» anacapa island, channel islands national park
not long ago, i had never heard of anacapa island or the channel islands national park. now i would consider it to be one of the most beautiful and interesting places i've been. anacapa is a very small but dramatically jagged island located about 12 miles off the coast, just north of LA. it takes about an hour to get there by boat and there were huge ocean swells during our boat ride out, making it feel like a rollercoaster ride. once on the island, there is not really anything to do but enjoy the views, wildlife, and watch the ocean waves smack against the rocks below. seeing sunrise and sunset on the island would have been nice but that would've required camping overnight which we did not do.

on our way out to the island, we ran into a "feeding frenzy" involving probably thousands of birds and hundreds of dolphins. the dolphins were too quick to photograph but click here to see a movie of the action.

a sea cave and "blowhole" in the landing cove. these pictures don't capture it, but in person these things were cool to watch as the water rushed in and out. true to it's name, the "blowhole" periodically shot out a rush of trapped air and water. some park rangers did a dive in this cove with video cameras and broadcast it to us on the surface. they found lobsters, sea stars, sea anemones, sea urchins, and some fish, without even breaking a sweat.

middle and west anacapa islands as seen from inspiration point on east anacapa.

rocks on the east side, arch rock (the dots on top of arch rock are birds, mostly brown pelicans), and looking west from the north side of the island.

this is the island itself, looking to the west from the east side. it is a relatively flat but slanted piece of land surrounded by ~150 foot cliffs on all sides. the vegetation was mostly brown when we were there but in the late spring the island blooms with flowers. the buildings were once used by the coastguard and are now used by the national park.

cliffs on the south side of the island, and cathedral cove on the north side.

many parts of the island are occupied by seagulls and pelicans.

pinniped point, where sea lions/seals frollick.

a closer look at the seals and/or sea lions.

another view from inspiration point.

some sea lions/seals can be seen in the bottom left of this picture, swimming in the shallows.

arch rock and the lighthouse on the east end of the island.

me on the edge of the cliffs, a secluded beach below, and us.

» anza-borrego desert
we headed out to the anza-borrego desert for a day hike up hellhole canyon. the hike was supposed to culminate with a roaring desert waterfall but it was barely dripping with water when we got there. not a big surprise given that the winter rains hadn't started yet.

clouds build behind hellhole canyon.

indianhead peak rising 4,000 feet above the flat desert floor.

a palm tree oasis in hellhole canyon.

a palm tree up close, and megan negotiating past some rocks in the canyon.

after hellhole canyon, we drove through the badlands located near the salton sea.

» iron mountain
iron mountain is a moderate 5.8 mile hike which affords beautiful views in all directions.

iron mountain as seen from the trailhead.

woodson mountain and some others.

with rocks and without.

layers to the south.

more rocks.

the view east from the top of iron mountain.

us, and switchbacks.

» glider port, la jolla
we went for a short hike near the glider port, down the cliffs and back via a fun little canyon trail that has a couple of waterfalls and interesting rock formations in it.

a very thin, drinking fountain-like waterfall, megan hiking in the canyon, and the canyon wall.