After a fond farewell to Ben, I went back to solo-trekking. First stop Channel Islands National Park, located off the coast of Ventura, California. An hour and a half boat ride takes you to a chain of remarkably preserved islands. But before I get to that, I SAW WHALES!! On the boat ride out, we passed a small pod of humpback whales about 40 yards from the boat, one of them breaching high into the air and slamming back down like in all the nature documentaries I watch on Netflix. It was crazy cool. Not to mention the 30 or so dolphins riding in the wake of the boat, jumping over each other just feet from where I stood! It was quite the ride. Anyway, I digress. I took a hike to the highest point on Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the Channel Islands. The views were unbeatable, once I got to the top, I could see California way off in the distance. Mix that in with a few island fox sightings and a little dip in the ocean, and my day was complete. This may not be the easiest National Park to get to, but it’s definitely worth it.

After camping that night near the beach, I made my way up the coast via one of my most anticipated drives, Highway 1 through Big Sur, a section of the California coast south of San Francisco. Sadly, however, my excitement waned as I realized the enormous effect wildfires were having on the area. The view of the ocean was completely blocked by smoke on the entire drive and all of the state parks and campgrounds located along the coast were closed. These fires continue to rage all over California, as the state continues to experience severe drought conditions. While it sucked that my plans got ruined, it is so much worse for the land, the environment, and the people affected by the fires. Lucky for me, one of my best friends, Nate, lives a couple hours north of Big Sur, so I headed to his house early instead of camping, which turned out great thanks to his amazing roommate Christy and his equally amazing girlfriend Amy. More on that next time!