Santa Cruz Island/Smugglers Cove is one of my favorite hikes because I hope to catch a glimpse of one of four native local inhabitants, the curious, shy, and ever elusive island fox, their ancestors "rafted" to the Channel Islands 10,400 to 16,000 years ago. Also, the two-hour sail to the islands is adventurous, passing over the "wind channel" and crossing the migration paths of gray whales and most recently the feeding grounds of a pod of transient Orcas can be quite exhilarating! Hundreds and hundreds of spinner dolphins are common to see, and they love to catch up and challenge the boat to a race along the way. The Channel Islands are also the breeding grounds of the brown pelican and California sea lions. There are 80,000 sea lions that live and breed on the islands, and the pelican has made a huge comeback after the 1950's scare of DDT and thin eggs almost wiped them out. They have actually been de-listed on the endangered species act!
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| Spinner dolphins |
Transportation to the islands can be found through Channel Islands Charter for packages that include day excursions/whalewatching trips or overnight stays/extended trips on sailing or power yachts, or Island Packers has overnight camping (you camp on the island) and daytrips/whale watching tours. There is also an airstrip on one of the islands, but I have never checked into flights. I prefer the boat trip through Channel Islands Charter, as there is an extremely high probability that you will see amazing marine life on the way!
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| Orca a few miles off of Anacapa Island |
Sunning or feeling the sails fill with wind is very relaxing and exciting, but every once in awhile look around as you travel to the island. Your adventure has officially begun. Don't forget to bring binoculars, but first scan the horizon with the naked eye. Look for a concentration of flying birds and/or whitewater (the splashing of seals or dolphins) during calm seas. This usually means a feeding frenzy on a baitball (lots of fish). You can usually talk Captain Sean into following the baitball for a photo op, or to attract playful dolphins to chase the boat.
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| Smugglers Cove |
Once you are anchored, you can either kayak or take an inflatable motorboat to shore. Bring sunscreen, water, flipflops or some sort of footgear that can get wet, snacks, and hiking shoes. Smugglers Cove was actually used as a hideout for smugglers in the 1800's who would store their goods for a time. Long before that, Santa Cruz Island was home to the largest population of the Island Chumash Indian tribe. In fact, archaeological finds on the island trace human inhabitants that lived there over 9000 years ago! The earth that you are touching is rich in history! The first part of the hike goes through the Gherini family hunting lodge and buildings, once used to lodge hunters that would come to the island to hunt feral pigs. The Gherini family also had a sheep ranch on the island, until they sold the property to the federal government, unwillingly in the 1990's, and now it is a National Park.
At the Gherini buildings, we had the pleasure of meeting one of only four native animals to the island, the island fox. This is the animal that has eluded me for years, its ancestors arriving tens of thousands of years ago on "rafts". Now, the island fox is endangered, due to the golden eagles overhunting them. This is a lesson in what happens when we mess with the eco-chain. Bald eagles used to be plentiful on the islands, but when the DDT event happened in the 1950's that thinned the eggs of the nesting brown pelican and bald eagle, the eagle disappeared from the islands. The golden eagle was sighted, and filled in as the top predator, feeding on feral pigs that were also introduced to the island, and the island fox. Once the feral pigs were removed from the island, the golden eagle fed on the island fox. The fox went from a population of 2000 adults in 1994 to 135 adults in 2000.
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| A rare glimpse of an island fox |
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| Bat cavern |
Follow the riverbed, and you will discover caves alongside the cliffs. Santa Cruz Island has eleven species of bats, including the rare Townshend's long-eared bats, who roost upside down and unlike other bat colonies, will not crawl in between nooks and crannies but prefer to keep their fur fluffy and hang upside down in large caverns, like the one we found that really smelled and looked like it was inhabited by bats!
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This hike is strenuous as the riverbed is unmarked and there is boulder hopping, but there are other well-marked hikes out of Smugglers Cove that are easier and connect the other anchorages in the area.
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