BajaNomad

Baja Discussion: Your story of this Part of Baja...

David K - 11-2-2013 at 10:28 AM

How about we pick an area of Baja, as seen on the map below... and share our travel stories and photos (if any) of that area?

The map is from the 1962 Lower California Guidebook, so no paved roads on it...

This one small part of Baja has so many hot spots:


motoged - 11-2-2013 at 10:45 AM

2005....my fourth moto-ride to Baja....but first on dirtbike....the old road wasn't really that bad....just needed to dodge the rocks :tumble:




And always thought, "I like the location, but wouldn't want to dig an outhouse hole here":







And could buy some cookie package...."pero sin gasolina":






But it eventually led to Heaven:




I never thought Puertecitos was that attractive:


David K - 11-2-2013 at 11:00 AM

Nice Ged!

On the map:

El Muerto (Dead Man Island):



'Ruins' (El Almacén)...




Okie Landing...



El Huerfanito (Little Orphan Island)...

Jack Swords - 11-2-2013 at 11:31 AM

Great area for exploration. El Marmol is fun to explore with the two cemeteries, discarded cars, airport (well, kinda), and up to El Volcán with the not-so-tasty spring. Can't beat the hike up to Mission Santa Maria de Los Angeles with the thick vegetation, gold mining areas, year-round streams, incredible views, and the mission site(s) themselves. One of the best areas in Baja. Thanks David.

David K - 11-2-2013 at 12:45 PM

De nada Jack... and I am hoping for more stories and photos... of the places on that map...

El Marmol...











Statue made from El Marmol's onyx:

chippy - 11-2-2013 at 01:07 PM

I believe it was San Augustin that had a landing strip in the early 70s? I bought avgas somewhere near there back then. WOW my baja bug frickin hauled ass for a day.:bounce: Then it was back to NOVA:no:

[Edited on 11-2-2013 by chippy]

[Edited on 11-2-2013 by chippy]

David K - 11-2-2013 at 02:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chippy
I believe it was San Augustin that had a landing strip in the early 70s? I bought avgas somewhere near there back then. WOW my baja bug frickin hauled burro for a day.:bounce: Then it was back to NOVA:no:



The El Marmol airport was about 2 miles from the village, parallel to the road... The mine boss (Ken Brown) used to fly in and out from San Diego.

We checked it out in 2006, and saw how the army ditched it so it couldn't be used by drug trafficers...





On Google Earth:

Santa Maria

Jack Swords - 11-2-2013 at 03:04 PM

Mission Santa Maria
[img]http://[/img]

Jack Swords - 11-2-2013 at 03:06 PM

Mission in the distance
[img]http://[/img]

Jack Swords - 11-2-2013 at 03:08 PM

Lots of water for bathing near the mission
[img]http://[/img]

Jack Swords - 11-2-2013 at 03:11 PM

Road in, 4WD

[img]http://[/img]

Jack Swords - 11-2-2013 at 03:17 PM

Lots of area for mission farming. This is a fascinating area with stone corrals, sleeping circles, and petros. Well worth the trip driving in.

[img]http://[/img]

David K - 11-2-2013 at 05:06 PM

Sweet photos Jack! Mission Impossible to some, as it is one of the most challenging 4WD trails in Baja!

Climbing the Widowmaker... 1 mile from the mission, on the way out:



great pics

captkw - 11-2-2013 at 05:29 PM

I have not been there (yet)...and I don't think my VOLVO is up to the drive...I'll rent a burro...one of my morgans would have toar that up !! DK is there any place IN BAJA YOU HAVE..ooops!! not took a photo of ??...Thanx....K&T:cool:

David K - 11-2-2013 at 05:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by captkw
I have not been there (yet)...and I don't think my VOLVO is up to the drive...I'll rent a burro...one of my morgans would have toar that up !! DK is there any place IN BAJA YOU HAVE..ooops!! not took a photo of ??...Thanx....K&T:cool:


For sure... there is a lot MORE Baja that I haven't been to! That is why this is a magic peninsula... the adventures never end: "So Much Baja... So Little Time!"

