Sailing in a northerly direction into the Gulf of California, the brightness of the day made us feel like dropping anchor at Elephant Rock, one of the most beautiful snorkeling spots on Santa Catalina Island. Delighted with the several species of fishes and marine invertebrates found during our water activities, and after a deserved lunch on deck, we decided to spend the afternoon hiking on one of the magnificent arroyos.

We walked up through the Cardonal, or Cardon "forest", looking at the many desert plants and birds that showed themselves even during the hottest hours, but certainly also looking at the ground to avoid the jumping chollas. In the short space of just one hour, we observed the behavior of California Gnatcatchers, White-Winged Doves, Northern Cardinals, Mexican Ravens, Loggerhead Shrikes and Verdins, among others. As we hiked up to the closing of the arroyo by dense vegetation, we were frozen by the sudden appearance of a Black-Throated Sparrow perching only three yards from the group. It turned his head toward us, then cleaned up its wing feathers and flew away. That made us thing that it came to give us a warm welcome to the wonders of the island.