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| Originally posted by azvwbaja While most of you were enjoying time with your families at home, I had an adventure in the Baja with my wife Susan, daughter Alexis, Co Co our Chihuahua dog and a friend Alex that Susan and I used to work with. We left on Friday the 19th of December from Arizona to Mexicali for route 5 to San Felipe in Alex’s 1 ton 4 X 4 Chevy crew cab with a pop up camper in the pickup bed. During our stay in San Felipe, we handed out Christmas presents to children in the poor section of the city including a bike. It took us two days to hand everything out. Part of enjoying San Felipe was going a fund raiser for the local football team so they could get a grass field. It’s always nice to enjoy the Malecon and watch the fishermen bring in their catch. After resting up we made a short 20 mile trek down to Campo Percebu . I told Tom Foudy our host that I would make pizza for him that night. Lupita Foudy Mora his wife handles our FM-3 paperwork and I consider them good friends. He lives in a totally solar powered house right on the beach. After the ladies spent time on the beach, I prepared the pizza. We talked around the campfire about politics, books and our trip down the coast of the Sea of Cortez. We left in the morning for Puertcitos, the ladies enjoyed bathing in the hot springs while Co Co and I walked on the rocks and explored. The road is completed now this far. On Susan’s last visit a year ago it was not. The is usually someone that comes around and gets $10. For enjoying the experience but we got off Scott free. We have been told a lot of stories how rough the road was down to the intersection of route one to head south rather than going through Ensenada. I would say that the road was finished for about another 10 miles. At one point we followed a road grader through a section and had to make a detour through a wash up and down steep embankments where they where constructing a bridge. Soon the paved road ended and we were in for a long slow ride down the gravel road. It was hard to believe that this was the main road. Mike who has a place in San Felipe was nice enough to stop a he drove by to reassure us that we were on the right road and told us to stop at his new house in Campo Punta Bufeo. He was traveling a lot faster than us in his Toyota pickup. The road went on for hours traveling at 15 MPH. Beautiful vistas, donkeys, and very few signs. We kept thinking we had past Campo Bufeo. Close to dusk, a brightly colored sign appeared with a picture of a whale, we made it, Only, on the beach and sandy areas did we feel compelled put it in 4 wheel drive, just in case. Mike invited us in for coffee, his house was solar powered too. He brought a crew down from San Felipe to build his dream house. He said as soon as the paved road came through he would move a more remote location. We camped out in his yard right on the beach. We spent the evening and morning walking the beach. At Campo Bufeo they even have a air strip and small hotel. Mike told us that the next section of road to Gonzaga Bay would be the worst part of our journey. We really did not think it was that bad. If I was in a car I might think so. There were larger rocks of about a couple of inches in diameter and some steep spots. We gased up in Gonzaga Bay. Never pass up a chance to get gas. The next station down the road might be out. It seemed to be a pretty large area with nice beaches but we pressed on. We were headed for Co Co’s Corner and up over the mountains to the Pacific side of the Baja. At CoCo’s corner they had a bright display of tin cans strung up that was quite a sight and made a nice pit stop. We pressed on up into the mountains, the road I would describe a decent considering we were traveling a 15 to 20 MPH. The desert scenery of saguaro cactuses and ocotillo became more and more spectacular as we descended to the Pacific side. We intersected highway 1 around El Crucures at the dry lake. We continued south to the intersection to Bahia de Los Angeles, the locals were selling gas out of cans at the closed gas station. Since it was close to dusk, we camped by the side of the road for Christmas. We made a bonfire in the culvert. We continued on to Bahia de Los Angeles, it was a beautiful town with a lighthouse on a sandy peninsula, shelter from the seas by islands. We stayed at an abandoned campground. No one came around to collect so it was free. I am amazed by the people that we met there that stay all winter traveling from beach to beach. We walked the beaches and checked out campgrounds such as Daggetts which I would have stayed there if we were willing to pay. Susan even snuck in and took a shower. There is good finish and kayaking there as well. There are two gas stations in town and lots of places to get supplies. From there we headed down to Guerrero Negro and entered