Trips to Pta. Chivato...'Back In The Day'

PTA. CHIVATO –PHOTOS FROM BACK IN THE DAY


These are accounts and old photos of Chivato from ‘Baja Back In The Day.’ From 1975-1987. I hope you enjoy this walk back in time with me. I’m sure it’s no surprise that I have quite a few photos, but never fear, I’ll be posting them in installments so as not to overwhelm you. Please forgive the fuzziness of a few of them. It seems my cats have learned to scan photos and type.

Naw, those are the ‘captures’ I’ve made made from movie frames and they lack the sharpness of normal photographs. Personally, I think the process makes them look like….Daguerreotypes? Okay then, how about …Tintypes? Ambrotypes? Stereographs? Fuzzy fotos? Well if you don’t like those....look first, then pick your own adjective.

The old place has changed considerably today. You’d hardly recognize it from the old days. A long string of houses are now where there was once only a lonely stretch of beach and shells. Comforts are available at every local. Well, that’s okay…it’s progress and everyone deserves their piece of paradise.

Flying over Punta Chivato a few years ago.





1977 Punta Chivato – Hotel and airstrip (pista)




1977 The Casa Grande




Punta Chivato.

We arrived there by plane, by boat, by buggy, and by car. And then, there was the time we came by taxi…on the insistant advice of the Mulege police chief. We had many years of Baja events with Bill Alvarado, Doc Lyons, and George Staples..owners and operators of the place for that period of time. (Lou Federico built the original resort and hotel in 1966 after a few years of planning and preparation.) Boating, fishing, hunting, camping, diving, flying, windsurfing, desert trekking, carrying-on, rescuing senoritas, saving beer bottles….you name it, we did it. Maybe these scenes will spark some of ‘your’ memories of days gone by.


THE ROAD TO PTA. CHIVATO (No…not an old Bob Hope and Bing Crosby movie) Perhaps ‘road’ is too good a term. Back in the day, it was little better than a goat path…when passable at all.

The approximate 12 miles from the highway to the hotel was a real nightmare most of the time. (Distances changed with road conditions and grader driver’s temperament.) Good old ‘4 or 40’ type.

WASHBOARD ROADS were the norm back in the day. And still are…some things never change, right? A true old Baja trail. That 4 or 40 saying summed it up very well. You could take your sweet time…or you could pick your teeth up on the way back.




Sometimes you’d rather drive on the shoulder as it was lots smoother.




ROAD DUST CLOUD….A good oncoming traffic signal. You could tell by the dust storm coming!




We, the crew from the Casa Grande, would often have impromptu races from the hotel to the highway at Palo Verde. About 12 miles as the beers bounced. We would use our walkie-talkies and CB radios and station observers every so often…just in case anybody got on the track in the middle. With tall flags attached we’d race against each other or just the clock. I believe my record time of 20 minutes stood for the length of time we had those wild-burro races. I knew the course very well, and used my DU Blazer with deflated tires to cushion the rough parts. Shown here on a sharptail hunt in the Badlands of ND in the same time period.



Our first Road Signs were a nice surprise.

I always got a chuckle out of this restriction that friend George put up. If you were a first timer, how the hell were you supposed to know how to get the hotel? The only access trail came to 4-way intersection at the air strip. It’s true we all disliked crowds, but this was a bit much.


Another sign added later on.




This photo shows the old Casa Grande where I occasionally stayed ashore with Bill A., Doc Lyons, and George S. It had a nice fishing and boat pier with steps down to the beach.

CASA GRANDE FROM THE WATER






The hotel as seen from water. At this time the empty hotel rooms were rented out for $5 per night. A bare bones room, with no facilities. Nothing, no furniture, nada…just a bare room out of the weather….but with a killer view and a cozy fireplace. Firewood was extra. Delivered free for senoritas



Not a bad view for $5 a night.




Top left is an always-active Doc shaking out a rug. Then some lobster diving off the nearby points.

George was the champion scuba diver among us. Those biggest bugs were truly monsters. George was a very happy and active fellow...always on the go. His manner fell somewhere between a human ray of sunshine and an over-caffeinated hamster.

Playing cards with George on a ferry crossing from Guaymas. Also shown is a 2-story stone home we co-owned on the hill above Conception Bay’s Posada development. Fine times were had there, too...even though you had to put a coaster on top of your glass to catch the bugs and chewings falling from the palapa roof. Oh well, just some of the prices we paid for enjoying life in Baja.



A short Doc story here….

‘Doc’ was a retired Navy doc with a ton of great stories...especially for the young ladies that flocked around him. He suffered from skin cancer, melanomas, and we took him to the Naval Hospital in San Diego for treatments and skin-snipping from time to time. One hospital stay required a little V-shaped skin surgery on an ear and left a noticeable notch.

One evening a young gal asked Doc how he lost that V-shaped chunk from his earlobe? He rose to the occasion and with a twinkle in his eye, told the lass that… he was chopping his way through the jungles of Brazil one day and a fer-de-lance, a very poisonous snake, dropped out of a tree, landed on his shoulder and bit his ear. “Quick as a wink, I swung my machete and chopped that bite mark out of my ear. Saved my life, my dear. Would you like to see where the crocodile bit me when I was wading back to camp.”
We always rolled our eyes at that one…..




Some great diving times. Never a problem getting enough for dinner.



So much action! Thankfully, during those early years in Baja we were a lot younger. Seems so long ago….was anyone ever that young? Hah..the saying goes…”Those were the good ol’ days”.., but today’s are not so bad, either.




