14 October 2021
Santa Rosa Island — An unsettling sound rang out above the crash of waves onto a wild, lonely beach on Santa Rosa Island, part of the Channel Islands National Park, where my partner Emanuel and I had bedded down after an arduous 10-mile trek.
I was jolted awake. Again — the irate sound, like a rusty metal bucket scraping against rock. It seemed closer.
Emanuel heeded my nudge and investigated.
When he poked his headlamp-adorned head back in the tent, he broke the news: “I think we have a problem.