Sunday, October 20, 2002 mid-afternoon

Sitting on a rock at Paradise Cove, watching the surf roll in and out. It's our last night camping and our second to last night on Catalina.

We took our time getting up and out yesterday morning. We thought we had used up all the firewood the night before but when I got up, I found 3 more bundles. The coals from the night before were still hot and it didn't take long for me to get the fire roaring again. By the time we ate, packed up and loaded up the boats, it was almost noon.

We had found a spot up off the beach for the tent but decided to bring the sleeping bags and pads down to the beach to sleep. The moon was almost full and it was partly cloudy so we didn't see too many stars but being near the water was nice.

Kayaking to Two Harbors, we saw a half dozen sea lions. They're very curious and come pretty close to check us out. We had a tailwind all the way to Two Harbors so we made good time, arriving there around 1:30 p.m. We stopped along the way to paddle through Perdition Cave. It was beautiful with streaks of pink granite lacing the walls and ceiling. I got through almost the whole thing without a hitch until the last turn. I got on the wrong side of a rock and the current turned me around backwards but I managed to back out and swing around. There was something nasy floating in the kelp bed but I looked the other way and paddled away as fast as I could, so I have no idea what it was.

Coming into Two Harbors was cool. The water was calm and it was fun paddling between all the boats. Two Harbors itself, while nowhere near as touristy as Avalon, is much more of a tourist trap. They know they have the only game in town and they charge accordingly.

They were in the midst of their Sixth Annual Underwater Clean-up Day. A whole bunch of divers had piles of trash and they were giving prizes for the best of several funny categories. One woman in the general store was going to claim her shorts which had blown off her boat a month ago and had somehow had the rear seam ripped out.

We left Two Harbors at about 3 p.m. and paddled straight into a head wind. Although I was paddling further out than Steve was comfortable with, my stomach was not a problem all afternoon. It seems that a little bit of chop and continuous forward movement work wonders.

We overshot Paradise, landed at Lava Wall and had to paddle back. It's amazing houw we can be quite comfortable as we're paddling but be almost immediately hypothermic when we beach. I'm learning that the first order of business is changing into warm, dry clothes so knowing where that dry bag is and having it packed correctly are essential.

We were both exhausted and cranky so after getting the beds laid out and having a tiff, we went to sleep. But not before we watched the full moon rise out of a cloud bank that was virtually invisible. If not for the moon peaking out from behind it, we would not have even known it was there.

This morning dawned pretty gray. It was cloudy and since the leeward side of the island mostly faces north or northeast, the sun didn't hit the campsite until relatively late. Once it did and the clouds cleared, the mood of the day changed entirely. I tried to go snorkeling, but what with the cold water and my level of inexperience, I only lasted for a VERY short time. I spent the rest of the day reading.

Tomorrow, I'd like to start early for Avalon. I'm looking forward to a shower and would like some time to walk around and explore. Our helicopter back on Tuesday leaves at 11:20 a.m.

We still don't know what we're doing for the rest of the week. We've discussed a number of options, including Yosemite, Sequoia, Joshua Tree, Las Vegas, Holbrook, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, La Posada, so who knows where we'll end up. I'd like to be in Ouray Saturday night. I'd like to be home early afternoon on Sunday and I want to avoid long drive days as much as possible. We'll see where that takes us.