Deeper into Baja

After laying up at Pancho's place I continued on the track south to San Francisquito where I again ran into the group camped on the beach. It was here that I met Wayne and we decided to join forces and travel together for a while as we both wanted to get off the beaten path.  Wayne and I left the following morning and headed east to pop out back on pavement just south of Guerro Negro.  

 Sunset at Puerto San Francisquito

 Beach at San Francisquito

Road heading back out towards Guerro Negro.

On our way out we decided to take a a little detour into the small fishing village of El Barril.  Not much here but we did go down to the docks and check out the mission.  Not really sure it's worth the drive in here as the road is pretty bad and overgrown in places.  After spending maybe an hour in town we backtracked and kept heading towards Guerro Negro.

 Docks at El Barril.

 Little village of El Barril with the mission along the ridge.

 Needs just a little work and it will be fine!

 Petey getting his prayers in at the Mission before moving on.

Mission had a weight room.

 Finally popped back out on pavement after a little over 70 miles of  some beautiful scenery albeit with some bad road in places.  Headed into Guerro Negro for supplies and gas.  We got in kind of late so opted to stay at a little campground behind a motel in town.  Certainly nothing like where I'd been camping for the past week but......hot showers, cold beer and a sit down resturant with wi-fi.  After enjoying the civilized life for a night we took off the following morning en-route to Laguna Ojo de Liebre. Our destination after a planned re-supplying in Guerro Negro was Laguna Ojo de Liebre.  A major breeding/calving  lagoon for the gray whales that migrate here every year to give birth.  Wayne had planned to go out on the lagoon to whale watch but the weather moved in along with some high winds so the trip was cancelled and we moved on the following morning.  I was camped here last year for about 4 nights and had the chance to go out and it was a memorable experience.  Well worth the trip to Baja just for this experience alone. If in Baja when the whales have come into the Lagoon (Jan-Mar) I would highly recommend it.

Picture from last years trip.

While tooling around Guerro Negro ran into this guy.  Would have loved to sat around and visited with this character.  Had patches all over his outfit, a cape sewn on the back and a neck scarf.  God only knows what his story is! He was really friendly and I so wanted to hang out awhile but we needed to move on.

Camp at the Lagoon.

To access the Lagoon area you drive through miles of salt flats which are mined. You have to drive through a guarded checkpoint and they have some salt deposits on display next to the guard shack.

A nest about a quarter mile from camp.

Sunset from camp.

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

Pancho!

Road heading south out of Bahia de Los Angeles.

I don't think the real Baja begins until one gets south of San Felipe which is a few  hours south of the border and I was anxious to get there.  San Felipe is full of ex-pats and still close enough to the border where one feels like you haven't quite made it to Baja just yet. I made contact with the group of Overlanders again after spending a night in Bahia De Los Angeles. While camped out on the spit at the mouth of the bay I watched as they rolled in lost after dark.  The line of rigs drove out on the other side of the marsh where I was set up missing the turn off for the spit, turned around and went back into town to find an established campground.  I tried signaling them but as I was doing so I kept asking myself, do I really want them to come out and camp where I'm at?  I had a beautiful spot all to myself and the thought of 8 other rigs setting up next to me was.....not so good.  I stopped signaling and watched their tail lights disappear back to the south.  At least, I made the attempt. Following morning,  I left Bahia De Los Angeles and headed south along the coast.  Once leaving the Bay of LA area it's dirt and some four wheeling  for about the next 125 miles or so until you pop back out on pavement just south of Guerrero Negro.  Destination out of Bay of LA was a little fish camp called San Rafael(some drone footage at the end of this posting).  I had been on this road as far south as the fish camp previously when down with a group of friends on motorcycles many years ago and wanted to stop and spend some time there before moving further south to San Francisquito.  Although San Rafael is depicted on the map it's really nothing more than a beautiful beach with a plywood hut where a character by the name of Pancho lives.  There are times when fisherman use the beach to launch their Ponga's but no village or town. It's located about 30 miles down a dirt road south of Bahia De Los Angeles. Pancho has lived here for the past thirty-one years and hasn't been to town for the past 5 years. As you can imagine he leads a very simple lifestyle out here with no electricity or running water.  He does have a solar set up which provides him with some lighting.  I ended up spending a few days here, one of which was New Years Eve. Dining and drinking with Pancho was a New Years I won't forget.  The locals call him "Correcaminos" which translates to RoadRunner.  Everything he does is done at double speed.  He scampers around just like one. I enjoyed the few days I spent here hanging out with Pancho.  He's a character and if you're ever down this way stop stop in.  Great beach, good campsite and hanging out with Pancho is worth the trip alone.  If you bring him some Tequila or dog food, you'll be a friend for life.

