I ran on the pathway to the Visitor Center on the mainland to get the map of Channel Islands National Park. While my parents were planning the itinerary for the trip, I was exploring the Visitor Center and looking at an interesting exhibit of marine aquatic life which had various live animals. One of the rangers there explained me about a salinity measuring device and results for the aquarium.

Then, we were waiting at the dock of Ventura.  We were about to board the boat Island Packers to go to Santa Cruz Island, the biggest of the five islands. It’s almost three times the size of Manhattan! The other four islands are:

• Santa Barbara Island, which is only about one square mile, making it the smallest of the Channel Islands.
• Anacapa Island is made up of three islets (West Anacapa, Middle Anacapa, and East Anacapa) that altogether are five miles long.
• Santa Rosa Island is fifteen miles long and ten miles wide. It hosts one of the rarest pine trees in the world, the Torrey pine.
• San Miguel Island has one of the most precious and diverse nesting habitats.

The crew gave us a warm welcome, and I ran up the double-decker boat’s stairs to see if I could still get a front view. I could! So I stood there impatiently waiting for the boat to leave the dock and head straight a way to Santa Cruz Island.

The boat bounced and rolled, we had a few gray whale sightings, and I had lots of fun.

As I ascended the ladder to set foot on the island, I heard a ranger speaking about a trail that he was guiding. It seemed interesting! When it came time, my parents and I listened and followed the ranger along the trail up the hill.  The group stopped to see an island fox, a descendant of the mainland grey fox. The island fox is about the size of a house cat and weighs about 4 pounds, and is the only carnivore unique to California. We also stopped to see diatomaceous earth, proving that Santa Cruz island was once under water. Diatomaceous earth is in products including toothpaste, mechanical insecticide, cat litter, and a thermal insulator. As we approached Cavern Point at the top of the hill, it looked like a utopia with clear, blue ocean and a nice breeze to cool us of all the huffing and puffing from climbing up the hill.

I am a collector of NPS Junior Ranger Badges as I have been to many other national parks. I completed the activities with help from the visitor center displays and information.

It was time to head back and catch our return boat, but there was absolutely no ranger in sight. I was getting worried and thought that I might not ever get Channel Islands National Park’s badge. As I was boarding, I saw a ranger far away, but I could make out that she was moving towards the Island Packers boat. Phew! I could now board with relief… I quickly introduced myself to ranger Paula Power and she reviewed my completed booklet. Special thanks to ranger Paula to even after her hard days work with the volunteers to restore the island’s native plants, she found a Channel Island National Park badge and swore me in. Woohoo! Looking at the sunset over Channel Island was gorgeous. Land ahoy! In a flash, we were back.

Thank you for reading my blog,  Tanvi

Photo Gallery from Channel Island National Park