And on that happy note, we finally broke our diving hiatus with a morning dive. It was great to be back in the water, I had no idea I would miss it so much. Instead of using air in our cylinder as we usually do (21% oxygen), we used Nitrox, which is basically a gas mixture consisting of less nitrogen and more oxygen (32% oxygen in our case). Completing that dive means we're officially Nitrox Divers!
Bernie and I post-diving
And now for the part that's actually relevant to Valentine's Day. At the beginning of this week, Andrea made these adorable envelopes for each person in our crew and hung them up so we could all make Valentines for each other:
By this morning, the all the Valentine envelopes were stuffed (yay!):
Being on an island with limited access to crafty resources, here's my version of Valentines that I ended up making for everyone
After dinner, we all gathered around the envelopes like kids waiting to open Christmas presents. Since Amanda had taken the initiative in making Valentine Hats for everyone, selfies were going on all around:
Needless to say, it was a pretty successful celebration all around. There were some incredibly creative/incredibly sweet/incredibly funny goodies in my envelope, which goes for everyone else as well.
Breaking into the first Valentines
Sending my love out to everyone else back on the mainland and all across the country/world who has been part of my life. Miss you all, and Happy Valentines Day!!
Class is really starting to get going- we've had three long lectures so far, and our first midterm is coming up on Tuesday. On a happier note, it seems like we'll be taking a class field trip to Avalon in the near future (Catalina Island's biggest city and main tourist destination), so stay posted for updates.
After hearing about my kayak trip to Bird Rock/Blue Caverns with Bernie a few days ago, several people wanted to check it out for themselves, so I hit the kayaks once again. The waves was incredibly smooth today, with none of the rough winds that plagued the water just a few days ago. As a result, we made the trip with about half the time and effort that I had expended when I first went with Bernie.
Hunter about to enter the caverns
Navigating out of the cavern's shallows
Just as we emerged from the caverns, we were surprised by a seal basking on a rock right outside of the tunnel. Seal's are a lot more unusual to spot around here than sea lions, and we fussed over this one for a while before going on our way.
On our way back, we found several more cavern-like structures cut into the rock face. Unlike Blue Caverns, none of them seemed to tunnel straight through the cliffs; however, there were several with narrow chamber openings that seemed to lead deeper into the rocks. Without a flashlight and water shoes, exploration seemed a little questionable, but I'll definitely be returning in the near future.
One of the cavern structures we discovered
We don't have class tomorrow, so I spent the rest of the day watching Star Wars and brainstorming Valentine ideas for everyone. I know some people are planning pretty cute ideas, so I'm hoping I have a creative epiphany sometime soon..
You know life is good when elementary school traditions begin to re-surface.
Today, in short, was a rather productive day that included class, meals, time spent working on my research project/internship, a run, and weights. By the time I had finished my workout, I was definitely feeling like I could use some relaxation, so I hiked a short ways up a trail to string up my hammock.
The hammock life is the only life for me
I had a pretty cozy set-up going, and would have stayed for longer if it wasn't for dinner. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed such a relaxing read- I'm still congratulating myself on such a worthwhile investment. Really, I'm beginning to think beds are overrated.
As promised, I set out after class today to finish the hike that I had started yesterday. This time, I brought some friends along, one of which informed me that the trail I found was definitely not a new discovery. So much for that.
Lucky us, we happened to set out right when a thick cloud bank rolled in from the ocean. Swirling around the mountains, the fog made for some of the most breathtaking landscapes I've seen since I've got here.
Fog closing in early on in the hike
We stopped for many photos along the way, and this shot of my friend Savannah taking a panoramic gives you an idea of just how thick and dense the cloud bank was. The usual blue expanse of ocean that the trail overlooks was replaced by an impenetrable layer of misty white.
When I last went back to the mainland, someone asked me if I had gotten used to how beautiful the island is, or if it still takes my breath away. If that same person were here to see how the same landscapes vary in appearance from day to day, I don't think they would have had to ask.
The sun breaking through the fog
In general cacti grow all over Catalina Island, but they happened to be particularly dense along this hiking trail. Despite my caution, I still managed to stub my foot on a baby cacti that slipped my notice. I sincerely hope this doesn't become a trend throughout the rest of the semester.
