My wife and I were on California’s Catalina Island in late spring of this year, checking out a place I used to be able to see from my dormitory window during my college days but had never been to.
We’d had a delightful time checking out the sleepy waterfront town of Avalon on foot and in an electric golf cart (visitors aren’t allowed to bring cars over on the ferry, and even locals have limits on automobile usage). We’d had a lovely stay at the Hotel Atwater, eaten some fine meals, toured the boutique shops, and paddled kayaks in the Pacific Ocean.
Catalina Island
The tourism folks for Catalina and the Catalina Express ferry team also suggested a hike, which sounded splendid, and arranged for a guide to pick us up. As it turned out, the regular guide couldn’t make it, so they brought in a local fellow named Pastor Lopez to drive us to the hiking area.
Lopez, who’s in his mid-70s and was dressed in jeans, a black t-shirt, and a weathered baseball cap, showed us around the town. He told us how he had served in Vietnam and developed cancer, likely due to the military’s use of Agent Orange. As we began to make our way into the hills above town, he said he was born and raised in Avalon (population roughly 3,300 on a good day) had six kids, and that he was an avid surfer.
I took an instant liking to him. I took an almost instant dislike to the road he was driving on.
Stressed Out
Avalon sits at the base of some pretty steep mountains, and the only way out of town is on very twisting, turning roads. I have a fear of heights, and I was distinctly unhappy at how close we were to a pretty severe slope that looked like the side of a Himalayan cliff to a wuss like me.
“Is it like this all the way,” I said to Pastor as I tried to look away from the scenery.
“Um,” he replied. “It’s actually worse up ahead.”
I felt like an utter fool, but I had to pull the chute.
“Pastor, I’m sorry. I can’t handle this road. I really can’t. We need a plan B.”
Plan B
He quickly came up with a new program for the morning, taking us to a scenic lookout that offered fine views from a rounded, gentle slope. I stood safely on the hill, with dusty chaparral at my feet, and gazed out at the island. To my right, I could see the red tile roof of the rounded, beautiful Catalina Casino, with the blue Pacific as a perfect backdrop. To my left, I could see an olive-green point of land that guards Two Harbors, which is both a bay and a town of maybe 300…
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