The key is, I keep my photos and memories of my Baja trips close to my heart... and I seek out fascinating places. Depending how this thread goes, I will do another map of a small area of Baja, and we can share places on it with each other.

David K - 11-2-2013 at 05:55 PM

Still not discussed, but on the map:
Agua Dulce,
San Luis,
La Virgen,
El Volcan, etc.

DK

captkw - 11-2-2013 at 05:56 PM

You,amigo are truly a asset !!! Thank you....K&T

watizname - 11-3-2013 at 08:51 AM

Very cool. That's some serious 4x4 chit.:O

David K - 11-3-2013 at 09:28 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by watizname
Very cool. That's some serious 4x4 chit.:O


Yes, and on the same road, a half mile from the Widowmaker, is the BOG:











All that to get to a mission!





At an oasis...







The ranch folks of Santa Ynez tried to build the road past the mission to Gonzaga Bay... but gave up when they reached the edge of the canyon and Hwy. 1 was built, reducing the time to drive the long way around to the bay. Here is the last section of the road that was built...



Here is EL CAMINO REAL (the first 'Baja Highway' from the 1700's) where it enters the Santa Maria valley, coming from Mission San Borja:

jbcoug - 11-3-2013 at 11:04 AM

David,
You shared a picture of a statue made from El Marmol onyx. Where is that statue displayed?

John

TMW - 11-3-2013 at 11:11 AM

The El Volcan mission search.

Part 1
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=52720

Part 2
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=52720

Skipjack Joe - 11-3-2013 at 11:30 AM

The following story took place in July 1978, returning home from Pt Escondido. The repair was done at El Marmol.

-------------------------------------------------------

It was over all too soon. We woke Feliciano at dawn to say goodbye and headed north. Little did we know that baja had one more surprise in store for us. Somewhere between Catavina and El Rosaria I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that the boat seemed a bit lower than it should have been. An inspection revealed that the frame of the trailer had cracked on the right side. What to do? We were in the middle of nowhere. A car went by every 45 minutes.

We pulled the boat off and laid it by the side of the road. The trailer frame was lashed together with the spare rope. We decided to separate. Val and Nadine would stay with the boat while Vera and I would go scouting for help. It seemed like a mad plan at the time as there was nothing but an occasional rancho within miles. Nadine, who is actually an accomplished painter, decided not to waste time. She set up her easel and oils and went to work.

Vera and I drove north looking for anyone or anything that could get us out of our predicament. We soon reached an SCT building and asked around. A fairly attractive attendant gestured, holding her index finger an inch from her thumb, smiled, and walked out the back door. Vera pulled me aside and asked me if I understood the gesture. It was their way of saying un momentito (wait a moment). She was far better than I in picking up these nuances. After a lot of background verbiage she reemerged and offered to take us somewhere for the repairs. We climbed back into our Maverick and drove off into the desert. Our vehicle weaved through fields of desert cactus and brush on a dirt road that seemed to go nowhere.

Finally, to my amazement, we came to a field with enormous mounds of dirt and the sound of heavy machinery. It was a mining excavation of some sort. Our companion got out and explained the problem to one of the workers. He left us for a short period of time and then showed up with an acetylene tank and proceeded to weld my trailer back together. I could not believe my good fortune. I offered to pay him for his services but he absolutely refused anything from me. I pleaded some more but the man wouldn't accept a dime. I soon understood that my offers were actually insulting him. He finally suggested that I might buy him a cerveza, and so I got him a six pack.

On the way back to the highway the lady asked us if we could somehow get her into the United States. She complained of being bored here in baja, that life was passing her by. I couldn't believe my ears. She was living in paradise and yet longed for the suburbs of Los Angeles.

By the time we reached our friends it was sunset. The desert was lit up with that golden glow we had grown to love so much. The glow we like to watch on the Sierra Giganta every morning from our campsite at Pt. Escondido. Nadine was now working feverishly to get it all on canvas before the light faded.

