BajaNomad - 1972 Mike's Sky Rancho brochure and my map.

1972 Mike's Sky Rancho brochure and my map.

David K - 6-24-2011 at 11:25 PM

In October, 1972 my parents and I took our first drive up to Mike's, Meling Ranch and the observatory (I was 15).

We stayed at Mike's in one of the rooms facing the pool and it was a busy place. The 1972 NORRA MEXICAN 1000 was a month away and starting in Mexicali for the first time. The racers could use any road as long as all the checkpoints were reached. Instead of heading south through San Felipe (as some literature falsely has stated) the race went back to the Pacific side and passed through El Rosario. Racers could go through Valle de Trinidad to Hwy. 1 near San Vicente or take the shorter route south via Mike's Sky Rancho and San Telmo. Mike's has been a popular pit location ever since! Mike Leon himself raced a Baja Bug many times.

I picked this up at Mike's on that 1972 trip:

Don't we wish the daily rate with meals was $15 still!!

Here is a photo of my dad and I along the road to the observatory taken by my mom on that trip... Great parents who were attracted to Baja for the fishing, but found the off road explorations to be as much fun as I did!

[Edited on 6-28-2011 by David K]

capt. mike - 6-25-2011 at 06:05 AM

very cool!

BajaWarrior - 6-25-2011 at 06:17 AM

Good stuff David,

thanks for posting!

David K - 6-26-2011 at 09:54 AM

de nada Chuck!

Pacifico - 6-27-2011 at 05:46 AM

Very cool pics!!! It's cool to look at those pics and see what has changed.....

Thanks David!

GregN - 6-27-2011 at 11:21 AM

Nice brochure. Thanks, David.

David K - 6-27-2011 at 05:00 PM

Thanks Pacifico and Greg!

Here is the map I drew of the roads we used between Mike's and the observatory on Oct. 22, 1972. I used Senterfitt's book for the info on the two airports shown.

I was 15 years old... and wanted to be a cartographer... loved drawing maps!

Bob H - 6-27-2011 at 06:31 PM

Wow, how very cool to see this old brochure. How much has it chaqnged since those days?

I was almost 22 years old when you made that first trip!

This is one place I have yet to visit, but would love to.

Great post!

[Edited on 6-28-2011 by Bob H]

TMW - 7-7-2011 at 01:21 PM

Still a great place to visit and hang for a few days. Last time I was there it cost $45 per person and included dinner and breakfast. I've never fished in the stream but Mike Jr. told me that up at the waterfalls they get brown trout. Best in late Jan. Feb. and early march when weather is cold.

Except in July and Aug and maybe late June and early Sept the nights can get really cold. They use to have kerosene heaters in the rooms. Lights out at 10pm or so they shut down the generator. First time I ever stayed the night there was in early Apr. about 1992. When my wife and I went to bed we automatically rolled to the center of the bed as the matress made a V shape. Of course it made it warmer. Another time two buddies and I road in on MCs in July. It was warm and we left the door open at night and about 3 or 4 dogs came to sleep. We had to be careful when we got up at night to not step on them. Fun times for sure.

DonBaja - 7-7-2011 at 01:37 PM

David K very cool to see the brochure and map, thanks so much for sharing that !! Do you have any other photos of Mike's from that trip? If so I would enjoy seeing them.

ILikeMex - 7-7-2011 at 01:52 PM

El Jeffe himself.

Yes, there are fish in them streams.

Small, but tastey

Half the fun is getting there

Cold beer does not taste much better after traveling the day up to Mikes. Open wide :smug:

David K - 7-7-2011 at 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DonBaja
David K very cool to see the brochure and map, thanks so much for sharing that !! Do you have any other photos of Mike's from that trip? If so I would enjoy seeing them.

I will work on putting up what I have from that trip... :light:

David K - 7-7-2011 at 04:32 PM

ILikeMex, thaks for adding your great photos here!! :cool:

bajatrailrider - 5-4-2020 at 02:06 PM

Thank you David it was my old hang out.

StuckSucks - 5-4-2020 at 02:25 PM

Fun to see, thanks for sharing. I was lucky enough to meet Mike Leon years ago -- great guy.

bajatrailrider - 5-4-2020 at 02:46 PM

I remember asking Mike Jr many years ago about forest single track trail out of Mike's. He told us it is washed out don't go there. too hard to ride dirt bike I then ask how can I get there. Great trail yes difficult but fun we did it last year.

David K - 5-4-2020 at 03:17 PM

Emerson got his Land Cruiser up to the forest but fallen tree log prevented for driving through to the observatory highway. This was an old logging road via Corral de Sam. Logging never took place.

advrider - 5-4-2020 at 06:50 PM

Anyone have more info on fishing the streams in the area???? Planning on hitting it in the next year or two?

Tioloco - 5-4-2020 at 09:46 PM

Great pics! One of my favorite areas. Nice hike up to the refreshingly cool water fall and pools in the summer too.

bajatrailrider - 5-5-2020 at 07:16 AM

Yes David on old logging road some time in 80s. It was not pass able with 4x4. On Moto's it is narrow single track trail. Very difficult to even find route half way up. I looked at old pictures of me and Mike in the 80s. Going up that trail on tt680s I doubled a gal up that 3 times. Did some great crashes but always made it.b

TMW - 5-5-2020 at 12:53 PM

What does Mike's charge to stay overnight now. Last time I stayed there several years ago it was $70 and included dinner and breakfast.

David K - 7-25-2026 at 10:25 AM

Looking back on a 15-year-old post about a 1972 trip.

