Baja Days & Coyote Nights - A Trip Report

Planned a little trip to Baja and as life is wont to do it was changed drastically before I even left home.

My sister was moving to Joshua Tree and offered to pay my expenses to help with the move. Perfect! Most of the drive to Baja and I am able to help someone out on the way!

Originally this was going to be a solo trip. Perhaps spend some time poking around the hills near Walter Henderson’s reported rock pile, but, alas my daughter calls two days before I left and said the doctor said she could not work for two weeks due to a recent car accident.

So with a few changes in packing and plans we leave Northern California for Joshua Tree on March 30th. A day or so in Joshua Tree and on April 1rst we are on the road south to Palm Springs and Indio towards Mexicali and Baja.

A quick border crossing and we stop for FMM’s. We fill out the forms and it comes out to $780 peso or $50 for the both of us. I pay with a thousand pesos, receive a $120 pesos in change and we are off.

Mexicali goes smooth, Pemex stations have signs out offering $17.10 for dollars which is kind of sad since I exchanged my dollars for 15.5 to 1 on the US side which seemed to be the going rate. Oh well.

Even though I have been taking my daughter to Baja since before her second birthday, this is her first trip in several years and as she has matured and enjoyed the joys of work, relationships and responsibilities one finds in young adulthood she is now seeing Mexico with a new and fresh prospective.

Highway 5 was in good shape as we sped south, but not fast enough for many travelers whom seem to believe that this section of highway is a speed test and pass us going 70, 75, 80mph.

I also noticed several highway alignments since I last crossed at Mexicali 8 or 9 years ago.

Soon we are at the turnoff to Ensenada and heading westward. We are waved through the checkpoint without even stopping.

Heading towards Ensenada we started looking for dirt roads northwards towards Walter Henderson’s original camp area. We picked up a portion of an old race course full of whoops, loose rocks and washed out hills.

On one hill we came across this…? A Military outpost? Some ranchers winter camp?




[Edited on 4-11-2016 by Fatboy]

We made it to Arroyo “Grande”, and headed westwards until the first major southbound fork and headed up it. We soon find a Stanley Thermos and wondered who was here and lost it.

This branch narrowed soon and we turned around and headed back to the main branch.

Following the main channel to the second major southbound branch we followed it for a mile or so and setup camp.

As the sun set and the desert came alive we watched the stars appear somewhat in the manner of making popcorn. First one, a pause, then another, then several at once pop, then it seems like all the remaining pop all at once which is followed by silence and a sky full of a billion stars.

A coyote starts the chorus and in an instant there is a cacophony of yips and yaps as they discuss the upcoming night and we humans fall asleep under the constellations looking for shooting stars.

Waking early the next morning we laze around camp since my daughter is unable to go hiking because of her injury and I contemplate the reasons for these horrible migraines and wallow in self-pity until the medications starts to take the edge off the pain.

On the rough road in to our campsite yesterday a couple of things happened, one is that the water jug tipped and spilled about a half-gallon of water in the back of the Jeep which lead to a swarm of bees in the Jeep this morning.

Since we were staying here for the day we did not disturb them as they drank all day from this unexpected water source and just used extra caution whenever we had to retrieve anything from the Jeep.

The other noteworthy item was the Jeeps secondary radiator fan cracked.

A little field repair involving baby wipes, prayers and duct tape would see us through the trip but we did have to reapply the prayers and duct tape every couple of days.

Early afternoon I was feeling somewhat better I went for a four-mile hike.

No rock pile was found but it was a nice hike. I arrive back at camp at dusk and have a repeat of the previous evenings light and sound show.




[Edited on 4-11-2016 by Fatboy]

Another cool quiet morning as we pack up and prepare to retrace our path back to Highway 3.

All goes well, if not slowly, and we reach the pavement where we break out the compressor to air up the tires and we are off to San Felipe.

On the road out I realize that 780 plus 120 does not add up to 1000. Quick ain’t I? Immigration just got an extra $100 peso from me. Oh well.

At the checkpoint a quick question or two and we are on the way.

San Felipe has added to the outskirts since our last visit 2 years ago. All we need is passage through and we are off to points southwards.

