Okay amigos, I brought this up in another thread and feel it is time to show my cards!
For starters, I was not the one who 'discovered' the lost lake (it's still lost, anyway)... Baja Nomad BillB showed it to me on his lap top's stored
satellite images... after Viva Baja 4, in Mike Humfreville's hotel room.
Bill (see his pic at http://vivabaja.com/vivabaja4/page2.html )has a Rokon 2 wheel drive motorcycle for exploring Baja. Mcgyver and Corky1 joined with him, looking for
a trail between Huerfanito and El Marmol in El Volcan wash.
He has been seeking a way into SalSiPuedes canyon, following Erle Stanley Gardner's lead (Hovering Over Baja), and has been using satellite images for
routes in. That's when he saw this fair size body of water between Laguna Chapala and the Pacific... the lost lake!
Thanks to our new Baja Nomad amigo, Satellite Man ( http://www.wvvinc.com ), I have some close ups. I am making a web page that might have more and better shots of the image below.... So, stay
tuned Baja exploring fans!!!
[Edited on 9-24-2004 by David K]David K - 9-23-2004 at 06:49 PM
Lost Lake Photo... showing it with bulls eye on it and Laguna Chapala to the northeast.
[Edited on 9-24-2004 by David K]David K - 9-23-2004 at 06:58 PM
Okay, here is a close up photo. To the southwest of the lake, a road can be seen. The bulls eye is in the same spot as the first photo, but this photo
was taken two years later. The lake is 50%+ lower/shallower. The bulls eye in both images is GPS waypoint: N29?15', W114?35', or on the line between
Map 18 and 20 in the Almanac. Just a tiny dry lake is shown on 18.
[Edited on 9-26-2004 by David K]mcgyver - 9-23-2004 at 08:10 PM
Yep!, David as you know you could lose an aircraft carrier back in some of those canyons, we will get too it this year!
I was amazed in one canyon when after traveling 1 1/2 miles by odometer I was only 100 yards from where I started.
I would sure like to see some of the goverments best photos!!Dave - 9-23-2004 at 08:52 PM
Trying to make sense in comparing the two pics as one target is lower left and the other upper right. A compass rose or true north would help.
I think we are up to about 7 "lost lakes", that are year round, with fish, that aren't on any maps. And then there's the other "stuff" not
frequented by the masses !
The Baja Desert, Righty-oh.
PS. When you click on the link, go to pictures in the left column and then go to the "Unknown Lakes" heading.
[Edited on 9/24/2004 by jrbaja]Mexitron - 9-23-2004 at 09:32 PM
The lakes are dry, at least when I've seen them--like Chapala--vernal, although with more green riparian plants around the edges.
Originally posted by Dave
Trying to make sense in comparing the two pics as one target is lower left and the other upper right. A compass rose or true north would help.
Sure Dave, no problema... Both images are like maps with the top being true north. The top image was taken in 1999 and shows a BIG area... almost to
the Pacific, on the left/west edge. The bulls eye is the waypoint 29?15' X 114?35', right on the lake.
The second image was taken two years later and is a closer-in, higher resolution photo. The bulls eye (and the lake) have not moved, the photo is just
centered to the southwest of the lake... instead of the northeast of it, as in first image.
Hope that helps...
[Edited on 9-26-2004 by David K]surfer jim - 9-24-2004 at 07:27 AM
Are these some of the "secret" surf spots in BAJA that no one talks about?....synch - 9-24-2004 at 07:31 AM
The bulls eye and orientation on both maps seems close. I can correlate the strong ridge line to the lower left of the lake in both photos.
Looks like a great adventure but rugged terrain possibly steep mountain sides would mean big bouldered areas so hiking may be your only way to get
there. Lotsa snakes in those boulder fields...synch - 9-24-2004 at 07:34 AM
Looking again I notice the river bed twists and turns probably meaning that is the best way up but probably a lot of altitude gain. What do the
topographical maps say about the elevation change?bajalou - 9-24-2004 at 10:54 AM
David
Here's a 3D projection of the area with the Lost Lake coord's in about the center of the picture. Elevation about 395 meters with sides of the
projection N-S.
