. Took middle ranch road down to little harbor, but pressed on without stopping.
Made it to two harbors, missed fish tacos by 5 minutes. No wildlife on the way in to parsons but did keep seeing a marine Osprey Heli/plane. Passed a group of 4 hikers on the road to parsons - two had spears for fishing!
Made it to parsons by about 3 and set up camp. As I heated up my dinner I walked around a bit - even trying a mindfulness session on a rock maybe 25 yards away. There was a large raven squawking at me. I figured well he?s not going after my food. Having some strange instinct to check on my meal I opened my eyes to discover the birds partner going after my meal (sealed in a bag.) He flies away and he had just started to puncture the bag. I do my best to remove any rice that he may have had contact with l, but if I come down with some bizarre virus maybe that?s why. I was impressed with how well these guys worked together. The dude on the rock was keeping watch while the other feasted!
Soon after i noticed that there were two people in wetsuits swimming...fishing! This also meant that they were camping on the other side...and I?d have the entire west side to myself!!!
Seeing a bright planet in the sky just above the mountain I was taken by how quickly it dropped behind the mountain. You could actually see it moving on the horizon!
As I got in bed shortly after it got dark (5:45?) I laid there looking up at the partly cloudy night. A bat! A satellite! I ended up seeing 5 satellites! I made a game to see how many breathes it would take until it reached the horizon or the clouds. I found this place a incredibly easy place to be mindful. Whenever I wanted to escape back to nature I simply brought my focus to the waves. The sound was always there and came in and out of my consciousness.
I woke up throughout the night and was impressed by how - unlike at home - there was no dread or anxiety (?would I get enough sleep? etc.) I probably woke up half a dozen times - many times to the spotlight that was the full moon.
The morning finally came - I was in bed for a whopping 13 hours! It was completely fogged in and my gear was all soaked! I had two servings of oatmeal and coffee and lazed around for awhile before setting out.
Getting out of parsons was steep and technical. I wanted to explore the west end so I took the parsons trail - guiding my 60 lbs of bike through a difficult trail and stream crossing. It was right about here that i saw my first fox or the trip! Elusive little dude who did not want to be seen!,Before long I was back on the road which was too steep at times so ended up hiking-the-biking. I accidentally scared a large raptor out of a tree -
By the colors my beat guess is a
Juvi bald eagle! I was hoping to get out to starlight beach, the extension that I missed on the TCT, but the new road got wayyyy steep and the old road dead ended. So I figured 6 miles and 1k climbing was enough extra. I headed back towards two harbors. I saw a pair of foxes again near parsons - their poop is everywhere! And I saw deer tracks, too. Near the Boy Scout camp there was a fox that truly seemed to enjoy being chased on the road! So cute! And a saw a ?real? osprey on a flag pole
enjoying his fish.
In two harbors I grabbed a grilled cheese sandwich and onion rings. The climb out of two harbors was long a brutal. And something seemed off with the shifting. I checked it and the ?b-screw? was bent. Annoying as it?s a
brand new derailleur. Oh well. During the rollers into little harbor I accidentally shifted into the one combination of gearing that I shouldn?t. The bike totally locked up. This is how i snapped my precious derailleur...it took me about 15 minutes of roadside problem solving but I got it working again. Phew. I wasn?t sure on this and was already thinking about having to walk back to two harbors and regroup.
Coming out of little harbor there was a big bull bison In the road. I patiently waited, and after a few minutes he finally looked ready to move on. But then he stopped right on the side of the road. He had his tail up and looked like he was not in the mood to be bothered. A few more minutes and a truck came up behind me. I asked them if they?d provide a screen.
They obliged and I passed safely. Although it was striking to see the bison turn his head aggressively as the truck drove by!
Heading up middle ranch road I was getting tired. But I still took a little mile detour to see a lookout which was new to me. I decided to head up cape canyon - a bit longer, but the last of the roads I have not yet explored on the bike on Catalina. Gorgeous views, but then it got steep. I ignored the ranchers who told me it?s too steep for bikes. I managed - barely - all the way to blackjack campground. It was there I took a wrong turn and descended down into the campground. I road by my old campsite and saw where I took my last steps of my 30s and first of my 40s. Very cool! But now I needed to climb back out of this valley!
Had a gorgeous decent back to airport road and saw another fox (the 7th!) Back on the main road it was magic hour. Gorgeous. It was getting cold and before long was making the brutal decent into Avalon. So foggy and mystical. I made it! The one drawback is that the places with the best fish were closed...so I settled for luau Larry?s.
As a final note, I only had songs from frozen (and moana) going through my head 25-35% of the time. The rest was james
Taylor, my bike song (i ride my bike to be me - on Spotify and iTunes) or a new little ditty I was working on.
Can?t wait to see my girls, but what an incredibly cleansing 30 hours. There?s something about communing with nature that rejuvenates my and gives me gratitude for all things in life. And pairing that with endurance sports seems to give me that window into my deeper soul I?m always craving to meet.