We stop to help a couple that are broken down about 10 miles south of San Felipe. They had run out of gas the previous evening and had been there all night without water or food.

What has happened to us in this day and age when we feel it is unnecessary to stop and provide aid to our fellow humans?

After adding some gas and jumpstarting their dead battery they are on their way northwards while we continue southward. Filling up with fuel in Puertocitoes, we head south to Alfonso’s for lunch and fill up our water jug at the store across the highway in Gonzaga Bay.

There is still a military checkpoint a little north of Gonzaga Bay where there was a quick inspection and they wrote down where we have been, where we were going and my name and let us proceed on our way.

We followed the new pavement across the level plain into the hills were it soon ends a few miles before Coco’s.

We pass the turn off to Calamajue, slam on the brakes and after a quick discussion we decided to go to Calamajue. Backing up to the turn off we our off on new roads and adventures.

I have never been to Calamajue and it is immortalized for me by Graham’s chapter about it in his book Into A Desert Place. That is one good thing about being flexible, it is easy to bend with the winds.

This was some of the driest and most parched section of desert we would see on the whole trip.




[Edited on 4-13-2016 by Fatboy]

Ahh, Calamajue.

Quite the experience, the empty shacks, the abandoned pangas, the deserted processing buildings.

After setting up camp and stringing up the hammocks I go for a walk exploring the area. I jump a coyote in the brush behind the beach.

A little while after we arrive a pickup also arrive and parks on the beach a little ways from us. Two locals hop out. One of them changes into a wetsuit and heads down to the water and does a little spearfishing.

After 30 minutes or so he leaves the water and changes back in to clothes and starts fishing with a handline.

After another 30 minutes or so he switches to a fishing pole. The whole time the person he is with just hangs out on the beach with him.

With the fishing pole they work their way out to the point where a panga shows up and picks them up and brings them back to the beach.

Well this seems odd so far.

At this point it is late afternoon, almost evening time. The two fisherman from the boat and the two men from the truck are all at the truck chatting for awhile as dusk comes on and stars start coming out.

Now they unload a barrel of something, water? fuel? from the truck into the boat.

Then they slide a big bin to the back of the pickup and start filling a couple of large ice chests with ice from the bin.

O.K. they are here to resupply some fisherman camped somewhere south of here. That makes sense.

At this point the sun has set and it is in that grey twilight time when they prepare to launch the boat, which makes sense, except the driver of the pickup also gets in the boat and into the gloaming the three of them motor off, leaving us wondering and the passenger from the pickup is over there starting a fire.

Well this is odd.

All evening and until I drifted off to sleep the pickup passenger is down the beach from us fueling the fire, whistling and singing out loud.

Around 1 AM I am awakened by the sound of the boat returning and dropping off the driver of the pickup.

Early the next morning I awaken to the sun rising from the depths of the gulf, two coyotes pacing the beach and the pickup passenger singing as he collects firewood behind the beach. Hmmmmm.





[Edited on 4-13-2016 by Fatboy]

We pack up and head out and head south through the pass and the wash to Highway 1 instead of going back to Coco’s Corner and on to Highway 1.

We stop at the mineral spring and walk around.

At Preita we turn off to BOLA.

The road starts off well enough but the closer one gets to BOLA the worse it gets. There are a few detours as they rebuild some of the bridges and there are many sections with no pavement.

We fill up with BIFF (Beer, Ice, Food and Fuel) in BOLA and are on our way to Las Animas. The road is about average with slightly different routing in the washes a few miles from Las Animas.

A couple of observations, not accurate, just mine, seems that there are fewer basura cans along the roads and a lot less traffic on the road.

Even approaching Las Animas I was expecting the first couple of campsites to be occupied but what actually occurred was twice as shocking.

The first two spots were empty, the place seemed deserted. We stopped at the ‘nicest’ campsite on the way in thinking how lucky…deserted. We stop and get out and hear English, lots of English.

Following the many voices we cross over a dune and there in all its majestic hideousness we see it. 30, 40, 50 campers! I was shocked.

All right, no camping here. We follow the road out to the north facing beach and set up camp. Even here, a ¼ mile away we would hear the mob camped on the beach south of us.

After some more stargazing we fall asleep on the beach.

