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Kgryfon
Senior Nomad
Posts: 624
Registered: 1-27-2009
Location: East Bay, CA
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Thanks again for your wonderfully entertaining stories and photos! Would have loved to have been part of this...
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cliffh
Nomad
Posts: 325
Registered: 1-23-2010
Location: buena vista, BCS
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Fabulous pics. and stories, thanks Cliff H
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5847
Registered: 7-18-2011
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I spent some time there camping on the beach in an orange VW bus in '95. I would meditate each morning while watching the sunrise. Didn't seem like
there was much around because the people I was with weren't wearing bathing suits most of the time.
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wetto
Nomad
Posts: 119
Registered: 10-28-2013
Location: Grass Valley, CA / Mulege
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Thanks, this is all very good. Like your Posts.
Lee S
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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Mood: Optimistic
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This post is dedicated to "Nostalgia."...but just remember, it isn't what it used to be." 
John Steinbeck was a man who also lived and loved Baja...back-in-the-day.
I believe he must have been thinking of Baja and the Cortez when he said: "A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. We do not take a
trip; a trip takes us."
We have sailed, flew, and driven to Baja, but back-in-the-day, we most frequently drove the old camino real (a goat track mostly) and then the new
highway to get to Pta. Chivato (or Mulege), necessary because we were hauling boats, massive amounts of groceries, and other supplies that just were
not available in Baja Sur at that time. Naturally, there were certain.. umm.. limitations to the new road. Huge car-wrecking potholes were
a real danger within a year of the blacktop completion. Then of course there were the floods....
HWY WASHOUT DURING FLOODING. Motto of the old Baja Road in flood times...."Never test the depth of the water with both feet."
This was shortly after the highway was built. San Quentin area had many washouts then. It happens less frequently today, as some sturdy bridges have
been built. In the highways infancy, I was marooned between 2 flooded portions of the highway for a week before the water went down enough to make a
passage in my pickup camper with boat behind. Was actually fun as I had lots of food and time anyway. We had nightly song fests around a campfire
and I hosted many poker games. I posted this photo on Nomads many years ago, and got a response from the owner's of that van with their
memories...maybe again with this post?
Army Depot at GN in 1975 - The Eagle monument was just built and shows the bareness of the landscaping and non-existant structures. The army depot
was very small at the time. One of the El Presidente Hotels was being built nearby.
We often came upon a HIGHWAY GYPSY SIGNALING WITH WATER BOTTLE. This was a commn sight on the old Baja Highway, and not seen much these days. A
gitano on the move. You always stopped to give food and water..and a ride if needed. You just hoped he'd had a recent bath!
There are so many amigos I've met in Baja that became compadres. Back then, sharing experiences together, I found out that ..in Baja, just like way
Up North, there are no strangers, just friends you've never met.
In this photo are friends Page-George-Linda, and me. Together we made dozens of trips up and down the new highway...hauling stuff for Bill A. and
ourselves at the hotel. We learned the road rules and customs very fast. Most of the old customs have gone by the wayside these days. No more
headlight/taillight signals, tecate cans, or rocks on the road...and more's the pity that they are now just folk-lore.
A few, but certainly not all, of the rigs we used over the years getting to Pta. Chivato. Anything would work, we weren't prejudiced at all. God,
when I think of how we traveled and where we slept by the trail, without a care...whew!
Johnny Tequila and Cindy aboard their tri, Quetzal. Wonderful Baja friends since the first day we met.
Air Cortez was a short-lived airline...fun times with a pilot who scared the crap outta you. Shown here flying out of Mulege - Serinadad strip.
I think he's asking the woman how to get to San Diego from here.. 
This is ON THE CLIFFS WITH CO-PILOT. This was a possible building site I was considering. Had a magnificent view over a sheer cliff of twin beaches
below and the Sea of Cortez. A bit on the windy side, though, and so I finally decided against building another house. Co-Pilot was an expert
diver/swimmer and dove from that 30 ft. cliff..cleaving like an arrow into the sea below...whew...it was a bit nervous waiting for her to surface.
Well heck, I thought I'd make a splash, too... so I cannonballed it. Risky or foolish?..Sure but we don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow
old because we stop playing.
A rock blanket? My only explanation is....Idiocy is just a stroke of brilliance that normal people don't understand.
