Jon Claxton | Photography

Last week has been a blur of travel. Almost to the point of rock star status, minus the girls, drugs, roadies, late nights, etc. After spending a few days in Phoenix on a work trip, I returned to SLO, only to pack up the bags, pet the dog, and kiss my woman, then I flew out to Vernal, Utah. My mission: to find Sclerocactus claucus. This tiny cactus is considered to be federally threatened and protected under the Federal Endanagered Species Act. The crazy thing about this cactus is that is about the size of a quarter. So for days, I walked through a desert, nearly hand-in-hand with a group of fellow biologists, as we literally “Combed the desert.” (God, I love Spaceballs). And, hey, guess what? We didn’t find shit. The photo I’ve included above was taken at a reference location, where the cactus is known to occur. As for the transects we walked, not one of these species was found. And, unfortunately, our survey period ended up getting cut short due to a dusting of snow that easily covered our spiney little friends for the winter.

Well it’s been several days since I’ve been at work and this last Sunday was a great way to cap it all off. Scott Kam (www.rootamental.com) and I headed down to Santa Barbara and Ventura in search of some decent waves. Hell, truth of the matter is that with buoys tipping the scales at 14 feet and 20+ second periods, there is not many places to hide around our usual SLO County surf spots. Thankfully we were able to find a spot amongst the fellas who all had the same idea. After it was all said and done, it’s funny how much excitement we got out of catching probably less than 10 waves between us, and paddling for hours with the masses of water that swirled around the point.

Last weekend Lulu, Pat and I packed up the toys for a weekend at Santa Cruz Island. Prior to leaving for the weekend trip, John Lindsay (local weather icon) announced that the central coast was about to get battered with high winds and swell. Not such good news, when you are about to embark on a boat trip to the Channel Islands.

The weekend started on Friday at 4:30 am when I quickly gave the steering wheel up to Pat Patten, who was something 0f a madman amped on coffee. As a result of his caffeinated state of being and discussion on world economics, the laborious 2 hour morning drive went by swiftly. It went even more swiftly for Lulu, who was resting her eyes in the backseat.

So, to make a really long story short: the wind at SCI was absolutely ridiculous! Thankfully this only lasted from Friday to Saturday, but it’s strength and random gusts keep us second guessing our steps along the majority of the 12 miles of hiking we did the first day. We were stoked to finally wake up on Sunday to slack winds and a flat, clear ocean. Finally, we were able to launch the kayaks and do a hunting along the shores of SCI. Notable observations within the 30 feet of visibility included a couple of lobster-saurus’ who had a stronghold on large crevice, a couple of medium sized rays, and a legal cabezon that thought he looked more like a rock than a fish.

P.S. No real pictures to attach as of yet. Amongst my frantic packing for Channel Islands, I argued with my alter ego that the camera case would not be brought along. So without a camera, I’ve relinquished responsibility of photo documenting to Lulu and Pat. Standby.  (photo obviously inserted now.  thanks for the patience.)

Well, I guess I was being a little ambitious by mentioning that I would have a new blog posted in the next couple of days. Truth be told, I’ve been spazzing out on Alaska recently. Looks like two good swells are stacking up during the week that we’ll be there; I can’t believe our luck! Needless to say, the bags are already packed. My mind is already there, I just need to get my body checked in to Alaska Airlines on Friday morning. Here is a photo taken by Scott Dickerson that seems to be etched into my imagination: I mean, isn’t this the way surf trips are supposed to go?