Being golfers all, we started the very first golf course in the area. I used my buggy as a golf cart to make the rounds and search for sliced out-of-bounders. Rattlers on the ‘green’ meant you got a ‘gimme’…and you didn’t have to putt out. As a real plus, my Co-Pilot was a nurse.



A few years later. Here, I’m trying to avoid being mauled by one of Bill’s bobcat-manx crosses. Quite an armful. We trapped desert cottontails for their live dinners. Naw, always we fed them Puss n’Boots….honest.



FLYING AT PUNTA CHIVATO

I couldn’t count the number of times we flew in and out of Chivato’s airstrip. We maintained it with an old drag and pickup. My flying buddy Dusty would often camp on the strip under his wing. We shared some fantastic times flying out of Chivato for the Pacific and great beaches. Being in the flying business for all of his adult life, Dusty has quite a collection of airplanes and flew most of them to Chivato or Coyote Bay at one time or another.



Dusty story. Dusty was an avid fan of the old tv series, ‘Dallas’. One day I told him to come with me out onto the hotel patio to meet somebody. He was dumbstruck when he met hotel guest Larry Hagman (who was always a bit tipsy). I took Dusty’s photo with his camera of Dusty sitting on Hagman’s lap. He was so happy with that photo that he had it enlarged full-size for his rec room back home.

AIRPLANE COLLAGE at the Chivato pista.





My old Pompano docked at the Sta. Rosalia Marina.

POMPANO AT DOCK…I took these while on a beer/ice-run to the marina at Sta. Rosalia. After being at sea gunk-holing for a while you felt like you’d found UTOPIA at long last…with ICED BEERS! So when the Pompano’s larder needed replenishing this was a very convenient marina to dock, fill with fuel, water, and walk around Santa Rosalia to shop for whatever. I can remember that the town was always well represented by the fairer sex. The marina itself was a great place to meet somebody.







We had so many great fishing days and perfect starlight nights aboard that great old cabin cruiser. Sleeping outside on top of the large padded engine cover…looking up at the stars…listening to whales blowing.. unknown things breaking the surface...the comforting sound of a working bilge pump. Magical and thrilling times…

Normally fishing within sight of the hotel, we caught everything that swims at one time or another. Compared to today, you would not have believed the sheer abundance and variety in that part of the Sea of Cortez.


Even when Co-pilot chummed with carrots, we caught fish……yup, ‘carrots’…sigh.



Times were always truly amazing…..as you shall see.

To be continued:



[Edited on 11-30-2014 by Pompano]

pompano !!

Quote: Originally posted by LancairDriver

Great story and pictures Roger. Actually Lou Federico must have built the hotel sometime in the sixties, as he was still at Hotel Mulege in 1961 as written in his book "One Hell Of A Ride", an excellent book by the way, for those who haven't read it. Does anyone remember the huge number of whales that beached on the bay in a winter storm just on the north side of the Chivato peninsula in the late 70's I think? Flying over that disaster was very depressing. Those years you outlined so well here were the last of the Baja "Golden Years" in MHO.

The 60's yes... Erle Stanley Gardner documented it in 1966 and these images were in his 1967 book 'Off the Beaten Track in Baja'. He shows the owner/builder as a man named Dixon Collins...

Quote: Originally posted by KaceyJ

DavidK Dixon just recently died this year

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Quote: Originally posted by KaceyJ   DavidK Dixon just recently died this year Can you tell us more about him? How was he affiliated with Lou Federico, who is credited with building the hotel after Gardner gives that credit to Dixon? Thank you!

Rankings

Quote: Originally posted by Hook

One day you really must do a co-pilot montage.

Thanks for the Photos and memories

Quote: Originally posted by Water_Girl

Just found this blog, thanks to my cousin...Doc Lyons was my Grandfather. In 1982, on a whim, another cousin flew in from Hawaii to San Francisco where I was living, and we drove down to Baja to surprise him. We drove straight through, without stopping, from S.F. After 18 or so hours on smooth roads, we hit the washboards in the middle of the night, a relatively high speed. What a surprise!...finally got to Pta Chivato about 30 hours after we started the drive just after sunrise in the morning. I don't have much in terms of photos of the trip...but I remember the beautiful empty beach, and the wonderful seafood...and the roads. Thanks again for great post

Nice to hear from you, Water_Girl, and thank you for your memories of Pta. Chivato. Your grandfather was a favorite Baja personality of mine. We had some good times together planting trees and flower bushes at Chivato so long ago. As you probably know, he had a very green thumb.

Also the stone house that Doc planned and ram-rodded at Posada on the hillside. I fondly remember a space we called 'The Mole Hole'...a re-enforced storage space in the basement that could only be accessed through a hinged door in the floor. What a fine time in Baja that was...



[Edited on 11-30-2014 by Pompano]

LancairDriver wote......
“....Does anyone remember the huge number of whales that beached on the bay in a winter storm just on the north side of the Chivato peninsula in the late 70's I think? Flying over that disaster was very depressing. Those years you outlined so well here were the last of the Baja "Golden Years" in MHO.”

Yes, I do remember that massive whale beaching. A talented amigo gifted me with a tooth and vertebra disc from one of the 22 sperm whales that threw themselves up onto the sand and perished. He scrimshawed the whale image onto a whale’s vertebra disc and mounted one of the teeth below. Bob Garner of Alaska was the artist. That was one of the largest beaching of whales in history. Xavier of Las Casitas in Mulege had many photos of the event in his cantina. Some whale experts came down from SD to find out why this tragedy happened, but were way too long in coming as everything had badly decomposed long before their arrival. Here's a photo of the disc/tooth...(the battleaxes are my creation for something to do while camping at Aqua Verde.)




