Friday, January 16th to Sunday, January 18th, 2026
38.5 miles, 8,800 vertical feet, 2 nights, and 20 hours of hiking
A bucket list trip! Evan and I threw this one together at the last minute once we saw a beautiful convergence of a weather window, a three day weekend, and my 26th birthday. Evan, Emma, and Alex met me in Monterey on Thursday evening after work, and we headed down to a Santa Barbara motel at 7.
Friday, we left Emma behind with her friends and hit the road at 5:20 am to make it two hours, two coffees, and two breakfast sandwiches later to our 8:45 am ferry from San Pedro to Two Harbors via Avalon.
Taking the ferry out through the port of Los Angeles was a trip as we were whisked through the parade of cruise ships and container ships. Real Humboldt State Coral Sea Alums will recognize the Sause Bros barge.
Slowed by a dense marine-layer fog, we arrived late in Avalon, watching wistfully as our new thru-hiker pals got to disembark with their gear and begin their trip with an earlier start. We were planning a big day to accomplish the Northwestern loop, about 15 miles, and knew that every extra minute on the ferry was another minute of hiking in the dark back to camp. Slowed by the fog until our approach to Two Harbors at 11:30 am, we were getting antsy until the view opened up and gave a preview of our upcoming miles.
Arriving in Two Harbors was a trip. Very different than we had all expected, especially after I had hyped up how touristy Avalon was to the boys. We headed over to our campsite at Two Harbors Campground, finding that our $96 for the night didn’t even buy us a lid for the food box. Instead, finding an inch of standing water and a convenient chunk of concrete to balance things on in a configuration reminiscent of a double-boiler.
After a hasty lunch and the luxury of stashing overnight gear on a thru-hike at the campsite we would be returning to that evening, we hit the trail. Walking past the sailboats and feeling envious of their proximity to the crystal clear water as we hiked a brisk 3.5 mph in the sun, we caught a glimpse of our first Catalina Cutie! The Santa Catalina Island Fox, endemic to the island, scurried away up a hill as we passed, checking one of our must-see wildlife boxes for the trip.
We cruised the coast, marveling at how deep the inlets cut into the island, and began our first ascent of the trip 7.5 miles in. This 2,000 vertical foot ascent felt a little bit tough, as Evan and I had done the 5,500 vertical foot Mt. Diablo Five Peaks Loop just five days before. But we cruised up to the high point of the Northwestern end of the island summarily, and were blown away by the uniqueness of the view. We’ve done a lot of peaks together, and never have we ever topped out to a 360 degree view of the ocean!
We finished the descent during golden hour, dropping down to Cat Harbor as we watched the fog move in. Cruising into town just ten minutes after the general store (along with its beers) closed for the night was a blow to the morale, but we mustered up the courage to head back to camp with dry mouths and an extra $11 per beer to be saved for happy hour in Avalon.
After beginning the day losing hope that we would accomplish the full Northwestern loop, typically requiring a day and a half for the 14 miles and 2,500 vertical feet, in a mere afternoon between the short January days and late ferry arrival, we congratulated ourselves as we set up camp for the night. Night one consisted of Peak Refuel Venison Casserole (8/10) and a haphazard tarp pitch entirely reliant on the picnic table (9/10). Leaving the pour over coffee and eBook at hand made for a wonderful morning as I waited for the sun to rise.
Day two of hiking started with a cheeky reroute to avoid the 120 vertical feet up and down into town before beginning the first climb. Heading through the tent cabins, seeing how the other half lives, we steeled ourselves for our entry to the touristy end of the island. We passed another two (cute) foxes on our way up the first climb before taking a respite at a shaded bench with a wonderful man from Kentucky. Quite the salesman, he had me convinced to buy into a sailing partnership on the spot!
Descending down to Little Harbor, we spotted our first (and only) Bison of the trip! Little Harbor was gorgeous, and after a quick lunch, a hearty debate about electrolytic beverages, and a wary look up the mountain at the route to come, we set off on the biggest climb of our trip.
Shade proved essential and fleeting on our way up the 7 mile climb. Water was nonexistent on this section, and some electrolyte powder and salt tablets got us through the sun and (excessive) sweating.
The airport was a shock! Rich fuckers flying in on their planes and helicopters, we rolled up covered in salt and throwing puppy dog eyes at anyone with leftover fries. Some wonderful Mormon college students gave us half of an $18 sandwich (10/10 on taste, 2/10 on price) and wished us a blessed day. We carried that energy into our bum behavior, but struck out otherwise besides some ice water.
A campsite with enough cell service to stream bootleg live sports? What an unusual luxury! We ended our second day after 14 miles and 4,500 vertical feet of hiking thankful to dig into a meal of Peak Refuel Biscuits & Gravy (11/10, couldn’t finish it on my own) and to marvel at how cute the human-habituated fox was as it lingered at our campsite hoping for a handout from a clueless tourist.
After a rough night with a deflating sleeping pad and the resident fox waking me up as it tried to burrow into my quilt under my tarp, I woke up on my birthday and made some coffee and donuts (12/10) and watched the sunrise as I tended to my poor poor feet.
The remainder of the trail went by uneventfully. We met some nice folks on our way out of camp and on the trail, came across a wonderful and lovingly maintained cooler full of ice waters, and caught of first view of Avalon immediately before beginning our descent as we couldn’t see it through the fog on our way in.
Our first steps in Avalon were a culture shock, surrounded by tourists buzzing around in rented golf carts we stumbled down to an oasis of $2 tacos and $2 beers (which were actually $5). After housing quite a few of each, we walked through town on our way to the ferry, stopping to chat with a Island Conservancy employee who was going on her first hike on Tuesday, and buying some stickers and magnets to commemorate. The ferry line was quite a long wait, but the seats were comfier than the tables on the ride over. Once we got moving and the sun got out of our eyes, I grabbed an orange juice and we settled in for the ride. Taking the ferry back from Avalon to Long Beach as it left at 3:55 pm instead of the ferry to San Pedro at 6 pm, we took a Lyft back over to San Pedro and began our drive back North to Monterey.
We stopped for dinner in Santa Barbara to pick up Emma on our way up, and made it back to Monterey around 1:15 am. Apart from some painful feet, I had an excellent time, and was so stoked to finally tick the TCT off the list!
Leave a comment