Cacti covered hill
When we finally reached the top, we had broken above the cloud bank for a pretty spectacular view:
The clouds moving across the hills toward the town of Two Harbors
We couldn't have timed the hike better- by the time we were descending, the fog had lifted, and all was clear blue sky once again. Oh, how I appreciate the whims of Mother Nature.
Well it's back to real classes and 9:30am lectures. I miss diving a lot already, but we're conducting research projects that include diving as part of this class, so hopefully I'll be back in the water soon.
The research project is largely open ended as far as what we want to study. We were paired up into teams of two, and my partner Elliott and I messed around with some ideas we were interested in pursuing. These included invasive species, applications of citizen science, and managing stakeholder interests.
After lecture, lunch, and a nap, I was feeling a little antsy so I went on a little solo exploration. I started out at the junkyard, which is located just behind our main campus.
A junkyard boat that's outlived its days on the water
After poking around for a bit, I discovered a trail that didn't look familiar, so I naturally started following it. I ended up meandering my way up Mt. Wrigley (the slope that we hiked in my earlier posts), picking my way through loose rock and attempting not to impale myself on the cacti.
On my way up, I ran into several foxes, one of which jumped on the trail and started trotting directly toward me. He eventually skirted around me at the last minute, but it's just one more example of how comfortable the animals here are around humans. Even the fish in the water have no qualms about inquisitive divers- my hands will often be barely a couple of inches away from them before they'll swim away.
The inquisitive fox
Before I got all the way to the top of the slope, it began getting pretty dark, and I realized I was in danger of missing dinner. With the threat of an empty stomach looming ahead of me, I made good time back down the slope, resolving to come back and finish my hike tomorrow.
From a distance, the junkyard where I started my hike looks miniscule
Well not really at all, but it's probably the closest I'll ever get to having a cool animal attack encounter where I lived to tell the tale. A little ways off of the shore of our campus is a huge rock that forms something like a mini island; we call it "Bird Rock". In celebration of the beautiful weather, I decided to kayak out there with Bernie and go look for Sea Lions since you can always hear them calling from the rock.
The waves were pretty rough so we had a bit of a shoulder workout getting out there, but here's a panoramic of our kayak as we approach Bird rock. The photo makes it seem a bit smaller than it actually is.
Before we even got close to the island, the tell-tale stench of animal manure told us that we were on the right track. Sure enough, we as we approached the island, we saw huge groups of seals piled on the shore of Bird Rock. There must have been at least a hundred, and one of them was absolutely massive. I don't know if sea lion colonies have something similar to a Queen Bee, but he definitely looked the part
We started pulling the kayak in closer, and all of a sudden, King Sea Lion gives a huge sort of half yawn half bark and plunges into the sea towards us. Before you know it, twenty-some other seals have followed suit and are swimming straight for us. At this point, our kayak was only about 10-15 feet away from shore, and it was probably the most terrifying and most amazing experience all at the same time. Bernie was half convinced they were going to capsize us, but I think they just wanted to defend their territory. A few curious sea lions even followed behind us for a little bit.
Our kayak headed straight into a group of sea lions up ahead
This episode of sea lions jumping in the water toward us was repeated several times as we made our way around Bird Rock, and we made many hasty kayak getaways.
Some other cool photos that I snapped of the sea lions on Bird Rock:
The lighting at this angle of Bird Rock made for a pretty good silhouette shot
By the time we had circled to the opposite side of the island, the surge was really strong, and we put in some serious shoulder work keeping the kayak from drifting too close to the sea lions. When we finally got our fill of photos, we continued on to Blue Caverns.
Blue Caverns is basically a tunnel like structure through a rock cliff that's wide enough to kayak through. The photos and video I'm about to post do it absolutely no justice; it's beautiful.
Entrance to the cavern
We took a video of our entire trip to through cavern. I was attempting to help paddle while taking the video, so apologies for the shaky quality. The sound cuts out for a little bit towards the end before cutting back in, so you may want to turn your volume up a little during that section (basically, the part that you miss includes us running into shallow tide, so I temporarily cut out of the video to help Bernie paddle out).