Of course, before leaving town I had to stop for some fish taco's.

Drone view of Poncho's place.  

Camp at Poncho's place.  A beach that goes on for miles with no one on it.

The man, the legend.....Pancho.

Morning coffee with Pancho.

Pancho preparing a little dinner for the New Year celebration. Some tostada's, tequila and cold beer.

Pancho outside his bedroom.  He told me that he spent 2 days holed up in the old camper during the last big hurricane that came through a few years ago.  Stated he didn't think he was going to make it as he was sure he was going to end up in the ocean. He had it tied down with some old nylon rope.

A short walk from camp back into the desert.

Bumped into another bike traveler, Ian, who had ridden down from Canada and was headed down to the tip.

Whale bone washed up on the beach just below camp.

Petey was glad for a few days rest and the weather was really starting to warm up.  The warmer the better for Petey.  

 Estuary near camp that had a lot of birds.

Met a guy from California who was flying a very nice drone set up and he was nice enough to give me a couple of clips that he shot one morning while I was camped at Poncho's.  Thought I had written his name somewhere but can't seem to find it. Click on the links below to view.

Drone footage at Pancho's

Drone Footage at Pancho's Part II

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

Live and Learn

I was already breaking one of my cardinal rules while on another roam about.  A schedule!  I had been on the road for less than a week and I had to be somewhere on a set date.  A big no-no in my book. I never make reservations and just go where my mood strikes me at the time. I had agreed to meet up with 8 other Overlanders that I had been in contact with via a forum on the internet I follow and had to be in Yuma on the 27th of December to rendezvous with the group prior to crossing the border.  As I was working my way south towards the border I was questioning my decision but convinced myself, with the help of Tiffany, that it would be good for me to travel with a group.  Security, meet new people, share the experience, etc., etc.  What a crock of shit that turned out to be.  To put it bluntly, traveling with a large group is torture. I'll take the solo or maybe one other rig route anytime.  Traveling in mass is like herding cats, each with their own special quirks.  Now, I'm sure I've got my own quirks but good god. All members of the group were nice enough guys/gals but unless you really know everyone, and know them well, traveling as a group is for people who want to socialize and not explore.  I like to seek out some solitude, get back in out of the way places, and encounter the locals in hopes that some adventure will follow. Rolling up on a locals little ranchero and their Mexican family with 9 other rigs and they think they're being invaded by a herd of Gringos. I definitely prefer the solo route.  Damn the security and socializing.  I really knew it wasn't going to work out when on the first day, Petey, whose pecker is maybe two inches off the deck, took a piss on one of the rigs tires and the owner of said rig admonished Petey and then, you're going to love this, proceeded to wash it off with a water bottle.  Understand, we're in four wheel drive off-road rigs in the desert, in Baja, and said driver is worried about a little dog piss on his friggin tire. If you've been to Baja before you know that every time you stop numerous stray Mexican dogs descend on your vehicle and begin to mark it as their own. So you can understand my amazement as I'm standing there watching this and thinking.... you've got to be shitting me, he's actually washing that tire off?  A later discovery revealed that one of the group didn't want to get mud on his rig! For gods sake, why don't you just set up in an RV park somewhere. It was almost comical to me that someone with an off-road rig had this mentality. Following morning, I took off on my own but had second thoughts and waited for them in Gonzaga Bay. I convinced myself I was waiting as I was actually sitting around talking with some locals at a little store when the group came rolling in.  I realized I shouldn't have waited and opted to move on and camp solo that night. I would run into the group about 4 days later after being solo where I met and became friends with one of the group, Wayne Long and his dog Ike, who is from the Calgary area.  Wayne and I left the group but ran back into the group remnants, as most had already turned north to the border, at Bahia Concepcion where we camped for about 6 days. Wayne has become a real friend and is a great traveling companion as he's well prepared, has a laid back personality, is open for any type of adventure, is a great cook and doesn't mind all my stopping for pictures.  Plus, he puts up with my giving him a hard time about his tent camper, among other things.  More on that later. He also doesn't give a shit if Petey takes a piss on his tire and damn sure doesn't mind getting his rig a little dirty. We've had some adventures, met some interesting locals and seen the real Baja as we've been off-road in some of the more remote sections.   Had we stayed with the group there is no way we would have had the adventures we've encountered. This is my fourth extended trip to Baja and it has been my most memorable so far. Anyway, this starts the first segment of my roaming around Baja.  I'm way behind as I crossed into Baja on the 27th of December.  I just haven't had the time or availability to wi-fi to keep up but hope to catch up soon.

