Back before the wild pigs were eradicated, I had a 12ft catamaran sailing boat, an AquaCat, that i would usually sail in and just outside Newport Beach harbor. But of course Catalina beckoned to me often. So I made plans and had the boat car-topped to Alamitos Bay, a closer port for crossing the channel. Not taking chances, the boat's hulls were foam filled and I wore a wet suit the whole time, I set out with a jury rigged small outboard, on a dead calm, clear day to be able to see my way to Catalina. I ran out of gas about a mile off of Avalon, drifting for six hours in the still, warm October evening, becalmed. A freshening breeze brought me into the harbor to anchor by midnight. Refueling after breakfast the next morning, I was told I could not use any of the small beaches up the landward side for camping as I left the harbor. I was young and it was off season, so I disobeyed and spent the day scouting the southern tip of the island, heading back north until I found a cove with no apparent beach routes on either side, I knew of the buffalo, of course. Around 2AM, with the boat beached, and me in my sleeping bag on its trampoline, I was awakened by a noise close by. Reaching for my high powered SCUBA type flashlight, and my dive knife I searched the beach. Two beady eyes and a pair of tusks greeted my gaze about three yards away. Lucky for me the trampoline was higher than its head height, and the wild boar decided it was facing a larger foe on its beach. Wild goats were on the cliffs above me that night as well. Come daylight, I sailed back, all the way to Newport Beach, as the wind had begun to build back to more normal October conditions. Surfing the swells I gladly rounded the breakwater into the familiar harbor. Thanks for rekindling those memories for me.

In '79 (dating myself) we were backpacking on the island and spent the first night on the beach on the Cat Harbor side. In the morning, we awoke, surrounded by a couple dozen bison, grazing on the grass near the surf. We woke up fast and got outta there as quick as we could. We like to stay at the Banning House at Two Harbor, and there's always a couple bison hanging out on the grass.

My family has owned property in Avalon for over 100 years. My childhood is full of Catalina memories. Yes, I've seen bison as well as the wild boars back in the '70's.

The scuba diving is great on Catalina, with kelp forests and lots of fish. There’s even a sunken sailboat off of the pavilion about 120feet down

Seeing the Catalina fox was the real treat. I did some work for the Catalina Conservancy in the late 90's. We stayed at the volunteer camp which has big canvas tents erected on a wood platform. Bison can't step up. We wore- up the next morning with the "Buffalo" standing beside the platform peering into our tent. The uncooperative beast took off before we could get our cameras. Drat ! A great memory.

"Twenty-six miles across the sea Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me, Santa Catalina, the island of romance, romance, romance, romance." (And bison) Great Video, Steve!

The Bison-tennial! LOL That was a Dad joke for sure! Nice tour!

Okay, here's the real reason why both bison and boars were brought to the island. It has nothing to do with movies. William Wrigley was a hunter, and enjoyed going on safari in Africa in the 1920's. He specifically brought both species to the island for private hunts.

We camped in Catalina Island , 2008 we had the whole campground to ourselves. In the morning ,we had a heard of about 30 some Buffalo . With Moms, young females and the teen boys who romped around the whole time. Then they all got up and walked away . Very Fun after we calmed down.

I've hiked the TCT (Trans Catalina Trail) twice, actually just returned from a three day trip yesterday. No shortage of Bison on our trips. This time there were a couple dozen near Black Jack campground, both in the valley and higher up near the peak. They blocked our path for about 20 minutes, eating and taking their time while we waited. Kinda rude if you ask me.

Superb, fascinating. Appreciate the history from discovery to present day. When I was 16 years old I worked over there in 1959. There were wild boars as they were called then. Crude traps were made to catch them as needed for food at the Catalina Island boys camp where I was working. Howland's landing. One of the best experiences of my life was working there as a kitchen boy and assistant to all around maintenance and construction man, Ray Arnold, 21 years old from West Virginia who could do anything, from construction, to auto maintenance, to horsemen, to singing cowboy. Now youth spend twelve years in school, 4 years in college, and can't do squat.

Gotta love a good dad joke. Fun video! The island scenery looked spectacular.

Fun fact. My mother grew up on Middle Ranch and as a kid I got to spend time out there. My parents met in Avalon. We still go back to the island when we can. My mother even graduated from Avalon High school. Also in the 20s or 30s maybe My years may be off but the Chicago Cubs playef ball on the island. Its a beautiful place to go and it's great that you got to see the interior of the island.

