dt and Ged's excellent baja adventure ride...Day 3

Day 3: Mulege to Punta Conception and back to Mulege. 141 miles

I had been out to Punta Conception with my son about 12 years ago and have always wanted to go back. Mi esposa bonita Jill and I went there last year in out camper pulling a trailer with the Polaris on it....it was a bad idea. We couldn't get as far North as I had wanted because of the bad or nonexistent road and it was so hot ( July) that we had to flee for our lives an hour after we had set up camp....this trip would be different...

We packed enough stuff for a day trip, got some breakfast, topped off the gas and headed South. We stopped again at Pompano"s and he was home. We had a nice but short visit as we had a lot of miles to cover this day. After reaching the Southern end of the bay we turned off the pavement and headed East. The road was a fun, fairly fast 2 track, the stuff that I really like. After a while we came to an intersection with a sign promising "excellent ubication" to the right.



During our conversation with Marc the day previous we had talked about a canyon with a spring somewhere in this area and perhaps this was it. Regardless, we had to check it out as neither one of us knew what "ubication" was and we were determined to find out. The trail wound up a little canyon, passed an old ranch house and ended up at a cool corral followed by, I would guess, "ubication"







There was a dam across a narrow spot in the canyon to catch water from a spring above. There was a sporty, rocky climb to a wired shut gate to get to the top of the dam but I was certain it would be worth the climb to check it out....besides you never know when someone will "get it wrong" and provide a photo opportunity. It's always good to keep your camera ready just in case..







I told Ged to suck in his gut but he said it was already sucked it...


Don't drink that water Ged, that's for the cows.....


After soaking up some ubication it was time to continue on. The road, where there was one varied from roller coaster 2 track to hard packed mud flats to riding on the gravely sandy beach. Ged mentioned earlier (and more than once) that he didn't like to ride in the sand......I on the other hand, being a desert rat, rather enjoy it. I decided not to tell him that the last 4 miles of the ride through the canyon to the other side of the point was in a sandy arroyo.





Along the way we saw a number of pangas apparently anchored with fishermen in them. What made them unique was the fact that they were double masted. I had never seen sailing pangas....and as it turned out I still hadn't. On the way back the people I thought were fishermen were setting up camp on shore. The boats turned out to be row boats with sails and it was some group of gringo adventurers, probably some kind of touchy feely rehab thing....I don't know. Ged seemed to know what the guy was talking about and I didn't want to look uninformed by asking for clarification....and I really didn't care.





We got to the place where the trail turned to an arroyo and I took the lead through the sandy canyon. After a bit I was tempted to pull off and hide so that I could follow Ged through the canyon and make fun of him later....I learned that from my son....I decided against it, bad karma and all of that.

We arrived at the other side of the canyon on the Sea of Cortez where there is an old mining operation. I don't know much about it or what they were mining but I'm hoping a better informed Nomad will chime in and give us the details (DK?). After taking off our gear and relaxing a bit I wandered around and took a few pictures.







Here's a picture of Ged gazing off to the East reflecting on the rich history of the area....at least that's what I think he's doing....










Eventually it was time to saddle up and go. We made the 4 mile trek through the soft sand without any major problems, Ged gave me a "thumbs up" at the end of the canyon and we hit the trial to find the beer that I was sure I could hear calling me from the other side of the bay.





When we got back to Mulege we went straight to Jungla Jims where I was certain the source of the calling beer was. We pulled our bikes up onto the lawn (of sorts) right in front of the window where all the bar patrons could see the intrepid adventurers that were about to grace them with their presence. I nonchalantly threw my leg over the bike to dismount and hung my boot on my duffel bag. The bike fell in slow motion onto it's side and I casually stepped away. I contemplated leaving it there like that so that perhaps the half drunk patrons of the bar would think I was really cool and that's just "how I roll".....but nobody's that drunk....I went ahead and picked it up.

We went inside, ordered up some margaritas and made friends with the locals. We had garlic shrimp for dinner and headed to the house a couple of hundred yards away.......

To be continued....

Thanks for the "ride" really neat... and all the work..

David,

I have been so busy writing my own ride report on Adventure Rider that I have barely looked at BN...


And I am loving your report so far

I am looking forward to that/those nicknames you were thinking up for me throughout the 10 days together

For the rest of you BN's....taking the chance to spend 10 days with a person I had never met before was a bit of a gamble....but DT is a good roll of the dice.

Any time i asked him..."Which way do you want to go?" or, "Do you want to lead and not ride in my dust?"....Ol' DT would just say, "I am on permanent vacation and I am just following you around on your vacation!"

I thought he was being incredibly sensitive and thoughtful....now I see he was under the spell of "STFU"....still, not a bad attitude

For those who don't know, DT is a gentle guy despite his appearance:

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He knows how to enjoy "Excellent Ubication"...



And was a great riding partner, despite not trusting my navigational skills...as he pointed out that this desert trail was NOT a shortcut, but ratehr was "An alternate Route":

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David, I am following your tale....(That is 'T-a-l-e' )...

For the rest of you, here is a link to my ride report....you can read without signing up....but can't add comments unless you register with the forum:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=666961

FA,
We didn't do any swimming this trip...except when I went swimming in a silt bed north of San Juanico on our return to San Ignacio ...more about that as the ride reports continue....

ubication

Great writing style, David... you've got the skills. You had me laughing out load about the dismount at Jungla Jims!