The map I made when I was 15:

Tioloco - 7-25-2026 at 11:57 AM

Anybody been to Mikes lately?

wiltonh - 7-25-2026 at 04:47 PM

Many yeas ago my wife an I spent some time in San Felipe and were headed back to the states. We were driving a 1976 Dodge van pulling a motorcycle trailer with two motorcycles on board. We had heard of Mike's Sky Ranch but had never been there so we pulled off the highway, parked the van and rode the motorcycles up to the ranch. We headed out on an old road towards the observatory and my wife dumped her bike into a ditch and broke her collarbone. It took a while but I ferried her and the bike back to the ranch where they let her sit in the lobby.

I headed back to get the van and trailer. Part way down the mountain I met a truck load of guys and they were yelling at me in Spanish. I did not understand so I kept on going. I was in a hurry so I was probably doing 70 MPH on the flat when I saw something in the road. I locked up the bike and slid up to dirt that had been piled in the road. They had dug a cattle guard and the road was blocked as there was a 3 foot bank on both sides. I could not get the bike stopped and ended up dumping it against the dirt. About that time a dump truck came and he broke down the bank and pushed two tracks around the dirt pile. I was able to get the bike started and used his tracks to get back to the van. I drove the van up to Mike's sky ranch and picked up my wife and her bike.

She was complaining about the rough road so I took a large white nylon rope and tied her arm against her body and then around the captains chair. When we got to Ensenada I made an illegal turn for that time of day and got stopped by a cop. He looked into the window of the van and saw my wife tied up and it is a very good thing she speaks Spanish as I might have gone to jail. Once he understood what had gone on he told us to follow him and he took us through the housing district so we missed all the speed bumps which made my wife happy.

When we got to the US boarder the guard saw her tied up and wanted to know what was going on. We told him and he waived us through. One of my more interesting days in Baja.

[Edited on 7-25-2026 by wiltonh]

[Edited on 7-26-2026 by wiltonh]

Tioloco - 7-26-2026 at 08:48 AM

Quote: Originally posted by wiltonh

Many yeas ago my wife an I spent some time in San Felipe and were headed back to the states. We were driving a 1976 Dodge van pulling a motorcycle trailer with two motorcycles on board. We had heard of Mike's Sky Ranch but had never been there so we pulled off the highway, parked the van and rode the motorcycles up to the ranch. We headed out on an old road towards the observatory and my wife dumped her bike into a ditch and broke her collarbone. It took a while but I ferried her and the bike back to the ranch where they let her sit in the lobby.

I headed back to get the van and trailer. Part way down the mountain I met a truck load of guys and they were yelling at me in Spanish. I did not understand so I kept on going. I was in a hurry so I was probably doing 70 MPH on the flat when I saw something in the road. I locked up the bike and slid up to dirt that had been piled in the road. They had dug a cattle guard and the road was blocked as there was a 3 foot bank on both sides. I could not get the bike stopped and ended up dumping it against the dirt. About that time a dump truck came and he broke down the bank and pushed two tracks around the dirt pile. I was able to get the bike started and used his tracks to get back to the van. I drove the van up to Mike's sky ranch and picked up my wife and her bike.

She was complaining about the rough road so I took a large white nylon rope and tied her arm against her body and then around the captains chair. When we got to Ensenada I made an illegal turn for that time of day and got stopped by a cop. He looked into the window of the van and saw my wife tied up and it is a very good thing she speaks Spanish as I might have gone to jail. Once he understood what had gone on he told us to follow him and he took us through the housing district so we missed all the speed bumps which made my wife happy.

When we got to the US boarder the guard saw her tied up and wanted to know what was going on. We told him and he waived us through. One of my more interesting days in Baja.

[Edited on 7-25-2026 by wiltonh]

[Edited on 7-26-2026 by wiltonh]

That is an adventure, Wilton! Hopefully your wife maintained her sense of adventure

surfhat - 7-26-2026 at 10:21 AM

Wilton, thanks for sharing your unfortunate and yet still fortunate experience.

Baja Nomad, thanks for providing a source for some to share their

personal adventures.

We all have them and they could fill volumes.

Thanks to all Nomads for this gift.

lencho - 7-26-2026 at 10:25 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Looking back on a 15-year-old post about a 1972 trip.

Hey, Dave-- since you now have your own space, have you considered putting all those Photobucket-watermarked (yuck!) images on VivaBaja and editing those old posts to include the new location? Just saying...

David K - 7-26-2026 at 04:37 PM

Quote: Originally posted by lencho

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Looking back on a 15-year-old post about a 1972 trip.

Any posts that come up, I could, or use Postimages.org, which still is free and no watermark. The other uncool thing Photobucket did was remove the size adjustment so those images are bigger than the Nomad page... quite irritating.

I have replaced some where the watermark was distracting greatly... and resized other down to 800 pixels. Of course, only if I have those photos saved on my PC or can find unblemished ones. The Mike's Sky Rancho brochure images with watermark/above are very easy to read, at least on my PC.

Just make a request on what post or thread you want to be watermark-free, and I will add it to my very large retirement project list! LOL

Thank you!

[Edited on 7-26-2026 by David K]

bajatrailrider - 7-27-2026 at 10:02 AM

Thanks David great post from the past . I used to take all Baja moto tours to Mikes. I know every trail up there always fun. I have not been to Mikes overnight stay in years. WE do stop in for lunch on day trail rides. Any overnight stays at El Coyotes or Meling much better.