😂😂Great start!! “Hopefully this isn’t the only one we see today”. Now onto the rest of the video 5⭐️

Recommended video subject: those Channel Islands foxes!! A great story. Brought back from near extinction, plus cute and friendly. Whatever you do, I'll watch... love your channel; it's stoked me for a trip west. Thanks!

It's been a few decades, but we camped at Shark Harbor on the back side of the island one time and woke up one morning to a herd of bison in our campsite. They were quiet and peaceful and curious about our tents. We were the only people camping back there. I highly recommend it.

Glad you’re feeling better. I had an inkling the pic was Catalina. Will be there in June and you just gave me a great idea for a memorable event! Thx for all you do.

We've sailed out to Catalina many, many times. Caught more lobster than we could eat. We normally sail to Cat Harbor on the backside of Two Harbors, the Isthmus. We always anchor out and that is one of the calmest anchorages. Then a short sail over to Little Harbor where the lobster are plentiful and you can go ashore and of course see lots of Bison. Always an interesting sight.

I admire your calm demeanor.

I took my oldest son out there with a group of YMCA Indian Guides. Great time looking back at the mainland from a hike to the hill top. Also impressed by Crystal clear water while rowing a small boat. Nice video even without seeing some bison.

I just discovered this channel and Ive been binge watching every video. Great channel!

Doing a Boy Scout camp in the early '80s near Two Harbors, we definitely saw bison. I remember several scouts slipping on bison - erm - deposits. Cool video, need to go back. I've only been to the coast off of Catalina in the past 20 years for tuna fishing.

Great video! The scenery reminds me of a similar, if not identical backcountry route a Catalina local once took me and friend on.. 40 years ago! Also, I once spent a week at Camp Cherry Valley (boy scout camp near Two Harbors) when I was 15 and was *very* surprised one morning by two bison walking straight through our camping area, less than 20 feet away!

Another great video, San Diego Steve! That's a bummer you didn't see any bison. For $100 per person, they should know exactly where at least one bison is (via a GPS tracker).

I am pretty sure in fact I am quite certain that somebody knows where those bison are ... The reason I say that is because if they made an approach to the town that would stir things up immensely. And they have to monitor the population?

I spent many fun days on Catalina as a SCUBA instructor. We took a tour drive to the airport and spent some of the time waiting for the bison to clear the road . That was in the mid 90's.They should re-name the tour The Catalina Island Fox tour and charge $40 lol.. Love your videos..

Bison-tennial…ha ha Steve! Thanks again for a neat video! The closest I got to Catalina Island was just offshore when the Frigate I was stationed on sailed by it.

Awesome. Made me plan a visit. Around 1971 our Boy Scout Troop 715 camped on Catalina at the Boy Scout’s Camp Cherry Valley. We were warned to beware of wild pigs, which we heard as they ran through the camp at night. Camp still there but not the pigs.

I've done that excursion many times. Usually you only see two or three bulls in random places. I went last Labor Day weekend during the heatwave. There was still a major drought in California, and because of the drought, the whole entire herd was near the road, and not inland like they normally are. Near the roads the Catalina Island Conservancy puts hay and water in the troughs near the road. That was to our benefit, that there was no green grass inland, and they were forced out. Although I don't wish a drought on anyone.

I'm going to go and try to see the bison. I have been to Catalina, and Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands. I recommend you consider a trip to those and other islands. Love your channel!

I hope you can do a story on Turnbull canyon in Whittier CA. A lot of history in those hills

In the 80’s I went to The Catalina Island Marine Institute summer camp a few times. Late in the evening and early in the morning the field in the center of campus would have a good number of bison and deer grazing. It was awesome as a youngster!

I really enjoyed this episode. Catalina rocks! It’s rather amazing that beasts as large as bison can hide???

Always wanted to go to the island. Maybe someday.

