Fatboy
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Fatboy's failed ECR hike
First of all sorry for not letting everyone know I was back.
The trip was really good even though I wasn't able to hike the ECR like I wanted to.
With all the warnings about Narco's in the areas and a severe drought in the area I wasn't to set on being able to do this hike.
Then combine that with the fact that I was still recovering from a case of
Covid bad enough to see me in the Hospital for a spell and then I was unable to arrange for rides so it probably worked out for the best.
I did hike around 40 miles over 2 1/2 days and it was interesting, the rest
of the week was spent doing some day hikes around Las Animas.
For what it is worth here is the story....
The crossing at Calexico went smoothly until I was in Mexicali and found that they had done some recent changes to where the actually crossing is and
I got promptly lost.
After that it went smoothly to San Borja where it all fell apart. I was told I
could not leave the bike there. I think they thought I wanted to ride my bike on the El Camino Real (ECR). I wish I spoke spanish!
Dejected, I heading out and was nearing the BOLA road when the car broke down.
It was idling at about 1500 rpms and did not responded to the gas pedal. Turns out the Accelerator Pedal Sensor was failing.
By clearing the codes I was able to get it to work for awhile before it would act up again. Of course it was decision time now, what should I do? I
was driving on the highway back towards Highway 1 when I found out it would only quit under a certain set of conditions and by clearing the codes I
could get it working again, so I decide to continue on with my trip.
Since San Borja was out of the question now I figured I would head down to El Arco and find the trail North of the road and hike at least a few miles
of the trail, going up and then coming back out. A storm had passed through recently and washed out sections of the road. I was hoping it had rained
enough to fill some water holes on the trail but no such luck.
I passed through El Arco and continued on to the turn off to Rancho La Union where I heading north, thinking that this road was probably part of the
ECR. I started seeing signs of the drought along this road with dead cows every few miles.
I found a wash to park in and started packing for an early start the next morning.
At sunrise it was a chilly 29 degrees.
Depending on the weather I had packed enough water for 2 or 3 days. I did not find any water on the trail and while I did pass one rancho where I
could have gotten water there was no one around to ask for some. Lucky for me weather was very mild.
Came across this cool old trough in a very interesting forested area.
The trail varied between roads, bushwacking across the desert and following washes.
I did see what appeared to be Mountain Lion tracks that I followed for about
a mile up a wash.
I also came across what where probably Bobcat or a small Mountain Lion scratches in the sand.
Due the rain there was many plants flowering which made for some nice hiking.
Anyone know what this is?
I saw one snake on the trail.
It was fun looking across the desert knowing I had come from this distant mountain, or that I was going to that mountain off on the horizon.
Here I was heading to the base of this mountain where the red arrow is pointing
And in this shot the car is parked near the base of these mountains.
The drought did take it's toll though, there are seven dead cows in these
two pictures.
Did come across some interesting sites along the way, possible Kiln?
 [/url]
These old rockwalls by a dried up water source.
First morning I awoke to a beautiful sunrise.
I turned around at, what I believe, was Rancho Nuevo. I could have asked for water and continued on for another day or so but I would have had to ask
them for water on the way back also and it didn't seem right.
Taking a break on the trail
I covered 14 miles the first day, 16 miles the second and 11 miles the third day. While I was out of water before noon on the third day I knew the car
was only a few hours of hiking away. You are never as thirsty as when you have no water and no way to get water, once you have plenty of water it
isn't so bad.
After that I drove out and headed to Las Animas where I hiked up
Erle Stanley Gardner/Choral Peppers hill with the rock walls and sleeping circles.
I then then explored some nearby ranges where I found a couple of old hunting blinds and more sleeping circles.
It is hard to make out but the dark spot is what appears to be a hunting blind overlooking the wash...
That night while sleeping I was awoken by a angry coyote yapping at me, this was near the same area where I was bitten late at night by a coyote so it
was a stressful night for me.
The next day I hiked up the western shore of Animas Bay where I came across this walled in cave. It is interesting that they covered the wall with
brush...
Las Animas Bay
On my last day I rode the CT70 up to the turn off to the bay and climbed a mountain near the main road where I found more sleeping circles and this
interesting short trail.
It was a great trip even if it didn't go as planned.
I had a couple of other adventures since then, including going to Utah and hiking up on the Kairparowits Plateau for 4 days, a multi-day kayaking trip
with my daughter and her fiance on the lower Sacramento River, a multi-day backpacking trip in the South Warner Wilderness up in Modoc county, hiking
a section of the Oregon Coast trail with my daughter and her fiance , a 3 day backpacking trip with my son, daughter and future son-in-law in the
Yolla Bolly Wilderness and a hike up Arc Dome and to a WWII era bomber crash site in central Nevada and best of all to my Daughter's Wedding over
Labor Day weekend.
Utah scene
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elgatoloco
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Very cool. Rolling with the punches. Shame about folks losing livestock.
You get around.
Thanks for sharing.
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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BajaBlanca
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What an adventure! Very impressive. Congrats on your daughter's wedding.
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AKgringo
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I would put your trip in the "Win" column! Thanks for sharing, and confirming that the Narcos didn't get you.
About those tracks....they look canine to me, but I could be wrong. Those scratch marks look exactly like the ones my girl makes after she squats and
dumps!
Edit; I checked on line for some track identification help, and it looks like your guess is better than mine.
[Edited on 9-6-2022 by AKgringo]
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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John Harper
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Very interesting report, thank you for sharing.
John
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larryC
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The guy at San Borja, Jose, I think his name is has gotten really weird in the last year or 2. I took my daughter out there and let him give her a
tour. Then he comes over to me and wants me to put my dog in the car . He doesn't want dogs around because they are somehow linked to the devil. He
then tells me that the palapa I am parked next to is for Mexicans only and I should move. Finally he wants a "donacion" for the palapa. At that point
I just loaded my daughter up and we left. Too much time alone out there with the spirits will get to you after a while.
