Interesting To Cows

I've been meaning to get around to hiking Mission Peak for half a decade now, so when Tom Mangan proposed a Thanksgiving Day outing (and Dan Mitchell suggested making it a sunrise attempt) I decided to tag along.

I was the first to arrive at the trailhead at about 5am.  It was quite dark and I realized that I had left my headlamp back at home.  Since I had time I headed back down to Mission Blvd and found a Safeway that was open and picked up a flashlight.  (And a bonus- The Safeway had a Starbucks kiosk).  Dan and Tom C were the next to arrive, followed by Tom Mangan a short time later. 

The hike itself was more or less straight uphill through an active cow pasture.  The darkness gradually dissipated and we beat the sun to the peak by about 15 minutes.  Unexpectedly (by me at least) cold and windy at the summit.

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Tom's far more eloquent writeup is here and Dan's much better photos are here.
My pics are here. 

Photos and trip reports for the first half of last week's Southern California trip have been posted. 
We spent 3 days in the Scorpion Ranch campground on the east end of Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands National Park.

It turned out to be a near perfect time to visit the park.  The weather was beautiful and there were only ~10 people in the campground.  (The campground has 40 sites and holds 250 people)

We spent each of the three the mornings sea kayaking out of Scorpion Harbor.  The ocean temperatures were cold enough (~62) that we didn't want to end up in water but the winds were calm for all three days and the water surface was mostly clear and placid.   Tons of wildlife in the waters-  In low tides there were starfish on the rocks a multitude of fish amidst the kelp beds.  Out past cavern point we were visited by numerous sea lions and seals.  The seals in particular were curious and would follow the kayaks with their head poking out of the water.  On the first day, a group of sea lions shadowed our kayaks for about a half hour and on day 2 several of them passed underneath us as we headed into the mouth of Potato Harbor.

The afternoons were spent exploring the limited set of hiking trails out of Scorpion Harbor.  Most of the trails climbed up to ridgetops above the Scorpion Canyon and provided great 360 degree views north to the mainland, east to Anacapa Island, west to the center of Santa Cruz Island, and south to the Montaton Ridge.

Pictures and commentary are here: 
Monday -  Kayak to Cavern Point and a hike to the Campo Grande Pasture north of Scorpions Harbor
Tuesday – Kayak to Potato Harbor and a hike to Smugglers Cove
Wednesday-  Morning kayak 1 mil north and south from Scorpion Habor, hike to the Potato Harbor Overlook

I don't have the on-kayak pictures up yet-  My brother had the waterproof camera shell and I'm waiting for him to send me the prints.