Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Stranded on an Island

Over spring break, my best friend, Mike, and I went on a backpacking trip on Santa Cruz Island. This is one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara. This is basically where Spanish Explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was taken down by the Chumash.

Before going on the trip, the boating company that takes you to the island told us to bring extra food in case they couldn't pick us up.

This backpacking trip was planned to be a two-night trip. We would get there on Monday afternoon, hike 3.5 miles to the first campground, wake up early, hike 11 miles to the other side of the island, camp there, and then get picked up on Wednesday. Sounds great right?

Well, when we arrived on the east side of the island, after hiking over the tallest peak on the mountain, we found a note from the Ranger telling us that the boat could not come until Thursday. AHHHHHH!!!! We wanted to go home on Wednesday.

The reason was because the island was experiencing Gale Force winds. This means that the wind was blowing at about 50 miles per hour. Here is a video of Mike and I at the top of the mountain during these strong winds. You can really tell just how windy it was. Imaging hiking over a mountain with a big back pack on in Gale Force winds...not easy.






Here's another video that shows just how windy it was:



Here's what the ocean looked like:




And just a bonus... here's my "Jeff Corwin Moment" in search of the rare Santa Cruz Island Fox:



See what happens when you're totally bored?

Tell us about any Spring Break adventures you had.

15 comments:

Joo #13 said...

Wow... i guess it was really windy...I went to Plam Spring on my vacation... Ican tell you about it but it is long...

Allyson said...

It must of been tiring walking the whole day.And by the way I like the Jeff Crowin voice.I hope you had fun strannded on an island.

* Allyson* said...

Uh oh. I spelled stranded wrong above this comment.Sorry

Anonymous said...

hi people of valley view hows it going! hi. i miss you a lot mr laing.D: sniff*

Anonymous said...

um mr. mcgovern is my new teacher . hehe funny name right? mr mcgovern..... pwahaahah!ha..ha.haha..yea. i got a lot more hyper and silly ever since i came to holly ave. although this isnt the place were i should put this but. mr laing i want to hear from you. i really want to hear from you cause your the best teacher i ever had and i miss you alot. its so sad i only have been with you only for a short amount of time but your an awsome teacher and no other teacher is as funny nice and smart as you. every day i feel helpless cause theres really nothing i can do about this. although there are a few enemies of mine in this school or people i dont like but i still miss them very much...:[ If it worries you, im doing a splendid job now :/ and I dont have anything to say. I also may never be returning to this school and but my memories here will be kept for as long as i live. this is really long. oh wow so say thanks for all of your help and say hi to my best friend sharon for me.

Sharon said...

I MISS ESTHER!!WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Sharon said...

Forget that wahhhh,your videos are awesome Mr.Laing!But one of them was kind of boring.

Anonymous said...

i am demanding on getting response from u mr laing
just because im not going to this school dosent mean you have to not speak to me. even if your sad about me leaving, i check your blog as much as i can but you dont amswer! only a few nice people have a nice heart to say it... like sharon. -.- to be honest,i feel as if i was the person that got out casted. now and only sharon replys. on the christmas blog thingy, a few of the parents were nice enough to post a comment for me . and i really do miss this school for like the 7th time. sometimes im just super curious about why i think you dislike me or something.D: ps there was this guy named william Z. I don't like how everyone treats him. noone likes him! Dx so someone from my class stuck a piece of gum on his chair and now the class misses recess untill the guy/girl shows up. gosh i just wish that person dosent ruin it all for me and the class. now all the good kids have to suffer. just cause of one bad guy,

Mr. Laing said...

Hi Esther,

This is Mr. Laing responding to you. I am sorry to keep you hanging like that. I have been so super busy lately trying to finish my Master's Degree, clear my credential, train for the LA Marathon, plan and organize my room for Open House, finish the school year with a bang, etc. I have been too busy to keep up on my blog.

I appreciate you checking in every so often. It is great to hear from you. You are still one of my favorite students ever, don't worry. I miss reading your writing assignments. You were always able to follow the rubric so well.

I hope that you are going to finish your shcool year with a bang as well. Have fun and come back (and post) as often as you want.

Anonymous said...

whoohoo! you posted! uh and yes. i like soup.

Sharon said...

Beeeeeeep Beep Beeeeeeeeeeeeep....
Chooooooo chooooo choooooooooooo..
Gummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy Bears.
Chooooooooocoooolaaaateee.........

Anonymous said...

Mr.Laing,can you write sometihng new on your blogspot??????????????????

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
estherkim said...

mr lang did you know that the la canada fire was burning??

arin said...

Hi! Arin's in the house! Time to spoil your joy! Just kidding. But if you like family guy, post on this.