BajaBlanca - 11-3-2013 at 11:47 AM

I am also curious as to the statue ???? where is it located ???? TJ? Mexico City? It sure is big.

motoged - 11-3-2013 at 12:29 PM

Several years ago I rode my 450 KTM solo up to the Widowmaker...and my better sense told me not to go down as going up might give this hill its reward :O





I have helmet cam video of the ride all the way from the Catavina hotel and back (just haven't posted it as it is several house of video)...and watch it from time to time when I need a hit ;D

The American guy who has a ranch just north of Rancho Santa Inez intercepted me on my way east of his place at a fork in the trail (I had turned south and ended up in a goat corral....and met him back at the fork I needed to take (I left the spoons :biggrin:).

We chatted and soon learned he had met a Kamloops legend (Al Perret....Baja 1000 moto-racer who teams up with Malcolm Smith and Bill Nichols to win their class !!!) when Al needed some welding and/or chain repair done....

This gentleman cautioned me about my riding solo ("A young guy and his girlfriend had problems with a broken limb out there...." ), so I thanked him and assured him I wasn't going to get myself in trouble... :saint:

We parted ways and it was one of my best solo rides in Baja.

I never made it to the mission....but will try next time I am there with riding buddies .

David K - 11-3-2013 at 04:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by jbcoug
David,
You shared a picture of a statue made from El Marmol onyx. Where is that statue displayed?

John


From an article I wrote for Baja Bound:

Onyx harvested from El Marmol was used to make ornamental objects, inkwells, bookends, statues, and more. A bathtub for the silent film era's vamp Theda Bara came from a block of El Marmol onyx. In 1936, a 60-ton, 38-foot high statue named Vision of Peace, in Saint Paul, Minnesota was made from El Marmol's blocks of onyx. Originally named 'Indian God of Peace', it is considered the largest carved onyx statue in the world. The giant statue sits on a slowly revolving base at the entrance to the city hall and county courthouse in Saint Paul.

The entire article and photos: http://www.bajabound.com/bajaadventures/bajatravel/the_onyx_...

LoyeB - 11-4-2013 at 02:32 AM

So the question I have is...is the widowmakers possible with a 4X4 tacoma with 32" ties, no mods.

TMW - 11-4-2013 at 10:06 AM

A 93 toyota with 31 inch tires did it.

David K - 11-4-2013 at 10:49 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by LoyeB
So the question I have is...is the widowmakers possible with a 4X4 tacoma with 32" ties, no mods.


My three stock Tacomas all made it, with stock tires (31")... a 2001 xtra cab and a 2005 and 2010 double cab.

The deal maker is they all were Off Road TRD 4WD Tacomas (locking rear differential or A-TRAC equipped).

In 2003:


In 2007:


Here's a photo of The Squarecircle's Land Rover on the Widowmaker:



In 2010:
edm1's 4WD van/motorhome and a stock Toyota 4Runner (BajaTripper's) behind... coming down the Widowmwker.



Of interest on the stock question... the 4Runner (no rear locker) had no problem climbing the Widowmaker, but he did require getting pulled through the bog, both directions.

See more, and road details on these web pages: http://vivabaja.com/msm and http://vivabaja.com/msm2010

TMW - 11-4-2013 at 11:17 AM

About 6-8 years ago Nomad Corky 1 and I met at Rancho Santa Ines to do some motorcycle riding in the Catavina area. Actually we were looking for a MC route down El Volcan arroyo to the Sea of Cortez. It was April so the weather was great. Corky was in his motor home and I had a room at the rancho. We left early in the morning for El Marmol then on to El Volcan.

Turning into the sandy wash and riding down it turned into an exercise of torment. In some areas we had to walk and half carry the bikes over the rocks. There would be a good section of sand to ride then another section of rocks. After a couple of miles we took a rest break. I told Corky I would walk ahead and see if it gets any better. He was scanning the ridges for a possible way up to maybe a mesa type area.

I walked for maybe another mile or more to a switchback type area that dropped down maybe 20+ feet with the wash turning left. Large boulder type rocks were everywhere. In my opinion even a trials rider would have problems. The wash traveled another 1/4 mile or more and made a turn to the right with lots of big rocks along the way. This was the end of the line.