A little clarification on the history of who built Pta. Chivato Resort, since you can't always believe some of the ‘facts’ you've read on the internet or indeed in books. If possible, an eye witness history is always best. Although Lou Federico had early planning of some Mulege projects as far back as the late ‘50’s, the actual ground-breaking of those developments did not start right away. Any developer/builder can tell you this…it takes a huge amount of planning before that first shovelful of dirt is ever dug. Lou Federico built the original resort and hotel in 1966, and before that, Mulegé's Hotel Rancho Loma Linda and Club Aero, in 1961. It was a monumental undertaking in those days. Remember, the highway was not finished until 1974. Ultimately, Federico lost his financial interests in both properties through some land title frauds that he writes about in his book, which he signed and sent to me in 2004 after we had spoken on the phone. To say the least, he has indeed had one helluva ride. In the lower right corner he is shown at the Serinadad with Don Johnson when Lou came back for a visit after ending his building career at Chivato. They had some history together, as Don once told me.




David K wrote….”The 60's yes... Erle Stanley Gardner documented it in 1966 and these images were in his 1967 book 'Off the Beaten Track in Baja'. He shows the owner/builder as a man named Dixon Collins...”

Again, sometimes facts get confused. Yet another American, Dixon Collins, worked on ‘financing’ the development, and not the actual construction. I also recall another American participant who was killed in an airplane crash on his way back to the States. Coincidentally, through mistakes at the Serinadad's desk, Dixon Collins mail would sometimes get confused with my own...simple matter to put it back in the general 'mail box' next to the desk. Sadly, Dwight Dixon Collins died in his US residence Friday, Oct. 14, 2014, after a short illness. He was 79.

Also another Americano named Miller had some later dealings with Bill, Doc, and George at Chivato and Posada Conception, but I don't recall ever meeting him. Like a different 'Miller' who wrote “Eating Your Way Thru Baja”, I believe his first name was Tom.




Now to get back to some trip reports from back in the day at Pta. Chivato.

As I said earlier, we had some truly great diving times and getting enough for dinner was never a problem.




In this photo below, I’m getting checked out for my first deep bluewater dive…off Pta. Conception and down 80 feet. Not exactly a record depth, but was very exciting for this beginner! Amigo and instructor George was along to keep an eye on me and look out for trouble.

Once down at the bottom near a huge rockpile, I peeked inside a cave and came face-to-face with a gigantic grouper that was bigger than me. He stayed in his hole...Me? I left like a rocket in an explosion of bubbles.




When out diving or fishing, we would only kill enough to provide for whomever the dinner guests were that night. A Hawaiian sling or California Mares worked very well on surprising our next dinners below. There was a nice grouper, cabrilla or pargo next to and behind every rock. Lobster antenna sticking out all over. Scallops and clams covered the sea floor. Easy hunting.

John, a college roommate and now a marine biologist professor, was ecstatic about bringing up Baja Angels, conch, weeds, and many other species to inspect and then release. We always had to prompt him to bring up some dinner



Two John storys…
Buddy John was blessed with a rather prominent nose..what is commonly known as a Roman nose. We had a ball poking fun at him, and we loved him dearly. When at the beach I’d ask him if I could sit in the shade of his nose…and on it went. Once a bunch of us went down to Loreto to pick him up on a flight from L.A.

Some of you will recognize the old airport building by the palapa roof….

Preparing for his arrival long in advance, I had bought a bunch of fake noses at a SD novelty shop…and we all wore them when greeting John walked out of the building. Such a genuine nice guy….He laughed his burro off.



Another time when picking John up at a more modern Loreto airport, I saw he was being subjected to a body search after coming off the airplane. I snapped this photo as John loudly told the official……”Oooh, nice!….Want me to cough, too?”





George shows some nice bugs from just around the corner. Grandes.



Yours truly and diving partner of the day, cousin Karen, with a nice pair of keepers. We made a seafood platter for everyone that night.




Here's an average cabrilla my sister, Debbie, caught off Sta. Inez south island...just a stone's throw from Chivato.



'Back in the day', I pull up next to a shrimper in my Lund 16' to see what's for sale that day. Like most, I used to trade a Playboy magazine for a 5 gal. bucket of grandes.





There was always plenty of big squid around. Humboldt’s everywhere…but down deep. We used lighted squid hooks with great success. And joined with the hotel cooks on trying lots of different recipes…which were consistently very good.



Sometimes I’d go out in my chase boat at night to catch squid. Always had to clean out that live well very thoroughly to get rid of all the squid ink and its strong odor.



Here’s some amigos, Johnny Tequila and first mate Cindy, motoring their trimaran, Quetzal, into the anchorage under the hotel.



Johnny and Cindy coming over to the Pompano for c-cktail hour. Good friends, good times!





Which brings to mind a favorite saying of mine…..“A beer tastes better at sea.”





To be continued:






[Edited on 2-23-2016 by Pompano]

Quote: Originally posted by Fastbird

Super interesting to a relatively new home owner at PC and a Pilot. I would sure enjoy more stories about flying into and out of PC, like was full available then? Do you know when runway 31/13 was constructed ?

It is on both my 1967 and 1972 editions of Senterfitt... So, since the place was built in '66, it looks to be there as long as the hotel was open?

Here is the page (dated 1969) from my '72 Airports of Baja. My pencil-in note made from the 1976 update indicates the hotel was closed. Of interest, when I first visited the hotel in the summer of 1973, it was closed then too.

