Channel Islands, California

This past weekend, Kevin and I met up with my three siblings and went backpacking on the Channel Islands. To be honest, even though Kevin and I are avid travelers of our native state of California, we knew extremely little about these mostly deserted islands off the coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara. 

My brother Peter, the mastermind behind this operation, is an awesome planner and backpacker! 

He booked a campsite on the island of Santa Cruz, and off we went on the ferry from Ventura to Scorpion Bay. 

Arriving in Scorpion Bay, we noted two things…

1) The sheer desolate beauty of the rugged cliffs, pristine waters, and desolate landscape. 

and 

2) How few people actually were on the island! It felt amazing to be so far from "civilization" hehe!

By a stroke of luck (ie: God!) we were able to join up last minute with a sea kayaking group! 

ohhh…mmmmm…gggeeeee

This kayaking trip may have been one of the most amazing things i've ever done! 

We paddled through dozens of caves, the swells coming and going causing the adrenaline to pump heavy in the veins! 

We were surrounded by wildlife and stumbled upon a beach of harbor seals! 

We even got to experience a blowhole in one of the caves, that shot water out 20-30 feet! 

If you go to the Channel Islands, make sure you go sea kayaking:) 

After our adventure on the ocean, we headed for land and made up our campsite! 

We took a sunset hike up to Cavern point, just in time to see the sleepy sun setting below the cliffs! 

We huddled up on the face of the cliff, and sat in the magic moment. 

Back at camp, we ate dinner, then all cuddled up in our 2-person tent…it was extremely "cozy" with 5 people:) My sister and brother took turns reading Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol".

I felt so old school, I loved it:) 

And guys…side note, but I stayed SOOO warm all weekend! During the day, we had high 60's-low 70's weather! It was amazing! {and at night I covered my body in those hand warmer things, haha!! good times!} Thanks for praying! 

The next morning we spent the day hiking around! What gorgeous views to be had on this island! 

Coming back on the ferry, we witnessed something extremely special. 

The boat happened upon a feeding time,

and all of a sudden we were surrounded by 3 HUGE humpback whales, 

hundreds of seals and dolphins, 

and birds dive bombing into the water. 

I've never experienced something like this, so close to nature, it truly was holy! 

All in all, this was an incredible trip, and I felt so blessed to get to spend so much sweet time with my husband and my great brother and 2 sisters!! Love you guys!! 

Hope you had a sweet weekend! 

What did you do? 

love Katie 

{sibbies on the ferry!!}

{the crazy blow hole! that's Pete below getting drenched!}

{the adorable and curious harbor seals!}

 {my cutie sister Lena}

 {da boys!}

 {tired eyes! haha} 

 {my sis rocking her epic panda sweater!}

 { there were soo many foxes on the island! the minute we crawled into our tent at night, we heard them trying to dig into our food! My sister chased them away from the food box by shouting "HEY! hey you!" haha…we died laughing! 

but you have to admit, they are kinda cute!}