Another wonderful video! It was truly saddening to not see any bison, but the scenery and the absolute amazing views made up for it. Looking forward to your next video. Take care, stay safe and God bless. Steve from Oklahoma

I have to tell you, every year, my Father would take the family to Catalina for a month (he had connections that would give him a house for a 'pitance'). From 1960 to about 1974......it was an awesome time and, my folks never had to worry about 'losing their kids' (as we'd often bump into each other throughout the day - whether they were at the beach, golfing, having a drink or strolling the shops in Avalon). And - In all the times I've been there, I've NEVER failed to see a Bison (or two or three, or more).......and I can't tell you how many times the wild pigs/boars would surprise us on a trial by the old Wrigley Mansion and chase us off it - but what my brothers and i NEVER saw - during all those times on the island, was a (living) Catalina Island Fox (and you saw TWO of 'em!!!). Consider yourself lucky!!!!

My friend’s father owned a sailboat that he allowed him and a friend or two to sail from Marina del Rey when he kept the 35 or so miles to Catalina island, specifically to that section of the island was lower then the rest and we tie it up in the little harbor. We did hike one day in hills, and learned that a movie co. had left the small herd of bison they had brought over to film, and never took them back. The herd had grown in 30 years since, this was the 1970’s so they had been there half a century, no much more time has passed.

For $100. Per Person they Should be Keeping up on Where They are.

It is good to see that you are feeling better Steve

So enjoyable to come along with you Steve on these types of Field Trips! Having grown up in Southern Cal, I have been to Catalina many times but only once did we venture into the inner part of the Island. We usually had relatives and we all hung out around Avalon Bay! Dad was USAF and after our deployment at the Old March AFB, we lived on Oahu via Hickam AFB and as you mentioned, Catalina is much like Hawaii in many ways! The old joke in Newport Beach was on a clear day you could see Catalina from the beach and smell the Butt Of The Queen Mary docked in Long Beach! 🤣 Really appreciate the time and effort in editing, music and filming! Cheers From COW-lumbus, Ohio MOO and GO PADRES

I’ve been to Catalina once with the Boy Scouts. It’s so green compared to when I went.

One of the last stands of the wooly mammoth was on the Channel Islands. I don't know whether they survived on Catalina. The last ones died out 3000 years ago. They were a dwarf variant of the giant pachyderm, standing about six feet high. Great video!

I've never seen the Catalina Island before so I was more interested in the Island itself. Thanks for the video

Still never been to Catalina Island. It looks gorgeous!! Oddly never knew there were bison on the island. How wild! Shame you didn't see any (as the tickets are kind of pricey) but the foxes were ADORABLE. Hope you're feeling better!

Beautiful scenery and excellent narration. Thank you!

I worked for Air Catalina (seaplanes) in the 70s and flew in and out of Pebbly Beach, Airport in the Sky, and all the coves around the island dropping off and picking up (by raft) all the "special people" that were allowed to camp without permits...that chartered the seaplanes. I also still sail there and have been flying my own plane of in and out of Airport in the Sky for 30 years. The best place I have found to see the Bison is from the restaurant at Airport in the Sky as they roam the hills in and around that area.

I have a grudge against Catalina. I attempted to backpack the Trans Catalina Trail a few months back and the weather conditions turned sour on us. We ended up getting stuck in the dark and in the rain for 6 hours where our headlamps barely did anything because it was so misty. The soil on Catalina has a ton of clay in it as well that just sticks to your shoes worse than any other trail I've been on, made our shoes weigh at least 5lbs each for 10 miles. During that time we couldn't see 15ft in front of us we were terrified of the bison since the worst thing you can do is get too close to them, and we had no idea if we were getting too close to any (we had seen 3 earlier in the day so we were definitely paranoid). Hopefully if you go back to Catalina you can see some bison, just be sure to give them their space, you don't want a multi-thousand pound mass charging at you at 30mph.

Glad to see you are feeling better. Great tour! The foxes are so cute. Beautiful scenery. My Mom grew up in L.A. and loved Catalina. I think she even when skin diving there (though she also loved to dress up and go to the casino). This was back in the 1950s. Really enjoyed this video; you kept up the suspense, and finished up with your special brand of low-key humor. It would be fun to see more of the island. I loved the book Island of the Blue Dolphins when I was a kid...

Wow very expensive tour ride and no bison! I've been to Catalina couple times with my families we took bus tour we saw alot of Bisons. Only paid $20/person we had a great time! I like the submarine ride too.

You picked a perfect day for this adventure😉 Great job👍

Toured Catalina Island in 1975 and saw the bison herd; they were awesome!