In the morning we see a coyote over by the mangroves and my daughter says she thinks one tried to take the blanket she was using as a pillow last night.

We spend the day beachcombing, relaxing, climbing hills, shell collecting, dolphin watching.

There are the remains of a large turtle on the beach.

As the day ends and darkness settles in we walk the beach after dark looking for crabs.

Around 3:30AM I am attacked by a coyote.

Awakened from a sound sleep by a bite to my head.

The coyote trots off thirty feet and stares at us. We stand up and yell at it and it runs away.

We grab the flashlights and see eyes glowing in the darkness about 100 feet away. A couple of rocks thrown in their direction and the eyes disappear.

We return to camp and clean the bite wound. We lay down but are too keyed up and slightly frightened to fall asleep until shortly before dawn.

Awakening the next morning shortly after sunrise we pack out and leave Las Animas to the tourist mob, annoying little flies and the biting coyotes and head out.

We decide to head out via El Barril and El Arco instead of heading back to BOLA. Another new road for us.

We hit Hwy 1 south of Guerro Negro and made a beeline for town.

In town we did some laundry, filled up the water jug and our bellies before heading north.

We filled up the fuel tank in Villa Jesus Maria, went through the military checkpoint north of town.

About 10 miles south of the turn of to the mission of San Borja we take a dirt track out to the pacific ocean to camp for the night.

I am sure this area has a name but I do not know it but here are some pictures....

[Edited on 4-11-2016 by Fatboy]

Sorry to see the arch gone but they replaced it with this...

More pics...

We have been fighting a couple of slow leaks on two of the tires and this morning it came to a head.

Went to hook up the compressor and it would not put out any air.

Here is my daughter doing field repairs to get us back on the road....

K no pics on this portion....

We get back to Hwy 1 and head north to the turn off to the Mission San Borja.

We see a coyote today about halfway to the mission and yesterday we saw a couple near the ocean.

Well a couple of dirt road pictures....

Mission is awesome as always. After the tour of the Mission the girl takes us to the hot spring and lets my daughter soak her broken foot in the hot spring.

She points out the different fruit trees they have there...Lemon, pomegranate, avocado, mango....

Awesome time at the mission.

We head north planning on spending the night in BOLA.

We get to BOLA around 1 and get a room at Costa del Sol. How nice, a luke warm shower, after days of solar showering feels great.

Clean and refreshed we go for a drive out past La Gringa. Again another new spot for me. We drive out until the road fades out in a wash and turn around and head back to the hotel.



[Edited on 4-11-2016 by Fatboy]

[Edited on 4-11-2016 by Fatboy]

[Edited on 4-13-2016 by Fatboy]

The next morning we are up early.

After a great breakfast at the hotel we head out.

We get to Hwy 1 and continue northwards and have a decision to make.

Take highway 5 to San Felipe or take 1 to Ensenada?

My daughter was 8 or 9 the last time we traveled 1 south of Ensenada.

So 1 it was. This would turn out to be a bittersweet choice with some tragedy along the way.

We detoured to El Marmol, another first and then north of Catavina there is an historical site they haved marked out.

Both will worth the detour.



[Edited on 4-11-2016 by Fatboy]

[Edited on 4-11-2016 by Fatboy]

More Pics....

From Catavina northwards we were following the rains. It made for some beautiful sights.

In El Rosario we filled up with tacos and fuel before continuing northwards.

The checkpoint north of town was quick and we enjoyed the road, the views and the small towns.

In a heartbeat disaster strikes and changes lives forever

In one of the many small towns along this section of road we come upon an accident.

A small pickup sideswiped a semi. The small truck was crumpled and the driver door was gone and there, still in the seat, was the driver covered with a blanket.

It brings my daughter to tears.

We continue onward with conversations about life and death and the scenery slowly drives the image of the accident from our minds.

We stop, smell the rain, the flowers....

Before moving northwards again.



[Edited on 4-11-2016 by Fatboy]

[Edited on 4-13-2016 by Fatboy]

Onwards to Ensenada, we go. North of town we turn towards Tecate and home.

Just outside of Tecate we fill up with fuel, and turn eastward towards Mexicali.

Pay the tolls, travel through the rain and fog to were the highway drops down to valley floor thousands of feet below.

