The early boat ride out to Santa Cruz Prisoners Harbor was pretty smooth. We saw some harbor seals and common dolphins on the trip out. Prisoners Harbor is right where the national park land (30%) and the Nature Conservancy (70%) land come together. We decided to take the guided Nature Conservancy hike to Pelican Bay. The hike turned out to pretty strenuous (5.2 miles, 978 feet of elevation gain, 1,466 calories burned) when we had to keep up with folks half our age. The time limit to go out and be back in time to catch the boat back was also a driver. Leslie’s knee started to hurt pretty bad by the time we had rushed up the second steep climb, with two more to go just to get to Pelican Bay, then have to do it all going back. Part of the group turned back. Leslie opted to stay at the top of the second climb to rest her knee. The view she enjoyed for the next hour was a beautiful inlet cove of blue waters and rugged terrain. It felt to her like Big Bend without an ocean, which beckoned some true introspection and appreciation for this incredible journey. David pushed on to Tinker Bay and Pelican Bay with the remainder of the group (A lot of huffing and puffing!). Once at the bays, he took lots of pictures and headed back before the rest of the group so we could have more time to get back to the boat. We met up where Leslie had stopped and headed back to the boat landing. Some of the younger folks in our group passed us on the way back! It was a fun hike, and the island is beautiful. But being rushed on the hike took some of the pleasure out of it verses being able to do it at our own pace. On the way back, we started running into groups of those 7thgraders along the trail. Once we got to the beach, we sat down to enjoy the sound of the waves rolling in, only to suddenly surrounded by 50 kids shouting, throwing rocks, busting things and generally being obnoxious kids. Unfortunately they were also on our boat back, but they were better behaved on the boat. We saw another group of playful dolphins on the way back to Ventura Harbor, which excited the kids and us. They were delightful to watch as they jumped out of the water and swam around the boat at incredible speeds. It was a wonderful day but very tiring.
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| Dolphins on the boat ride out |
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| Pelican Bay |
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| Tinker Bay |
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| Century Plants with eh Santa Cruz Coast in the background |
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| Collection of sea shells on the beach |
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| Sun Setting as we come into Ventura Harbor |
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| Movie of the Dolphins jumping |
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Dolphins on the ride back in
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