Geothermal-Shane - 11-9-2009 at 09:47 AM
After the 16 mile hike back up from the nameless camp above Rancho Viejo, we returned to Vallecitos where the little car was parked. First order was
to change shoes and socks and soon after we began to notice that a few things were missing from the car- a boom box, hand held tape player, my cell
phone. At first I thought we had misplaced them, for, after those successive days in the wilderness it is easy to forget these things, but when
Carillo opened her wallet to find all the money missing, we realized that the car had been broken into. All the change had been taken from the ash
tray. My wallet, too, had all the money taken out. Fortunately, we had the majority of our cash hidden away in obscure locations where it was not
found. Strangely, the doors were locked, no windows broken; whomever robbed us left my digital camera, our passports, our wallets and a whole lot of
beer and tequila. (???) They also took a baseball, but left the gloves, and an opened jar of peanut butter. (???) Our immdiate suspicion was that
members of the road construction crew, probably after several days noticing the car parked there, decided to see what they could find in it.
We cracked open some cold Tecates and headed down to Meling Ranch for showers. We spotted a condor on the way down (!) that swooped in front of the
car with its mighty wingspan. We pulled into the ranch and met with Christian Meling, nice guy, who told us some history of the area and was
surprised to hear that we had just come from La Grulla and La Encantanda, as his family had used those areas for many years. He let us use the shower
facilities for a small fee and gave us some drinking water.
Over the San Pedro we could see the big cumulus clouds as we headed back up the road to camp in the park again. We arrived at the entrance and the
park offcials looked at us like we were crazy. When we told them where we had been and that our car had been broken into, the "main" guy proceeded to
give us a long lecture in Spanish, about how we shouldn't be going to those places overnight. He said he saw the car parked there for days and was
concerned, and that if you want to camp out in La Encantada you need a guide, etc. Then he was upset that we were robbed becasue he said it gives the
National Park a bad rap. He agreed that it was likely one of the road construction workers that broke into the car. When we told him we wanted to
stay three more days he was hesitant, and agreed to let us in only if we stayed in the campground.
We spent the next day relaxing, finally, some vacation.
Later that night the park guys showed up at our camp to gather around the fire, wondering where all our firewood was. We told them, there's wood
everywhere! (Mucho leno, por todos lados). It was a proceless experience to share. I asked how many visitors they had a year and they said 1000. I
told him that in US parks its over 1,000,000. They were surprised.
On our last day, we decided to climb to the top of Botella Azul. It was a fine hike through the aboreal highlands. Everything was going fine to Blue
Bottle Saddle. On the way up the ridge to the summit, though, I was suddenly stopped when I collided into a large object that forced my jaw shut.
Then I noticed blood running from my head all over the place. Apparently I had gone head first into a very large snapped white fir stump. High
altidute head injuries are never good! Fortunately we had first aid supplies to stop the excessive bleeding. We then were able to use a folded
tissue and a roller gauze to dress the wound. Carillo insisted we abort, but so close to the summit, I was determined to continue, so we onward we
went. We had picked a good day for Botella Azul- with both the Pacific and the Gulf clearly visible- the gulf a much more turquoise color than the
Pacific.
We took it slow back to the car- I had a really nice bump on my head and a blood stain on my hat that will always remind me of the experience....
David K - 11-9-2009 at 12:07 PM
Glad you made it back okay...
Looking forward to the photos!
Part 1 is at: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=42317
[Edited on 11-10-2009 by David K]
Mexitron - 11-9-2009 at 07:44 PM
Botella Azul is a nice hike....!
Can't believed you were robbed up in the SPM...bummer....
Vince - 11-10-2009 at 09:44 AM
Great to read your story about San Pedro Martir area! I love that area and look forward to visiting again. We made 3-4 visits there in the 1950's
hiking around with Bud Bernhard, nomad Barry Ashworth, and others. Blue Bottle Ridge was our usual goal, camping at La Grulla and La Encantada. Glad
to hear the Meling family is still involved in the ranch.
Barry A. - 11-10-2009 at 12:22 PM
(bump) to join it's partner-post.
David K - 11-10-2009 at 04:09 PM
Here is the link from Part 1 (for when they get seperated, again!: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=42317
Mexitron - 11-11-2009 at 05:47 AM
Vince, did you know Myron Smith? He was a friend of Bud Bernard's as well---lots of trips together in Baja...
Barry A. - 11-11-2009 at 11:04 AM
Mexitron----------I am not "vince" but yes, I knew Myron Smith and made several trips to Baja with him and Ed "Bud" Bernhard------both great guys, and
both had a wealth of knowledge on northern Baja.
Barry
astrobaja - 11-13-2009 at 10:18 AM
Hi Shane,
Sounds like you had quite the adventure, and not all of it good! It could have been much worse though had you stumbled upon the big grow-op that was
raided by the army about a month ago! Not sure where exactly in the park it was but the amount they got was 3 tons! We heard helicopters the night
before the raid down at our ranch!
Also surprised to hear theres still so many cattle in the park, apparently the cut off date for the ranchers to get the cattle out of the park was a
few weeks ago and they did not agree to extend the date for them. So I guess now the cattle belong to the park and they will slowly start eradicating
them (donating the meat to charities and such), it will be interesting to see how the land mends itself after many decades of abuse by the cattle!