Channel Islands Part 1

October 8, 2025

The big day finally arrived—our long-awaited trip to the Channel Islands! Santa Rosa, specifically. For us, getting to the island was no easy feat. First we had to pack up all our backpacking gear. Easy enough… until we realized we also had to empty everything from our car into the camper. Unfortunately, crime is a thing here. And when I say everything, I mean everything—bins, solar panel, homemade shelf, and even the bikes. Fitting it all into the camper was a little bit like playing tetris again. 

Next, we had to get to our friend's house super early to park the trailer. There is no beating the traffic here. The freeway was already jammed at 5:30 am. Bless our friends—they actually got up to see us off. These are people who don’t see the sunrise unless it’s on a coffee mug, so that’s true friendship right there. And we were there well before sunrise. Or maybe they just wanted to make sure we didn't accidentally back into their garage door when we parked the trailer. 

Then came the drive to the boat launch, where we finally checked in and could start feeling excited again. The hard part was over! 

The boat ride to Santa Rosa takes about three hours, but what a ride! We saw sea lions lounging on bouys, dolphins doing their best synchronized swimming routines, and even two whales. The weather was perfect, everyone on the boat was happy, and I was basking in the beauty of it all—until George asked what food I’d packed for our three-day stay.

 

Apparently, “all the food we had left in the camper” was not the answer he wanted. The man went into survival mode, dashed to the galley, and bought an armful of granola bars like he was preparing for the apocalypse.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a very serious ranger who gave us the “Welcome to the Island” lecture. He was armed, proud of it, and made it clear there would be no funny business on his island. I half-expected him to start checking bags for contraband marijauna—legal in California, but not on Federal land. Then it was time to schlep all our gear 1.5 miles to the campground. 

There were only about 15 of us on the entire island (plus a few park staff who decided to ignore the government shutdown). It felt a little like we were on the set of the movie "Lost." Only more barren, less tropical.

I've been battling Planter Faciitis since July and today was not a good day. So instead of going on the kind of excrutiatingly long hikes that we like, we treated ourselves to an afternoon on the mile-long white sand beach, which we had practically to ourselves. It was magical. 

Until the foxes showed up. These island foxes are adorable, but they are way too bold and comfortable around humans. They used to be endangered, but now they’re thriving—probably thanks to their impressive talent for stealing campers’ snacks. Each site has “fox boxes” to store food and toiletries because these little guys will literally jump onto your picnic table and swipe your granola bar mid-bite.

We didn’t put a fly on our tent that night so we could stargaze, which the foxes took as an open invitation. They started jumping on the sides of the tent, trying to peek inside for food. I threw a rock at one to scare it away—just to scare, mind you—but it chased the rock like a dog. It thought I was throwing it food.

                                                

                

By 6:30 p.m., we were wiped out and collapsed into our tent. Getting up at 4:30 am to get here had taken its toll, not to mention the packing, schlepping, and dodging fox bandits. We slept under the stars, lulled by the ocean breeze… until George kept waking up all night wondering why there were streetlights shining in our tent. Spoiler alert: it was the full moon.

So yeah, getting to Santa Rosa was a lot of work—but totally worth it. Beautiful views, private beaches, a bright moon, thieving foxes, and one very over-prepared husband. What more could you ask for from island life? And this was just the beginning of our stay.