Deeper into Baja - Part 11

Decisions, decisions.  Should I stay in the southern part of Baja for another few weeks or begin the slow crawl back to the north and return to the states?  I've mentioned it before in a previous post while I was in Alaska.  The urge to start picking up the pace once I reach the turn around point can take hold if I don't recognize it.  Not once on the drive down did I ask myself...when should I get back. Now that my compass direction had spun 180 degrees, the question lingered.  I reminded myself to slow back down and set about planning a few stops along the way to the border.  After leaving Todos Santos we simply pounded out the miles, backtracking over pavement we'd already done coming down, until reaching an area south of Loretto.   We had been told of a nice beach area not far from Loreto that was somewhat unknown, didn't get a lot of use and had some good camping.  Once again, after a few wrong turns, couple of dead ends, we eventually found a nice beach with just a couple of other campers.  We discovered at the end of the beach that with just a short blast of four wheeling through some soft sand the camping got even better and afforded us with a private spot.  

 Waynes first priority when setting up.....kitchen camp.

While in Cabo roaming around Costco munching on free samples I ended up buying a paddle board.  Go in for free samples and come out with an overpriced board!  Now that we were back on the calmer Sea of Cortez side it was time to break it out. (photo by Wayne)

Many small coves to explore along the coast.

Couple of small islands off the coast from camp where we paddled out to do some snorkeling and fishing. Wayne with a puffer fish

(photo by Wayne)

From one of the small bays along the coast, I took out and portaged overland to another small cove.  The hike and carry saved miles of paddling down the coastline. Wayne was out in the open ocean somewhere as the kayak can certainly handle longer distances and rougher water.  Explored this cove and then carried back across.  I paid for this little excursion the following day as I tweaked my back during the carry. The following morning I was so "stove up" I thought I'd eventually have to have the camper cut off from around me. It was touch and go. For everyone who understands the confinement factor of a Four Wheel Camper, you can relate to the trauma of de-bedding and exiting one in an invalid state.  It was ugly my friends! It was a herculean effort to simply get out of the rack, much less the camper.  The paddleboard received limited use over the next couple of days & when it did, post paddle rest was necessary! With some stretching, aspirin, beer & come to Jesus talk....I eventually recovered. I will say that the paddle board appears to be a nice option when overlanding.  It packs up small, is easily stored and can be set up in short order. On it, you can easily access some of the closer islands and remote coves along the coastline. Nice option when camped near "flat water".  I'm sure I'll end up using it often on future trips but may skip the longer overland portages.

Neighborhood buzzard waiting for the bad back to finish me off. 

Recuperation. Not only can you do some exploring on it but it also makes a nice nap platform for man and beast alike. (photo by Wayne)

 Just over the rise in this picture was a beautiful sandy beach.  Yea, I know. No pictures or it wasn't really there.

Ike and Wayne in camp. 

After a few nights we'd move on a little further north up the coastline. Our next camp proved to be a good one... I stayed for a full week.  Wayne, even longer, as this would be the point where we parted company. I would continue the northern exodus to the border while Wayne put down roots and I think ended up staying over two weeks in this one spot. More on this area in the next post......

Deeper into Baja - Part 10

These posts are probably getting a little monotonous at this point as its just more of the same.  More beautiful beaches, interesting people, laid back living and great campsites.  To say it's a simple life travelling throughout Baja is an understatement.  Life takes on a slower pace where you lose track of time or even what day it is.  You simply get up with the sun &  crawl in the rack shortly after dark most nights. Time in between is spent doing whatever the hell you want. You end up going on what is known as "Baja Time".   The phrase "simply living in the moment" is applicable while roaming about in Baja. It's as if nothing else is really happening other than what you're doing at the moment. If not for personal relationships back in states I'm not sure I'd ever leave. This posting will take me down to the southern most point in Baja, Cabo San Lucas.  End of the road and nowhere to go from here other than north.  Cabo is a full on resort town that is akin of a resort you'd find anywhere.  By far my least favorite area in Baja.  I've come to view resorts as a hidden blessing as it keeps the masses and associated trappings confined and out of the remote whereabouts that I enjoy.  We did succumb and do the tourist walk one afternoon where we strolled the entire length of the Cabo beach/marina area.  Lots of people, affluent lifestyles and the opportunity to buy a lot of stuff you probably don't need. After two nights Wayne and I were glad to leave Cabo behind and head up towards Todos Santos....via some fun off road stuff.

 Sixty miles north of Cabo you can find this.

Road along the coast north of Cabo.

Typical view in Cabo.

Wayne made me take this one! He likes American football.

When not requesting specific pictures, Wayne always seemed to be purchasing something to cook from a vendor. Not that I minded, as I knew whenever I saw a vendor in camp I'd be eating well that night. 

Guess where?

You know you've got money when your boat has one of these on it.

People shoved in here asshole to belly button in places.

I'll let you, the viewer, come up with a caption for this one!

Requisite Petey shot.

After escaping Cabo we headed due north to being looking for a road someone had told us about a few weeks prior.  Instructions were...about 40 miles north on Ruta One start looking for a really straight dirt road heading west towards the mountains. That narrows the search right down as there only one of these every 1/4 mile in Baja! I was leading and took some dirt roads that ended up not being "really straight" so we did some backtracking until we came across what looked like the "really straight dirt road."  We figured it had to go somewhere so we took off. We were trying to cross back over the Sierra Laguna range and end up on the coast south of Todos Santos. It eventually began a steep ascent and turned into a quad track for a short section near the top. At one point I didn't think there would be enough room to get through or if we were even on the correct road.  We saw a group of six quads and no other vehicles once near the top. They looked at us like we'd lost our minds. It was slow going but we eventually crested the top and could see the pacific ocean in the distance. We kept with the westerly direction theme and popped back out on pavement.