Love all of your shows. I don’t know. That was a pretty expensive Uber ride with no AC for no bison I remember one time going on a fishing host and nobody caught any fish. They said “it’s not called a catching boat”.

Been to Catalina Island many times and we were fortunate to see bison on one of the island interior tours. At the time they took refurbished 1940's buses to take us across the island. I'm sorry you didnt get to see the bison, but, Catalina Island is a beautiful place to visit. Thanks for the great video. I wouldnt expect anything less from you Steve!!! Keep up the good work!!

As usual, excellent video. Informative and entertaining. Sorry you didn't see any bison. I did a similar tour a few years ago and we saw some bison and went to the airport. I hope to backpack the trans-Catalina trail in the near future. When you are on Catalina Island you feel like you are far away from the rest of the world. We stayed at the Hamilton Cove resort and at that time your condo included a golf cart so we got to explore the island even more. There is also a large amount of feral cats that you see when you drive around at night.

I remember seeing pigs on the island at Toyon Bay when where was a baseball camp there, which I stayed at for two weeks. That was back in 1967 I believe. Amazing place and had lots of fun.

Based on the comments, I feel blessed. I just got back from a 4 day trip on Catalina, and on 6/18/2023, we took the 'Bison Tour', and were fortunate to see a HERD of at least 20 Bison. They were on a ridge, near the airport, in the fog. The dominate male bull was on the left side of the road, and the rest of his crew was just off the side of the road, on the right. I'm a professional photographer, so you know I was in 7th Heaven.

I've been out to Catalina many times but never further than Avalon. I'm really stoked that you got to see two(!) Catalina Island foxes. Thanks for taking us along.

I remember going to Catalina in the late '60s-early '70s. The herd, Zane Grey's house, Duke the unofficial official greeter, the penny arcade, the horn sounding when someone brought in a shark. Great memories. I live in Montana now so, plenty of bison in the area.

In the 80's I sailed to Catalina several times and saw bison a couple times around the Two Harbors area. I also saw and heard mountain goats on the cliffs. There is also a decent bison heard onboard MCB Camp Pendleton.

I took my wife to Catalina back in June of 2015, we took the island tour and saw a couple of Bison. Sorry you missed them! Yep, they are out there, but since they aren't on a time clock, it's hard to guess when you will see them!

Your attempt at humor is appreciated.

We were there in 2002 as chaperones for our daughter's middle school class trip to a marine camp in a bay close to 2 Harbors. It was an amazing 5 days. We learned to snorkel, got to go kayaking. And the bison would show up near camp early in the morning.

Used to anchor in Cat Harbor at the Isthmus and we'd see Bison come down to the Isthmus to cross from one end of the Island to the other. They had wild boar hunts back in the day as well. My understanding of why they put wild European Boar on the Island was to kill rattlesnakes and for hunting, they got them from Santa Rosa Island. National Park Service killed all the animals on the Channel Islands they deemed were non-native, but the Roosevelt Elk were native and the only way to control their numbers was hunting, so they just killed them off. No hunting in a National Park so kill everything after stealing the land.

Hey Steve, I really like what you are doing, with your adventures. I've watched quite a few of your videos and I like the places that have shown us, I love traveling and sight seeing , I have done a lot of traveling in the past with my family my 2 girls and 2 boys and my wife, we haven't done any traveling for at least 20 years or so maybe more, as my kids are grown up and have kids of their own now, and don't get as many opportunities to do any traveling like they did as kids because of how busy they are with the usual things that life has. But they are thankful for the times we had together seeing the country that they had as kids.

Bison-tennial. My kids groan when I do stuff like that. I love it. Great video. We say some of those little foxes on a tour of the channel islands. I think there was a fine if you fed them.

Diving in the ocean sanctuary areas is neat dive: the larger fish and island Garibaldi ( a bright orange , spotted fish) are not at all afraid of divers.. We'd dive deeper and unzip to cool off! Visibility is great and the ocean floor sometimes only ten fathoms down.

Back in the late 90s we took a shorter tour, and like you, saw no bison. Also like you we saw a rare island fox and that meant more to me than seeing bison. I haven't been there since, need to go back! I also enjoy the boat ride out there and back with the many sightings of dolphins and flying fish. I do remember when many of the bison were relocated tho. Great dad joke there at the end Steve!