[Edited on 9-24-2004 by bajalou]
flyby
jerry - 9-24-2004 at 11:28 AM
someone whos been flying over the area should have some input??Mexitron - 9-24-2004 at 01:05 PM
I'll see if Taco de Baja and Huddo want to drive there to take pics for you this week....we'll be in the sisters anyway.....David K - 9-24-2004 at 07:01 PM
Mexitron, that would be great! Did I understand from your previous post that you have been on that unmapped road and saw the lost lake (as well as El
Islote lake west of Chapala)?
Jerry, it is not under any typical flight paths. Most pilots follow either coast or Highway 1 for VFR in Baja. A compass heading flight from San
Felipe or Rancho Santa Ynez TO Bahia Tortugas is the only way I think a pilot would intentionally fly over that lake...???
Bajalou, love your 3-D program... Can you super-impose a scale so we can get an idea of what area of the Baja Almanac you gave us?
Thanks Baja Explorers!
PS Bill has more satellite images over the past 20 years and says the lake is wet in more than it is dry... I will add them to the web page if he gets
them to me. http://community-2.webtv.net/boojum1/lostlake
[Edited on 9-25-2004 by David K]bajalou - 9-25-2004 at 04:38 PM
David I'll try and possibly overlay with the Inegi topo for the area - gives you some more idea of the terrain. Satellite Man - 9-25-2004 at 05:43 PM
Hi all,
Following are some 3D renderings of the ?Lost Lake? area. Enjoy and feel free to ask questions. Satellite Man - 9-25-2004 at 05:44 PM
Satellite Man - 9-25-2004 at 05:45 PM
ISN'T THIS FUN?!
David K - 9-25-2004 at 07:46 PM
Thank you Satellite Man... Exploring Baja on the Internet is the next best thing to actually being there!!!TMW - 9-26-2004 at 10:23 AM
David the dry lake you mention on page 18 of the almanac is at 29-15. That trail thru there from the pacific to Chapala is the original 2003 Baja 1000
course. It was not used due to the heavy silt beds. I preran that section and we passed two dry lake beds.
Turn from pacific at 29-10-49 x 114-44-20 elev-100ft.
1st dry lake at 29-15-07 x 114-33-43 elev-1188ft.
2nd dry lake at 29-20-54 x 114-26-52 elev-2139ft. This El Islote on map page 18.bajalou - 9-26-2004 at 10:56 AM
Thanks SM Those are great - adding the overhead photo to the 3D does wonders - maybe in another 4-5 years I'll have figured out how to do it almost as
well as you.
Yes TW, 29 degrees 15 minutes... thank you!
David K - 9-26-2004 at 10:56 AM
Thanks for pointing out my typo, on my web page I had the correct latitude.
Since you drove that road, does it go onto the lake bed and that's where you got the waypoint, or just near the bed? When it is full of water (like in
the photos) I guess there's a dry road detour if the road is on the lake?
Can you describe the road between Chapala and the coast? 4WD needed, any bad places (I hope ). Does the road drive on El Islote... that seems like a bigger lake than Chapala?TMW - 9-26-2004 at 11:17 AM
David there were 6 of us in three trucks. At the turn off at the coast there is this huge slit area as shown on the map page 18 upper left called
Playa Christie. It's about 2 miles across maybe more. Another couple of miles and you climb up out of the valley. The best I recall is the dry lakes
were both to the left of the road. We were just on the edge of them. They were both dry when we preran but if it were to rain I could see they could
be a problem. I went thru in my Toyota in 4 wheel drive but other than the soft silt the road is good for 2 wheel drive. We were among the first to
prerun in there so the silt was not too bad. We were with Stuart Chase and he had lost front wheel drive on his Tahoe 4x4 before this. He had no
problems in there. This road is not as difficult as the road further south on page 20 that goes east by Cordornices out to hwy 1 at KM252.David K - 9-26-2004 at 11:32 AM
Fantastic Tom, thanks!
