Trip report 10/10/15, 14days, 1,700 miles days, bay of conception and BOLA
Get your FMM after you cross the border. RIGHT after you cross the border at San Ysidro. I mean right after, 300ft after you cross. There are a bunch
of official looking trucks and guys with guns, no parking, it does not look like you are supposed to park your car there never the less that is the
place. I missed it and had to walk back. A real drag on a very hot day.
Ensenada is a good place to provision there is a Walmart, Sam's Club and Costco.
I got a late start and broke the cardinal rule and drove at night. I don't condone it because of the vampire cows that cruise around on the roads at
night instead of sleeping. However if you do my technique is to follow a slow truck or bus thinking that if they hit something it will get pushed off
the road. When the truck/bus turns off I pull off also and wait for another truck.
Round 10pm I pulled off and drove down a dirt road and went to sleep. I woke up to a beautiful desert sunrise somewhere between Ensenada and San
Quentin.
That day I drove to Mulege and stayed at the Mulege Hotel $24 US per night. Hot showers, WIFI and no fridge. You can buy a fishing permit in Mulege at
Senor Geko's across from Hotel Hacienda. There are three small markets to buy supplies.
Next day off to Bay of Conception. I have not been there since 1983. I checked out all the campgrounds on the Bay from Playa Santispac to Playa
Armenta. Had an awesome lunch at El Requeson with Mark and Nathan and decided to spend the night at Armenta. The problem with Concepcion beaches is
that they are right next to hwy 1. The beaches are in coves bordered by hills and trucks are either using their break retarders going down hill or
gunning their engine going up hill. the result is 24hr a day noise. Not the solitude that I was looking for. I'm also not convinced that the rock art
across from Bertha's was not put there by her or one of her minions. The next morning I took off for punta Concepcion. It had rained a lot the
previous week and there was standing water. I was advised not to attempt the mudflats. I decided to have a look anyway. There is a road at km76 with
a barbed wire gate. I found a road at km77 with a cattle grate that went the same direction. Follow this road and the next 5 lefts all connect to the
Punta Conception coast road. I drove 5 miles up the east side of the bay and got stuck in the mud. The mud flats are not just at the end of the bay
but up the punta as well. In addition to the rain there were also extreme high tides after a super moon. A lot of the mud is created by the high
tides. After spending the night in the mud I walked the beach until I found enough plywood to get myself out. 20 minutes north of Mulege is a good
place for free camping called Playa Ines.
After a week at Concepcion I drove to BOLA. At BOLA they are extending the paved road to La Gringa. I camped past La Gringa at a small cove with a
beach. The water was kind of murky so I fished from my kayak. The fishing was great and as I cooked my fish a male sea lion swam by. The next night I
spent at Taggets, 100p with palapas and shower.
Headed home I stopped for lunch and went bouldering at km110 south from El Rasario. That night I camped on a deserted beach south of San Quinten. Next
morning off to Ensanada and on to the border. The border wait was 3 hours at San Ysidro late afternoon on a Saturday.AguaDulce - 10-31-2015 at 10:50 PM
jeez.. the guy tells the truth and you hammer him. No wonder many people do not want to post with infoBornFisher - 10-31-2015 at 10:58 PM
Thanks for the report. Spending the night in the mud----- you must still be having nightmares!!
Love your writing style--- basic and honest, the bad with the good!bajabuddha - 10-31-2015 at 11:04 PM
jeez.. the guy tells the truth and you hammer him. No wonder many people do not want to post with info
You're absolutely correct. Better?
SD, suffice it to say, the petroglyphs by Bertha's are the real deal.
[Edited on 11-1-2015 by bajabuddha]David K - 11-1-2015 at 10:47 AM
Looks like I missed the drama?? Good, glad it was removed.
Any photos to share sd2hi?
Thank you for the trip report!sd2hi - 11-1-2015 at 12:54 PM
lots of pics to share. my son bought me a gopro for the trip, over 200 vids n stills, they don't seem to want to load. any tips? drama? I missed it
also. the mud was part of the adventure. I could have done without the insect bites. looked like naked and afraidsd2hi - 11-1-2015 at 01:00 PM
BB, any links to info on petroglyps? Sorry to say La Perla is a mess. No one around, junk all over and falling apart :-( basautter - 11-1-2015 at 01:31 PM
Thanks for sharing. No pictures?
pic
sd2hi - 11-5-2015 at 04:20 PM
first morning
d
sd2hi - 11-5-2015 at 04:27 PM
b
n
sd2hi - 11-5-2015 at 04:46 PM
k
z
sd2hi - 11-5-2015 at 04:48 PM
met some yachties invited them for BBQ on the beach
s
sd2hi - 11-5-2015 at 04:55 PM
stuck in the mud
n
sd2hi - 11-5-2015 at 05:00 PM
indio or modelo at night, pacific n tropical daytime
sd2hi - 11-5-2015 at 05:02 PM
Armenta
p
sd2hi - 11-5-2015 at 05:05 PM
petroglyps at Bertha's
p
sd2hi - 11-5-2015 at 05:06 PM
schooled!
[Edited on 11-6-2015 by sd2hi]
b
sd2hi - 11-5-2015 at 05:09 PM
blouldering
David K - 11-5-2015 at 05:31 PM
Thank you for sharing!bajabuddha - 11-5-2015 at 05:46 PM
FYI: this is a true archaeological 'discussion' amongst the "Pro's". The rock art pic shows the ubiquitous clam-looking glyph, the circular-with a
slit-like opening glyph that I swear is a clam, but it shows up also in northern rock art where there ain't no shellfish for hunnerds of miles. The
Eggspurts mostly concur it's an homage to a vulva.... a fertily/womanhood symbolic glyph. Who knows? That's why they're petroglyphs and not
hieroglyphs, because we have no translation to more recent text writings like Egypt and the Central American glyphs do. Yet, that is... science still
is discovering things (unlike some believe). Kewl stuff; I've hiked that site probably 30 times taking many new-met campers there. Used to do
'interpretation' in the 4-Corners and Canyonlands areas for years, and still get a tingle with every new discovery.
Also kewl there is the original Camino that zig-zags up and over that ridge; I woulda driven it in my 20's, not so now. Them were the daze... no
'spot's, no internet, no NUTHIN'. Better bring what you need, and some extras just in case, and you would have still been borrowing from everyone
else, and they you. Then imagine the Cochimi living on/near that beach, living off the sea/land..... what a place to sit and just commune. I bet
they wish they had Bertha's for a bucket-full of iced Pacifico's....... sd2hi - 11-5-2015 at 08:00 PM
Just above Armentas is what I assume is the old hwy 1. It's very visible.