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Quote: Originally posted by Fastbird   Super interesting to a relatively new home owner at PC and a Pilot. I would sure enjoy more stories about flying into and out of PC, like was full available then? Do you know when runway 31/13 was constructed ? ..... My pencil-in note made from the 1976 update indicates the hotel was closed. Of interest, when I first visited the hotel in the summer of 1973, it was closed then too.

Oh, it was not deserted, just not open for business. We spent a couple hours there in 1973. My parents snorkeled and let the current move them around the point as I watched from one of the room patios above. I took a photo of them...



Never saw anyone else that day... we thought it was a shame that such a perfect spot couldn't stay in business, at the time.

[Edited on 12-2-2014 by David K]

Quote: Originally posted by Tioloco

Pompano, Really cool history and awesome photos. Just curious, were you able to spend long periods of time when you were younger or were those brief breaks from work? Again, Muchas gracias for the report

Thanks tioloco, Baja is a magical place and photography is a favorite hobby. I’ve been a Baja fan for a long, long time. Almost all my life. I made an early plane trip around the Baja peninsula with my father when I was a teenager, and we lingered for 2 short days in Mulege at the then new Club Aero built by Federico. I got hooked on Baja and returned many times later.. in my twenties for 2 weeks at a time, and by my mid-thirties had arranged things so I could spend 6-7 months each winter in Baja. There were many Baja-loving folks doing all sorts of things all over the place, and my times there were nothing that unusual, but I wouldn’t have traded it for any other place.



PTA. CHIVATO - BACK IN THE DAY

Bill Alvarado - owner/manager of the hotel during this era. Got his start in the business with a restaurant in Oregon…with his name…’Alvarado’s’. He was always in an upbeat and cheerful mood, even when later on when times got tough.




Bill created a gift shop that featured some unusual items…perfect for the Baja collector. The gals loved to shop in there and if they were missing, that’s where we’d find them. I’m fairly sure Co-Pilot bought one of everything.






Here Bill is showing a guest some treasures. It appears he’s telling Co-Pilot to keep mum..?







Shown here on the left, Bill was also an avid fisherman and took the time whenever his hectic schedule would let him.





On any normal day not spent on the boat, we would relax at the bar (from some very strenuous job I would imagine) and keep watch out the big windows at the sea below. When the roosters came in to churn and chomp up the baitfish in the shallows, we’d rush to our rods left rigged on the patio and do battle…almost more fun than we could stand…almost.









Back in the day, there was one thing for sure, we always had...lots of action.




If we spotted a fish and bird boil way out there, we'd just throw the poles in my chase boat, which I kept anchored in front of the hotel. We became experts on not spilling a drop.



Speaking of the bar, here’s a c-cktail glass from the hotel bar. I drank a few rum and cokes in those days. Today it sits in a bookcase as a memento of the good old days.




Due to some natural disasters, any further glass containers were taken from me…and I had to settle for plastic. Life got tougher…I hate plastic.



Adapting to my new choices, I scavenged some Rubbermaid products….and invented a new rum drink while skippering the Pompano at anchor. I called it “Rum in a Drum.”





Now back in those days, we had no TV, no good radio, but did have a movie theatre in Santa Rosalia (which only played the bloodiest Dracula films), and so whatever entertainment we had was mostly provided by ourselves. Thankfully, our Baja contingent was always blessed with many musicians and artists of every description… with a healthy dose of adaptation and innovation, which was par for the course in Baja at that time.

Over the span of those early years, we entertained each other with…. bagpipes, a Creole band from the Louisiana backwaters, many guitarists and singers, piano concertos, poets and storytellers, and even circus acrobats (fun gals, they were 2 lesbians from SF…Hah..I still remember one asking me about getting a ride on my motorcycle..”Wanna dyke on a bike?” Ah yeah, you had to love Baja back in the day.


One night, right out of the darkness, a very well-mannered older gent walked over to our group who were singing and playing guitars on Casa Grande’s patio. He introduced himself and said he’d been enjoying the entertainment we’d been providing for him, and then asked if he could sing for us as a way of saying Thanks. Heck yes, we said…and so he sang opera solo for us in a magnificent and strong tenor. He was a retired pro-opera singer, but could still make the hills echo with his great voice. A magical night and from then on, as long as he was around, he was called ‘Plácido’.

Some more of the fun things we did every year to amuse ourselves were fishing derbies, chili contests, pizza contests, races to Palo Verde and if you were handy in a camp kitchen…the Beach Flapjack-Off Contest…which I actually won my first time.




Another fantastic annual event was a costume dance and contest. Hah…I remember Johnny Tequila as a masked Grim Reaper in a huge black cloak and walking on stilts…musta been 8 feet tall….scared the crap outta some toddlers. Then there was my Co-Pilot dressed as a western Miss Lillie Langtry. I made the photo in black and white to keep with the theme. She won first prize….and my heart. I told her she was the prettiest Miss Langtry I’d ever seen.



She said I resembled Judge Roy Bean....and that I should not drink rum anymore or hang out with Druids.


Some Pta. History….

Lou Federico and his wife, Lana. An obvious beauty, she is a former Miss San Francisco.



Some photos of the original hotel construction sites and the barges and landing craft used to transport equipment and supplies from Mulege. Quite a feat for those days!











Here is what the hotel looked like after Lou built it in 1966. I have an old brochure in my library.









1982 The Casa Grande as seen from the old hotel and from the boat. Where we slept and ate when ashore. This was the scene of many great gatherings and fiestas.