Chivato is noted for it's wind. You learned to hang onto each other and bend like a palm tree.
A benifit of storms...driftwood. We used a lot of wood that came to our shores from the river floods at Mulege.
We made the most of the windy days. Our sailing and windsurfing amigos loved the frequent blows. George's girlfriend, Linda, was our instructor and
kept us from sailing clear out of sight of the hotel. We learned and then sailed great...as long as it was in a straight line! On some of those
gusty days, before I perfected the return jibe, I swear I could see Mazatlan on the horizon.
Fun regattas, too. I remember the time a bunch of us got together to follow the superstitions that are involved with 'christening'
a good buddy's Hobie.
Living well off the land..or sea...was no problem. Now if you got in the mood for clams, I had a favorite beach north of the resort for chocolates -
mmmm, good! We could snorkle along, spot the telltale slits in the sand, and feel the clams just under the surface with your fingertips. A great
snack. A favorite recipe on the grill was Chocolates Erotica...named by amigo, Johnny Tequila, shown below on his trimaran, Quetzal. Made in a
half-shell, topped with chopped tomatoes, onions, cheese, and Tabasco...and grilled till cheese got bubbly. Delicious. Like those Frito Lay chips,
you can't eat just one!
As for the little white steamers - our gals specialized in them. Melt some butter and enjoy!
This is how I melt butter in Baja. I do it the Green way...just the sun for power.
Fresh Fish were literally at our doorstep. Here's a small jurel I caught for my Dad's birthday party. Along with a buried goat, it made a feast.
Ah...Fresh bread? If you didn't want to bake your own, then it was just a quick trip to the 'world famous bakery'.
SAY YES TO THE BOLEOS!
Boating up to San Marcos Island from Chivato was almost a daily occurence. Lots of big jurel, cabrilla, grouper, and whatever else one wanted. The
shoreline was a good bet and also the seal islands off the north end. Angling or diving. Mucho pescado! This was during the last years of the
Golden Years of the SOC.
Beach Launching was the norm along the coasts south and north of Chivato...we launched this little tin boat wherever we wanted. A couple amigos and a
beer....presto! We hauled that little bugger from Laguna Manuela to Agua Verde and all points in between.
More great Baja amigos. John and Christie on the Meshack, which John had designed and built. Among other things, John was owner of Corsair Marine in
SD and the very successful F-27 trailerable trimarans. These two rather unique people were great to sail and boatcamp with...expert sailors and
splendid hosts.
Co-Pilot and I would often sleep in the trampoline netting and marvel at the glowing things swimming under and around us on those phophorescent
nights. Sometimes flying fish would be chased and fly into the rigging, dropping onto the decks. Magic.
John was decorated in Vietnam for bravery in action...a Green Beret medic who was wounded and risked his life while saving members of his platoon.
Sadly, John was killed in 2005 in an ultra-light experimental aircraft he was working on...a loss to us all. May he rest in peace.
For some natural history lessons, we'd take a short ride to rock art.... courtesy of the ancients.
Or a refreshing wade thru water to the Trinadad cave paintings just out of Mulege.
A view of the Santa Rosalia waterfront with one of the Tres Virgins in the background.
At one time there was a block and paver maker doing business at Pta. Chivato. I believe it was a hold-over from the construction days of Lou
Federico. The craftsman stayed on to ply his trade with any new building needs. I think it is gone at present.
Back then it looked exactly like this one from Mulege.
Labor intensive...cement blocks
Patio tiles and pavers made to your specs.
This what the hotel looked like in 2002 from the boat ramp. You can't see the changes, but they were there already.
MY CRUISER POMPANO....this trusty gal was always ready to cruise. And we did a lot of that all over the Sea of Cortez. Events of which I am planning
to post on a separate thread.
Viva Baja!
[Edited on 1-15-2015 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64492
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Viva Baja, Roger!
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Martyman
Super Nomad
Posts: 1904
Registered: 9-10-2004
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Get up on that soapbox brother. We're listening! It is the right message.
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AndyP
Nomad
Posts: 116
Registered: 12-8-2009
Location: Eugene, OR
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Quote: Originally posted by Pompano  |
Fish populations in the Sea of Cortes have decreased by more than 90% since the 1960s with the advent of new commercial fishing methods &
technology. The reduction of fish stocks in the Sea of Cortes has followed a similar trajectory as almost all of the world's oceans.
