Camping in Catalina 2009
One weekend in late October, Catalina’s famed Airport in the Sky celebrated it’s 50th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, the Catalina Conservancy organized a tri-tip barbecue, invited a group of historic aircraft and offered “retro” landing fees of $5 instead of their 2009 price of $25. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity for some fun in the sun, so Angel City Flyers organized a group of pilots and planes to fly over. To make it truly special, we decided camp overnight at a site on the beach, so we gathered our gear and headed over.
We felt like the Catalina Flying Boats Company when we discovered that we had more passengers and gear than our fleet of Diamonds could transport. The problem was quickly solved when we offered to trade instruction for transport and found a couple of pilots offering to fly the multiple trips needed. After ensuring nothing was left behind and departing Long Beach, we flew directly into controlled chaos at Catalina with the arrivals queue in double digits and “creative” pilots flying unconventional patterns. Kudos to our pilots, though, who kept calm heads and watchful eyes as they negotiated the notorious pattern at KAVX. Parking was just as interesting with aircraft lining the runway wingtip to wingtip, stretching from the approach end to the departure end.
The food, entertainment and aviation eye-candy did not disappoint and soon the time came to disembark for the beach and set up camp. We chose Little Harbor on the south side of the island which boasted rugged beauty and civilized amenities (running water, fire rings and outhouses). After a scenic bus ride, we did a bit of exploring, photographing and braved a dip in the Pacific before lighting a camp fire and making dinner. In the morning we broke camp and hiked up to the airport, watching for buffalo grazing on the hillsides we passed.
Writing this in April, winter has passed, the campsites have reopened and we are looking forward to returning to the island!
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