Our view exiting the cavern
Roundtrip, our entire kayak excursion took a little less than two hours. Bernie and I had stupidly decided that lifting weights was a good idea before we kayaked, so our shoulders were pretty much shot by the time we paddled back into the Wrigley harbor...which just made the experience that much better.
Thoroughly soaked by the ocean spray; a selfie to document our successful return
To top off a fantastic day, Trevor finally taught me how to tie a proper knot, and Savannah and I successfully hung our hammocks up today! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me to document the momentous event, but I'm sure there'll be plenty of hammock photo ops in the future.
Class starts again tomorrow, even though I'd gladly take a few more days off. Still, a great end to a great long weekend.
I've been frequenting the trail to Two Harbors pretty often this weekend, adding another trip to town this morning. This one was rather unplanned, as I was rudely awakened by Hannah telling me I should get up and go hiking with them.
My quads were pretty sore from all the uphill hiking and running I've been doing, so getting up the normally not-that-bad Deer Valley trail was a lot more painful than I expected.
I snapped a shot of the Wrigley campus as I was coming back down the hill so you guys can get a sense of where's where. The light blue building closest to the harbor is the dive locker where we store all the diving gear. The larger beige building to the right of it is the Hyperbaric Chamber, where they treat dive accidents.
Going uphill from the waterfront, the largest three tiered building is where our lecture hall, lab rooms, and library are located. Directly across from that is the brown administration building (it's almost blended in with the hill) where we can send/receive mail or sign up for boats leaving the island. The arena-looking circle in front of the administration building is an amphitheater that we never use, and between the amphitheater and the admin building is a volleyball court.
Farthest back is the group of buildings that consist of the dining hall (the building with the white columns to the very right) and the dorms. We're in the dorm building directly connected to the dining hall, but some of the other buildings to the left are actually cabin-styled cottages.
Due to the soreness of my calves, I wasn't feeling very excited about more physical activity, so I spent a lot of the rest of the day watching the Olympics. Looking at all the hubbub in Sochi makes me feel like we're watching a world completely removed from our little island- which, in most senses, we are.
The weather had cleared up today, so Albert suggested we go on a hike to a cool overlook he had discovered after breakfast. The ground was still wet from yesterday's rain, so our shoes were covered with mud by the time we made it. Not to mention that we were slipping and sliding all over the place.
Walking down the trail was considerably harder than it looks considering the mud and zero-traction
As usual, the effort was all worth it since the view opened up to a gorgeous overlook of the harbor. The water was beautifully textured this morning, which I tried and failed to capture on my iPhone camera. There were also multiple seals in the water, and we spent a good deal of time just sitting there watching them.
Mid-trail happiness
Things never look as good on camera
Surprising how much more shoes weigh with an inch thick sole of mud
Candid?
When we got back, Savannah and I decided it was time to test the hammocks we had bought on Wednesday. Since the hammock didn't come with hanging straps, we obtained some rope from the dive locker, and set out to learn the art of hammock-ing.
Of course, we managed to get distracted by finding a rope swing.
After a bit more hiking than I expected, we eventually found an oak grove that looked like a feasibly good place to hang hammocks up. Unfortunately, neither Savannah or I knew anything about tying knots. Molly had also come to join us at this point, and she knew about as much as Savannah and I did.
Attempting to master knont-tying
Discussing the nuances of hammock placement
We finally worked up the courage to test our haphazard knots, with mildly successful results. Savannah got into her hammock with no problems, but she was only about two inches off the ground. On the other hand, I managed to get my hammock a couple feet off the ground.
Savannah rocking her hammock
Finally successful!
Of course, these photos were taken shortly before Savannah decided to try out my hammock for herself. While she was climbing in, one of the knots slipped and she ended up plummeting out of the hammock. Lots of good laughs, but I guess we failed hammock-ing 101. We've decided to scout out Trevor, one of the boat captains here, and get him to teach us a few knots. Good thing we have all semester to figure this out!
