Wildlife biologist Kevin Ryan stood on the edge of a rocky ridge in the heart of untamed Santa Catalina Island on Friday, inhaled deeply and admired a vista rimmed in cobalt blue that has changed little in thousands of years.
Fog drifted off green hills bristling with cholla cactus and spiced with the scent of sage. The loudest sounds were the songs of meadowlarks. About 600 feet below, the ocean crashed on the boulder-strewn base of steep mountains riven by wind and water.
The view lies at the 20-mile mark of the new Trans-Catalina Island Trail, a 37.2-mile hiking route that Ryan, trail coordinator for the Catalina Island Conservancy, designed and helped build with pick-axes and spades.
"In a place like this, it's hard to complain about coming to work every day," Ryan said with a smile.
The trail officially opens today. A decade in the making, it climbs, dips and winds through backcountry largely unknown to the public and essentially unchanged since Tongva Indians roamed the 76-square-mile island.
An hourlong boat ride from Long Beach and San Pedro, the trail should prove irresistible to hikers seeking panoramic scenery and solitude, conservancy officials believe.
The trail was built to show off Catalina's dramatic changes in elevation, which make for a surprising variety of ecosystems and landscapes: muscular peaks, scalloped beaches, lush ravines and grasslands enlivened by an array of spring flowers, including Indian paintbrush, Catalina mariposa and sticky monkey flowers.
Conservancy officials figure that the whole trek, which features several long, steep climbs, will take about two to four days to complete. But the trail also weaves past nearly every campground in the island's interior, while steering clear of Native American sites and sensitive species.
Tramping along a stretch of trail cut over a mountaintop covered with spiny plants, Ryan said: "Watch out for that cholla cactus. It makes prickly pear cactus seem gentle."
Up ahead, the trail evened out on a windy plateau. A bald eagle soared overhead.
Catalina is visited by about 1 million tourists each year, yet most never set foot on the unpaved, 42,000-acre interior, which is protected by the conservancy. Most of Catalina's estimated 5,000 residents live in Avalon.
Essentially, the island's culture is split: part tourism, part conservation of wilderness.
