Kirsten Anderberg's URBAN ADVENTURES: Santa Cruz Island

Santa Cruz Island, of the Channel Islands, as viewed from Ventura beach (Photo: K. Anderberg, 2009)

Santa Cruz Island is the largest of the islands and lies about 21 miles off the coast from Santa Barbara, CA.

This book, written by Kirsten Anderberg, documents a day trip to Scorpion Harbor on East Santa Cruz Island, including 100 photos taken by the author. A writer using the name "The Saunterer," wrote about Santa Cruz Island in November 1890 in the L.A.Times: "I wonder that more people do not visit them. They are full of picturesqueness, of wild and solitary grandeur. They have lovely heights that the eagle would love, and green canyons with rippling streams that go singing from their heights to the sea...with innumerable wild flowers along their banks and old oaks standing as sentinels where they pass...The Channel is as still as an inland lake and its curving shores are as sunny as those of classic Italy. Ah, what a picture it is, and yet men live and die right there without once visiting the islands to take in the grand perspective. Strange, isn't it?" In 2011, I think the same things as the Saunterer in 1890. How is it that so few people have visited the Channel Islands that are visible nearly daily from the shores of Ventura and Santa Barbara? How is it these islands have remained so pristine? Read about the island's history, geology, flora, fauna, caves, sealife and geology in this unique book. Author Kirsten Anderberg earned her Master's Degree in CA History from CA State University at Northridge in December 2010.

"During the beginning of the CA Mission Period (1772-1834) approximately 2,000-3,000 Chumash inhabited the 3 largest islands (Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel)...Chumash used asphaltum not only to caulk their boats but also to line the insides of some of their baskets in order to make them waterproof...on the islands, many stone implements have been found. The Chumash made metates, manos, mortars, bowls and pestles...they used other stones such as chert, flint and obsidian to make sharp instruments like knives, scrapers, drills and projectiles." "...Santa Cruz Island Chumash mined extensively for chert from which they made the chert microblade drills. These drills were the essential tool used to make shell bead money." - Santa Cruz Island by John Gherini, copyright 1997, page 25 and 26.

Santa Cruz Island, Scorpion Harbor (Photo: K. Anderberg, Mar. 25, 2010)

Santa Cruz Island is full of caves. Its lava rock composition erodes to make lots of caves that people in the past have put doors on the front of, making them into storage caves.(Photo: K. Anderberg, Mar. 25, 2010)

A baby seal on Santa Cruz Island. This seal came onto the beach and about 2 hours later, the seal's mother came onto the beach and went to the baby. (Photo: K. Anderberg, Mar. 25, 2010)