BajaNomad - Camping in san francisco de la sierra

Camping in san francisco de la sierra

VegasNick - 7-12-2015 at 12:07 PM

Thinking about spending some time here before heading to Santa Rosalia so just checking to see if there are places to camp and get any tips from fellow Nomads on the area.

Thanks as always!

rts551 - 7-12-2015 at 12:12 PM

We have camped in 2 areas up there, after asking permissio. In the old Salon and below town next to the old caretakers compound.

bajasusan/a - 7-12-2015 at 01:05 PM

not sure what "the old caretakers compound" may be, but i spent 3 great weeks in my 18-foot camper parked next to the tourist hostel a kilometer downmountain from the pueblo of san francisco de la sierra. even taught a few of the children a little english! chico and yadira, who operate the hostel, are just the best. but nobody up there speaks english...

Whale-ista - 7-12-2015 at 01:21 PM

Just out of curiosity - Where's the nearest school for this place? It sounds pretty remote.

Quote: Originally posted by bajasusan/a

not sure what "the old caretakers compound" may be, but i spent 3 great weeks in my 18-foot camper parked next to the tourist hostel a kilometer downmountain from the pueblo of san francisco de la sierra. even taught a few of the children a little english! chico and yadira, who operate the hostel, are just the best. but nobody up there speaks english...

David K - 7-12-2015 at 01:34 PM

Before the road was built in the 1980's, it was a 3 day mule ride to San Ignacio, on El Camino Real... or by helicopter, as Erle Stanley Gardner and friends arrived in the 1960's (the first 'outsiders' to visit the village in the memory of the eleders there).

From my http://choralpepper.com web pages:

Choral Pepper (wearing hat) stands with the young female
inhabitants of this tiny village.
Never before have these folks seen outsiders.
A three day mule ride was (then) needed to reach San Ignacio
from San Francisco de la Sierra.
An auto road was constructed 20 years
after Choral visited by helicopter.

[Edited on 7-12-2015 by David K]

Whale-ista - 7-12-2015 at 01:36 PM

So they go to school in San Ignacio?

larryC - 7-12-2015 at 02:14 PM

Probably not. My first trip there was in '86 and at that time there was a government installed satellite dish that provided them with their school stuff. I don't know what powered the receivers and stuff but probably a solar panel or 2. Great trip, we walked down with a guide to Fletches and I think Pintada. My boots blew so had to spend the night at the Rancho down in there and then hire a mule for the climb out of there. Have been back 2 more times. Great place with great people.

AKgringo - 7-12-2015 at 02:31 PM

I was there in 2013, there is an excellent new road most of the way to the village. The last five miles or so were still a cliff hugging adventure, but passable in any vehicle. There were construction crews and equipment continuing the new road, but I have no idea how far they intended to take it.

There was no one available to take me on a trip to see the cave paintings, so I wound up driving back out the same day. It was still well worth the side trip just for the scenery and meeting nice people.

The few homes that I saw up there had solar panels, and satellite dishes, so they are no longer isolated.

elgatoloco - 7-12-2015 at 04:54 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Whale-ista

So they go to school in San Ignacio?

There is a school in town. We took a day trip up there a few years ago after seeing the whales in SI. We hired a guide to see El Raton and dropped off some supplies at the school. Would love to go back for a longer stay some day.

bajasusan/a - 7-12-2015 at 04:56 PM

when i was there last may, they had two classes, and two teachers. there were 8 younger kids (maybe 7-11?) and about 15 older ones. there are an actual classroom and playground, too. and the main occupation, aside from tourguiding, is raising goats for the solar-powered goatcheese plant. all the cheese is sold in guerrero negro. and yes, "remote" describes it. and SCARY AS HELL getting those last 7 kilometers up a rock pile that pretends to be a road! but since the locals do it in 30-year-old trucks all the time...will try to find and post a foto

elgatoloco - 7-12-2015 at 05:00 PM

Everyone should go uo there. It is another of those one of a kind places in Baja. The goat to human ratio must be 100 to 1. We bought some queso fresco and it was delish. Scenery/geography is uniquely spectacular and the last bit of road will keep your attention for sure. :dudette:

MulegeAL - 7-12-2015 at 06:39 PM

Awesome place, at least to me!...

I missed out on riding the "road" down the east side to Santa Marta, which was blown out for good in '06 by hurricane John.

