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DosMars
Nomad
Posts: 116
Registered: 12-11-2005
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Looks like he's back at the car. Wonder if he's going back to BoLA or headed down to the beach...
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9006
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inquisitive
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OK, then it's Rokons and one of these: Who's in?
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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Mood: optimistic
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Hook
OK, then it's Rokons and one of these: Who's in?
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You provide the equipment & supplies, and I will drive them. 
Barry
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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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I will be happy to ride on the back of a Rokon and hold down the wheel for traction while someone pushes.
Yep, he is back at the Y and who knows what is next.
Speaking of choppers and sightseeing the wild places, Barry, it has been done in recent years.... but I am sworn to secrecy for obvious reasons (no, I
was not involved). Now that would be the way to see Baja. Forget mules, zoom the ECR at 100 feet....See the hills and dales from 5,000 feet....
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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Mood: optimistic
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Neal Johns
I will be happy to ride on the back of a Rokon and hold down the wheel for traction while someone pushes.
Yep, he is back at the Y and who knows what is next.
Speaking of choppers and sightseeing the wild places, Barry, it has been done in recent years.... but I am sworn to secrecy for obvious reasons (no, I
was not involved). Now that would be the way to see Baja. Forget mules, zoom the ECR at 100 feet....See the hills and dales from 5,000 feet....
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E-gads, flying provides way TMI------WAY to much information!!!!!
Ignoring the spurious claim of "it has been done recently"----- as a pilot of old I found that zipping over terraign in a airborne vehicle is NO WAY
to feel and experience the allure and adventure of exploring "new country". You simply cannot assimilate all that you see at those speeds, and with
the scope and format being so huge, most become totally confused and frustrated thereby useless as sources of any comprehensive information. New
places MUST be seen from the ground where one can dally over vistas and treasures and glades, and truly absorb the significance of what is seen.
Anyone that would venture into, or have intimate knowledge of, these sacred grounds and keep such adventures and knowledge to themselves is
EVIL-----EVIL, I say. (shades of the surfers)
Wonder why Mark reversed course so soon??? Perhaps he accomplished what he wanted to, or encountered vibes that repelled him?? Hopefully we will
soon know.
Barry
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64493
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DosMars
Looks like he's back at the car. Wonder if he's going back to BoLA or headed down to the beach... |
So he got to the saddle, sent a Spot about 7:32am today, then went the ~7 miles back to the road by 11:13 am today.
This is good in that he didn't get too far in without knowing if he could get back out. I am sure he is making plans for NEXT TIME! Hopefully the
rental car is fine and he gets back to the highway okay.
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9006
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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How far is the drive back out to BOLA from his car's location? Should have been plenty of daylight to get back, right? Shouldn't we have heard from
him by now?
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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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Hook, from his last Spot at the Y in the road, the road is pretty good to the highway, so I am not worried about him. I suspect he camped there and
will check out a different route tomorrow.
Neal
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9006
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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OK, looks like he has till Thursday to be back in TJ. I thought it was sooner. Plenty of time to try another route.
I guess if there was a problem with the car, he would have sent out a distress signal by now.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64493
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Hook
How far is the drive back out to BOLA from his car's location? Should have been plenty of daylight to get back, right? Shouldn't we have heard from
him by now? |
From about where his car is (or his Spot location on the Punta Candelero road) back to the L.A. Bay highway is just under or close to 22 miles*. From
that junction at the highway back to Bahia de los Angeles is 16.8 miles.
* I took a mileage note where the road turned sharply from north to east past the mesa along the Laguna Seca dry lake. That point was 22.7 miles from
the highway. That position on to the coast was 10.4 miles. Mark's Spot is just south of that curve.
[Edited on 1-5-2014 by David K]
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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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A Spot signal a half hour ago said "OK" from the same place as yesterday (the Y).
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
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Mood: Weary
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Quick word on ROKON's..We were, for a short time a ROKON dealer. They were rugged machines and would go most anywhere, BUT, with the front wheel
driving often decided on their own where it was they wanted to go...I took one elk hunting, lotsa snow and mud, wore me out...I am really enjoying
this thread.....
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Santiago
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3499
Registered: 8-27-2003
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LarryC and others who have been from the beach: would a Honda Trail 90 work? Tires too skinny?
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larryC
Super Nomad
Posts: 1482
Registered: 8-11-2008
Location: BoLA
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Hook
OK, then it's Rokons and one of these: Who's in?
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That is what we used on our first trip. Works really well as long as the water is relatively calm.
See the boat here:
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=33067#pid7093...
Off grid, 12-190 watt evergreen solar panels on solar trackers, 2-3648 stacked Outback inverters, 610ah LiFePo4 48v battery bank, FM 60 and MX60
Outback charge controllers, X-240 Outback transformer for 240v from inverters, 6500 watt Kubota diesel generator.
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larryC
Super Nomad
Posts: 1482
Registered: 8-11-2008
Location: BoLA
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Santiago
LarryC and others who have been from the beach: would a Honda Trail 90 work? Tires too skinny? |
Jim
I'm not an expert on what a Honda trail 90 can do but you could probably make it up quite a ways. If you wanted to spend the night with any kind of
comfort then you would probably need something that could haul a little camping gear. You would want to hit the beach at hi tide cause there is no
sand there, just 4 to 6 inch diameter round rocks. if there was much surf then it would be a problem to get the bikes out of the boat.
You thinking about organizing a trip up there?
Larry
Off grid, 12-190 watt evergreen solar panels on solar trackers, 2-3648 stacked Outback inverters, 610ah LiFePo4 48v battery bank, FM 60 and MX60
Outback charge controllers, X-240 Outback transformer for 240v from inverters, 6500 watt Kubota diesel generator.