It was a very simple matter to get dinner for whomever was dining that night at the Casa Grande. One of the best diving shorelines I’ve personally came across in Baja was just around the corner from the Casa Grande. The rocks and caves were full of reef fish, lobster, scallops, and more. If someone said…Time to plan dinner?. I’ll go… I’d say. I called it “The Grocery Store.”






I loved snorkeling along this shore, lined with huge rocks, deep caves, and lots of marine life. I regretted never having a good underwater camera with me in those years. I recall one day when snorkel diving along this rocky face and feeling an occasional current on my back. I would turn and look behind, but nothing there….and then again. Finally, on the next feeling of current on my back, I spun quickly ….and saw the huge sea lion swimming off into the haze. I thought it best to leave the place to him for awhile. I was wearing a black suit with weight-belts…Hmmm…..makes one wonder if it was mating time?


SO MANY BEAUTIFUL SHELLS

The long shores of Shell Beach. Lots of lamps, mirror frames, and other creations have been made due to this beach…including many at my old Coyote beach house. Here a couple of shell collectors haul their booty back to the hotel. After a few fun hours of shelling along this gorgeous beach the gals always had an overload of treasures in their bags.




Indeed, some were ‘overloaded’ to a fault. One time, I had to give a gentle, and I hope welcome.. ‘nudge’.. to help a certain collector back into the plane.



And so it went…

To be continued:





[Edited on 12-22-2014 by Pompano]

THE FOSSILS OF PUNTA CHIVATO

I'm sure most folks know that the Baja desert was once under water (as were most of the other deserts on earth). The prehistoric sea location is quite obvious when you see fossilized shells, coral, and sharks teeth. They are found far from the ocean, or hundreds of feet above today’s sea level. A combination of geologic activities has created these fossils sites. Ice ages change the sea level, but the land also has moved higher or tilted up in tectonic upheavals.


Baja California was once upon a time nice and snug next to the rest of Mexico. Six million years ago, a huge crack began to split off the future peninsula. About 4 million years ago, the cape region rotated out towards the west and created the Gulf of California. Ancient sea floors would be thrust upwards, and then be covered by mud from floods and lava flows, only to get re-exposed later by erosion. Fossils from a wide range in time are found all over in this geologically diverse land.



Other interesting fossil sites. Many places along the Baja Road have viewable deposits of ancient sea-bed fossils. You can see ammonites (giant snail-like shells) near El Rosario (and on display at Mama Espinosa's cafe). Also in this area to the west there is petrified wood logs in an arroyo, which require a guide to inspect. The famous Las Pintas site for fossils (and petrogyphs) is south and east of El Rosario. An ancient dry lake bed south and west of Insurgentes is a good place to camp and wander about looking for fossils.. and also arrowheads. Here's an arrowhead that a Canadian amiga found near Playa Escondido within Bahia de Concepcion and gave to me as a birthday present. Coincidentally, she's an Okanagan first nation member..no wonder she found it so easily..



Bahia Asuncion was another favorite place to go explore and look for fossils, including giant shark teeth, which were shiny compared to the ground they sat on.

Every now and then someone does find a truly giant shark tooth in these areas...from an extinct giant shark of unbelievable dimensions... 20 meters...66 feet long, with a maw that opened wide enough for a man to walk into. Stuff of nightmares. Carcharodon megalodon, which swam the ocean 30 million years ago. And at the top of the food chain.

Included in my shark tooth collage below is an amigo holding one of those huge teeth from a megladon. (Upper left corner) He found it while hiking in an arroyo behind his East Cape beach home. In contrast, I'm holding a tooth from a present day shark.





Yes, lots of fossils everywhere in the Baja deserts.


But our favorites were the ones we would stop at on the way into Punta Chivato.
After all, these were our 'locals', so naturally we praised them the most.





Yup, this was our very interesting..and sometimes entertaining... place on the Punta Chivato road that we used to stop and show visitors our fossilized Treasures.

This exposed bed of rubble and fossilized rock was used back in the day as an easy place to load a dump truck with material for maintenance of the road, which was always in need of repair.


We would pull in and show our guests what to look for...often lifting bigger rocks up to expose the fossils attached underneath. Always a treat to learn some natural history.

The little hill of fossils that we stopped at on the old Punta Chivato road was just one of many in the area. This one just happened to be in a handy for a little show-and-tell about sea shells, and, of course, we were always ready to impress the senors and senoritas with our hastily-read knowledge.

Sometimes we had a little too much information.....

On this particular trip to PC, we had along members of a vacationing church group who were staying in Mulege and touring the area missions. We'd met at the Serindad Pig Roast and invited them to see Punta Chivato the next day. We loaded them into my van and away we went. To break up the bumpy grind into PC we stopped to show them our fossil site.




A certain old-time Mulege resident who was along for the ride made it a point to explain to the church group that "Listen up here, folks. These sea shells were alive here a million years before Christ walked the earth." While interested, the group was a mite perplexed at his intent. Ah well, 'Don Don' was always a bit...exuberant... and people tended to forgive him often.











So, you see....Baja is full of fossil viewing opportunities...as was the old trail into Chivato.

Tip: Once you see an area of petrified sea life, you will notice what it has in common with other sites... lots of dry mud hills, of various colors. When you find such a place, start looking and be very slow… the fossil will catch your eye as looking out-of-place, shiny, or darker.


There was never a dull moment...Back in the Day at Punta Chivato.


To be continued:





[Edited on 12-23-2014 by Pompano]

PUNTA CHIVATO 'Back In The Day'


Hah...It seems that one of my New Year's resolutions should be to finish this 'back-in-the-day' travelogue about Chivato and environs. (Ah..Finally got to use that great word..environs.)

