BajaNomad

Baja bookshelf

fishbuck - 7-3-2016 at 05:00 PM

Required reading for any Nomad who desires to understand Baja. Past, present, and future...

1) God and Mr. Gomez
2) Log of the sea of Cortez
3)?????

David K - 7-3-2016 at 05:47 PM

There are so many... but here are a few suggestions:







BigBearRider - 7-3-2016 at 05:59 PM

Baja Legends is great.

Also in my bookcase:

by Steinbeck: Sea of Cortez (predates the log), and The Pearl.

The Girl from the Sea of Cortez, by Peter Benchley (Author of Jaws).

fishbuck - 7-3-2016 at 06:10 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider  
Baja Legends is great.

Also in my bookcase:

by Steinbeck: Sea of Cortez (predates the log), and The Pearl.

The Girl from the Sea of Cortez, by Peter Benchley (Author of Jaws).


Sea of Cotez I think is the one I meant. Sorta gold colored cover.
My son's mom has a copy from her dad.
He was a baja aficionado back in his day.
I borrowed that book and dreamed...

fishbuck - 7-4-2016 at 10:47 AM

I guess I am searching for just the right book or maybe it will take a few. Can anyone suggest a book that demostrates the most inspiring examaple of the authentic and true "Baja Spirit".h
I know it's is a bit subjective but that is really the point isn"t it...



[Edited on 7-4-2016 by fishbuck]

woody with a view - 7-4-2016 at 11:32 AM

Girl from the sea of Cortez is a really good book.

David K - 7-4-2016 at 11:40 AM

Quote: Originally posted by fishbuck  
I guess I am searching for just the right book or maybe it will take a few. Can anyone suggest a book that demostrates the most inspiring examaple of the authentic and true "Baja Spirit".
I know it's is a bit subjective but that is really the isn"t it...

[Edited on 7-4-2016 by fishbuck]


This one comes pretty darn close!



here's another...



and this one, too:




plus, all the Erle Stanley Gardner books really speak to me about finding adventures in Baja...

fishbuck - 7-4-2016 at 11:48 AM

I read Grahm's book. So cool.

David K - 7-4-2016 at 12:03 PM

Quote: Originally posted by fishbuck  
I read Graham's book. So cool.


Yes indeed... he puts a lot of energy and research into his books... I think one should read them in order, as well... tells a story of how Baja changed his life...









Waiting for his fifth book now!

fishbuck - 7-4-2016 at 12:10 PM

Maybe a good place to start. A little Steinbeck, a little Grahm...

wilderone - 7-4-2016 at 01:26 PM

3) The Journey of the Flame

Most inspiring: Into a Desert Place

Udo - 7-4-2016 at 01:31 PM

David has the BEST list as well as book ownership!

David K - 7-4-2016 at 03:58 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Udo  
David has the BEST list as well as book ownership!


They are my treasure... but I may not have as many books as Neal Johns.... or Rockman, who has the largest Baja book and publication collection known .

Bajahowodd - 7-4-2016 at 05:01 PM

God And Mr. Gomez. My lord! Written by the incredible author and LA Times columnist Jack Smith. The book was published in 1974. Smith had become a Baja trailblazer by buying a property where he lived part time. That was way back when.

Jack Smith was a major reason why the LA Times was considered one of the best newspapers in the nation. Sadly, he died in 1996 at the age of 79.

DENNIS - 7-4-2016 at 05:27 PM




"Baja HaHa"....Fred Hoctor

DENNIS - 7-4-2016 at 05:29 PM



Did I ever tell you more than a thousand times, I met Romulo Gomez in his little tienda out at La Bocana?

BajaBlanca - 7-4-2016 at 06:53 PM

I had not heard that you met him....did he realize how famous he was ?

I have enjoyed all the books previously mentioned and one other that I loved is Enchanted Vagabonds by Dana Lamb and June Cleveland.

and a book that I own, but have not read yet, which came highly recommended by the owners of Allende Books in La Paz is Almost an Island by Bruce Berger.