I managed to fit in my first run today as well, making the four-mile round trip to and back from Two Harbors. Up to now, I had been discouraged by the hills and multitude of uphill slopes, but I figured I'd have to start getting back into running at some point. Just as I thought, running up the hills was killer, but at least I earned my dinner. A good day!
My dreams of a fabulous start to our long weekend were brutally crushed this morning when I woke up to dismal weather. It was grey and rainy all day, so I spent most of the day lounging in bed and catching up on work.
The lack of activities today also translated into a lack of pictures, so I'll just share some photos of the night dive from a while back that my friend just shared with me.
Making our way into the black water
Regulators in for a pre-dive photo op (I'm on the far right)
I've yet to go on another night dive since then, but I'm hoping there's another one in the next few weeks. Definitely one of the funnest dives we've done on this island so far.
Today, we officially completed our course in scientific diving.
Does that mean we're scientific divers? Nope. Apparently we need around 30 dives to finish our certification, so it looks like we'll have to postpone the celebration for a little while longer.
Meanwhile, I now have a five day weekend on my hands, and I can't remember the last time I've had this much free time (our next class doesn't start until Monday). We were feeling a little lost with so little to do, so we took a leisurely walk to Two Harbors so that I could buy Brie Cheese, which I've had a craving for for about five days now.
Ran into a bison on the way
After which we stopped to take pictures for no good reason
Highlight of the hike? Probably spotting this adorable cat creeping on us from one of the houses in Two Harbors. Anyone who knows me well knows I absolutely love cats, and I've been a bit deprived without one on this island.
Instead of getting Brie Cheese at the general store, I found an awesome hammock for 26 bucks. I've had my eye on Eno Hammocks for about a year now, but I could never commit to buying one since they're so pricey. Savannah went ahead and bought one with me, so we're planning some hammock parties for the near future.
A few of us left on Wednesday to head back to the mainland, but for the most part, we're all staying. With everyone sticking around, it's shaping up to look like a fun next couple of days!
Not to be sentimental, but today is our last dive in our scientific diving course. We take our final exam tomorrow morning, and then we'll officially be done with our second class. That doesn't mean we won't be diving anymore, but we'll be diving much less. Our next class will feel a little more like standard school- it's a course on Marine Conservation Policies.
Here's a shot from our last morning gear-up (photocreds to Bernie):
At the rate that school has been going, I'm not sure how I feel about this impending switch back to academia. Guess I'll find out soon enough.
I've never been so excited to return to school. We got straight off the boat, dropped off our luggage, and headed to the waterfront to go dive. Nothing spectacular, but I don't need spectacular when I'm so glad to be back.
I brought back some more things from the mainland to make my room feel more at home, and here's the results of my decorating efforts. Home may be where the heart is, but home is also where there are Christmas lights.
I won't bore you with the details of my very un-exciting weekend back on the mainland, since I mainly returned to finish work. Besides grabbing food with some friends and watching the Superbowl for a bit, not too much going on. Missing the mainland already!
It's the last day of January, and it's also my first day back on the mainland. But more on that later.
We had originally planned to continue our boating course and/or dive in the morning, but we woke up to choppy waters and dismal weather. Since the surge was so strong, our instructors elected to knock out a few lectures instead. On the bright side, we did see a sea lion at the end of the dock while we were scoping out the water in the morning (photocreds to Amanda).
Here on the island, we have the option of returning to the mainland on the weekends if we want to. Since I happened to have tickets to the Book of Mormon this weekend, I hopped on the Miss Christie after lecture with a few bags and headed towards Los Angeles. The waves were extremely rough on our way back- good thing I'm not prone to sea sickness, or else it would've been a long hour and a half.
The Miss Christie
The welcome sight of the port after a choppy boat ride.
I barely had time to drop off my luggage before I was on the metro headed for North Hollywood and the Panteges Theatre. Talk about a rapid change in environment:
Panteges Theatre
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The theatre itself was gorgeous and the musical talent was also incredible. I'd be lying if I didn't also say that it's probably one of the most offensive productions I've ever seen; I'm surprised there wasn't more backlash from the Mormon church.
Catalina to Hollywood in one day, go figure. Still, it's good to be back at USC!
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