In the darkness we travel the myraid of Z's and W's downward.

Then like an arrow for Mexicali.

1 hour to cross the border.

2:30 am we arrive at my sisters in Joshua Tree, with memories full, bodies tired, jeep bug splattered and ticking as it cools.

Quote: Originally posted by MMc

I do enjoy that place, there are a couple of more ovens, he will build you for you if you ask and gather up the rocks. The compass is very impressive. the "Archy Thing"and the compass are pure art. I had a Coyote lick my face one night after making tempura for dinner, it never occurred to me I might have been bit until now. I also watched one being hand feed by a couple of knuckle headed tourist. This was is Joshua Tree in the 80's. [Edited on 4-11-2016 by MMc]

What is that area referred to as? And 'who' will build you an oven? Did one person do most of that?

MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE!!!!

Quote: Originally posted by Ateo

Amazing words, photos and experiences. I hope to one day do a solo trip with my daughter, all grown up, where she repairs a compressor or whatever. Cool girl you have! Nice report. THANKS.

And Woody also.....

The air compressor failed due to the air intake valve breaking. They are just little flaps of metal that allow airflow in only one direction.

My daughter removed the 'head', cut a temp flap valve out of plastic, wedged in place and taped it down and put it all back together.

It worked, we aired up the tires and were on our way.

Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider

Awesome! The coyote attack made me think of the rabid burro in Graham's book. Hopefully, there is no issue. I'd love to know where the stone compass is.

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo

Those of us with short attention spans appreciate you putting your trip report in a chapter format! While I am glad you made it home, I was looking forward to the next chapter. I was at Dagget's camp in BOLA in 2013, and my deaf old dog slept right through a coyote raid on my food supply just four feet away from us. It was a sneak attack, and the critter bolted when discovered, and this was not in the dead of the night. There was a loud party going on that night not a hundred feet away from my camp. The dog I have now is large, strong and alert enough that I can't imagine a coyote getting that close to us again. She is more than a match for a single coyote, but it is my responsibility to make sure that she is not able to chase one back to the rest of the pack!

Quote: Originally posted by Fatboy

Quote: Originally posted by MMc   I do enjoy that place, there are a couple of more ovens, he will build you for you if you ask and gather up the rocks. The compass is very impressive. the "Archy Thing"and the compass are pure art. I had a Coyote lick my face one night after making tempura for dinner, it never occurred to me I might have been bit until now. I also watched one being hand feed by a couple of knuckle headed tourist. This was is Joshua Tree in the 80's. [Edited on 4-11-2016 by MMc] What is that area referred to as? And 'who' will build you an oven? Did one person do most of that? MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE!!!!

Quote: Originally posted by DianaT

Enjoyed your trip report a lot --- excellent job and very descriptive pictures. Overall, it sounds like you both had a great time! Coyote bite, wow. Just my 2 cents --- are you up to date with your tetanus shot. Never know where that coyote tooth was before. Those accidents are always difficult to erase from one's mind. Sad, very sad.

Thanks!

Tetanus? And here I was worried about a little thing like rabies and you go and make we worried about a similar problem that is even more common!

True about the accident

How to deal with coyotes? Have we all forgotten "the Roadrunner"? beep beep.

One word

Jeep parts

Quote: Originally posted by Ken Cooke

This was a great trip report. How did your radiator pan out? Mopar radiators are very reliable - lasting 100,000 miles typically. I had installed a Specter (sp) radiator 3 years ago, and despite the low, low price - it is still working reliably. I plan to upgrade back to a Mopar OEM radiator after I upgrade driveshafts (due to a missing dust boot thanks to some rock damage). Your photography was excellent. How about your tires? Do they have a slow leak due to lots of hard miles off road?

Geez, Ken, 1 question at a time
Jeep has 270K, all original 'cept brakes, ujoints and normal routine stuff...so fan still working but now that I am home I will either 'permantly' repair or replace it.

Tires....I am cheap and poor and tires are so expensive - so I always carry plugs, a compressor, a good spare and road hazard warranty on them.... Both were replaced at no charge back in the states yesterday. One had a nail in it and one had what appeared to be a cactus thorn through the sidewall.