Or maybe I just hit him on a bad day.
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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David K
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Thank you so much for posting this. We were quite concerned and thanks to your daughter for responding that you were ok!
Beautiful photos and great exploring! The El Camino Real, where it isn't used by today's ranchers, must be badly overgrown? Were any of the ECR
resources (maps, Google Earth overlays, notes) helpful? https://vivabaja.com/ecr-crossings/
Bahía las Animas has interesting mysteries, indeed! The odd walls, dam, and sleeping circles were noted by Choral Pepper in her Desert Magazine story
and Baja book, following her time with the 1966 Erle Stanley Gardner expedition. She so wanted to return to it, she had told me, but couldn't get
close in the vehicle she had. Thanks to Nomad 'Sharksbaja' for spotting it on Google Earth, we were able to go to it in 2009. https://vivabaja.com/p109/
Nomad 'geoffff' went in 2019 and with a drone, did some great flyovers. https://octopup.org/baja2019/las-animas
Again, good to see you back from Baja and alive and well!
From Harry Crosby's 'King's Highway in Baja California' 1974:
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BajaRat
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Mood: Ready for some salt water with my Tecate
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Not saying much but I’ve never heard of a coyote biting someone without being molested. I’d love to hear more on that instance.
What a great post, thanks for taking us along
Lionel 
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azucena
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The yellow/orange plant material you were wondering about is a species of Dodder which is parasitic. (much like Mistletoe is to Holly) It attaches
itself to a host plant and that is how it survives. it does not usually kill it's host plant but can kill smaller seedlings. It contains no
chloraphyll, but absorbs nutrients through rootlike organs.
High doses of it can kill livestock so it is not appreciated in Baja by the rancheros.
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Fatboy
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| Quote: |
The yellow/orange plant material you were wondering about is a species of Dodder which is parasitic. (much like Mistletoe is to Holly) It attaches
itself to a host plant and that is how it survives.
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Was wondering, thought I seen some up north the last few years and was wondering, Thank You.
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Not saying much but I’ve never heard of a coyote biting someone without being molested. I’d love to hear more on that instance.
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Posted about it on here a few years back, we were sleeping on the beach and 1 came up and nipped me on the head, not hard or anything but drew blood
in two spots, with a small (3/8 inch) gash on my forehead. He/she ran off about 30 feet and stared at us afterwards we had to chase it off. I never
slept the same outdoors around coyotes since then.
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Thank you so much for posting this. We were quite concerned and thanks to your daughter for responding that you were ok!
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Again, sorry about that, that trail by the Las Animas turnoff was in an odd spot, need to send coordinates to you to check out next time you are
there.
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The guy at San Borja, Jose, I think his name is has gotten really weird in the last year or 2. I took my daughter out there and let him give her a
tour.
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Odd, I got an odd vibe there but I chalked it up to the fact I don't speak spanish, who knows.....
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About those tracks....they look canine to me, but I could be wrong. Those scratch marks look exactly like the ones my girl makes after she squats and
dumps!
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I know you edited your post, but I was pretty sure they were cat tracks on the trip, lack of claws and slightly different shape than a canines.
Question was, is it a LARGE bobcat or Mtn Lion and they appear to be larger than any bobcat and in the 'normal' range for a lion. It was a nice hike,
I really want to try it again.
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What an adventure! Very impressive. Congrats on your daughter's wedding.
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Thank You SO MUCH!, You are always sooooo kind on here!
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Very cool. Rolling with the punches. Shame about folks losing livestock.
You get around.
Thanks for sharing.
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And...
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Very interesting report, thank you for sharing.
John
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You are both so Welcome and it has been a BUSY summer for me out enjoying it while I still can.
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BajaRat
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Mood: Ready for some salt water with my Tecate
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That coyote must have thought it was cabeza taco night
I’ve had them get into a lot but that’s a little unnerving
Glad you’re not detoured
Lionel
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Fatboy
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Quote: Originally posted by BajaRat  | That coyote must have thought it was cabeza taco night
I’ve had them get into a lot but that’s a little unnerving
Glad you’re not detoured
Lionel |
The coyote 'just' bit me, didn't attack or anything, probably thought my head was food - thats kinda funny to say  - and just snuck in to snatch it and run away with his prize! She was
probably just as surprised as I was.
It does bug me when I know they are around at night and I am camping on the ground without a tent, this night one 'barked' at me for a minute or so
around 10pm from probably 40 or 50 feet away, so I had some trouble falling back asleep that night.
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Ateo
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Your "failed" hikes are better than most people's "successful" hikes. Ha ha. Thanks for the cool posts.
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advrider
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Awesome report. If you head back out again, I would love to go. You covered some great area.
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David K
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| Quote: Originally posted by Fatboy |
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Thank you so much for posting this. We were quite concerned and thanks to your daughter for responding that you were ok!
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Again, sorry about that, that trail by the Las Animas turnoff was in an odd spot, need to send coordinates to you to check out next time you are
there.
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Please do!
I would like to find an El Camino Real branch going to Las Animas as it would enforce Choral Pepper's research that the walls and dam were the
beginnings of an aborted mission project, listed on the 1757 Jesuit map in this area, and called Santa María Magdalena.
Thanks John!
EDIT: Initially, when I invited you to send my your Spot/inReach pings, I was confusing you with Mark_BC who explored north of the L.A. Bay highway
with a Fat Tire bike (FatBike) and sent us his location pings. I bumped up his big adventure posts.
[Edited on 9-7-2022 by David K]
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