Nowhere to be: Deeper into Baja

Now being back on the road solo I figured I'd just keep working my way north and didn't really have any set plans. I had considered going back through San Francisquito and up for another visit with Pancho south of Bahia de los Angeles. I had told Pancho I'd try and come back through his way when heading north to bring him some supplies. He wanted a calendar, dog food and Tequila. Doesn't take much to keep Pancho and his friend happy! To do this route again would require about 80 miles of off-road if I took the turn off to El Arco and then worked my way up to his place along the coast. I ended up not doing it and kind of felt bad about it but I didn't make him any promises. I just didn't feel like doing that shit road again to get to his place. I opted instead to check out a little village up in the mountains called San Francisco de la Sierra. A few miles outside the village is the Cueva del Raton paintings. I came upon this sign near the mouth of the cave area and was actually surprised to find it in English. This place is pretty well off the beaten path and the last five miles getting into the village is rough. After reading the sign I went in search of "the local representative" who could hook me up with a guide.

There isn't much here other than a church, some goat pens, few buildings and one small little store attached to someone's home. When you roll into the village you certainly don't see anything marked where the local representative would be hanging out awaiting your arrival. I ran across one other gringo in the two days I was here. After roaming around I finally located someone who seemed to know what I was after and the negotiations began. After many attempts to understand each other I paid my $150 pesos and thought I understood to be back at the cave entrance tomorrow morning at 9 am. I knew it was happening tomorrow but the exact time was still in question as well as the actual meeting place. Holding up my 9 fingers, pointing in the direction of the cave and getting the "Si Senor" confirmed it. I got back to the truck and decided to drive outside of the village a ways prior to setting up camp. Had initially started to camp in a field next to the church but an aggressive dog altered those plans. One thing you have to be a little vigilant of down here, especially with a dog the size of Petey, is aggressive strays. Most of the strays are friendly but every once in awhile....a bad one can be encountered. Petey wants to play with all of them and this particular one was not in the playing mood. Luckily, no harm was done but I didn't want to constantly be wondering where he was at, so Petey and I loaded back up to find a more remote spot for the night. This is a really beautiful area with big slot canyons and huge vast vistas. I learned that you can also make arrangements for mule trips down into the remote canyons.

Goat ranching is the only means of subsistence. In this terrain, there are no crops to be found.

Found a remote spot a few klicks from the village and had two visitors that night in camp. Old guy comes along on foot out of the brush carrying wood which he gathers as cooking fuel. He comes up and I finally figure out that he's trying to tell me that he would be my guide tomorrow. I guess the "local representative" let him know a gringo was in town and wanted to see the paintings. How in the hell he knew where I was camped at, or if he just happened to stumble upon me, I don't know. I'd gone quite a ways from the village to camp and he just shows up a few hours later. He gathered some more wood near camp and then headed off down the road.

I'd now met my guide but the next visitor in camp seemed to be a much more important figure in the village. He rode up into camp and after the obligatory "hola" was exchanged we just kind of stared at each other. He had zero English and I didn't have enough Spanish to do much of anything else. I pointed at the camera, got the head shake so I took the one picture. After we stared at each other for awhile he simply rode off. Probably mumbling to himself.....another dumb ass gringo!

Another visitor to camp.

Petey and I greeted our final visitor to camp later that night. A beautiful full moon.

Following morning, I broke camp and drove back down to the caves. Nine o'clock rolls around...no guide. Nine thirty...no guide. Ten....no guide. Petey and I walk around to kill some time but I'm figuring I've been stiffed. Was worth coming in here regardless as it's a beautiful area but just as I'm getting ready to load up here comes the old guy I'd met in camp. He unlocks the gate. I look around and that's it. Their guiding consists of unlocking the gate and then taking a siesta on a big flat rock. Old guy had to be well into his 80's and had walked about a mile or so from the village to let me in. Friendly old fella who got tipped for walking that far and taking a siesta. I think they utilize the caves to generate a little income for the village which is only fair.

If into rock art and cave paintings Baja is covered in them. Access requires some off-roading and hiking but well worth it. I find it interesting to explore some of these sites and wonder what their way of life was at the time. Another area that we'd been to earlier in the trip was up in the mountains east of Mulege. I didn't post them up earlier but since I'm on the cave painting theme thought I'd throw them in here. If in the Mulege area it's worth the effort to get to these as well.