DEVEAU - 12-16-2005 at 02:41 PM
Day 3 started in Catavina and the challenges of this kind of ride started when we started to fill our jugs. All but one had holes. I don?t know if
there were plastic eating moths in our rooms or if the bushes had thorns? All but one of us have big tanks and I figured we had 135 miles before known
fuel and that is if we don?t take a wrong turn. We probably had 150 mile range if we shared our fuel.
I ordered a Touratech GPS mount yesterday, I noticed that as I was writing this trip report all our wrong turns were because I didn?t have a proper
mount. After a few false starts we found the trailhead a few miles South of Catavina and it was a faded 2-track heading West. We all agreed that after
spending a day playing in ?Bill?s Rock Garden? we had a newfound confidence riding in rocks. The trail kept working West and a little North until is
felt like we were about ? way to the coast. It went through a small farming village and as the main road turned West we picked-up a single-track going
North.
This was one of the best single-track trails we have rode in Baja if not ever. A couple of big Cactus filled valleys with no roads in sight and unlike
yesterday this was real riding, not just fighting rocks. I saw a poster advertising ?Mama Espinosa?s Rides? for guided MC rides in her restaurant and
one of the pictures was from this section. When searching ? Bill Nicols? to find out something about him I found a link to a website with the same add
and more pictures but have not been able to find it again.
After leaving the single-track we were on a faded 2-track but you could tell it had been mostly motorcycle traffic as all the turns were
straightened-out. We usually ride as buddies side by side to keep out of the dust. It was a fun challenge on this section as the good line kept
changing from left to right. And my buddy always had the good side damn it!
When we were about 10 miles from the coast we found ourselves in a large valley that was being farmed. The GPS wanted us to cross the plowed field so
we worked our way around the field on farm roads. At this point we seemed to lose the route. I finally handheld the GPS and riding with one hand I
followed the route up a small wash. It took me up the bank and there was a cliff on the other side, scary riding with one hand.
We could of skidded down the cliff but doubt we could ride back up. I could not see any tracks in the wash at the bottom and again with limited
daylight and fuel we decided to head toward El Rosario. The problem was we did not really know where we were. We found an all-weather road heading
Northeast but we couldn?t tell where it would hit the pavement. My Meridian has a basic map of Baja and it seemed to be putting us farther South than
I think we were. That all-weather road was one of the roughest we had ever ridden, real rocky and washboardy.
When we hit the pavement the GPS said we were about 12 miles from El Rosario (as a crow flys). We climbed one big grade before dropping down to the
river. One last bit of excitement as Lago ran out of gas while passing a pick-up on the bridge. Pecore saw it and got a boot on his exhaust pushing
him across without getting runover.
I could not remember the name of Baja Cactus, just knew some place that was recommended. As we pulled into the Pemex I saw the sign and flipped a
u-turn. This is a great hotel, as I had said in a review we wish there was something this nice in San Felipe. I guess there was one more bit of
excitement but I don?t remember it. At dinner the room got dark and I passed-out in my chair, after coming to they took me outside and after laying
down for a bit and getting some fresh air my color came back and I felt better. A paramedic (Phil C?) gave me a quick check and I went back in and ate
dinner. Felt fine the rest of the night, it?s hell getting old, I think I just needed a little rest.
I?ll post days 4-5 next but this was pretty much the end of the real adventure.
Neal Johns - 12-16-2005 at 02:48 PM
Great post/story!
TMW - 12-18-2005 at 10:22 AM
I second Neal, great post.
Corky1 - 12-18-2005 at 02:39 PM
Keep it coming. Great post!!
Corky 