The way we planned to start out simple was to set up camp at Hermit Gulch Campground, then ride around the island from there. Although the panniers for my bike hold a lot, we don't exactly have the correct gear to lighten the load on a long-distance journey, so we had to pack our tent and sleeping bags in backpacks (left). It was easy enough to walk our bikes onto the Catalina Express ferry from Dana Point harbor, but as we pulled into the dock at Avalon, the clouds in the distance belied some difficulty to come (right).
We only had to ride about mile uphill (both ways?) to our campground, and by the end we were soaked with sweat and rain. It was a near-downpour by the time we set up our tent, so we couldn't even hang out all our wet belongings to dry. Considering most Catalina tourists are less, um, outdoorsy, the campground managers were impressed by our tenacity, especially when we didn't opt to upgrade to a tent cabin. Nonetheless, after only that short ride in showers, we were ready to take shelter in a watering hole. Surely, if we snuggled up to a bar every time it drizzled on a cross-country spin, we wouldn't get far.
One place we didn't get cocktails was Sugarloaf Casino, a circular Art Deco edifice that despite its name was once a hotspot for dancing, not gambling and drinking. Now, instead of booking Big Bands, it fills a big screen daily (Wreck-it Ralph was showing while we were there). It is also home to the Catalina Island Museum, where you can read all about celebrities who frequented the island, like Natalie Wood, whose body was found off the island's coast.
The construction of the casino was funded by chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley Jr., who is honored with an imposing structure at the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden, which was less than a half-mile from our campsite. The garden is on land owned by the Catalina Island Conservancy, which was created by Wrigley to protect the island and which still owns more than 80 percent of its land.
Its conservation efforts, including helping rescue a once-near-extinct species of fox, would be honorable except for the fact that it uses its monopoly on the island to charge hefty fees for permits to use the land. In order to bike outside of the city and into the interior (top), we had to become members, which costs $35 per person. Sure, it gave us an annual pass to ride the island, but it seems like there could and should be some option for less-regular visitors. Besides, pedaling up the steep inclines of the island's mountains is a high enough toll, at least on your legs, especially when your rewarding vista of Avalon Bay is progressively obscured by overcast skies (bottom).
After some less strenuous riding atop the island's plateaus, we arrived at the fog-filled Airport in the Sky (top left). Some Hangar 24 beer and some buffalo chili from the on-site restaurant, DC-3, really hit the spot amid the surrounding dampness (top right). Plus, the many hummingbirds fluttering on the patio helped remind me of springier temperatures (bottom left). But the crowning achievement was spotting a bison across the valley; the animals were left to flourish on the island after a herd was brought in to film an adaptation of Zane Grey's The Vanishing American. Sadly, without a zoom lens, the only photo of a bison I could get was of the (possibly fake) head above the fireplace (bottom right).
With many of the dirt paths washed out and closed, we had reached the end of the road when it came to bicycling. So the next day, we took to our feet for the Garden to Sky Hike, which climbs up from the Wrigley Memorial to the Trans-Catalina Trail. After reaching the summit of the hike (left), we continued on a suggested loop by taking the Hermit Gulch trail (right) back to our campground.
I could end this blog post here and act like we had an incredibly active weekend on the island. To be fair, we did, but in other respects, we were lightweights -- although not in the imbibing sense. We had a drink at every dive bar in town, including The Locker Room, the place to be for locals (left), and the Marlin Club, the oldest bar in Avalon (right). The Marlin Club's bar was built to resemble a WWII-era Merchant Marines boat, with no sportfish in sight.
However, at the Margaritaville-like Catalina Cantina (left) and the nautical-inspired El Galleon (right), we sipped among many stuffed fish. Luckily, we managed to dodge complete Put-in-Bay-style cheesiness by not ordering the Wiki Wacker, which comes with a straw hat, at Luau Larry's.
We did get stuck in both The Sandtrap (left), whose $9 pitchers and $1 tacos were worth the sub-par ambiance, and The Lobster Trap (right), whose seafood offerings and Lost Coast drafts were both diverse and filling.
Even after all the food, we managed to squeeze in some Christmas spirit. Avalon was all lit up for its annual Shop at Home night (top). The goal of the event is to promote sales at local businesses, but the biggest draw appeared to be Santa, who sat in a sleigh in front of El Galleon (bottom). Lucky for Saint Nick, we didn't have any canned-good donations on us as payment to take a photo, so he didn't have to put up with my butt on his lap.
Even with our bags deposited at the ferry dock, I felt pretty packed with excitement from the weekend. When we had our last beer at the Buffalo Nickel, by Catalina's heliport, the island was still under clouds (top left), which broke just as we were pulling out of the harbor (top right). However, any acrimony at our bad luck was unburdened by the beautiful sunset we were able to watch as we breezily rode home, powered by an engine other than ourselves (bottom).
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