Baja Trip - The Last Frontier Part 3

After a mile or two, we took a sand wash south toward Tinaja Santa Maria on the El Camino Real. We managed to dodge cactus and mesquite bushes for about a mile before camping. In the morning we hiked 0.7 miles to the tinaja. A tinaja is a natural bedrock water tank in an arroyo. I had been there before on one of David K's Lost Mission searches but didn't know what I was looking at. This time, using David's great Google Earth pictures posted on his website for an approximate location, Marian found where the ECR trail climbed up onto a bench overlooking the arroyo. We walked in the footsteps of the padres! The trail was positively identified by the large boulders moved to the side during construction umpteen decades ago. I checked with the local cows and they said they didn't do it because cows have trouble moving such large boulders. :-)

Back on the inland road we met a dozen or so oncoming motorcycles and one quad. They thoughtfully pulled over to let us pass and one of the riders warned Marian (driving the lead Tacoma with pop-top camper) that continuing was impossible due to steep hills with loose rocks that they could hardly get up themselves. Marian, playing the little old helpless female, just nodded and said we would take a look at them and turn around if necessary. It should be noted that 68 year old Marian has been driving 4x4's for four decades in Baja. We came to the small go-ups and downs into and out of washes and found them to be no problem at all. They were only a few tens of feet long covered with smooth, slick, river cobbles which probably did pose a problem for one wheel drive bikes. No doubt a well-equipped Jeep could do it too. That was for you, Ken Cooke!

Before too long, we rejoined the main road south and had to give up plans to visit the Lost Mission site because Alan had to be in Cabo to spill wine on his time share rug. DK has posted many pictures so you won't miss much. The next event was a pictograph site that someone had identified on Google Earth. I got into big trouble with the crew on this one. I swore that there was a road I had discovered on Google Earth that went straight to the site. We looked and looked and could not find it. Obliviously someone had planted bushes on it to confuse me. We gave up and camped off the main road a half mile or so alongside a seldom used two track just before it got dark. My reputation was in tatters. Don't tell the crew that when we got home I took another look at Google Earth and found my “road” was just a wash. Sigh; the first mistake I have make this decade.

At El Arco, we took a road north to visit a ranch in the back country that had Grand Mural style pictographs. After climbing around the hillsides and taking photos, we went back to Hwy. 1 and went north to Cataviña to stay in Marv Panchen's cabin for the night. As soon as we got unpacked, here comes Ralph on his quad. He heard some banging noises so checking on the cabin seemed like a good idea to him. Ralph lives at Rancho Santa Inez half the year in the wintertime and is a really, nice, helpful guy. At his house the next morning, we caught up with the Baja news about people we knew, Baja Bucko and Eve Ewing were down riding mules around, Wild Bill and Elena were still on the ham radio net and so on. Alan had left us to go south to his timeshare and John M and TacoFeliz had taken a side trip to drop off some goodies to Coco at Coco's Corner and would meet us at the cabin. While Coco was in Ensenada getting his last leg amputated, anything that could be sold had been stolen from his place - all the cans, etc. Anyone going down could drop off any construction material, food, etc. if they want to do a good deed. It's tough to live without legs.

Part 4 is coming!

Tinaja Santa Maria on the El Camino Real:

[Edited on 4-13-2009 by Neal Johns]

The El Camino Real trail north from Tinaja Santa Maria:

Two Track Camp:

As pictographs go, it wasn't much, but it was ours, ours!

Annnnd Hearrrrs Ralph!

I'm an Old Trails guy. When I got back from Baja, I left for AZ 12 hours later to help find and map the Southern Emigrant Route/Butterfield Stage Route/Mormon Battalion Trail near Benson for a week. As a Life Member of OCTA, the Oregon-California Trails Association, I have been doing this for a decade. Anyone wanting to go on one of these spring or fall outing, give me a call. 9098871549 You must be under 100.

Thanks Neal for the report... Tinaja de Santa Maria looks the same as when we all went there on July 4, 2001. I had been back once with my kids on another lost mission hunt.

The Camino Real satellite images of where your photo was taken is in installment ECR-2b (Golfo Camino Real), links to all the ECR pages are at: http://vivabaja.com/missions2/page13.html

Image G-13 is just before the Tinaja canyon and G-14 is just after...






[Edited on 11-2-2012 by David K]

Thanks Neal that was a great trip, as always I enjoy your humor when writing this reports, thats a +.Hey did you encounter any goats on your trip .