I walked back to Corky and we both agreed there was no route east in this area and it was time to head back to the ranch. After the same difficulties going over, around and thru the rocks we made it out to Hwy 1. We're pretty beat wrestling the bikes up and down the wash. Down the road a little ways is a loncheria. We stop in and have a coke, just what the doctor ordered, it got our energy back.

That evening we are having dinner at the ranch and there are several others in the dining room. One lady had her fingers in a cast like wrap, I don't remember exactly how it was done. Anyway I asked her what happen and she said she fell off a horse, or maybe it was a mule. She was riding the King's Highway with Nomad Baja Bucko thru back country and going downhill when something spooked the animal and she fell off breaking her fingers. It was a great evening of story telling and meeting other Baja adventurers.

AGUA DULCE, historic spring on El Camino Real

David K - 11-4-2013 at 11:42 AM

Located just a couple miles drive off Hwy. 1, between San Agustin and Cataviña...



Here is where the access road from Km. 160.5 meets the Old Main Baja Road. Photo looking southbound on the Old Road. The entrance road to Agua Dulce is just a short distance north from here...




Elizabeth at Agua Dulce... Turn north from Hwy. 1 between
Km. 160-161. Go 1.4 mi. to old Baja main road
(previous photo), turn left for 0.3 mi. then right 0.3 more. Hike into gully.

Visit in Nov. 2002:


A lone blue palm grows from the gully containing the large spring. Located along the El Camino Real, Agua Dulce was a vital water source for early travels. GPS at the water's edge is N29°52.97'/ W114°49.38' (NAD27).



Agua Dulce is midway between the missions of Santa Maria and San Fernando and has been a major water source for travelers from prehistoric times until the 20th century.


!977 Map of El Camino Real from Harry Crosby's research.

David K - 11-4-2013 at 12:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TW
About 6-8 years ago Nomad Corky 1 and I met at Rancho Santa Ines to do some motorcycle riding in the Catavina area. Actually we were looking for a MC route down El Volcan arroyo to the Sea of Cortez. It was April so the weather was great. Corky was in his motor home and I had a room at the rancho. We left early in the morning for El Marmol then on to El Volcan.

Turning into the sandy wash and riding down it turned into an exercise of torment. In some areas we had to walk and half carry the bikes over the rocks. There would be a good section of sand to ride then another section of rocks. After a couple of miles we took a rest break. I told Corky I would walk ahead and see if it gets any better. He was scanning the ridges for a possible way up to maybe a mesa type area.

I walked for maybe another mile or more to a switchback type area that dropped down maybe 20+ feet with the wash turning left. Large boulder type rocks were everywhere. In my opinion even a trials rider would have problems. The wash traveled another 1/4 mile or more and made a turn to the right with lots of big rocks along the way. This was the end of the line.

I walked back to Corky and we both agreed there was no route east in this area and it was time to head back to the ranch. After the same difficulties going over, around and thru the rocks we made it out to Hwy 1. We're pretty beat wrestling the bikes up and down the wash. Down the road a little ways is a loncheria. We stop in and have a coke, just what the doctor ordered, it got our energy back.

That evening we are having dinner at the ranch and there are several others in the dining room. One lady had her fingers in a cast like wrap, I don't remember exactly how it was done. Anyway I asked her what happen and she said she fell off a horse, or maybe it was a mule. She was riding the King's Highway with Nomad Baja Bucko thru back country and going downhill when something spooked the animal and she fell off breaking her fingers. It was a great evening of story telling and meeting other Baja adventurers.


Neat story TW... it sure wasn't any easier in 2011 when we searched for elbeau's lost Santa Isabel mission in El Volcan arroyo! That was a fun hike, even without the Jesuit treasure in our hands!

Where you also with Corky on the other side, checking out the arroyo only to find a dry waterfall that couldn't be scaled? I think it was 'BillB' (Rokon 2WD MC) and 'gilaoro' Max on that search with Corky???

