Trans Catalina Trail- The Walk Out

Even though we were officially done with the Trans Catalina Trail, we still had to walk back to Two Harbors to catch our bus to Avalon in order to catch the ferry.  Phew!  This time of year, ferries don't run out of Two Harbors on Tuesdays so that's why we had all the travel legs to get back to Avalon.  We had 7 miles to walk from Parson's Landing to Two Harbors.  Thank goodness we had the option of taking the flat dirt jeep road along the ocean instead back up the steep trail we came from! 

We started walking early at 6am because the bus left Two Harbors at 10:30am and with all the mileage misinformation, we were unsure of the actual mileage.  Better to be early and get a coffee and food than be late and miss the bus! 

We had some nice cloud cover along the walk and how refreshing to walk on flat ground!  It was just an old dirt jeep road that wound it's way along the coastline.  Little coves with fancy private resorts and homes dotted the way.  It felt like we had a pretty fast pace compared to what we had been doing; eager to get back. 

We rolled into Two Harbors at about 9:30am, well ahead of the bus departure.  I immediately thought breakfast sounded good so I got eggs, sausage, potatoes, toast and coffee.  Hungry!  We hung around and availed ourselves of the public flushing toilets and soap a few times. 

We loaded into the "bus" which was actually a van.  I was a little surprised because they call it a "Safari Bus" so I expected one of those open air jeep things that you see at the Wild Animal Park.  In any case, we were happy to have made it onto the bus.  We changed vehicles in Little Harbor and then proceeded on to Avalon.  We saw a big herd of buffalo en route and it was nice to see them at a distance.  They are very big and scary looking.  I am definitely glad we didn't encounter one on the trail up close and personal!

Then we were in Avalon with teaming masses of people.  It looked like a cruise ship had just unleashed their passengers, coupled with spring breakers, and it was chaos.  We had about 3 hours to kill before our ferry so the first order of business was food, of course.  I ate a nice breakfast in Two Harbors but I could always eat again!  We walked into the first place we saw which was a Mexican joint called Coyote Joes.  Baaaad idea.  We had a very mean waitress and the food sucked!  The cheese in my enchilada wasn't even melted and had no flavor but I ate the whole thing anyway.  They got Jacki's order wrong, giving her fish tacos instead of fish and chips so she sent it back.  Then the fish and chips were totally gross so she didn't eat any of it.  They ended up not charging her but they did charge her 50 cents for ice.  I don't recommend it- stay away!  It looked like there were plenty of other good places to eat there.

So then we walked around a bit, got a delicious ice cream cone, and made our way out of the fray to the dock to await the ferry.

One and done on this hike.  I don't think I will go back to Catalina unless it's something my husband wants to see.  I like a more remote experience for backpacking.  It was also one of the most expensive backpacks I've done with all the fees for campgrounds, water, bus, ferry, etc.  I'm glad I did it though.  It's truly beautiful.

Photos can be found on my Instagram @tinahikes

Author of Lola Hikes the Icy Mountain
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lola-Hikes-Mountain-Tina-Fernando/dp/1524656089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491443809&sr=8-1&keywords=lola+hikes+the+icy+mountain
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lola-hikes-the-icy-mountain-tina-fernando/1125793085?ean=9781524656089

Crazy Compression: 45% off code CCA-TFernando   www.crazycompression.com
Blenders Eyewear: 20% off code- Tina20  www.blenderseyewear.com