Baja California Sur. A lot of hype was made about getting into this area. WE did not pay for the tourist card $35.00 or a permit for Alex’s truck, or pay to have the bottom of the truck sprayed for bugs . We were asked if we had fruits or vegetables, we said no and we were on our way. We decided to travel all the way to Santa Rosialia. It appeared to be industrial port with the ferry that goes to Guaymas. Our family will be going to Guaymas next summer and we might take the ferry back over to the Baja. It was dusk and we found a wash just south of town that lead to the beach. It was a well traveled road. I was afraid it lead to a factory or a pier. I walked in the dark to the end. No factory or pier. We made dinner had a fire. Alex slept outside every night. I was awakened to headlights, music and a commotion outside. I was surprised to find a group of teenagers in a couple of pickup trucks 30 yards from the camper drinking, swearing, and playing loud music at about 2 AM. I sat outside for what seemed like hours till the left. I guess they figured they would harass the tourists. We did not confront them and they eventually left. Alex said there was a stream of cars all night going out to the beach, most of which never bothered us. In the morning we gathered firewood from the recent storm and headed south. Along the way south of Santa Rosilias there were some campgrounds and beaches that I am sure would provide a more pleasant experience. From here we made it to Mulege, it was on a river that lead to the sea with lots of palm trees. It was hit hard by the last hurricane on the banks of the river. From there we continued on along route 1 and came to a grim reminder of how dangerous the roads can be. There was a pickup truck on its roof by the side of the road. The roads are narrow and twisty with little margin for error. We came upon the Bahia of Conception and Playa Santispac. We pulled in an found a beautiful sheltered bay with sailboats moored in the bay. The beach seemed pretty filled with large RVs beside square palapas and we chose a spot on the north end where a house once stood. The government removed houses that were put up on the beach to keep its beauty. We spent the days gathering scallops, firewood and clams, in no particular order. I walked the length of the beach and spoke with just about everyone, most were there for more than 7 weeks from Canada or the northwest United States. They were adventurers to be sure. Jay drove his BMW motorcycle down from the northwest and was tent camping, he joined us by the bonfire to compare tales and strategies. There were a couple of beautiful house that were more like walled compounds next to our campsite. They were solar powered and had diesel back up generators. On the way back we stopped at San Ignacio to tour the church, the town is line with palm trees and the plaza has large shade trees across from the church built in 1786. It was a welcome break from the desert to be at this oasis. We headed back up route 1 toward Ensenada, we had a scare when the driver’s side rear tire exploded. It destroyed the rim as well as the trim on the quarter panel. It took Alex and 2 hours to change the tire. She was the one that crawled under the truck to man the floor jack. Fortunately the lug nuts were not so tight that we were able to get them off. We continued up toward Ensenada instead of taking the gravel road short cut back to San Felipe. Things became more and more urbanized, while it was reassuring to have gas stations and tire shops on every corner we missed the wide open spaces of the Baja. We found a road off the beaten track to camp. It was a road to a goat farm, the caretakers said it was alright for us to camp there. A black dog stood guard over the farm and chased the farm’s horse back to his pasture. He was so friendly that he tried to sleep in Alex’s bed. We took the mountain road Route 3 back to San Felipe, with a stop in San Matias to take a look at Tom and Lupita new house. It was not hard to find painted bright orange. Tom says the food is good at the local restaurant and they plan to spend summer there as it is 20 degrees cooler there. He is excited about the fruits and vegetables they can grow. There is a small RV park there. Maybe, we will check it out this summer. Back to reality when we hit our final two military check points close to San Felipe. Those of us that travel in Mexico are less intimidated by the helmeted soldiers with machine guns manning the check points. We have always been treated with respect and courtesy. Back in San Felipe on New Year’s eve we unloaded our share of shells and I enjoyed my first hot shower in more than a week. The next day we headed back to the states and enjoyed the views along route 5. The border crossing at Mexicali East was no problem. The wait was less than 20 minutes. |
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