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Thanks Pompano, you make me nostalgic for a time before I was born- you really should publish a book. I too am glad you're bringing attention to the
health of the sea and the over-fishing going on. To think about what has happened in just the last 50 years is very scary, and if anyone wants to
really get depressed just do a little research into the amount of plastic accumulating in the world's oceans and working its way up the food chain
to... us. Lately I've been wondering about the many lost golden ages I might be describing to folks thirty years from now.
Anyway some of the best months of my life have been spent on long sea kayaking trips on the Sea of Cortez. I took this photo somewhere between El
Barril and Santa Rosalia last May. This boat was headed in to anchor in a bay with four other similar sized fishing boats; you can't really tell from
the picture but it was producing an incredibly large cloud of smokey black and yellow exhaust, extending literally for miles. I hate to think about
the damage they were doing beneath the water.
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Timinator
Nomad
Posts: 242
Registered: 6-27-2014
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I just read the whole tread, wonderful read. I was a PC this last summer looking at properties and getting a feel for the area. I really love PC and
reading about it's history and the people that made it happen takes me right back there.
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BigBearRider
Super Nomad
Posts: 1299
Registered: 4-30-2015
Location: Big Bear, Punta Chivato, and Cabo
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Mood: 
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I just found this great old thread while looking for pics of the old Casa Grande. I really enjoyed seeing the pics and reading all the great stories.
I'd like to see what the Casa Grande pier looked like before it got destroyed. Does anyone have pics?
[Edited on 2-23-2016 by BigBearRider]
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Cliffy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 984
Registered: 12-19-2013
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Cool thread! My first trip down to Gonzaga was in 73 in a Jeep Wagoneer coming in from the hiway towards what is now Cocos in the middle of the
night. Got stopped somewhere in the hills by a Federal checkpoint I;m sure we woke them up coming in that late at night.
You chose your position in life today by what YOU did yesterday
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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Mood: Optimistic
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| Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider | I just found this great old thread while looking for pics of the old Casa Grande. I really enjoyed seeing the pics and reading all the great stories.
I'd like to see what the Casa Grande pier looked like before it got destroyed. Does anyone have pics?
[Edited on 2-23-2016 by BigBearRider] |
Yes, I believe I do, BigBearRider. From the 1980's here are a couple shots of the Casa Grande pier. Hope they stir some memories for you.
[Edited on 2-23-2016 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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John the Medic
Was that John Walton??
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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Mood: Optimistic
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Yes, it was.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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BigBearRider
Super Nomad
Posts: 1299
Registered: 4-30-2015
Location: Big Bear, Punta Chivato, and Cabo
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Thank you so much for posting all the pics, Pompano.
The pier and your pics far precede my first visit to Baja. I am curious because my house is next door to Casa Grande.
I'm primarily interested in what the surface of the pier looked like. Did it have a wood deck? Concrete deck? Were there railings on it? Was it
used to moor boats to? The aerial pic doesn't quite have enough detail. Looking at it today, it looks like it might have had lights on once upon a
time.
These days, only the walls of the pier remain. During high tide the pier is filled with water on the inside. From the sides, it looks pretty much
the same as it does in the pics you posted, except that much of the beach sand is gone. Much of the reinforced concrete is also gone from the inside,
with chunks of it landing on my property.
[Edited on 2-23-2016 by BigBearRider]
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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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Great stuff for sure, thanks for the memories, as time goes by.
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Johnny Tequila
John has an outstanding and interesting life.....add to that a true hero:
https://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.We...
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satmike
Nomad
Posts: 115
Registered: 12-19-2006
Location: Salt Lake/ Punta San Carlos
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Here is a shot of the lighthouse beach in the late 80's
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BigBearRider
Super Nomad
Posts: 1299
Registered: 4-30-2015
Location: Big Bear, Punta Chivato, and Cabo
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Satmike, cool pic. Was that taken from the light house?
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satmike
Nomad
Posts: 115
Registered: 12-19-2006
Location: Salt Lake/ Punta San Carlos
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Yes, Quite a few windsurfers back then, and lots of fun camping in the dunes when the El Norte hit.
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