David K - 7-4-2016 at 07:08 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  



"Baja HaHa"....Fred Hoctor


David K - 7-4-2016 at 07:15 PM

Quote: Originally posted by wilderone  

3) The Journey of the Flame

Most inspiring: Into a Desert Place


David K - 7-4-2016 at 07:38 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca  
I had not heard that you met him....did he realize how famous he was ?

I have enjoyed all the books previously mentioned and one other that I loved is Enchanted Vagabonds by Dana Lamb and June Cleveland.

and a book that I own, but have not read yet, which came highly recommended by the owners of Allende Books in La Paz is Almost an Island by Bruce Berger.


'Almost an Island' is in this group of my books photographed together:

DENNIS - 7-4-2016 at 08:37 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca  
I had not heard that you met him....did he realize how famous he was ?



Well, it was early 80's and fame develops over time. I of course knew who he was having followed Jack Smith daily in the L.A. Times as well as read his book. "God and Mr. Gomez" was a fleshed-out compilation of his articles.
Very close to Mr. Gomez' store is Smiths house....not quite on the edge of land facing the ocean. At the time, I was more in awe of the lava flows that are the coastline in front.

tiotomasbcs - 7-5-2016 at 12:07 PM

Backroads Baja by Higginbotham. I'm slowly working my way thru their adventures. They used to live in Mulege, I believe. Good maps and old stories of beaches and Ranchos. Still in print? Judy? Tomas

GregN - 7-5-2016 at 12:49 PM

Thanks David and BigBearRider. I appreciate your comments about my books, Baja Legends and Baja Fever.

sancho - 7-5-2016 at 01:44 PM

A line from J Smith's book that stuck with me all
these yrs., is after his house was finished in Baja,
he asked the landowner/builder how can he prove
ownership of the house, the landowner replied in so
typical old Baja style, 'you have the key's, don't you'?
B Berger, funny stuff. Ed Darak, (sp), 'Wind, Sun ,Water'
a solo kayak trip from the top of the Cortez, to the East Cape

Bajahowodd - 7-5-2016 at 05:04 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  
Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca  
I had not heard that you met him....did he realize how famous he was ?



Well, it was early 80's and fame develops over time. I of course knew who he was having followed Jack Smith daily in the L.A. Times as well as read his book. "God and Mr. Gomez" was a fleshed-out compilation of his articles.
Very close to Mr. Gomez' store is Smiths house....not quite on the edge of land facing the ocean. At the time, I was more in awe of the lava flows that are the coastline in front.


Gawd, we're getting old!

David K - 7-5-2016 at 06:13 PM

Quote: Originally posted by sancho  
A line from J Smith's book that stuck with me all
these yrs., is after his house was finished in Baja,
he asked the landowner/builder how can he prove
ownership of the house, the landowner replied in so
typical old Baja style, 'you have the key's, don't you'?
B Berger, funny stuff. Ed Darak, (sp), 'Wind, Sun ,Water'
a solo kayak trip from the top of the Cortez, to the East Cape




Back cover:




[Edited on 7-6-2016 by David K]

David K - 7-5-2016 at 06:27 PM

Quote: Originally posted by tiotomasbcs  
Backroads Baja by Higginbotham. I'm slowly working my way thru their adventures. They used to live in Mulege, I believe. Good maps and old stories of beaches and Ranchos. Still in print? Judy? Tomas




This nice road guide to Central Baja was published by Sunbelt in 1996. It contains road logs and sketch maps with mileages on most of the cool dirt roads to cool places from L.A. Bay in the north to Agua Verde in the south. 20 years later, it is still a good guide for many of these roads... Sadly, Sunbelt no longer includes it in their online catalog of Baja books: http://sunbeltpublications.com/product-category/all-regions/...