 Petey ensuring the water crossings were safe before proceeding.

After a long slow day on dirt we came out south of Todos Santos and headed to a beach area north of town that Wayne had camped on before.  We set up and spent a few nights here doing a lot of nothing.

 Shut Up Franks.  Cool bar in Todos Santos.

 Some government troops that showed up on the beach.

 And then commenced to get stuck. Wayne came to the rescue.

Seemed like every surfer in the water left their buddies on the beach. Some with instructions.

Patiently waiting for their masters to return.

Petey and I on some "Baja Time."

More to come as we head north........

Deeper into Baja - Part 9

Didn't check this one out but I'll bet there's something good back in there.

The march to the south continued after our week in San Juanico.  The plan was to head down to the La Paz area and then down to Todos Santos.  We didn't quite make it.  This drive could have been done in a long day but it ended up taking almost another two weeks to get there.  I'm the worst in getting somewhere as planned because I'll be heading there, spot a side road on the map and then decide that it's a must do.  Sometimes this turns out and you discover some out of the way place that makes the detour a wise choice. A wrong turn in a few days would put us in some of the best stuff stuff we'd found the entire trip. If we hadn't of got lost it wouldn't have happened. Anyway,at Ciudad Constitucion, there is a road leading west out towards a little place called Puerto San Carlos.  Looked interesting so, hard right turn, and off we went.  As we were pulling into town a friendly Mexican fella comes chasing us in his clapped out SUV through town.  The road basically ends at the coast so once we come to a stop he pulls up and wants to know if there is anything he can do for us.  I inquire as to where there might be some free camping.  Lo and behold, he just happens to own a campground back up the road.   What a coincidence.  We figured every time he saw a gringo enter town with a camper he'd give chase trying to drum up some business.  Ten dollars a night....almost free! Quite the entrepreneur and as it was getting late we opted to part with some pesos and stay at his place.  Stayed the night and moved on the following morning. We had hoped to get back off-road here and check out the area across the bay on the Bahia Santa Marie side but found out it was unaccesible by vehicle.  In camp I saw another Four Wheel Camper rig and struck up a conversation with the couple and their little ones.  Really cool family who had been full-timing on the road a few years with their three children.  They'd visited 49 states and had been in Alaska the past summer.  They were now headed south and planned to do South America.  I enjoy meeting people like this who think outside the box, throw caution to the wind and just go.  They didn't really have any set plans other than to head south over the next year or so and see what comes of it.  While they were home schooling the children, I imagine the lessons they learn from their travels are even better.  They had a blogsite but for the life of me I can't remember it.

Nice couple with great kids and an adventourous spirit.

Petey mauling a local pitt bull in camp.

Rising moon overlooking the bay that night.

Lots of low lying areas and mangrove forest along this part of the coast.

We moved on the following day a little further south before turning back off on dirt to check out an area along the coast.  Nothing in here other than some epic camping, a few surfers and miles of open coastline.

Camp up on the bluff.

View looking back along the beach.

Some big surf rolls in along this coastline

 Tough sleeping right along the bluffs at night.  The noise from the surf was..loud. Some of the sets sounded like bombs going off when they'd break.

 Can drive this coastline and find great campsite anywhere.

Wayne found a couple of dead seals washed up on the beach about a mile from camp and decided to take a couple of teeth.  Everytime the dogs were on the beach this was a major draw as they loved the stench.

Coming back from a hike on the beach one evening and I had to set Petey up over a ledge he couldn't make.  As I get ready to crawl over I look up and the wind is holding his ears straight out. 

After a few more nights in here we decided to head back over to the Sea of Cortez side.  The pacific side had been all about big surf and some occasional wind so no fishing or kayaking.  We crawled back out over another rough ass road, found pavement and headed towards LaPaz.  LaPaz is big by Baja standards so the plan was to stop, re-supply and get the hell out of there.  A wrong turn out of LaPaz, Wayne's fault, had us heading in the opposite direction to where Todos Santos was.  By the time we figured it out there was no way we were going to backtrack so we just kept going.  We found a dirt road on the map that would hopefully get us to Los Barriles and begin trying to find it.  The pavement ended with a few dirt tracks leading off to the south.  After driving around lost, we finally came across a couple of locals who pointed us up a rough, rocky dirt road that appeared to climb....quickly. It got rougher and steeper the further we got into it.

We were trusting this would get us through as there was no signage of any type but it was headed in the general direction we wanted to go. We kept crawling along and eventually made it back over to the coast.

Wayne's rig coming around the corner. We saw not one other vehicle on this road leading up over the mountains or along the coastline until nearing Los Barriles.  Beautiful drive.

It got pretty steep in places as you can see the angle of my truck on the right side.

Four wheel is a definite requirement to get through this section and to be honest I'm not real sure exactly what road we were on.  All we know is it ended up where we were trying to get to. Once we got to the coast we set up and stayed put for about 4 nights. More of the same....beach exploration, fishing and screwing off.

 Next time at this area I'll have a speargun with me.  All along this coastline would be a great spot for snorkeling and spearfishing.

 Wayne landed this Moray Eel.  Was able to get him unhooked and released.

Very few points to access the beach along this section.  We came up on this one and set up camp here for 4 nights.

The wrong turn out of LaPaz and getting lost wasn't so bad after all......