BajaNomad

Cleanest air in baja?

fishbuck - 2-8-2018 at 01:53 PM

One of the reasons I decided to retire is that I developed asthma after so many years of breathing aircraft factory chemicals and also Long Beach Ca has the dirtiest air in LA county. Washington air is not very clean either surprisingly.
But I believe that if I give my lungs a chance to breath the purist air I can find that I have a fighting chance to cure or at least greatly improve my lung function
I like my lungs.

So would kind Nomads please suggest where the clean air is.

The top of Pico del Diablo?
The middle of the driest desert?

How about time of year?

For example. I 'm thinking that april with all the catus flowers after the rains if they happen. You can see the pollen in the air. Probably not best. But very beautiful.




[Edited on 2-8-2018 by fishbuck]

bajabuddha - 2-8-2018 at 02:12 PM

My first night in Cataviña (1995) camped at Rancho Santa Inez I was visited by Ol' Ralph that has a house nearby. We were admiring the plethora of stars on a moonless night. Ralph said, "close your eyes and take a deep breath" to which I did, and he then said, "the last person to breathe that air spoke Chinese."

Never forgot it, and quoted him ever since.

fishbuck - 2-8-2018 at 02:17 PM

Trippy but cool. Yeah I was thinking way out in the rock gardens of Catavina.
I think I want to find a spot out there and meditate for a week. If there is a place on this earth where a man can reconnect and heal that is it.
The 1st night of my 1st trip I camped out there. I never came back:coolup:

[Edited on 2-8-2018 by fishbuck]

StuckSucks - 2-8-2018 at 02:27 PM

Quote: Originally posted by bajabuddha  
My first night in Cataviña (1995) camped at Rancho Santa Inez I was visited by Ol' Ralph that has a house nearby. We were admiring the plethora of stars on a moonless night. Ralph said, "close your eyes and take a deep breath" to which I did, and he then said, "the last person to breathe that air spoke Chinese."


Brilliant!

I was going to suggest the Pacific coast west of Cataviña -- miles of remote, humanless coast with nothing but fresh Northern Pacific air.

JZ - 2-8-2018 at 02:57 PM

Quote: Originally posted by StuckSucks  
Quote: Originally posted by bajabuddha  
My first night in Cataviña (1995) camped at Rancho Santa Inez I was visited by Ol' Ralph that has a house nearby. We were admiring the plethora of stars on a moonless night. Ralph said, "close your eyes and take a deep breath" to which I did, and he then said, "the last person to breathe that air spoke Chinese."


Brilliant!

I was going to suggest the Pacific coast west of Cataviña -- miles of remote, humanless coast with nothing but fresh Northern Pacific air.


This was my thought as well.

David K - 2-8-2018 at 03:03 PM

Along the beach, it would be mostly free of dust or pollen as the air usually blows off the ocean from west to east. Most anywhere in Baja has pretty good air, being a peninsula, right? Avoid where they burn trash!

fishbuck - 2-8-2018 at 03:07 PM

Yes I concur.
How about starting at Punta Baja and going south?
I have an Ford F-350 4x4. I don't have tires for soft sand but other than that I'm good.
10 ply continentals. Widest I could fit on stock rims. Like 305s I think.
Where can I shelter out there? I want clean air but I'm thinking it might be just a little windy out there. And cold.
But the freshest air in Baja no doubt. Any maybe the world.

mtgoat666 - 2-8-2018 at 03:42 PM

Quote: Originally posted by fishbuck  
One of the reasons I decided to retire is that I developed asthma after so many years of breathing aircraft factory chemicals and also Long Beach Ca has the dirtiest air in LA county. Washington air is not very clean either surprisingly.
But I believe that if I give my lungs a chance to breath the purist air I can find that I have a fighting chance to cure or at least greatly improve my lung function
I like my lungs.

So would kind Nomads please suggest where the clean air is.

The top of Pico del Diablo?
The middle of the driest desert?

How about time of year?

For example. I 'm thinking that april with all the catus flowers after the rains if they happen. You can see the pollen in the air. Probably not best. But very beautiful.


[Edited on 2-8-2018 by fishbuck]


It depends. Depends on if wind is blowing the dust. Depends on pollen levels. Depends on humidity.
The wind is usually blowing. Do you ever notice how much dust accumulates inside your tent, car or home when the wind is blowing in the dry desert??

JZ - 2-8-2018 at 03:43 PM

Quote: Originally posted by fishbuck  
Yes I concur.
How about starting at Punta Baja and going south?
I have an Ford F-350 4x4. I don't have tires for soft sand but other than that I'm good.
10 ply continentals. Widest I could fit on stock rims. Like 305s I think.
Where can I shelter out there? I want clean air but I'm thinking it might be just a little windy out there. And cold.
But the freshest air in Baja no doubt. Any maybe the world.


