Neal Johns
Super Nomad
Posts: 1687
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Lytle Creek, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: In love!
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Flower Quest/Trip Report 2/22/05
Hot Tip/Hot Spot: Off the BOLA road, near the road south to San Borja, take the road south signed ?Agua Higuega?. In a few hundred feet you will be
surrounded by Verbena and other scenic weeds. The road links up with the San Borja road and is a nice two-track like the San Borja road used to be
before it was ?improved?.
My current wife, Marian, decided I wanted to go to Baja and drive her around so she could take pictures with her three digital cameras. So, being a
kind, sincere, weak willed, PWed sort of guy, we took off Tuesday, in the rain, headed for the Arroyo Grande area just north of San Borja looking for
those pretty weeds she likes so much. Gypsy Jan detected my sellout and posted it on the Nomad Board. Out plan was to drive south and then work out
way back.
Our southernmost point was just north of San Borja. The road taken is in the Baja Almanac on the south bank of Arroyo Grande headed east. If you go
straight east for several miles, it gets a little worse, climbs up high out of the right side of the wash, and then goes down again into the wash. It
was a mining operation that didn?t seem to pan out. It didn?t pan out for us either as far as flowers go. Mostly just brittlebush (the green scrub
with yellow flowers on long stems sticking upward out of the bush). The general vegetation was very plush and the Boojums were as hairy as I have ever
seen them. The young ones looked almost like skinny Christmas trees. We also checked out the road that turns right, south off the Arroyo Grande road
in five and a half miles. If you continue south over a little traveled section, it ends in a couple of miles in an arroyo. At least I could not find
it going any further. It had not been used in years; several dead Boojums had to be removed to allow passage. The plan was to work our way north
toward home, so we left this area.
The Hot Tip spot is covered in the first paragraph where we camped (nice camp spot).
On the way out we stopped at a point of mountain on the north side of the BOLA road where David K thinks he found traces of the El Camino Real. I
found a cow trail that someone had placed very small cairns on either side of. (Mr. K and I don?t think much of each others ECR traces, but we have
fun!) 
We took the road off BOLA road north that is marked by two high concrete posts. It goes to the Luz de Mexico mine, after crossing the Luz de Mexico
arroyo. At the crossing point, there is a road going west to El Desengano (hard to find the first hundred yards). We took this scenic route to our
next objective since there were few flowers in the Luz de Mexico area.
The next area to check was the area north of El Desengano. This is accessed by the road north from El Desengano on the Baja Almanac shown as a trail.
We continued straight north rather than turning right in a few miles on the road with the most tracks which goes to Yubay. Starting at Pico Gume, as
previously described by David K, who beat me to this area, there are palm trees growing out of small rocky mountains. It had rained recently and
their secret was revealed: water was dripping down over the rocks surrounding the palms. Palms must have their feet in water to survive so presumable
the nonporous rocky mountain did not allow the water to soak in, and stored it near the surface, which enabled the palms to survive in the meager soil
available. We were disappointed in the amount of flowers to be seen, but the lush vegetation in the area is always a joy to drive through. The road
soon dumped us down a steep hill into the northern section of the arroyo that you park in when hiking to Tinaja Yubay. Tinaja Yubay, a few miles
south, is a natural water catchment on the El Camino Real and is a must visit for anyone that has not been there. We turned left, north, and soon
found the road had been routed in and out of the arroyo to bypass rough spots. It was quite old and we stopped and hiked when it got too rough. I will
sic Ken Cooke and his Jeep club onto it. If you try it, have someone with you as it is an isolated place to be ?temporary delayed? a.k.a. stuck. After
hiking north about two miles further, crossing the arroyo many times, the road bailed out and climbed a couple of hundred feet to then descend back
down into the arroyo after the arroyo turned west. We quit at the high point. Where, oh where, does it go? In the middle of our hike, we found a small
field of poppies but it was cloudy and they were closed.
This completed out trip and we headed home. I should mention south of Ensenada, there were fields covered with both yellow and white wild mustard that
were very pretty. There was gas in drums sold at both BOLA Junction and Catavina. Hwy. 1 was in good shape. Will post pics soon.
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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BajaVida
Senior Nomad
Posts: 541
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Motown, Califas
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy cool
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nice post, sounds like you had a wonderful time
how long has it been since it rained in the BOLA/San Borja area?
we will be headed that way in early April and fear we will be too late for wildflowers
No se apure y dure.
Don\'t hurry and you\'ll last longer.
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Neal Johns
Super Nomad
Posts: 1687
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Lytle Creek, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: In love!
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There were still puddles in the San Borja road the 23rd.
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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David A.
Nomad
Posts: 120
Registered: 9-15-2003
Location: Angelus Oaks, CA./Gecko, Bahia de Los Angeles
Member Is Offline
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We were driving south on the road to LA Bay and were stopped by the military for an inspection. It was unusual to see them in a different location.
As soon as we drove off, we saw you pulling up to be inspected. I was pulling a flatbed trailer and was not able to stop and say Hi. We had the
privilage to see deer on the road that morning. That was a first for Yvonne and I. Also, I have never seen so many rabbits on the road.
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Neal Johns
Super Nomad
Posts: 1687
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Lytle Creek, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: In love!
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Rabbits! We drove out of the Yubay area (on dirt) at night, and saw ten before we stopped. About one per mile, multiply by the miles of dirt roads in
Baja, multiply by two for the ones that didn't run across the road,...... That's a lot of rabbit stew!
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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