Leaving off with those 'fantastically interesting fossils', we can now further explore these 'environs'.

OK...We're hitting the dusty trail for Punta Chivato.







For many years, Chivato has been a great destination for beach campers. In this photo, the 1st, 3rd, and 4th beaches are all out by the lighthouse point. The 2nd one is on the old shell beach, where the shrimp boats would anchor for the day.

Camping fees back then were about $5 per day. We provided garbage pickup, a pit toilet, guided outings for firewood, and offers to senoritas to swim (chaperoned of course) in our fresh water pool up on the hill, which was also the concrete reservoir for the resort.



The shrimpers from the mainland would anchor out in front and one could buy or barter shrimp and fish during the day. A nice feature for campers who didn't need or want a drive into Santa Rosalia or Mulege.



I'm making a shrimp run for the hotel in my trusty old Lund 16 'tinboat'.




The surrounding hills in this environ had certain memorable shapes which led to naming them from a personal point of view. Some will recall one in particular....




Became one of our most popular and photographed landmarks. I often wondered why....?




I even tried the sea-view perspective? Oh well, I'll leave it to your imagination.





Lots of campers brought boats for fishing...and practiced 'launching' at the ramp, which made for some hilarious viewing from the hotel bar windows. As at all ramps, there were degrees of success and WHAT actually was launched.



The campers from 'Back-in-the-day' were respectful of each other and shared the Baja experience. Harsh penalties were enforced for not offering some to your neighbors.



Some came for the windsurfing, thanks to our friend...The Wind. Hey, it kept the bugs down!.



Some campers brought and flew state flags...and some flew bras and panties. To each his own..we believed in freedom of expression.





Nearby San Marcos Island was a favorite boat trip.



A boat trip to the mine was always full of adventure. Here's one trip with my old cowboy-hatted amigo, Blackjack (J.W. Black) and some other veterans from Earl Stanley Gardner's earlier trips into Baja. ('Off The Beaten Path' book) Among other operations, Blackjack had great fun looking over the blacksmith shop. He was a prolific machinist and inventor. One thing about visiting this gypsum mine...bring a face mask for the dust!




The lagoon on the east side of the island was..and still is...a great spot to explore and relax with your snorkel gear.



Don't forget a good picnic lunch!



Marine life was abundant around San Marcos.....with viewing from the boat as the best way for a photo.


I often saw this big bruiser sunbathing on this tiny island. I named him...The Beachmaster. He looked as big as my boat!




I love the two brownish pups in this old photo. And catching Mom in mid-air, too. A fish haven, casting a krocodile around those rocks would guarantee a strike. I once caught a 40 lb yellowtail there...and big grouper were just a nuisance.



Of course, we always had plenty of visitors by plane.



This vintage Baja airline, Air Cortez, flew into the Serinadad strip in Mulege regularly. We got the pilot(also a Roger) to fly into Pta. Chivato, but only once. Not enough business to make it profitable destination.



Some didn't want to land...and we had to 'coax' them down. (Naw, hold the phone...Just joking! This DC3 had to ditch in a remote lake in northern Canada. Same time period, though.)




One always knew when pal Dusty was coming to visit...



You suddenly heard a huge ROAR... your roof tiles rattled ...and he was there.








Dusty passing inspection for 'contraband'. He later told me he only smuggled 'blondes'.





On other trips he would fly this C180, loaded with gear...for 'camping under the wing' with other members of the Taildragger Club.



They gathered at Chivato for many years...often numbering over 50 planes from the USA and Mexico.




"Bad roads make good people" - Mama Espinoza

. We are really far back in the day in this fuzzy 'capture' photo....winter of 1975. Here my buddy, Richard Long and I are shown bumping in on the old beach trail to San Lucas Cove to launch my small boat from the beach. It was just a small fish camp in those days, with a tiny beat up fish taco stand. That entrance has improved immensely since, thank God.

Back then, for something different, we trailer-ed my 16' Lund from Coyote Bay to ejido San Lucas on the smoooth new highway, then turned in on this short path to the water's edge in what is now the San Lucas Cove campsite. We often did this rather than boat all the way from Coyote Bay within Bahia Concepcion and bounce the rough 50 nautical miles of waves to San Marcos Island. We excelled in that area for jurel and grouper. Also made it a snap to fish Isla Tortuga with fuel to spare with 2 six-gallon tanks.



To be continued.... fairly soon.....

Air Cortez!

great shots "Roger"

My beat up copy from 1967...

This post is dedicated to "Nostalgia."...but just remember, it isn't what it used to be."


John Steinbeck was a man who also lived and loved Baja...back-in-the-day.
I believe he must have been thinking of Baja and the Cortez when he said: "A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. We do not take a trip; a trip takes us."


We have sailed, flew, and driven to Baja, but back-in-the-day, we most frequently drove the old camino real (a goat track mostly) and then the new highway to get to Pta. Chivato (or Mulege), necessary because we were hauling boats, massive amounts of groceries, and other supplies that just were not available in Baja Sur at that time. Naturally, there were certain.. umm.. limitations to the new road. Huge car-wrecking potholes were a real danger within a year of the blacktop completion. Then of course there were the floods....


HWY WASHOUT DURING FLOODING. Motto of the old Baja Road in flood times...."Never test the depth of the water with both feet."

