David K - 5-7-2005 at 12:49 PM
Baja Bucko, the lover of mule riding mission trails, has posted on Fred's board she rode from San Gertrudis to San Borja! How exciting... Here is a
link to her posts... I hope she tells us more!
http://math.ucr.edu/~ftm/bajaPages/MsgBoard/messages/313.htm...
David----could not get the link to open up
Barry A. - 5-9-2005 at 06:25 AM
bajalou - 5-9-2005 at 06:28 AM
Try this one
http://math.ucr.edu/~ftm/bajaPages/MsgBoard/MsgBoard.html
then go to the article
David K - 5-9-2005 at 07:32 AM
Thanks Lou...
Fred's bbs link works, some reason the link just to Baja Bucko's thread isn't working anymore.
The unfortunate thing about Fred's board is articles only appear for 30 days and then are gone forever...
Neal Johns - 5-9-2005 at 07:55 PM
Baja Bucko's story:
On Easter Sunday I rode out of Mision Santa Gertrudis on El Camino Real for a 10 day journey back in time with the destination of Mision San Borja. As
we finished packing the animals and mounted up we had a crowd of Mexican holiday visitors watching the proceedings in amazement. The mules are taking
you where? A few came up and asked to take pictures. They could not believe that we were doing such a thing-after all you can drive there by getting
back on the highway and getting to the road up north! So here we were-gringos and the Mexican tourists were taking our pictures.
: Sort of funny if you think about it...then when the pack train finally arrived in San Borja-via the fun and harrowing excitement of the famed El
Paraiso-more Mexican cameras clicking away in disbelief. The civil engineer working at Mision San Borja absolutely could not believe that we arrived
by mule from Santa Gertrudis. He asked each of my friends "How did you get here?" and each friend said by mule from Santa Gertrudis. He refused to
believe them. Then when he asked me and I repeated their answers his eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped. He repeated the same question again and I
repeated my answer. Then he was silent. After a very very quiet minute or so he asked me "WHY?"
: I held my hand over my heart and I answered "Mi corazon" .......I explained that the ancient foot trails of El Camino Real were the real treasures
of Baja California as are the Californio families who have lived in that incredible country for over 250 years. He smiled and asked my age. I said
over 50. He nearly died in amazement again and said that as a young man he could do it but now at 35-he was too old.
: Life is way too short I told him and you've got to do what you dream while the body parts still function. He laughed. They took more pictures of the
dirty exhausted crazy gringos who arrived from so far with a bunch of tired pack animals, one human injury (excluding the zillions of espinas and cuts
and scrapes!) and tales to tell.
: PS When I finally got my injured friend to a hospital in San Diego-7 days after her fall from a horse in the dark as a loose pack mule flew into it
going down down down El Paraiso-the hospital people could NOT believe this person had to ride for 5 days w the hand and arm injury she had along with
the two day drive to San Diego. Oooh, but the ear-to-ear grin I had on my face looking like a real drunk because such are the tales and treasures of
that land that lies so dear to my soul.
pappy - 5-10-2005 at 06:21 PM
any idea of how to get in touch with baja backo?? iwould like to go on a ride with her, or at least get some info on taking mules in, if she rented
them there, etc. we ride in the mountains behind us, and have talked about doing something like that in baja.thanks.
pappy - 5-10-2005 at 06:22 PM
oops!make tha bucko, not backo.
David K - 5-10-2005 at 06:43 PM
Pappy, send me the email and I will forward, if you wish. I will alert her to your post, in the meantime...