We backpacked Catalina Island in the late 80’s when I was in the Boy Scouts. We saw the bison a few times along the way. But we were there for a week. So it’s not surprising to me at all, that you missed them. It’s a pretty big, little island and the length of it would be a better way to see them. You guys just drove over the middle, side ways. But I enjoyed the video, so definitely worth going. If nothing else, you saw parts of the island most people don’t get to see. Thanks for bringing us along.

Pretty place. Loved the pun at the end. ❤

Great video,and learned something new! 👍

Your channel reminds me of Huell Howser’s California Gold. Love it!

Looking forward to the Bisontennial vlog, but I suspect I'll be history by then (as will most of us). Lol 😊

That look on Steve's face at the end at 9:23 is priceless.

didn't know there were bison or pigs on Catalina until went camping there one time. wild boars kept us awake snuffling about during the night, and in the foggy mists of the morning OMG, bison surrounding our tent!

I lived on Catalina in 1975, USC marine lab, we saw bison everyday. Fun to see the island scenery again.

Love your videos. You are always informative with the history

I went camping over there with my friend who reminds me of you. We saw everything, including the wild boar. I want to take a bike ride over the island.

That was kewl even without bison 🦬. 👍☮️🌞❤️

Cool I spent a weekend there in the 80s.... Lived in Long Beach across from the harbour & attended CSULB! I forget what other islands have Sheep population!

Good job Steve. Most folks never make it beyond Avalon which is certainly a charming town. I guess it was about an hour or two getting out there and again coming back. Wrigley also had the Chicago Cubs spring training on the island behind the Casino. I think they also still have glass bottom boats with flying fish night tours? A unique and beautiful place! 👏🏼

Maybe they brought the bison out to serve as sort of a standby reserve for filming movies as needed. And it's pretty neat that you got to see an island fox; they're near-threatened.

It's great to see another view of the island .

Just found channel. Great content and this guy is a great teacher. Bisontennial 😂💯

Beautiful scenery. Great ride over and back. A fun adventure. Round it out with a nice Bison-tennial dad-joke at the end. Cool video. Thank you for sharing. Safe travels

You did a great job Bison or no Bison. (The Bison burgers at the restaurant at the airport are to die for.)

Wife and I stayed onCatalina for a week rpobably 5 years ago, we saw Bison up by the little airport on top o f the island, one was blocking the road so we had to wait for him to move out of the way!

Paisagem Paradisíaca! Belíssima! Obrigado, Steve! 😊👍🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you, nicely done.

That was great...makes me wanna go!

You should check out the lesser seen Channel Islands , some have good stories like the wild pigs that had to be hunted by helicopter or the woman who lived on the island by herself for decades

Thanks for the knowledge of why there are bison on the island. In the 70s, I flew a small private plane around the perimeter of the entire island a few times, and one of the highlights of those flights was that I indeed saw a herd of bison! Beautiful animals.

I still want to go to this island. I wasnt aware it had two towns on it. I think you should go back to see the other one or just do a tour of both towns themselves if anything is of interest there

Same as Jeff below, in 1972 while at Emerald Bay Scout Camp (N/E side) I took a war canoe trip up the coast, we camped on a mesa and I WAS WOKEN BY SNORTING SOUNDS. I opened my eyes to see the belly side of a bison, then looked around and discovered that the twelve scouts that were on the trip were all underneath a large herd of bison. 51 years latter I can still see that belly and it's huge attachment, scarry.

Some years ago we vacationed at Two Harbors, staying in the Bed and Breakfast there. Eventually we made our way to Avalon, taking the regularly scheduled bus route (not a Greyhound, trust me) across the island. Imagine our surprise when we came across a small herd, just by chance. Sorry, Steve. Anyway, I thought the scenery along the way was more interesting than the bison.

Beautiful island adventure.

Clever pun at the end.

Given how managed the island is I would have thought some of the bison would be collared and tracked so they know where the herds are. alas. Beautiful scenery either way, thanks for the video.

I think the donkey felt humiliated in that zebra suit.

Back in the early 80’s there was a wild bison heard on Camp Pendelton….we saw them whenever we fished the big and little casey lakes in the middle of the base. They were very timid but they were still dangerous.

Bisontennial! Nice. Beautiful place. Being a native So. Californian, I wish I'd been out there. Still time. Keep up the great videos.