Amazon Books has several!: https://www.amazon.com/Backroad-Baja-Patti-Higginbotham/dp/0...

fishbuck - 7-5-2016 at 09:07 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  



"Baja HaHa"....Fred Hoctor


I met Fred once. He had a little travel club I was somewhat interested in.
Didn't he write Baja Beat for Western Outdoor News?

David K - 7-5-2016 at 09:28 PM

Quote: Originally posted by fishbuck  
Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  



"Baja HaHa"....Fred Hoctor


I met Fred once. He had a little travel club I was somewhat interested in.
Didn't he write Baja Beat for Western Outdoor News?
.

Maybe you are thinking of Tom Miller?
He and wife Shirley created the Mexico West Travel Club.

fishbuck - 7-5-2016 at 10:11 PM

I found this:
http://www.mexfish.com/enad/enad/af010908/af010908.htm

An early interest Baja memory of mine.
He ran a little ad in WON and for a small annual fee you could be a member of his club.
On your way south you could check in at his little clubhouse ( Punta Banda?) and he would give maps, info and advice and send you on your way.

Or I made this up from a bunch of old info in my head.

David K - 7-5-2016 at 10:37 PM

Quote: Originally posted by fishbuck  
I found this:
http://www.mexfish.com/enad/enad/af010908/af010908.htm

An early interest Baja memory of mine.
He ran a little ad in WON and for a small annual fee you could be a member of his club.
On your way south you could check in at his little clubhouse ( Punta Banda?) and he would give maps, info and advice and send you on your way.

Or I made this up from a bunch of old info in my head.


Ask Paulina... she was a neighbor and knew Fred well... I arrived at Campo La Jolla too late on the day of the memorial after camping at Punta Cabras for the weekend with Fishin' Rich, Desert Bull, Dern, my kids, and Travel Pearl.

David K - 7-5-2016 at 11:00 PM

Western Outdoor News Baja Editors:
Ray Cannon>Tom Miller>Fred Hoctor>Gene Kira
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gene Kira named Baja Editor of Western Outdoor News

Mexico Fishing News, August 20, 2001
BAJA COASTAL FISHING REPORTS
ALL ARTICLES, REPORTS AND FISHING INFORMATION FOR BAJA COASTAL AREAS

This week, the position of Western Outdoor News Baja Editor is assumed by Gene Kira, who follows in the footsteps of Ray Cannon, Tom Miller, and most recently, Fred Hoctor, who passed away late last month, after covering Baja California for this publication over the past 15 years.

sancho - 7-6-2016 at 11:47 AM

Quote: Originally posted by fishbuck  





Or I made this up from a bunch of old info in my head.










Isn't that the case, some of us with a decade or 4, of Baja
stuff floating around in memory, is hard to tell where the
real and preceived as real began and end. I regret not keeping some
sort of log. The AAA, '83 or so, Baja travel book is still of value,
little or no advertising, just nuts and bolts info








sandpoint - 7-7-2016 at 12:02 PM

Aside from the pictured Offbeat Baja and the nearly useless Wave Hunter guide, I have 4 binders (two are pictured) of clippings from surf magazines and other Baja related mags. Some from David K's posts from Desert Magazine and Baja Explorer. So if anyone here in SoCal has boxes of surf magazines taking up room, let me know. I harvest what I want and give away the rest.

binder shot.jpg - 166kB

fishbuck - 7-7-2016 at 12:24 PM

I love it when I see people who are even more crazy about baja than I am.

sancho - 7-7-2016 at 01:29 PM

'83 or so, a bimonthly mag, Baja Explorer, there was 10-12,
issues, pure original Old Baja stuff, fishing, camping. Lasted
maybe a yr and a 1/2. Haven't looked at them in yrs., but
I could never toss them, kinda like a ragged AAA map with
many notations, actually they may have been from around '91
or so