Wayne and his pal, Ike.

Camped in a canyon on the second night out.  Shared it with a couple out of Vancouver who had quit their jobs, sold everything and were taking a year to bicycle down to the tip of South America.  Sat around a campfire that evening over some cold beer and discussed their travels to date.  Nice couple who I hope to keep in contact with to hear more about their travels south.

 Cier and Michele from Vancouver

 Camp visitor early the following morning.  These guys are a major concern for me down here with Petey.  That can become pretty brazen and some seem to have no fear of humans.  I've had a couple come right into camp.  Petey would be a nice snack for one of these guys if given the opportunity.

Appeared a truck had gotten stuck out on the flats at low tide outside of San Felipe.  With the tide at the high mark the truck disappeared.  Not a good day for whoever owned this rig.

 Cloud formation that evening.

 A dog's life in Bahia de Los Angeles

 Walking Petey out on the point near camp in Bahia de Los Angeles

 Old prison just south of Bahia de Los Angeles

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

Baja or Bust!

After dropping Tiffany off at the airport, I was able to get packed up and finally get out of town en-route to Baja.  I detoured to Bend, Oregon to take care of some things and to be reminded how little I miss the cold and snow.  After taking care of "things" and visiting friends in Bend, I was ready to leave but the weather was certainly not being very co-operative.  Snow with more in the forecast.  Rather than heading straight south, I opted to go east and then south down through Nevada/Arizona. Seeing as how I left Bend early morning on Christmas Eve I figured I'd have less holiday traffic by taking the smaller highways and staying off the main roads. Heavy snow was being forecasted along the Sierra's to the south and numerous traffic accidents had already been reported south of Bend.  It took me an extra day to get down to the border but the traffic ended up being minimal.  The snow and cold didn't co-operate as I ran into quite a bit of snow in the higher elevations. Was an enjoyable trip down as I camped and did some off-road exploration in Nevada.

Mountain pass in eastern Oregon.

Christmas Eve was spent in the little remote mountain town of Austin, Nevada where I met Victor.  While sipping a purchased beer and free shots being provided by Victor I was Victor's captor while he ranted on about world problems and of course, how he'd solve them.  The more he drank, and he was drinking quite a bit, the more solutions he was coming up with to fix things. What I was able to gather, when allowed to get a word in, was that Victor owns the bar, is from Serbia and loves Donald Trump.  Had big signs out front supporting him. He can't vote but wants to see "The Donald" get in there so he could fix all the shit!  Victor was quite entertaining but I was eventually rescued by the only other patrons in the bar on Christmas Eve, Marcus and his girlfriend Effie.  They were camped just up the road and invited me back to their camper for a Christmas Eve dinner.  It was snowing like hell but we were able to get back to their camper where we had a nice spaghetti dinner.  I enjoyed Victor but it was nice spending Christmas Eve with sane people.

Victor expounding on how he'd fix all "the shit" going on in the world!

Victor's choice of art in his fine establishment.

Petey outside Victors Place styling his new Ruffwear jacket.

Effie was a huge fan of Petey.  He's a major babe magnet!

Following day, I made the mistake of trying to find an old ghost town that Victor had told me about.  After pounding down numerous frozen dirt roads back in the mountains, I never was able to locate it but had fun exploring.  Petey and I ended up camping back in there on Christmas Day.  Wasted the better part of the day poking around back in the mountains.  Cold but nice country.

Camped back in the mountains pictured.

Did find some old buildings but not what I was looking for.

Following day, we kept heading south in search of warmer climates.  No, I didn't stay here but did have to stop and take the picture.  You see signs advertising these once you get into Nevada.  This one was located right next to a convenience and gas store.

Finally got a little further south where the temps started to improve.  We spent a cold Christmas night while camped out in the mountains and were glad to be in warmer climes.  Pulled off above Searchlight, Nevada in a wash where we four wheeled in about a mile before calling it a night.  Had a beautiful spot in the desert where we watched a full moon rise early that evening.

More updates coming soon..........