Get behind a sand dune.

fishbuck - 2-8-2018 at 03:44 PM

I'll just have to keep moving... like some kind of nomad!

fishbuck - 2-8-2018 at 03:49 PM

Quote: Originally posted by JZ  
Quote: Originally posted by fishbuck  
Yes I concur.
How about starting at Punta Baja and going south?
I have an Ford F-350 4x4. I don't have tires for soft sand but other than that I'm good.
10 ply continentals. Widest I could fit on stock rims. Like 305s I think.
Where can I shelter out there? I want clean air but I'm thinking it might be just a little windy out there. And cold.
But the freshest air in Baja no doubt. Any maybe the world.


Get behind a sand dune.


Yeah, this is actually a good plan.
Go to Punta Baja, turn left and follow the beach rode until I find a big sand dune to camp behind.
Sounds so easy after you said it. :light:


fishbuck - 2-8-2018 at 04:09 PM

Crazy idea number...

Has anyone even seen the inside a fisherman shack at Punta Baja?
I thinking kind of gross but maybe the is a really nice one out there?
I could rent it and hang out there for a while. Last time I was there those guys caught some serious fish. Huge WSBs and Halibuts.
Windy and harsh. Tough life.
But maybe best to just find a nice spot down the beach.

4x4abc - 2-8-2018 at 04:32 PM

Quote: Originally posted by bajabuddha  
My first night in Cataviña (1995) camped at Rancho Santa Inez I was visited by Ol' Ralph that has a house nearby. We were admiring the plethora of stars on a moonless night. Ralph said, "close your eyes and take a deep breath" to which I did, and he then said, "the last person to breathe that air spoke Chinese."

Never forgot it, and quoted him ever since.


read a report some years back
only remember the big picture
doctors had noticed some serious infections among children
Oregon Washington
only during a three months window of the year
a disease not normally known in the US
but it was well known in Japan
turned out that the airstream during part of the year would carry infectious particles in the US

so, I am not too happy to hear about Chinese breathing my air last

besides, La Paz has already the dirtiest air in all of Mexico (CFE)

DanO - 2-8-2018 at 05:22 PM

My Northwest Baja experience is that on certain areas of the coast, it is often windy, especially during late summer, and dust can be an issue if the wind is really howling (on the plus side, though, the wind clears out everything else). It can also be cold and damp on occasion, which I'm guessing isn't optimal for asthmatics. But on any average day during the year, the air quality beats the hell out of any urban area I've ever been in. It's not as good as the air in the San Pedro Martir in the winter, but it's a lot easier to get to and it's not snowbound.

chippy - 2-8-2018 at 05:22 PM

Hey 4x4 I think you mean in all of Baja? I can think of a half a dozen cities on the mainland with WAAAYY dirtier air.

http://www.animalpolitico.com/2016/05/estas-son-las-ciudades...



[Edited on 2-9-2018 by chippy]

bajabuddha - 2-8-2018 at 05:54 PM

Harald, Oregon/Washington get their jet stream from Russia/Siberia and of course Japan (remember ***ushima?). Cataviña to China is at least a thousand miles farther if not more with an entirely different air current... the open Pacific is quite vast, you know. Otherwise it's only half-vast.... so to speak.

To fishbuck, the air in the boulders may be sandy if blowing, but less humidity and more quiet than near the surf for meditation. My favorite camping spot (back when I could) was just a mile or two north of the north wash above Cataviña on the west side of the highway. One of the off-shoots to the old Camino dirt roads) headed maybe a half-mile off the pavement, paralleling it and through a very large boulder field. There's a few remote and wonderful campsites out along a mile or so of dirt, huge boulders, great fire pits, and if you're lucky there's some rock art in some of the 'caves' (rock tumble enclosures). Spent many a comfy night out there. No noisy surf, coyotes, dancing shadows. Spirit enhancing magic. My first true Baja epiphany. Happy trails.

Post script : Can't believe the censorship on Japan's nuclear town. So, EFF YOU SEE KAYE, tell her I love her. :O :biggrin:

[Edited on 2-9-2018 by bajabuddha]

fishbuck - 2-8-2018 at 07:52 PM

This really has me thinking of the perfect spot.

MulegeAL - 2-8-2018 at 08:31 PM

Punta Eugenia. Waaay out there. But freshest air I can recall in my extensive travails of this great penninsula-la!