Two harbors to Little Harbor

Wednesday was our middle of  our trip and our shortest hiking day. YAY! We were able to really take our time in the morning. That really means I went and took an amazing shower with hot water and everyone else was nice and didn't leave without me:) This day was beautiful scenery. We pretty much went uphill for 2/3 of the day and then downhill for the last 1/3. We did hike less miles but the uphills and downhills were quite steep.

Started the morning off with a group photo.

 Leaving beautiful Two harbors

As soon as we got out of Two Harbors we started going uphill. Like straight uphill for a long time! Pictures don't quite do it justice.

I look at my picures from this day and realize I took way too many selfies. What do you do?

We hiked until we got to a little picnic table we could see in the distance. Perfect lunch spot.

 The views from our little table were amazing.

 The wild flowers were amazing. i think we lucked out doing this in April. the temperature was moderate and everything was green and in bloom.

  It's always hard to put the pack on after lunch.

After lunch it was all downhill. That seems like it would be nice but I feel like it is so much harder on my body.

We started to see people hiking the opposite direction after lunch. They all warned up about a huge Bison laying right next to the trail. He was big and awfully close.

I had to get a selfie with him and my bison hat:)

We were soon able to see our campground even though we had a ways to hike still.

The water looked amazing. Since it was our short day we were actually going to have time to play on the beach. I couldn't wait.

Looking away from the campground at the flowers.

 It is always nice to run into the little signs to remind you that you are on the right track.

 Wednesday are hiking stats were walking 6 miles, 1,688 ft elevation gain, 2:55.32 hiking time and 28'53 minutes per mile.

The first thing we did when we got to camp was set up our tents.

 We were lucky to have a really nice pavilion and so we all hung out all of our clothes. Fresh air does some stinky clothes good.

 We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach, swimming, taking cold outdoor showers. drying our clothes, popping blisters (Amber and Jacklyn). I took a little nap. It was a nice afternoon.

I started getting restless in the evening and so I went for a walk as the sun was going down and got some beautiful pictures.

This little beach was just over the hill from the beach we played on. I had it all to myself at sunset. The next two pictures don't even have a filter. It was gorgeous.

 All alone watching the sun go down.

 We ended the evening with a nice little camp fire.

Parsons Landing to Starlight Beach and then back to Two Harbors

We woke up with the sun and we were all feeling a little tired from all the up and down the day before. There is always an adjustment period when you are backpacking. The pack is heavy and no matter how much you hike and how good of shape you are in it is always hard the first couple of days.

Day 2 - Tuesday was to be our longest hiking day. We had an out and back hike to Starlight beach without the heavy packs and then we had to hike back to two harbors. After breakfast Aaron and Jacklyn opted out of going to Starlight beach so Amber and I took off. The sun was barely starting to peak into our camp.

It was a gorgeous morning. Amber hiked with me for two miles and then headed back to camp. I was stubborn, meaning I really wanted to see Starlight beach, so I continued on my own. It was such a beautiful day and I was hiking as fast as my body could move. I was breathing so hard and hiking fast. It felt amazing.

 Starlight beach was very rugged. Since I was alone I did not scramble down to the shore.

 The end of Catalina Island.

 I was glad I went. The views were amazing the entire hike.

On the hike there was a point where the road split and both roads met up again. I took the high road there and the lower road on the way back. That lower road was KILLER! It was so steep and so many ups and downs. It is interesting how when you are hike from a long ways away you can't really tell what the terrain is like. It was steep and a great workout. My stats for the morning hike were 9.24 miles, 2,181 ft of elevation gained, and my average mile pace was 22'09 minutes per mile. Total time was 3:24.50. I got back just in time for lunch and I was starving.

We ate a quick lunch, packed up camp and then started our trek back to Two Harbors. The nice thing about this trek was that it was pretty flat. Unfortunately we were hiking during the hottest part of the day again, but it wasn't crazy so that was a relief. I was super tired on this part of the hike. The morning hike was catching up to me. We also had our packs on and day 2 with a pack is always terrible!

There was a lot of beauty to enjoy.

 We took breaks in the middle of the road. It was hot. Also my first group picture I got better at taking group photos as the trip continued.

The sun was really hot.

 Getting so close to being done. My feet were killing. The flat is almost worse on my feet.

 So many selfies!

 We finally made it back to Two Harbors. We ended up hiking exactly 8 miles, gaining 412 ft of elevation, hiking for 2:53.43 and hiking at a 21'43 minute per mile pace (overall time was more because I stopped my watch when we took breaks). We actually hiked fast, but it was very flat. We got to two harbors and rested at the little diner. We ate and charged our phones before heading to our campground. Just as the sun was starting to set we made our way to camp. The flowers were so pretty.

 I was tired and could not wait to have the pack off.

This campground was on a little bluff right above the beach. It was a pretty small space, which was annoying, but we survived.

Watching another sunset on a beach = great life.

 We were able to have another fire but the rain forced us to bed pretty early. I was also very tired. Day 2 was a success.

Day 1 Trans Catalina

Amber and I drove to LA on Sunday after we went to church. The drive from Vegas to Southern California was awful. The traffic was horrific. What should have been just over a four hour drive ended up taking almost 7 hours. So exhausting. We had a hotel to sleep in Sunday night.

Monday morning we got ready and headed to San Pedro port to catch our ferry to Catalina Island. We met Aaron and Jacklyn at the port. We were excited to finally be starting our journey.

 Luckily as we were boarding I remembered I had left my hiking poles sitting on Amber's car. Seriously?!?!?!?! The cars were pretty close so I had time to run out and grab them.

 We are all ready for adventure!

The ferry ride was great. We landed in two harbors. We were able to get our permits, buy fuel for the stove, and have lunch before we started trekking.

 Two Harbors is a very small resort area. It is interesting because the majority of the people camp when they go there. It is kind of like glamping though. There is a decent restaurant, a store, a nice beach. It was a fun little place.

After lunch we trekked from two harbors to Parsons Landing. It was 7.28 miles and 1936 ft elevation gain. My hiking time was 3:37.45 so 29'53 minutes per mile. Not too shabby. I did stop the watch whenever we rested though.

We had read that it was steep but I wasn't really prepared for how steep it would be. It was STEEP!!!!! Cardio burner steep. It was a great workout and we started hiking at the hottest part of the day. The uphill was fine but I really disliked the steep downhill. It was so steep that we were all afraid of falling. That is not very fun.

 We took out time, rested, and enjoyed the AMAZING views!

 It was such a gorgeous day. I feel like we were very lucky to have such great weather.

 Starting down the crazy step stuff.

 The flowers were amazing the entire trip. April was the perfect time to visit. Everything was in bloom. I was also surprised at all the cactus's.

 Me and Jacklyn hiking.

 Last stop before we get to camp! Finally done with the steep downhill.

Camping on the beach is perfection.

 Love the view!

 A view of our campground. It was beautiful.

 Slowly watching the sunset.

 It was a perfect evening. And we got to have a fire which was great.