David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64540
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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January 2024 Baja Bound Bulletin Articles
Greg Niemann (GregN on Nomad) writes about driving to Gonzaga Bay in 1986 with his CJ-5.
Martina tells us about Dymtri of La Fonda
Erin Dunigan tells us about Rancho El Topo and what it offers visitors in the Sierra Juárez.
Mike Stone tells us about a bike ride event nest month out of Los Barriles.
And, I retell the story from the past, about my friend Choral Pepper of Desert Magazine, Erle Stanley Gardner expeditions, and Baja mission books
https://www.bajabound.com/mail/view.php?vc=83ab8f327cb54966f...
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Maderita
Senior Nomad
Posts: 638
Registered: 12-14-2008
Location: San Diego
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Thanks for posting this, David. With a long horseback ride from Rancho El Topo to the headwaters of the north fork of Cañón del Tajo, Erin certainly
earned her spectacular view.
Here are a few scenes from past years:
The plateau is at 5,000' elevation. To the east is Laguna Salada, below sea level.
Erin mentioned Beto in her article. Here he is, on the left, facing the camera in 2015.
Climbers appreciate the superb quality of the granite on the escarpment. El Gran Trono Blanco is on this ridge another mile to the left (south).
Cañón del Tajo is the largest of the palm canyons on the east side of the Sierra de Juárez.
For perspective, this photo was taken from 5 or 6 miles to the west of the granite crags of Cañón del Tajo.
While not difficult, this ride is 7 hours in the saddle to the overlook "mirador" and back to the corral.
Shorter rides are available. This small lake is a one hour ride from the corrals. Typically, we take a 1/2 hour break, before returning. Prices are
very reasonable, 750 pesos for the 2-1/2 hour ride.
In October, we returned to the corral via a seasonal pond we call "Los Patos"
https://www.facebook.com/RanchoElTopoSierraDeJuarez
[Edited on 1-11-2024 by BajaNomad]
[Edited on 1-11-2024 by Maderita]
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
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Registered: 7-18-2011
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Thanks for those wonderful photos!
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Don Jorge
Senior Nomad
Posts: 639
Registered: 8-29-2003
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El Topo is a favorite place of many a local rider in north Baja. Looks like some familiar faces there in your photos John.
Spectacular place with salt of the earth hospitality. Highly recommend it especially for those looking for something a bit different to the typical
gringo Baja experience.
La Fonda nowadays, as the article mentions, is falling into the category of all good things eventually come to an end or just time out. Also, like
the article says, stopping there is about the memories.
On occasion we too still stop there. We enjoy the patio which remains basically unchanged, albeit with a bit more slope perhaps.
The patio views and especially the sunsets, green flash or not, sometimes with dolphins frolicking in the surf, are still spectacular. It is easy
while seated there to think back 50 years or more when the place was new and so were we. Room #21 with the wood stove, glass walls and ocean views
from everywhere, including the commode, was a treat.
Yes, the place is tired and wore out. That began when the employees and Dmytri had a disagreement and since then it was different. But that is a
another story indeed.
Now when we stop at La Fonda we don't get our hopes up on the food.
But we do enjoy the memories. We are grateful we knew there, then. We are grateful we were lucky enough to have been given the chance to know the
magic that was Baja, then. You might say it is a fonda memory, very fond indeed.
�And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry
years. It was always that way.�― John Steinbeck
"All models are wrong, but some are useful." George E.P. Box
"Nature bats last." Doug "Hayduke" Peac-ck
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