Barry A. - 11-4-2013 at 12:10 PM

Wow, David--------If a ROKON can't make it, nothing can!?!?!?!?

http://www.rokon.com/

Barry

TMW - 11-4-2013 at 12:27 PM

No DK, I wasn't with them on that one.

[Edited on 11-4-2013 by TW]

David K - 11-4-2013 at 04:04 PM

10-4 Tom...

Barry, right?! It is an awesome bike indeed... BillB bought it to try and get into (and out of) SalSiPuedes Canyon (north of dry lakes near Bahia de los Angeles) after reading Erle Stanley Gardner's book...

Barry A. - 11-4-2013 at 04:11 PM

David --------That is exactly why I wanted one, but never acted on that thought. Did BillB ever actually try and get in to Salsipuedes??? What a GREAT trip THAT would be!!!!

(Somehow I think we have had this conversation before?!?!?!?) :o:lol:

Barry

David K - 11-4-2013 at 04:47 PM

Bill had set up base camp on the north dry lake bed (as did Uncle Erle) and even found the place where the Gardner party lowered the Pak Jaks down into the canyon by rope.

Because of new roads (north of Desengaño) to a ranch (San Luis) which is at the head of SalSiPuedes... he found access easier that way... This is what I recall from our chats and emails of several years ago.

Bill also climbed up to the DC-3 plane wreck on Cerro La Gobernadora (the mountain just east of El Crucero, Sierra la Asamblea... Gardner mentions.

Alas, BillB has only posted here 12 times from 2005 to 2009...

Last post by BillB was in the thread about the mystery walls at Bahia las Animas (Choral Pepper believed was the Jesuit 'started' mission site Santa Maria Magdalena), discovered by the Gardner expedition of Feb. 1966: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=36261

Barry A. - 11-4-2013 at 06:18 PM

No more posts from GilaOro, either. Used to hear from him all the time. I think he had health problem several years ago.

Boy, I would sure love to get into those canyons north of BOLA and south of Calamajue (sp?), but they are so big and long that you would need some type of vehicle to do them justice. (Rokon) Also you would need several days in there.

thanks, David.

Barry

David K - 11-4-2013 at 07:31 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Barry A.
No more posts from GilaOro, either. Used to hear from him all the time. I think he had health problem several years ago.

Boy, I would sure love to get into those canyons north of BOLA and south of Calamajue (sp?), but they are so big and long that you would need some type of vehicle to do them justice. (Rokon) Also you would need several days in there.

thanks, David.

Barry


Yah, he sold his beach house project to Wild Bill and stopped coming south. He was an avid gold prospector and told me of some cool places I need to investigate. Baja is so wonderful!

Neal Johns posted a photo of GilaOro and wife Polly with Neal's esposa Marian, in Feb. 2003:



I went off roading with Max and Polly a couple months later (Matomi and San Fermin areas):


Lunch stop.

Osprey - 6-13-2015 at 12:59 PM

David, you probably know the dates on this and I don't. In the summer of 1969 I flew from Las Vegas to southern Baja in a Beech Bonanza. The pilot, a contractor from Vegas said he walked into mission Santa Maria from the east 14 months before Earl Stanley Gardner went there. He was proud of that and sent Gardner a Polaroid picture of the mission site with the date on it.

The fishing at Guaymas was not that good so we went across to the peninsula, he found the mission from the air and buzzed it a couple of times before we went on to finally arrive at what is now Los Barriles. One of the Verdugo family members in Los Barriles remembered guiding him and his friends to the mission when he was just a boy.

[Edited on 6-13-2015 by Osprey]

bajaric - 6-13-2015 at 03:22 PM

Many beautiful images. I enjoyed all of the pictures in the canyons around the old abandoned mission on the widow maker road. The old ruins from the placer diggings were great. Thanks, Ric

bajacamper - 6-13-2015 at 06:18 PM

Thanks to all. Not quite as good as being there with you, but almost!!

David K - 6-14-2015 at 06:25 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Osprey  
David, you probably know the dates on this and I don't. In the summer of 1969 I flew from Las Vegas to southern Baja in a Beech Bonanza. The pilot, a contractor from Vegas said he walked into mission Santa Maria from the east 14 months before Earl Stanley Gardner went there. He was proud of that and sent Gardner a Polaroid picture of the mission site with the date on it.

