King City mountains - Coyote Bay trip report w/photos

Date of trip: September 26th - 30th. Leaving from north central California coast enroute to Coyote Bay in Baja California Sur.



Caravan of 3 pickups w/boats, cargo trailers and 1 motorhome.

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Gentleman..and ladies...Start Your Engines! Baja Awaits..






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Had no room left for this kayak outside, so it rode inside with us!

Nothing too strange about this trip..normal ganado y burros, wrecks, spilled coke cases, bloated buzzards barely lifting away in time, and the like.....except that we figured that this was just over my 200th run on the Baja Road. No wonder things look soooo familiar.


The Road itself is in fine shape..best ever in decades. Went the Tecate - Ensenada route and enjoyed the fine scenery and scents of vineyards y olive trees. Ate at Laja's, which was superb as usual.

Normal military checkpoints for northbounders...southbound traffic waved on through. There was a noticable lack of traffic after Los Pinos tomato complex.

Fog in the mountain valleys is always very pretty...from a distance. This view is El Rosario coming down the north grade.


Up close it is a mortal danger on the Baja Road.


First wreck on The Road this trip...operator error suspected.


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Lake Chapala..with water even!


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Jesus Maria
Sad to say, Carmelita's famous burrito stop has suffered a little..just not the same anymore.

Back in the day (pic is maybe 10-12 years ago)..Camelita with her mile-wide smile and my usual order.. ' tres burritos for the road'.



And nowadays....okay, but nicht zu gut as before.




At GN's checkpoint we were asked for frutas and veggies on board? I said, 'Nada mas, Senor', and asked if he could please throw my banana peel in the garbage can. Imigraccion asked for passport and Mexico travel papers..FMT's, FM-3's,etc..which were duly entered into a log, a relatively new and periodic procedure.

At a new policia checkpoint just north of San Ignacio, you are now ..'sometimes'..required to show vehicle registration. Next door, the military checkpoint soldiers were thirsty-looking so we handed out some cold Cokes and venison salami on crackers. Got lots of grins.

Now the skies turned black and the wind came up fast....Whoa! Happening faster than a politician can spin the truth, hard rains and a roaring gale were upon us.
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The chubasco-like winds blasted the high-sided motorhome with enough force that I feared we would be blown onto our side. We hove to behind a convenient cliff windbreak, storm-reefed our sail-sides, and rode out the storm. We all gathered in the motorhome, broke out some good red, cold brewskis, sliced more venison with brie...and watched Mother Nature open her show.

Yeah...Lightning and thunder at the same moment....Snap! Kaa-BOOM!...."Wild!..and invigorating even!" I shouted.

Mi amigos nervously glanced at me and edged towards the door.

Good times in the mountains....Hard, cold, driving rain. Staying dry out of flooding vados and popping corks was the order of the day. Thank Zeus there was no flooding in Mulege or other valley towns.
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A Pepsi trucker decides to join us after a bit...mas vino y queso, amigos! Pass the venado.

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Next day we are up and at em...making the San Ignacio - Sta. Rosalia run early. Note: pack more vino next trip.

Cuesta del Infierno!

The dreaded grade north of Sta. Rosalia.....Freno con motor! Save your brakes...



Very tight turns, steep grades...bail out time if all else fails.


Santa Rosalia from the north...Don't you miss the old overhanging pipe that was here for ages? Now why take out that great landmark?...damnation.


Mulege for a few supplies and on to Coyote....

High tide at Burros Beach.
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Home safe and sound. Now it's time to get ready for the next trip!


GOT BAJA?

[Edited on 10-11-2008 by Pompano]

Hang on

Until I can get there, Roger. (Late December). We're practicing, but it will take that long to get it right; we are learning to play Handel's Water Music. Stay dry in the mean time.

Ba ba ba ba baba la, ba ba ba ba baba la, la la la la la laa-a-a....la laaaaaa!

Those were great trip photos, amigo!

Pompano, Thanks for all the pictures.

Don't sell yourself short Ken. Pompano "Roger Miller" (not his real last name) might be King of the Road......but 100 plus aero trips makes you a contender of King of the Sky!!

"Out of the clear blue of the western sky comes... Sky King!"

Mil Gracias

Thanks all, it was a fun trip and I enjoy posting reports and pictures of same. There WILL be more to come, I imagine.


Now some replies...

bajajudy wrote: "..Venison salami....break my heart.
cheers"

Judy...this photo should make your mouth water even more than venison. Ribeyes...mmmm..good! We fed about 150 hungry sportsmen this night.

WARNING! Viewing these photos will cause severe hunger pains!

A couple of the chefs practicing for the main event....


The BIG Grill.


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The Main Course...Ribeyes.

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Almost ready now...



Judy...I will tell mi amigo Pier to bring you some venison sausage when they leave here for their home in SJC.


David K wrote: "Thanks Roger... very nice!
Next time you can save some miles to Tecate by taking the 805, 52 & 125 freeways to the 94, instead of Hwy. 5 to 94..."

Thanks for the shortcut tip, David, but I actually make that trip (52-125-Tecate) many times. This trip we had a mission to complete in National City before crossing.


toneart wrote: "Hang on
Until I can get there, Roger. (Late December). We're practicing, but it will take that long to get it right; we are learning to play Handel's Water Music. Stay dry in the mean time.
Ba ba ba ba baba la, ba ba ba ba baba la, la la la la la laa-a-a....la laaaaaa!
Those were great trip photos, amigo!"

Tony..can't wait to hear the group playing again. Was just yakking with MacyMan today. I still think you guys should call yourselves 'The Soggy Bottom Boys'..waddya think?

Skipjack Joe wrote: "Great trip report.
Next time you're in King City may I suggest that you take Jolon Road to Ft Hunter Liggett. There are some great bass ponds on that base. In fact, they've added a herd of elk as well last year. A couple of weeks ago I kept hearing calls through the night and thought it was some hunter practicing. It just went on all night. That was kind of neat, though. Usually it's just coyotes out there. "

Thanks Igor. It's a small world, isn't it? We actually take the Jolon Road exit off 101 at King City and head up into the mountains to get to the house. I have been to Ft Hunter Ligget and agree on it's appeal. Reminds me of a place in northern Saskatchewan..Lake Tobin..where the elk and snapping northern lights keep you awake at night. Purrdy nice there, too, amigo!

Pompers,

I'm not sure about "Soggy Bottom Boys", especially since we dodged the hurricane bullet with no flooding of the river. Whew! I am not feeling very soggy right now. I could change my mind, however, if I were ever to ride with you.


I think we'd better stick with Fast Eddie and the Slow Learnerz. That has a nice unambitious ring to it. At this point in my life, stardom would be something I would have to try to live up to. It damned near killed me last time.