This was shortly after the highway was built. San Quentin area had many washouts then. It happens less frequently today, as some sturdy bridges have been built. In the highways infancy, I was marooned between 2 flooded portions of the highway for a week before the water went down enough to make a passage in my pickup camper with boat behind. Was actually fun as I had lots of food and time anyway. We had nightly song fests around a campfire and I hosted many poker games. I posted this photo on Nomads many years ago, and got a response from the owner's of that van with their memories...maybe again with this post?




Army Depot at GN in 1975 - The Eagle monument was just built and shows the bareness of the landscaping and non-existant structures. The army depot was very small at the time. One of the El Presidente Hotels was being built nearby.



We often came upon a HIGHWAY GYPSY SIGNALING WITH WATER BOTTLE. This was a commn sight on the old Baja Highway, and not seen much these days. A gitano on the move. You always stopped to give food and water..and a ride if needed. You just hoped he'd had a recent bath!




There are so many amigos I've met in Baja that became compadres. Back then, sharing experiences together, I found out that ..in Baja, just like way Up North, there are no strangers, just friends you've never met.

In this photo are friends Page-George-Linda, and me. Together we made dozens of trips up and down the new highway...hauling stuff for Bill A. and ourselves at the hotel. We learned the road rules and customs very fast. Most of the old customs have gone by the wayside these days. No more headlight/taillight signals, tecate cans, or rocks on the road...and more's the pity that they are now just folk-lore.



A few, but certainly not all, of the rigs we used over the years getting to Pta. Chivato. Anything would work, we weren't prejudiced at all. God, when I think of how we traveled and where we slept by the trail, without a care...whew!



Johnny Tequila and Cindy aboard their tri, Quetzal. Wonderful Baja friends since the first day we met.



Air Cortez was a short-lived airline...fun times with a pilot who scared the crap outta you. Shown here flying out of Mulege - Serinadad strip. I think he's asking the woman how to get to San Diego from here..





This is ON THE CLIFFS WITH CO-PILOT. This was a possible building site I was considering. Had a magnificent view over a sheer cliff of twin beaches below and the Sea of Cortez. A bit on the windy side, though, and so I finally decided against building another house. Co-Pilot was an expert diver/swimmer and dove from that 30 ft. cliff..cleaving like an arrow into the sea below...whew...it was a bit nervous waiting for her to surface. Well heck, I thought I'd make a splash, too... so I cannonballed it. Risky or foolish?..Sure but we don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.



A rock blanket? My only explanation is....Idiocy is just a stroke of brilliance that normal people don't understand.




Chivato is noted for it's wind. You learned to hang onto each other and bend like a palm tree.



A benifit of storms...driftwood. We used a lot of wood that came to our shores from the river floods at Mulege.





We made the most of the windy days. Our sailing and windsurfing amigos loved the frequent blows. George's girlfriend, Linda, was our instructor and kept us from sailing clear out of sight of the hotel. We learned and then sailed great...as long as it was in a straight line! On some of those gusty days, before I perfected the return jibe, I swear I could see Mazatlan on the horizon.
Fun regattas, too. I remember the time a bunch of us got together to follow the superstitions that are involved with 'christening' a good buddy's Hobie.





Living well off the land..or sea...was no problem. Now if you got in the mood for clams, I had a favorite beach north of the resort for chocolates - mmmm, good! We could snorkle along, spot the telltale slits in the sand, and feel the clams just under the surface with your fingertips. A great snack. A favorite recipe on the grill was Chocolates Erotica...named by amigo, Johnny Tequila, shown below on his trimaran, Quetzal. Made in a half-shell, topped with chopped tomatoes, onions, cheese, and Tabasco...and grilled till cheese got bubbly. Delicious. Like those Frito Lay chips, you can't eat just one!







As for the little white steamers - our gals specialized in them. Melt some butter and enjoy!



This is how I melt butter in Baja. I do it the Green way...just the sun for power.



Fresh Fish were literally at our doorstep. Here's a small jurel I caught for my Dad's birthday party. Along with a buried goat, it made a feast.





Ah...Fresh bread? If you didn't want to bake your own, then it was just a quick trip to the 'world famous bakery'.

SAY YES TO THE BOLEOS!










Boating up to San Marcos Island from Chivato was almost a daily occurence. Lots of big jurel, cabrilla, grouper, and whatever else one wanted. The shoreline was a good bet and also the seal islands off the north end. Angling or diving. Mucho pescado! This was during the last years of the Golden Years of the SOC.





Beach Launching was the norm along the coasts south and north of Chivato...we launched this little tin boat wherever we wanted. A couple amigos and a beer....presto! We hauled that little bugger from Laguna Manuela to Agua Verde and all points in between.



More great Baja amigos. John and Christie on the Meshack, which John had designed and built. Among other things, John was owner of Corsair Marine in SD and the very successful F-27 trailerable trimarans. These two rather unique people were great to sail and boatcamp with...expert sailors and splendid hosts.

Co-Pilot and I would often sleep in the trampoline netting and marvel at the glowing things swimming under and around us on those phophorescent nights. Sometimes flying fish would be chased and fly into the rigging, dropping onto the decks. Magic.

John was decorated in Vietnam for bravery in action...a Green Beret medic who was wounded and risked his life while saving members of his platoon. Sadly, John was killed in 2005 in an ultra-light experimental aircraft he was working on...a loss to us all. May he rest in peace.




For some natural history lessons, we'd take a short ride to rock art.... courtesy of the ancients.





Or a refreshing wade thru water to the Trinadad cave paintings just out of Mulege.




A view of the Santa Rosalia waterfront with one of the Tres Virgins in the background.