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Mark_BC
Nomad
Posts: 137
Registered: 12-1-2013
Location: Vancouver, BC
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DosMars
Looks like he's back at the car. Wonder if he's going back to BoLA or headed down to the beach... |
Both... I deserve a break. Well that was quite a hike up to that saddle. I rode my bike across the lakebed to that first "island", and stashed the
bike there. I then kept walking and it is actually really easy to get fairly close to the hill up the saddle, I could have ridden the bike all the
way, you just have to watch out for the chollas, and I got up to about 560 m elevation for that campsite (from 260 m where the car was), and you
barely feel the elevation gain because it's so gradual. But from that campsite there is a huge rocky slope up to the pass (only 250 m elev gain but
very rough and rocky). I did it in the a.m. before it got hot. It took me an hour but I am really good at climbing hills. There is lots of loose rocks
and agaves ready to stab your leg with one misstep.
I only made it to the saddle. I could have gone farther but I was fretting about the bike and car being left down in the lake (there is a dirt road
only 100 m east of that island and if someone drove that and saw my tracks they could have just taken the bike), and all the things that could go
wrong. I am funny that way, I have to be in control of all my material stuff or I get uneasy. So I turned around and made it back to the car in a few
hours.
Interestingly the terrain on the other side of the saddle looks super easy, it's almost ride-able through the desert, at least for the first
kilometer. I didn't see much further past that point because I would have had to do more hiking through the rocks to get around the next hill to see
down the valley. I knew after the fact that I would wish I had... but seeing that it goes down 200 m elev over 5 km, until that big confluence, I
can't see it being too bad. There is one pool I can see on Google Earth, which is a cause for concern because there's obviously a reason for a pool
which means difficult rocks.
But, I think that route in would work if you're really fit and like climbing hills, lugging 150 pounds of gear up. But there is no way a Rokon or
anything that can't be broken down into pieces 50 lb or smaller is getting in there. I'd just have to budget a couple days and a bunch of water to get
my stuff up that saddle, and hope I don't twist my leg. I'd like to do it with other people too, and bring along a better satellite system. Spot has
this new phone for $550 that allows for internet and talking. I love being out there but I don't like being cut off from what's going in in the rest
of the world.
So... when does it start getting warm down here? Maybe I could pull together a March trip. Otherwise, next year.
[Edited on 1-5-2014 by Mark_BC]
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larryC
Super Nomad
Posts: 1482
Registered: 8-11-2008
Location: BoLA
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Mark
I would have been really surprised if you had found an easy way into there, but I was hoping. One of the reasons that place is still such a mystery is
because there is hardly any way into there. The easiest way in that I found was by water. When you say you saw pools on GE what do you mean? I saw
lots of places with green palm trees but most didn't have above ground water. The few that did, the water was running and was only on the surface for
short distances.
The weather will start getting too warm in late April or May (I mean up in the hills) so November through March and even into April can be good
months.
Say Hi to Roger for me there at Villa Bahia.
Larry
Off grid, 12-190 watt evergreen solar panels on solar trackers, 2-3648 stacked Outback inverters, 610ah LiFePo4 48v battery bank, FM 60 and MX60
Outback charge controllers, X-240 Outback transformer for 240v from inverters, 6500 watt Kubota diesel generator.
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Mark_BC
Nomad
Posts: 137
Registered: 12-1-2013
Location: Vancouver, BC
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Larry, look here on GE for pools: 29deg 15' 50'' N 113deg 58' 6'' W. And there are a bunch starting from the farthest point I got on my western
approach attempt, going all the way to near the confluence with the eastern wash.
Thanks for all the support guys, it sure was fun. I'm glad it's so hard to get in, that's why it's such a mystery and remains unspoiled. The desert is
really beautiful this time of year, especially when you get away from the cattle. Birds and bees and hummingbirds everywhere, it's full of life. I
wish I wasn't always rushing so hard to finish these kinds of trips, I'd like to spend more time searching for wildlife. On the hillslope near that
saddle are a bunch of zigzag animal trails going up a scree slope. I would guess antelope. And there were lots of animal prints in the sand. The
larger ones puma?
I have lots of video and photos and I want to make a little movie about it, just gotta buy the software now, I have a fast computer back home.
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DosMars
Nomad
Posts: 116
Registered: 12-11-2005
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Welcome back Tocayo! Glad you made it back in one piece. Following along on your spot page has got me all jazzed up to do some beach combing along
those out of the way places that collect so much good stuff. Josh and Morgan are in, we just have to pick a date (and get my bike back in
beach-combing condition!)
We'll touch bases and meet up in TJ Thursday...
-Mark.
[Edited on 1-6-2014 by DosMars]
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Paulina
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3810
Registered: 8-31-2002
Location: BCN
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| Quote: | Originally posted by larryC
David
Yes, that is the place, mas o' menos. Herman and I went out there about 10 years ago. He was kind enough to help me in trying to find a way into the
canyon overland. He showed me about where they camped and then showed me what he called a trail up and over the hill towards Botica dry lake. You have
to take a lot of what Herman said with a grain of salt, but on that day he seemed pretty straight forward. We had a good time. He had lots of stories.
Some true and others suspect. I never found what I consider an easy way in there. You can walk in or even take animals in there but you have to bring
so much water for an expedition like that, that it gets to be too much real quick. it is a very unforgiving place until you get into the canyon
itself. In the canyon itself there was lots of water and shade from palm trees so pretty pleasant. |
Tonight I was looking through Herman's photo albums one more time before sending them to his family and came across some that he had written
"Salsipuedes" on the back. I wish I had paid better attention when he would pull out his album and talk stories. It might be difficult to see in this
photo, but there are lots of palms and water. Herman would have been a great resource for this adventure.
P>*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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