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<DIV>They knew what to expect by reading the NOAA weather report which included
Santa Rosa Island. The area was under a gale warning but that didn't stop
Ken and Dave O'Connor from loading up their kayaks on the Island Packer
boat. Cheryl and Barb opted for hiking on the island. The Island
Packer boat left promptly at 8 AM with Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel
hikers and campers. Our first stop was Scorpion to drop off the Santa Cruz
folks. The captain took the back side of Santa Cruz for smoother waters
for the leg to Santa Rosa. Seeing the back side of the island was a real
treat for the adventurous foursome. But the nice smooth ride was about to
end.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As the boat rounded the west end of Santa Cruz, Neptune decided to make the
trip interesting and the passengers on the bow got a good bath. Barb
had her head in a bag most of the 20 minutes it took to make the passage to
Santa Rosa. The boat arrived at the Bechers Bay pier and unloaded the
Santa Rosa campers. There are 13 sites and the rangers said they were all
booked except for 3.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The campers gathered at the corrals to get the ranger orientation and the
Island Packer boat departed with the San Miguel group. Ranger
Mark said there was a possibility they wouldn't make it and asked
everyone to hold the 3 open sites for the misfortunate ones who couldn't make
it. Also, they would open up the Day Use area which didn't have
any wind shelter. After the orientation, the foursome hiked a mile and
a half to the campsite. Cheryl went into high speed mode and bagged
two shelters. After the foursome put up their tents in 27 knot
winds, the San Miguel campers arrived only to find all shelter
occupied. Their boat had to turn around due to gale force winds. They
had to put up in the Day Use area and needless to say, they were not happy
campers. The kind hearted CKFers, offered up the use off of their
sheltered picnic table to cook on. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>At 9 AM Saturday morning and after a windy night, ranger Catherine
gathered everyone for a Lobo Canyon hike of about 9 mile. Lobo
Canyon is a hike not to be missed if visiting Santa Rosa Island. It
was late afternoon when the hikers returned and the wind was still
howling. As the foursome prepared their dinners in the protection of
the shelters, a young couple from the Day Use area came to join them. They
talked of their harrowing night in the open Day Use area and how impossible it
was to cook. Ken noticed the look of despair on their faces and brought
out the Black Box wine. Soon all their woes seemed insignificant.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The next day was spent beach hiking and a hike to Torrey Pines. There
are only two places in the world, according to the ranger, that have Torrey
pines and Santa Rosa Island is one of them. It was still too windy to
kayak but NOAA weather radio was calling for a calmer Monday. Around
midnight the winds abated and foursome awoke Monday to calm seas and fog.
Dave and Ken headed for the water and Barb and Cheryl did some more
hiking. Dave and Ken headed for Carrington Point where a large herd of
seals and sea lions reside. Pea soup fog and breaking waves in a unknown
area turned the two back to the pier. Those guys are really smart.
Back at the pier, the two practiced rolls, rescues, and braces. The water
wasn't exactly </DIV>
<DIV>tropical temperature. After a fun day of hiking and kayaking is was
time to get ready for the 3 PM boat departure.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The boat ride back to Ventura included a peak into the famous Painted
Cave. The ocean was calm and Barb was happy traveler. With the
exception of the Painted Cave stop and the usual dolphin stop, the boat was the
express boat directly from Santa Rosa to Ventura. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>by Ken Fry</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Trip pictures at <A
title=http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbM27Fy5cN2JG&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5
href="http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbM27Fy5cN2JG&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5">http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbM27Fy5cN2JG</A></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - <A title="http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112" href="http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112" target="_blank">Check out TourTracker.com</A>!</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>