Thanks for the compliment on the pics but I was really lazy on camera this trip. Not many pictures, the ones I did take I left the camera on auto-blah mode and spent little time on composition and now I kinda regret it....oh well

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Just getting into this... and it looks fantastic. I will be back to read it in depth. Thank you Fatboy, looks like we share some of the same Baja interests?

Quote: Originally posted by wilderone

"I left the camera on auto-blah mode and spent little time on composition and now I kinda regret it...." Even so - great photos. A couple of the desert morning shots, I could almost smell and feel the cool morning, the cooler sand under foot before the sun warms everything up.

Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider

Awesome! The coyote attack made me think of the rabid burro in Graham's book. Hopefully, there is no issue. I'd love to know where the stone compass is.

Quote: Originally posted by WestyWanderer

Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider   Awesome! The coyote attack made me think of the rabid burro in Graham's book. Hopefully, there is no issue. I'd love to know where the stone compass is. Big Bear, I'm probably going to get black balled for saying this, but the rock art including the stone compass is at a popular spot called "The Wall." The turnoff is at KM 61 just south of Nuevo Rosarito. Neat place, great beach camping.

Quote: Originally posted by WestyWanderer

Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider   Awesome! The coyote attack made me think of the rabid burro in Graham's book. Hopefully, there is no issue. Big Bear, I'm probably going to get black balled for saying this, but the I'd love to know where the stone compass is. rock art including the stone compass is at a popular spot called "The Wall." The turnoff is at KM 61 just south of Nuevo Rosarito. Neat place, great beach camping.

Quote: Originally posted by WestyWanderer

Big Bear, I'm probably going to get black balled for saying this, but the rock art including the stone compass is at a popular spot called "The Wall." The turnoff is at KM 61 just south of Nuevo Rosarito. Neat place, great beach camping.

Too funny!
In January 2017, I camped out there on the beach just north of the estero. I noticed a Tacoma parked near the first beach (just past the abandoned fishing camp area by the estero mouth. It was actually New Years Day when I left and drove over to check on the fellow Tacoma camper to make sure he was okay.

Hi name was Abe and he was from Colorado. Abe said he was there for a while and had not finished enjoying the camp. He was fine and didn't need anything. That was so nice to know that one could just go park on a beach in Baja and not have to leave until he wanted to.

Here are the photos I took at Las Animas:
Going in Jan. 31, 2016:








Leaving Jan. 1, 2017 (it began to rain after sunrise):











The Mystery Walls, 2 miles south of the bay, up on the mesa. We explored this possible 'lost mission' in 2009: www.vivabaja.com/109

[Edited on 2-16-2018 by David K]

Here are some pictures, they really don't do it justice though.

As far as the height, holding my camera tripod fully extended, as high as I can the camera would be about 4 inches above the stick.

I am 6 foot tall and I can reach another foot or foot and a half, and the tripod is a 40 inch tripod. So at least 10 feet up.

Dog vs coyote update.

Quote: Originally posted by Fatboy

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo   Those of us with short attention spans appreciate you putting your trip report in a chapter format! While I am glad you made it home, I was looking forward to the next chapter. I was at Dagget's camp in BOLA in 2013, and my deaf old dog slept right through a coyote raid on my food supply just four feet away from us. It was a sneak attack, and the critter bolted when discovered, and this was not in the dead of the night. There was a loud party going on that night not a hundred feet away from my camp. The dog I have now is large, strong and alert enough that I can't imagine a coyote getting that close to us again. She is more than a match for a single coyote, but it is my responsibility to make sure that she is not able to chase one back to the rest of the pack! Thank You too for the kind responses and you are right - how can one convey some much details in a post put not lose all of us that have shorter attention span....someday perhaps I will learn. Very good point about your current dog....whether true or not I have heard stories of small groups of coyotes luring dogs out then attacking them. Somehow keep her restrained but able to defend/alert you in the immediate area.

Quote: Originally posted by Fatboy

There is/was talk that coyotes would lure out dogs with a mating ritual only to kill them. Wonder if that was or is true.

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo

Fatboy, I just read through this thread again, and have a question. Did the migraines quit after the coyote acupuncture? If so, he may have known what was wrong, and how to fix it!

Oh I so wish that was the case...