Trans - Catalina Trail • Hike • California • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

Cali Islands, CA

Hiking		Jun 10 2024
		emilystardust • Triplogs 792

Hiking	14.48 Miles	2,641 AEG

Hiking	14.48 Miles	6 Hrs 44 Mns	2.32 mph
	2,641 ft AEG	30 Mns Break

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We did the loop part from Two Harbors to Parsons Landing and back around. Lucked out with an overcast morning for all the elevation gain.

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Jun 08 2022

Guides 1
Routes 14
Photos 7,202
Triplogs 5,208

68 male

Joined Mar 16 2008
chandler,az

Catalina Island fog hike, CA

Hiking		Jun 08 2022
		johnlp • Triplogs 5,208

Hiking	8.30 Miles	1,258 AEG

Hiking	8.30 Miles
	1,258 ft AEG

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Last morning on the island. Low clouds and foggy. I hiked up Little Harbor Rd and back before packing up to catch the 10:30 ferry back to San Pedro. Cool fog.

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

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“Good people drink good beer.” Hunter S Thompson

1 archive

Jun 07 2022

Guides 1
Routes 14
Photos 7,202
Triplogs 5,208

68 male

Joined Mar 16 2008
chandler,az

Trans Catalina West, CA

Hiking		Jun 07 2022
		johnlp • Triplogs 5,208

Hiking	16.07 Miles	3,461 AEG

Hiking	16.07 Miles
	3,461 ft AEG

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Hiked the western loop of the Trans Catalina Trail from our campsite at Two Harbors. Went clockwise up Silver Peak Trail to Fenceline Rd to Parsons Landing and back on West End Rd.
There were low clouds as I began hiking but after a few miles I rose above the clouds to awesome views even though the ocean and shoreline were obscured. I considered going all the way to Starlight Beach, but stuck to the original plan since I was hiking alone and didn't have a track to help with navigation.
The island has a nice mix of wild flowers. I didn't see a lot of wildlife, mostly quail which are in great abundance.
During our stay I saw two fox, two deer, and a bison. There were lots of birds on the ocean and I spotted a huge group of porpoise (50+) from the ferry.
I crossed paths with only a dozen hikers all day. The trails are mostly dirt roads on all the hikes I took. Regardless, very nice hiking.

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Ironweed Mexican Gold Poppy Sticky monkeyflower Toyon

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Catalina Harbor Emerald Bay Parsons Landing

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

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“Good people drink good beer.” Hunter S Thompson

Jun 07 2022

Guides 1
Routes 14
Photos 7,202
Triplogs 5,208

68 male

Joined Mar 16 2008
chandler,az

Cat Harbor Overlook Revisited, CA

Hiking		Jun 07 2022
		johnlp • Triplogs 5,208

Hiking	7.05 Miles	1,591 AEG

Hiking	7.05 Miles
	1,591 ft AEG

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After sitting around all afternoon, I got restless and started exploring. First, I hiked up the coastline to near the USC research facility. Then, I took a different approach to the Cat Harbor Lookout which included a steep 750 ft in 1/2 mile use trail to the top. Fun hike. Saw a bison on the way.

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Bison (American Buffalo)

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

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“Good people drink good beer.” Hunter S Thompson

1 archive

Jun 06 2022

Guides 1
Routes 14
Photos 7,202
Triplogs 5,208

68 male

Joined Mar 16 2008
chandler,az

Little Harbor, CA

Hiking		Jun 06 2022
		johnlp • Triplogs 5,208

Hiking	12.64 Miles	3,398 AEG

Hiking	12.64 Miles
	3,398 ft AEG

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Hiked to Little Harbor from Two Harbors campground via the Trans-Catalina Trail and back. Beautiful hike. Cloudy and cool the first 3/4 of the hike. Chatted with a few thru hikers along the way.

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Velvet Ant

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

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“Good people drink good beer.” Hunter S Thompson

Jun 05 2022

Guides 1
Routes 14
Photos 7,202
Triplogs 5,208

68 male

Joined Mar 16 2008
chandler,az

Cat Harbor Overlook, CA

Hiking		Jun 05 2022
		johnlp • Triplogs 5,208

Hiking	5.33 Miles	1,290 AEG

Hiking	5.33 Miles
	1,290 ft AEG

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First time visiting Catalina Island. Stayed in the campground at Two Harbors. I took an evening hike up to the Cat Harbor Overlook. Only partial visibility due to clouds, which would be a theme for this trip. Nice and cool with a strong breeze up top.

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

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“Good people drink good beer.” Hunter S Thompson

Jun 07 2021

PatrickL

Guides 7
Routes 80
Photos 2,456
Triplogs 653

34 male

Joined Jan 10 2010
Pomona, CA

Cali Islands, CA

Backpack		Jun 07 2021
		PatrickL • Triplogs 653

Backpack	46.00 Miles	9,300 AEG

Backpack	46.00 Miles	5 Days
	9,300 ft AEG

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The Trans-Catalina Trail is bucket-list material. During the planning stages of a California trip, I stumbled upon a rare vacancy at Parsons Landing campground. This brought the Trans-Catalina to the forefront and after some late-night research and booking, my 5-day trek was in stone.

Day 1 - Two Harbors to Parsons Landing: This was the easiest day on paper. Also my first official day of backpacking. My pack wasn't comfortable for the first few miles until I stopped and repacked it. Had plenty of cloud cover and some lengthy drizzles. Parsons Landing is a beautiful campsite on the beach - of course it's booked solid. Good day.

Day 2 - Parsons Landing to Two Harbors: Followed the western side of the trail back to Two Harbors. The climb out of the campground to the ridgeline was comically steep. One of my favorite sections of trail was along this ridgeline - incredible views of the bulkier, southern end of the island. Set up camp outside of Two Harbors then headed back into "town" for some grub. The remaining cloud cover from Monday cleared out and there was nothing but sun from here on out.

