Deeper into Baja Part 2

Remote beach south of Bahia Asuncion

The weather ended up running us out of Ojo de Liebre so we opted to break camp and head south towards Vizcaino and then turn west towards the pacific side of Baja to the little town of Bahia Asuncion.  From there we'd be back on dirt and follow the coastline to Punta Abreojos.  I was in Bahia Asuncion last year and had planned to do the coastline to the south but got really ill after eating some bad fish taco's at a little road side stand.  It was a miserable few days afterwards and I knew I was going to die in Baja! I survived and was looking forward to exploring the remote coastline that I missed last year and reminded myself to bypass the same fish taco stand this time around.  We stayed in Bahia Asuncion for one night and then worked our way down the coast spending one more night out before returning to pavement in Punta Abreojos.  Remote area as I remember only seeing one other group camped in this section which was about 40 miles along the coast.  Main reason it's not crowded is having to deal with washboard roads from hell. In places, it is really bad and will beat a rig to death if you don't air down or slow the hell down. Other than some small fishing camps there isn't much here.  Miles and miles of open terrain, sand dunes and beautiful beaches.

 Coyote encounter

Sunset from camp along the pacific side

Miles of remote coastline

Mission in fishing village of La Bocana

After hitting pavement again we were headed for San Ignacio which is a small village located about halfway down the peninsula of Baja and is genuinely unique.  It's like taking a step back in time as the pace of life is slow & the people are friendly. San Ignacio should not be missed if in Baja.

 San Ignacio Mission (founded 1728)

Our end goal was to cross the Sierra el Cuchillo Range, spend a couple of nights in the mountains, before ending up in the village of Mulege back on the Sea of Cortez side.  We had also seen some ruins on our maps that we wanted to investigate.  Neither Wayne nor I had been up in this area and hoped we'd be able to get through.  We had heard conflicting reports as to whether the route was doable. Waynes rig is certainly more off-road worthy than mine but he was also pulling an adventure trailer which can be a problem if you end up somewhere you can't easily turn around.  This would all have to wait due to some legal problems! While walking around the town square I look over and a rotund Mexican cop is writing a ticket on Waynes vehicle.  This turned out to be very entertaining for me as Wayne was instructed to follow the police to the village station.  I followed a few minutes later and when I enter the station he's pleading his case to the police & administrative personnel in the station about how he is an innocent tourist and was being taken advantage of.  Not sure any of them understood a word of English but they either felt sorry for him or got tired of his begging because he eventually got the fine down to $100 pesos (about $6.00 American). Started at around $1000 pesos! Of course, as we're leaving I informed his captive audience that he was a bad hombre! One of the ladies found this funny and looked at me like I'd lost my mind. I'm sure the term "loco gringo" was uttered numerous times after our departure.  Only thing that could have been more entertaining would have been if they'd of locked him up for the night and I would have had access for pictures! I will concede that it was a total bullshit ticket and they simply saw a gringo rig and probably needed some beer funds for the day.  Where he was parked was not marked in any way.  I enjoyed the whole ordeal and of course,  gave Wayne a hard time for weeks afterward. 

San Ignacio town square and the crime scene.

The bad hombre!

After Wayne escaped the clutches of the police we headed for the hills. As it was getting late we eventually got off-road and looked for a place to camp where we ended up simply stopping at a wide spot as the sun was setting.

Petey doesn't like to stop this late and called it quits for the rest of the evening

Following morning as we were headed towards the mountains we ran across a local rancher and asked him about the road going over the mountains. With the language barrier, I reverted to pointing on the map showing what we were wanting to do.  He simply smiled, waved his hand and stated "no mas".  The road was not passable and in fact, gone in places.  We got out of him that even a motorcycle could not make it all the way over to Mulege. I doubted that a bike couldn't get over & we debated going up and checking for ourselves but in the end, decided to turn around.  It would have been another long day had we driven up towards the pass and then not able to get over. We talked about it in camp that night and regretted not to have at least tried it. Next time, I'll see it for myself before turning around. 

The "no mas" rancher.

We worked our way back out to pavement with a stop to check out a DC-8 dozer that had been abandoned in the middle of this dirt road.  Some engine parts had been stripped and it appeared to have been there quite awhile.

After dodging Caterpillars and cows we headed down through Mulege where we set up camp for an extended stay in Bahia Concepcion.

Petey ensuring it's safe to continue

More to come...................................