Inspiration Point Channel Islands National Park is located off the California coast near Santa Barbara between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The park actually comprises five islands, solitary and without facilities for lodging, water, and food. Daytime visits can easily be made to the park as it takes only one and a half hours by boat to reach the park from Ventura on the mainland. However camping is the best way to enjoy the islands. It is enjoyable for people of all ages. Before reaching my campsite in the park, I was excited like an elementary school student looking forward to a field trip.

Playful Dolphins

Upon reaching Los Angeles before my departure to the park, I shopped for food at a downtown Japanese grocery store. The easiest food to prepare for camping is rice with curry, and it is delicious. Pre-cooked rice is available and only needs warming though it is not as tasty as grain cooked in a pot at home. I bought soy sauce as well. It was also a treat to find bonito flavored radish pickles imported from my hometown in Kagoshima, Japan. From a nearby outdoor sports shop I purchased a small propane gas cylinder for my burner to use in preparing meals. My backpack was full.

Hampback Whale

The islands have campsites. The most popular one is at Anacapa Island located closest to the mainland. Every day the Island Packers maintains boat service to the park. The water currents are very cold in early spring when the air temperature starts to rise and a dense fog envelops everything. The boats move on a cream-colored foggy ocean.

While napping on my first boat trip in somewhat rough waters, a group of elementary school children woke me with their noise. They were excited by a school of dolphins. The high-spirited fish were going under the boat and then jumping into the air. The excitement increased when the children saw two humpback whales coming to the water's surface. The whales spouted water from their submarine-looking black bodies. Soon the whales disappeared, showing only their tails. After this unexpected welcome, the boat reached Anacapa Island with its blooming flowers and yelling sea birds.

My Campsite

My first task here was to climb a 154-step stairway from the pier to the cliff. I carried my camera equipment and camping gear to the campsite located two miles away. It was an exhausting task - the price that I paid for skipping physical exercise.

All kinds of birds were hatching their little chicks. There seemed to be so many of them that I hardly had any room to walk. When they noticed my presence, their cries of anguish intensified as they warned me to leave. Especially the parents of young chicks were most alarmed. When one bird starts making a noise, others do the same and prepare to use their sharp beaks to defend themselves. Somehow I avoided their attacks and set up my tent.

Brown Pelican

Finally I realized that I was the only camper on the island that has one lighthouse and a small house for the resident park ranger. The island was bursting with blossoms as spring was near its peak. The ice plant's red flowers carpeted the ground. Western gulls stretched their necks above the blossoms among which they were nesting. Brown pelicans flew silently in the air and in formation. No human sounds. All made me feel that I was the lord or king of this island. Even I dared to scream with only the birds as my audience. I took a walk around the campsite. Upon finding some beautiful scene, I named it in line with my lordly duties.

Suppertime was coming. Because there were no servants for the king, I had to prepare my own meal. It was necessary to conserve my water supply. But this moment was in a way the most pleasant time of my first day on the island. I heated the rice curry and opened my jar of pickled radish. After eating I walked to survey "my" territory. The trail on the east side of the campsite was like a flower garden. It should have been named "beautiful field," but soon it became a "battlefield."

Distant Lighthouse

When I tried to avoid them in the garden field, the nesting birds attacked me in the style of a Hitchcock movie. I used my wooden stick to drive them away. But the birds retaliated and bombed me with their fishy droppings. This lack of respect for their lord was annoying.

After leaving the battle scene, I visited the cliff where California Sea Lions were napping on the rocks. They were all lying close together. Next I saw pelicans on a steep field behind the lighthouse. They flew with the wind currents and landed to rest their wings.

The west end of the island is known as "inspiration point". The highest hill is here and has the best view. I named it as the "peaceful hill". The setting sun bathed the nearby island in brilliant red colors. A whale was blowing water in the distance. This peaceful scene soon became fog bound after the sunset. When I returned to my tent and turned on a short wave radio for a Japanese program, Santa Barbara's city lights rather than the stars were softly twinkling. Nothing could disrupt the luxury of enjoying a quiet day with nature.

Island Packers 1867 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura, CA 93001 Phone: 805-642-7688 www.islandpackers.com

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