The fishing at Guaymas was not that good so we went across to the peninsula, he found the mission from the air and buzzed it a couple of times before we went on to finally arrive at what is now Los Barriles. One of the Verdugo family members in Los Barriles remembered guiding him and his friends to the mission when he was just a boy.

[Edited on 6-13-2015 by Osprey]


Hi Osprey,
I am not familiar with that story... Do you have more details?

Osprey - 6-14-2015 at 09:36 PM

No, all I can find is the "Hover" book by Gardner was published in 1961 and I think he went to Santa Maria in 1960. The contractor's name was James Patterson who flew all over Baja in several planes -- we went in a Beech but he was a real Piper freak for rough, short strips. In Los Barriles we stayed in the one lone building then on the beach by the strip. It is preserved now inside Palmas de Cortez, used to be the old restaurant/theater.

David K - 6-15-2015 at 08:17 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Osprey  
No, all I can find is the "Hover" book by Gardner was published in 1961 and I think he went to Santa Maria in 1960. The contractor's name was James Patterson who flew all over Baja in several planes -- we went in a Beech but he was a real Piper freak for rough, short strips. In Los Barriles we stayed in the one lone building then on the beach by the strip. It is preserved now inside Palmas de Cortez, used to be the old restaurant/theater.


Right, that's the only book I can think of (of Erle's) that has a Mission Santa Maria photo in it...? J.W. Black drove one of his Grasshopper's to the mission (about 1964-65 I think) just as Fred Hampe completed the road from Rancho Santa Ynez to it. I have a photo of that in my box from Choral Pepper.

Udo - 6-15-2015 at 02:41 PM

I would like to contribute to this thread, but all my photos are about the same as DK's.

My first trip in that direction was in 1977 and it was in a CJ-5. My second trip was in FJ Cruiser and 30 years later. Not much had changed except that the trail seems to have gotten rockier, from what I recall from 30 years earlier.

Marc - 6-15-2015 at 05:47 PM

Well my story ends with surgery. I'll get into it later.


[Edited on 6-16-2015 by BajaNomad]

David K - 6-16-2015 at 07:43 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Udo  
I would like to contribute to this thread, but all my photos are about the same as DK's.

My first trip in that direction was in 1977 and it was in a CJ-5. My second trip was in FJ Cruiser and 30 years later. Not much had changed except that the trail seems to have gotten rockier, from what I recall from 30 years earlier.


I would like to see them, none-the-less, Udo! It is a fascinating and beautiful part of Baja that most here do not get to see in person because of the kind of 'road' that must be traveled.

bajaric - 6-20-2015 at 04:41 PM

Anyone wants to share tips about precious yellow metal with me I would be glad to investigate and report back ;)

[Edited on 6-21-2015 by bajaric]

David K - 6-21-2015 at 09:24 AM

Quote: Originally posted by bajaric  
DK, If you would like to privately share some of gilaoro's info with me I would be glad to investigate and report back. ;)


What I know is nothing private, posted on forums years ago, just that he also went as 'Max in Yuma', and sold their vacation home project at Playa Cristina to a couple I know. He was very nice and wanted to take me prospecting. I miss him being here, friendship is more precious than gold.

David K - 7-7-2017 at 09:56 AM

One of the great Nomad threads.

Does anyone else have a story about this part of Baja?

Pete - 12-7-2020 at 12:19 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  
Nice Ged!

On the map:

El Muerto (Dead Man Island):



'Ruins' (El Almac�n)...




Okie Landing...



El Huerfanito (Little Orphan Island)...



I camped with the view of Isla el Muerto, and noticed two large striped poles on the south end of the island. Anyone have any idea what these are?

AKgringo - 12-7-2020 at 12:40 PM

Quote: Originally posted by motoged  


And always thought, "I like the location, but wouldn't want to dig an outhouse hole here":





Ged, I was there less than three weeks ago! It is hard to tell if the building was ever finished before being abandoned.....another mystery project?