After conversing with the locals at the bottom east about the route, sounds like I saved myself a lot of grief! :lol:

bajasusan/a - 7-12-2015 at 07:06 PM

ok, found so many fotos i want to share that i may actually summon enuff discipline to do up a trip report! meanwhile...

rts551 - 7-12-2015 at 07:17 PM

Quote: Originally posted by bajasusan/a

when i was there last may, they had two classes, and two teachers. there were 8 younger kids (maybe 7-11?) and about 15 older ones. there are an actual classroom and playground, too. and the main occupation, aside from tourguiding, is raising goats for the solar-powered goatcheese plant. all the cheese is sold in guerrero negro. and yes, "remote" describes it. and SCARY AS HELL getting those last 7 kilometers up a rock pile that pretends to be a road! but since the locals do it in 30-year-old trucks all the time...will try to find and post a foto

There are also remote farms in the area. One of the times we were there, a gentleman packed in his grapefruit on 15 burros to be taken to Vizcaino by truck. After sitting and talking for a while, off he went with a few goods for home (the only store was out of someones house).

wilderone - 7-15-2015 at 08:42 AM

It is my understanding that traveling teachers go to these remote villages and spend 6-8 months living there and teaching, then move on to another. This is what Angel of San Borja told me. I know a gentleman in Ensenada who studied to become a teacher - the government pays tuition for study, and then you must commit to 4 years of being a traveling teacher.
If you go to Sierra de San Francisco to camp, just ask around where to camp. The ranchos are pretty large - someone may direct you to a far corner of their ranch. A good chance to visit and observe these original Californios. Give them $ to camp or donate canned goods, etc. The evening prior to a mule trip, our group camped in the middle of the road near one of the ranchos. No cars came by.

David K - 7-15-2015 at 08:55 AM

The residents of San Francisco de la Sierra (and some other Baja mountain ranches and villages) are descedents of the Spanish soldiers assigned to guard the missions of Old (Baja) California (1697-1821)... many married the local native women.

A great read...

[Edited on 7-15-2015 by David K]

bajasusan/a - 7-15-2015 at 09:05 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

The residents of San Francisco de la Sierra (and some other Baja mountain ranches and villages) are decedents of the Spanish soldiers assigned to guard the missions of Old (Baja) California (1697-1821)... many married the local native women.

well, now...the typo "decedents" is interesting, since yes, there were many thousands of people who died as a result of those soldiers, as well as many who were born because of them. i won't bet my last peso on this, but i am guessing not so much with the "marrying" of the native women, probably more like raping in many/most (?) cases...

David K - 7-15-2015 at 09:15 AM

LOL... thanks for that fix.

About your feelings... if you read the texts of that period, you will see that the majority of soldiers were honorable and religeous. Any soldier guilty of rape would be severly punished. It was a far different time then, and we have no machine to go back and change what happened.

When a child comes home from school sick, do you think the other kids made him ill on purpose? There was no intentional killing of the natives, except in defence. The purpose of the Spanish occupation was to convert the natives into what the the Europeans considered civilized living. In fact, they halted the killing of Indians by Indians that included abortions and killing the elderly.

bajasusan/a - 7-15-2015 at 09:21 AM

SOOO tempted to engage in a meaningless debate here that would bore the pants off everyone else, but i will leave it at "History is written by the 'winners'" and suggest one of my own favorite texts, "There's A Word for It in Mexico" which has a rather different view of the catholic church's activities here...

David K - 7-15-2015 at 10:13 AM

No debate. The history written is all we have, since nobody here was alive 300 years ago and the Native Indians had no record keeping we found beyond the shaman tools and cave art.

People died all over the world from diseases during the era of exploration. Sad but true. If not the Spanish, than some other force would have conquered California. Not saying what happened was good, it wasn't. It is just what happened.

A race of people were absorbed by another, and many died. The native Indian bloodline survive in the mountain people living in Baja California today.

motoged - 7-15-2015 at 12:14 PM

History......???? I think there is ample evidence that the imperialism of the Catholic church, as well as that of its hosting nations for such incursions, involved what we would consider slavery and planned destruction of native cultures.....killing and rape just came with the program.

Not all of the missionary histories are defensible and beyond examination.

But some people still think all of this existence was created in a week.