Day 3 - Two Harbors to Little Harbor: No lockboxes at Two Harbors Campgground which seemed peculiar. I left my food bag outside of my tent and found it on the beach below the cliffs the following morning. Only casualties were my oatmeal packets which exploded on impact.

Some excellent single track right over the water during the final downhill into Little Harbor. Super windy along this section. Took a quick dip at Little Harbor - it was cold but worth it after hiking in.

Day 4 - Little Harbor to Black Jack: Made great time on the gradual incline. It felt like it was warming up more and more every day, still nice when the breeze was present. Incoming hikers warned of a bison on the trail near the airport - they weren't kidding! It was lying on the trail atop a berm. Passing required a wide swing around a nearby pond.
Filled up on carbs with another burger at the airport (way better than Two Harbors) and headed for Black Jack.
I took a walk up to Mt. Orizaba for some views before dinner. The peak's leveled and covered in equipment - still worth the time IMO.

Day 5 - Black Jack to Avalon: Last day, "mostly" downhill. Hands-down the warmest day. Took a quick shortcut to avoid a bison and ended up missing my water source. 3L barely got me to Hermit Gulch, however, I needed to skip the trail to Lone Tree View. All the more reason to come back. The last couple miles before Hermit Gulch were a scorcher, downhill or not.

Grabbed a celebratory beer at a dive bar in Avalon before heading to the dock for the boat to San Pedro. Couldn't have asked for a better introduction to backpacking!

Flora

Flora [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Canary Island Date Palm

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May 19 2017

DelisseG

Routes 1
Triplogs 1

61 female

Joined May 16 2014
Scottsdale, AZ

Two Harbors - Starlight Bch - Parsons Landing, CA

Hiking		May 19 2017
		DelisseG • Triplogs 1

Hiking	24.32 Miles	5,661 AEG

Hiking	24.32 Miles	21 Hrs 34 Mns	1.13 mph
	5,661 ft AEG

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This Northwestern portion of the Trans Catalina Trail offers a challenging hike with stunning ocean views. Catalina Island is populated by an endless number of steep hills covered in pretty yellow grasses that sway in the wind or soft red tundra succulent plants. The TCT trail (often times also a road) mostly traces the tip top ridgeline of these hills affording fabulous ocean views on both sides of the island. The trail surface is smooth allowing you to walk along easily taking in all the beauty around you – well except for some super steep ups and downs.
Hiking friends and I completed this 24-mile semi-loop over 3 days, but it is manageable over two days. We started at Two Harbors (where we had been dropped by the ferry from San Pedro, California) and hiked to Parsons Landing to camp on the beach. Along the way we saw a huge buffalo right off the trail but he didn’t seem bothered by us. Thanks goodness; he was huge. Parsons Landing is a dry camp, so when you book your camp site, be sure to order a locker with a 2-gallon jug of water and a package of firewood. The cove where you camp is quite pretty, but swimming is difficult given the very rocky beach. Fortunately, the rocks didn’t put off a seal who shimmied well up the beach for a long break from swimming.
The next day I’d recommend hiking to Starlight Beach at the northern most tip of the TCT. Swimming is much more inviting here as the beach has fewer rocks. After cooling down in the ocean, you can return via the same trail to Parsons Landing and then take the Howland Landing Road along the Northeastern edge of the island all the way back to Two Harbors. You’ll have lots of beautiful views along this relatively flat road as it winds its way in and out of the pretty beach coves.
Two Harbors is a comfortable, inviting beach town with a general store, (sometimes) hot showers, casual diner, full bar, and formal restaurant. Camp spots are available about ½ mile from town – up and down a serious hill, of course. The campground is not all that scenic but there is running water, an outdoor shower, and fire rings. We had wood delivered to the campground. Back in Two Harbors if you have time you can rent snorkeling equipment or a sea kayak. Enjoy!

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Sep 01 2016

Lucyan

Routes 1
Photos 29,248
Triplogs 1,448

45 female

Joined Jan 18 2011
In the Wild

Cali Islands, CA

Backpack		Sep 01 2016
		Lucyan • Triplogs 1,448

Backpack	55.60 Miles	7,690 AEG

Backpack	55.60 Miles	4 Days
	7,690 ft AEG		18 LBS Pack

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4 day backpacking trip on Trans-Catalina Backpack, 50+ miles from Two Harbors to Parson's Landing, Starlight Beach to Little Harbor and Avalon:

Day 1 - drive to San Pedro and catching ferry to San Pedro. After lunch at Two Harbors hike to Parson's Landing - 9 miles
Day 2 - hike from Parson's Landing to Starlight to Two Harbors via Silver Peak trail, then hike to Little Harbor - 22 miles
Day 3 - Little Harbor to Black Jack campground via Catalina Airport - 9 miles
Day 4 - Black Jack campground to Avalon - 15 miles

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Gray Fox

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1 archive

Jul 23 2016

Booneman

Guides 9
Routes 33
Photos 780
Triplogs 4,634

44 male

Joined Nov 25 2008
Scottsdale, AZ

Cali Islands, CA

Hiking		Jul 23 2016
		Booneman • Triplogs 4,634

Hiking	1.50 Miles	300 AEG

Hiking	1.50 Miles	35 Mns	2.57 mph
	300 ft AEG

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After diving at the City of Avalon Dive Park and lunch in town I had a little bit of time before our shuttle back, so I ventured up the hillside to get a better view of the island and snap a couple pictures.

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Dec 12 2013

AZLOT69

Guides 177
Routes 249
Photos 10,213
Triplogs 2,215

74 male

Joined Feb 12 2002
Gold Canyon, AZ