At one time there was a block and paver maker doing business at Pta. Chivato. I believe it was a hold-over from the construction days of Lou Federico. The craftsman stayed on to ply his trade with any new building needs. I think it is gone at present.

Back then it looked exactly like this one from Mulege.

Labor intensive...cement blocks



Patio tiles and pavers made to your specs.



This what the hotel looked like in 2002 from the boat ramp. You can't see the changes, but they were there already.





MY CRUISER POMPANO....this trusty gal was always ready to cruise. And we did a lot of that all over the Sea of Cortez. Events of which I am planning to post on a separate thread.






Viva Baja!







[Edited on 1-15-2015 by Pompano]

Quote: Originally posted by Pompano

Fish populations in the Sea of Cortes have decreased by more than 90% since the 1960s with the advent of new commercial fishing methods & technology. The reduction of fish stocks in the Sea of Cortes has followed a similar trajectory as almost all of the world's oceans.

Thanks Pompano, you make me nostalgic for a time before I was born- you really should publish a book. I too am glad you're bringing attention to the health of the sea and the over-fishing going on. To think about what has happened in just the last 50 years is very scary, and if anyone wants to really get depressed just do a little research into the amount of plastic accumulating in the world's oceans and working its way up the food chain to... us. Lately I've been wondering about the many lost golden ages I might be describing to folks thirty years from now.

Anyway some of the best months of my life have been spent on long sea kayaking trips on the Sea of Cortez. I took this photo somewhere between El Barril and Santa Rosalia last May. This boat was headed in to anchor in a bay with four other similar sized fishing boats; you can't really tell from the picture but it was producing an incredibly large cloud of smokey black and yellow exhaust, extending literally for miles. I hate to think about the damage they were doing beneath the water.

Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider

I just found this great old thread while looking for pics of the old Casa Grande. I really enjoyed seeing the pics and reading all the great stories. I'd like to see what the Casa Grande pier looked like before it got destroyed. Does anyone have pics? [Edited on 2-23-2016 by BigBearRider]

Yes, I believe I do, BigBearRider. From the 1980's here are a couple shots of the Casa Grande pier. Hope they stir some memories for you.















[Edited on 2-23-2016 by Pompano]

John the Medic

Quote: Originally posted by bajaguy

Was that John Walton??

Johnny Tequila

Quote: Originally posted by Pompano

Quote: Originally posted by bajaguy   Was that John Walton?? Yes, it was.

Here is a shot of the lighthouse beach in the late 80's

Quote: Originally posted by Doug/Vamonos

And the beach was so much more alive back then. I remember every time we swam there would be the white with black spot eels popping up out of the sand by the hundreds. Was always hard not freaking out cuz they looked so much like snakes and you had to swim right over them. And aquarium fish and leopard grouper on every rock. Beautiful. And then they all disappeared.

Quote: Originally posted by Mula

u2u me with your e mail address.

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Quote: Originally posted by Fastbird   Super interesting to a relatively new home owner at PC and a Pilot. I would sure enjoy more stories about flying into and out of PC, like was full available then? Do you know when runway 31/13 was constructed ? It is on both my 1967 and 1972 editions of Senterfitt... So, since the place was built in '66, it looks to be there as long as the hotel was open? Here is the page (dated 1969) from my '72 Airports of Baja. My pencil-in note made from the 1976 update indicates the hotel was closed. Of interest, when I first visited the hotel in the summer of 1973, it was closed then too.

This is another great thread from Pompano.

Here's a shot of the abandoned hotel taken yesterday,

In 2017...

Looking a little rougher these days but you can see it was a beautiful spot -

Quote: Originally posted by David K

It is a fantastic place for an all-inclusive or fly-in resort (no towns nearby).

Quote: Originally posted by Russ

Sorry - No restaurant , hotel or services now. Runway is still in good shape and phone service also good most of the time [Edited on 2-15-2021 by Russ]

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Quote: Originally posted by Russ   Sorry - No restaurant , hotel or services now. Runway is still in good shape and phone service also good most of the time [Edited on 2-15-2021 by Russ] Hi Russ, Did the little 'Hotelito' close up... no more pizzas, etc.?

Quote: Originally posted by HeyMulegeScott

Quote: Originally posted by David K   It is a fantastic place for an all-inclusive or fly-in resort (no towns nearby). I doubt the viability of that kind of business. I think the days of fly-in resorts have come and gone. Mulege and even Loreto struggle because the weather can be a bit cool at times in winter and brutally hot in the summer. Your typical all-inclusive tourist type wants to drink by the pool in Cabo and chow down on the buffet.

Quote: Originally posted by Bob and Susan

Quote: Originally posted by HeyMulegeScott   Quote: Originally posted by David K   It is a fantastic place for an all-inclusive or fly-in resort (no towns nearby). I doubt the viability of that kind of business. I think the days of fly-in resorts have come and gone. Mulege and even Loreto struggle because the weather can be a bit cool at times in winter and brutally hot in the summer. Your typical all-inclusive tourist type wants to drink by the pool in Cabo and chow down on the buffet. thats the "winter gringo thought" and far from the truth there are more tourists in mulege in the summer than in the winter the fish even jump on your boat in the summer

Quote: Originally posted by Bob and Susan

thats the "winter gringo thought" and far from the truth there are more tourists in mulege in the summer than in the winter the fish even jump on your boat in the summer

Anyone been out to this lagoon on San Marcos that Roger describes? This place looks awesome!

We stayed with Bob & Susan in July (2009) for our first anniversary... and it was wonderful!

Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca

Does anyone have an update on Pompano?