David K - 12-7-2020 at 12:58 PM

It looked that way in 2001, too.

del mar - 12-7-2020 at 01:04 PM

I had often seen military holed up there......and its a looong way down!:o

AKgringo - 12-7-2020 at 01:08 PM

Quote: Originally posted by del mar  
I had often seen military holed up there......and its a looong way down!:o


Definitely no place for kids, pets, or drunks!

4x4abc - 12-7-2020 at 09:58 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Jack Swords  
Great area for exploration. El Marmol is fun to explore with the two cemeteries, discarded cars, airport (well, kinda), and up to El Volc�n with the not-so-tasty spring. Can't beat the hike up to Mission Santa Maria de Los Angeles with the thick vegetation, gold mining areas, year-round streams, incredible views, and the mission site(s) themselves. One of the best areas in Baja. Thanks David.


Jack, I only know the cemetery south of the road - where is the other one?

bajaric - 12-8-2020 at 05:33 AM

Here is a little share, the larger arroyos in that area all normally bone dry where Hwy5 crosses over them, but some have water in the higher elevations. After the remnants of hurricane Rosa dumped six inches of rain in the area, flash floods flowed all the way to the sea, and for a couple of weeks afterwards there were little running streams that extended to within a mile of the highway before they sank into the sands. I hiked up in there and was surprised to see thousands of pollywogs swimming in the green algae laden water. A month later it was all dry again, with only a white stain left in the bottom of the arroyos. It was like there were a bunch of frogs just waiting to lay their eggs when the time was right, but the weird thing is that this was 3 miles below where the water is normally present.
edit: Hwy 5!


pollywogs 1.jpg - 134kB pollywogs 2.jpg - 143kB

btw Pete, at night you may notice the striped poles have blinking lights on top of them --







[Edited on 12-8-2020 by bajaric]

bajaric - 12-8-2020 at 09:40 AM

Details, details. yes Hwy 5, edited.
that is Miramar
Since you took that pic of El Almecen, someone built a rock structure next to it, and a few years ago there were some trailers parked there. They must have been squatters, because the trailers were all removed, and the road to get in there from the south (Old Hwy 5) was fenced off.

David K - 12-8-2020 at 10:37 AM

Interesting!

A question, are the little caves still up in Arroyo Miramar that miners/ prospectors lived in? I was looking at Howard Gulick's photos from the 50's and early 60s, and saw them there.

Skipjack Joe - 12-8-2020 at 10:48 AM

It's sad to read posts from those who are no longer with us.

David K - 12-8-2020 at 11:08 AM

Osprey ('Jorge') was a great guy, indeed. I am so glad I met him, in 2017. I could finally give him a copy of the book he wrote such a nice reference to.

bajaric - 12-8-2020 at 01:13 PM

Some of those old posters were really great. I was not on here then but seems like some of the esprit de corps has been lost with their passing.

DK, I have seen the pictures of those old miner's caves, dug in a cliff on the south side of the arroyo, in the UCSD digital photography collection. You can still see the same cliff, but no caves, other than a couple of small ones by the new bridge. I think the caves may have been buried under sediments from flash floods.

The "Ruins" were built by a mining outfit around 1905. The miners were Yaqui Indians from Sonora, who dug the caves to sleep in. Since the El Camino Real coming north from Gonazaga turned west up towards Santa Maria before arriving at this stretch of coastline, there was no trail to easily access this area, and prospectors did not discover the Miramar deposit until relatively late in the mining era in Baja.





[Edited on 12-8-2020 by bajaric]

[Edited on 12-8-2020 by bajaric]

David K - 12-8-2020 at 06:15 PM

Thanks Ric,
The old mine maps of 1905 show a trail from El Mármol to the gulf, perhaps in Arroyo El Volcán. When some of us Nomads/ Amigos de Baja explored and found a waterfall (dry) that prevented El Volcán as a passageway... at least now.

In 1956, the Miramar mine warehouse, El Almacén.



The cave homes by the Miramar placer fields.





Thanks to Howard Gulick for taking so many wonderful photos, 70 years ago!