[Edited on 7-7-2016 by sancho]

sandpoint - 7-7-2016 at 02:06 PM

Quote: Originally posted by sancho  
'83 or so, a bimonthly mag, Baja Explorer, there was 10-12,
issues, pure original Old Baja stuff, fishing, camping. Lasted
maybe a yr and a 1/2. Haven't looked at them in yrs., but
I could never toss them, kinda like a ragged AAA map with
many notations


I stumbled across one in a box of surf magazines. David K posted a couple of the articles for me too. I'm always on the lookout for more of them.

pniles - 7-7-2016 at 02:18 PM

Although fiction, one of my favorite Baja books is Gene Kira's, "King of the Moon, A Novel of Baja California", 1996. A masterpiece.

A quote from the books website (http://www.mexfish.com/apgs/kom/kom.htm):
"It's midsummer in the tiny
fishing village of Caleta Agua Amargosa [alias for Aqua Verde?],
on Mexico's tropical Sea of Cortez.
A spring rain has buried the only road
through the mountains, cutting off the fish truck
and the only source of drinking water.
The village is dying,
as its families load their weary
skiffs and abandon their homes".
But Socorro, stubborn wife
of the panga fisherman, Abundio Rodriguez,
refuses to let her family leave.
She knows,
in the deep well of her heart,
they will find a way".

fishbuck - 7-7-2016 at 04:26 PM

Wow!

Cardon - 7-7-2016 at 05:00 PM

One of my favorites is:

Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico

by C.M. Mayo


There are several hardback copies for sale on Amazon right now for $.01 plus $3.99 shipping.

Buy it, Read it - you can thank me later.

BigBearRider - 7-7-2016 at 05:06 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  
Quote: Originally posted by tiotomasbcs  
Backroads Baja by Higginbotham. I'm slowly working my way thru their adventures. They used to live in Mulege, I believe. Good maps and old stories of beaches and Ranchos. Still in print? Judy? Tomas




This nice road guide to Central Baja was published by Sunbelt in 1996. It contains road logs and sketch maps with mileages on most of the cool dirt roads to cool places from L.A. Bay in the north to Agua Verde in the south. 20 years later, it is still a good guide for many of these roads... Sadly, Sunbelt no longer includes it in their online catalog of Baja books: http://sunbeltpublications.com/product-category/all-regions/...

Amazon Books has several!: https://www.amazon.com/Backroad-Baja-Patti-Higginbotham/dp/0...


Placed in my Amazon cart, along with the Baja Adventure Book!

DENNIS - 7-7-2016 at 07:23 PM

Quote: Originally posted by sancho  
'83 or so, a bimonthly mag, Baja Explorer, there was 10-12,
issues, pure original Old Baja stuff,


A classy publication. I was sorry to see it disappear.

TMW - 7-7-2016 at 07:30 PM

Two of the routes are no longer thru routes.
San Juan de las Pilas and the one from Hwy1 to Mission Guadalupe ruins.

DENNIS - 7-7-2016 at 07:31 PM

Quote: Originally posted by pniles  
Although fiction, one of my favorite Baja books is Gene Kira's, "King of the Moon, A Novel of Baja California", 1996. A masterpiece.



I beg to differ with my opinion. I had a hard time finishing it, and it didn't really end. Closure was left hanging and senseless. There are still protagonists drifting around out there.

DENNIS - 7-7-2016 at 07:33 PM


By the way, Sr. pniles....your screen name is offensive for a family site.

TMW - 7-7-2016 at 07:35 PM

The road to Las Pilas is open, rough in places, but ends at the ranch for 4 wheelers. MCs I think can get thru but rough going, 8 hours over two miles. After that the route to Mulege again ends at Rancho Las Tunas for 4 wheelers. There is a bypass route around Las Pilas from Petrocino.

[Edited on 7-8-2016 by TMW]

TMW - 7-7-2016 at 07:40 PM

Going to San Juan de las Pilas is an interesting drive and staying at the ranch is wonderful. The host are friendly and Jesus will take you to some rock paintings. We had a great time there.