Playa Christie and the silt beds are actually on Map 20 (see how easy it is to goof on numbers like I did?)...
The next road south, which is mapped, via San Antonio (Codornices) is tougher, you say... interesting! 4baja has used it to get from the Pacific to
L.A. Bay, but says there is an unmapped short-cut from near Cordonices (San Antonio) to Hwy. 1 near the (old or new?) L.A. Bay junction.
So much Baja... So little time!TMW - 9-26-2004 at 12:00 PM
Thanks David. The tough part about the road thru San Antonio is when coming west to east you have to climb up a fairly long rocky hill and depending
on rains etc it can be problem. Going east to west is a lot easier as it's down hill. Also at the bottom of the hill you travel thru a sand wash and
if you have a 2 wheel drive truck you better know what your doing when going west to east especially. I've been both ways and it's a fun route. It's
been two years since I've been that way but there were two recent ranchos in there. One near the bottom of the hill near the wash and the other about
half way.Satellite Man - 9-26-2004 at 05:21 PM
Hi all,
I thought you might enjoy this little fly through of the ?Lost Lake? area that I did with satellite imagery. So, read on to get Lost Lake the Movie!
I?m going to share the movie file through my Yahoo account. Because of file size limitation I?ve had to break the file into 6 parts with HjSplit. So
you will have to put them back together with Join.
The files are large (about 13 megs each). So, I would recommend that you have a high-speed connection such as DSL or Cable
I?ve included Join with the downloads, so just follow the instruction bellow:
3. Right mouse click on the first file and Save Target As?.
4. Save the file in a directory specified by you. DO NOT change file names!
5. Repeat the same for the remaining files and make sure you save all the files in the same directory.
6. Now it?s time to join them: Double click on Join32.exe. This will automatically join the file and give it the output file name:
loast_lake_movie_2.avi
7. If Join32.exe doesn?t work for you then try Join16.exe
8. Now you can watch the movie by double clicking on loast_lake_movie_2.avi
Good luck and let me know what you think.
By the way, the files will be deleted in about 5 days.
Lost Lake on 1962 Map
David K - 9-26-2004 at 08:16 PM
From the Lower California Guidebook, here is part of Map #7 showing central Baja, far from any paved roads, then!
The triangle shaped lakebed between Chapala and the Pacific is the 'Lost Lake'.
Lost Lake fishing
thebajarunner - 9-26-2004 at 08:34 PM
Baja Vida claims he caught a native Brook trout in that lake last year....
but we mostly kept him in camp, so I cannot vouch for the veracity of his report.
Baja Arriba!!David K - 9-26-2004 at 11:20 PM
What... no giant black snook? Did Ray Cannon fish out the lost lake, too?synch - 9-27-2004 at 08:17 AM
On the black & white map from 1962 Lake Chapala is dead center on the map - I had to hunt for it and post this so others may easily find it.
Pretty cool adventure!
[Edited on 9-27-2004 by synch]
Directions to Lost Lake?
David K - 9-29-2004 at 10:23 PM
Sorry... It's LOST!!!
David K - 11-11-2004 at 09:12 PM
This was fun... exploring Baja from Satellite Man's images! When are we going? Desertbull - 11-11-2004 at 10:36 PM
Good info TW...
Actually WB and myself worked that early before the race course was published...and a couple "other guys" who were working with us drove to the edge
of the water...yes, there were rains at the time and it had water in it...and they reported it was not passable...we jogged off to the south a bit and
there is a very noticable go around...on the higher portion of the lake bed...anyway, from that moment on its been renamed in our group as Laguna
Pende-Oh (sp)...and we call those two lost souls the Harbormasters of Laguna Pende-Oh...all in good fun, but horrible to hear yourself referred to on
the radio at the "Harbormaster of Laguna Pende-Oh...
TW...when we went through there that so-called silt bed was NADA...a month later during the early first days of the open prerun...it was brutal hence
the change in the course...some gorgeous stuff back in that area..and you dead on about climbing those iffy rock slithered roads in and out of the
access...Good find.
