We left Ventura Harbor at 9:30 on Monday, May 22, on an Island Packer boat and arrived at Prisoner’s Harbor on Santa Cruz Island at 11:15. After a 3 mile or so drive we arrived at the Main Ranch of The Nature Conservancy, had lunch and settled in. After lunch we spent some 3 hours clearing brush and weeds along side the main road leading to the ranch. Tuesday May 23 – Thursday May 25: We worked exclusively on the Pelican Bay trail. We left the Main Ranch each morning at 8:00 and arrived at the trailhead around 8:20 to begin our 2.25 mile hike to the end of the Pelican Bay trail. Our main objective was to install wooden steps at the end of the very steep trail. A few days prior to our arrival, Island Packers skiffed 25 wooden steps (6x6 inch x 3 ft) plus rebar from Prisoner’s Harbor to near the work site at the end of the trail. Juan Carlo, with the help of all of us, built a rock wall of sorts to bolster the trail’s end. One large rock in particular probably weighed in excess of 500 lbs. We managed to install 22 steps. The terrain was somewhat rocky so the steps weren’t arranged in a neat alignment. We had to locate the steps where we could drive rebar without hitting rock barriers. Three of the steps were used as a border to help prevent erosion at a sharp switchback. We cleared a short section of trail which leads up out of the creek bed to the Pelican Bay overlook. As a result, it’s much easier for hikers to see where its trailhead is. On Thursday two of the crew lopped brush starting near the trail’s end and worked back about a half mile. We usually arrived back at the Main Ranch around 5:00 each day. On Friday we spent about two hours clearing a trail to La Cascada or Canada de la Siesta where there’s a big swimming hole and a nice waterfall. Of course, some of the crew enjoyed the water after our work was completed. On Friday we boarded the Island Packer boat at 4:30 and arrived back at Ventura Harbor at 6:15.
Crew: Dave Edwards, Juan Carlos Mendoza, Cindy Kimmick, Carlyn Taggart