Hey Everyone. Thanks for the pointers on my Baja travels - past and present. Just got back from surfing on the Pacific side and then
beaching/boating on our way back up on the Sea of Cortez side. All in all a great trip. Here in October it didn't seem to me that travel was
lessened much due to Covid. Many hotels and campgrounds full at whatever capacity they could offer. Many people wearing masks although in the
smaller towns - many not wearing masks. Today we drove to the border from San Felipe to Mexically and cars were literally streaming south. Below is
a pic of El Cardon surf spot. Apparently we missed good swells for all of our surfing. The best I could do was maybe shoulder high one day most was
knee to waist.Doug Landolfi - 10-25-2020 at 11:24 AM
Hi Steve. Thanks for your report. I will be heading through Mexicali and San Felipe heading south to along the Gulf to Cabo Pulmo in about 1 month
from now. Could the cars streaming south have anything to do with the Baja1000 which starts 3 weeks from now? Were they pulling all sorts of
off-road vehicles on trailers? Dougsteve5555 - 10-28-2020 at 06:40 PM
Hey Doug, some off road looking rigs but mostly tourist looking people. Cars stuffed with young men going to the beach is what mostly struck me.
Also, I started the trip report and struggled with pictures. I need to get back to it and give a proper report.
Stevesteve5555 - 10-28-2020 at 06:57 PM
We spent 4 days at El Cardon in the seven sisters. Surf was knee to waist. Gorgeous Beach north and south. Met another surfer here but mostly on
our own. That was a LONG dirt section to tow our fragile boat. Took forever.
[Edited on 10-29-2020 by BajaNomad]steve5555 - 10-28-2020 at 07:04 PM
Went from El Cardone down to San Ignacio. Had a very nice night that we spent at a Yurt place in San Ignacio. Left our boat stored there for
$5/night and left the next morning for Scorpion Bay.
Scorpion Bay had maybe 8-12 campers on the Bluff. Surf was waist to maybe chest. Crowd was friendly restaurants open. stayed 6 days. Did some
exploring by buggy and beach combing.
[Edited on 10-29-2020 by steve5555]
[Edited on 10-29-2020 by BajaNomad]steve5555 - 10-28-2020 at 07:06 PM
the picture above was point 3 at Scorpion Bay.steve5555 - 10-28-2020 at 07:14 PM
Sorry those pictures are so huge. Does everyone see them that size too?
Leaving Scorpion Bay the low road back to San Ignacio I broke both leaf springs on my trailer. I assume one broke then the other. The trailer was
near capacity and in hind site I was beating it pretty hard on the drive. We found a welder in San Ignacio and had our single negative interaction as
I felt I got ripped off by the welder that repaired my trailer. I had asked how much to repair and he replied he would know till he got into it. As
it turned out he fixed it and then wanted $400 to install 2 used springs he had on an old trailer. He DID have to weld on 2 tabs but it seemed like a
lot of money for 1.5 hours of work. On the other hand it was fixed and remained fixed for the rest of our trip. steve5555 - 10-28-2020 at 07:19 PM
Leaving San Ignacio we headed to Bay of Conception. As you know the beaches here are gorgeous. We ended up at the south end of the bay so that we
could get a little further from the road noise at the camp grounds on the north end. Our camp ground was called "La Perla". I think 200 pesos per
night per vehicle. We were able to help a group from San Bruno who didn't have a stove when their girl was struck by a sting ray. Two Mexican
families and our group fo 2 in the little cove. Quite enjoyable.
steve5555 - 10-28-2020 at 07:21 PM
La Perla
[Edited on 10-29-2020 by BajaNomad]steve5555 - 10-28-2020 at 07:32 PM
Leaving Conception Bay we drove down to Loreto. Ended up south of Loreto in Ligui on the public beach. We showed up on a Sunday night to a
boisterous beach crowd. By Monday morning most everyone was gone. My brother was keeping an eye on a couple Mexican tourists in a kayak that was
having trouble getting back from the island offshore. He ended up searching for them in our zodiac and then carrying them back stuffed in the Zodiac.
We caught a couple 5 pound Doradoes and a single football sized skippy. Pretty happy here but on our 3rd day the local police showed up and told us
no camping. Not sure if that was COVID related or what but we packed up and left for BOLA. The guy was super accommodating and gave us all day to
leave.
[Edited on 10-29-2020 by BajaNomad]steve5555 - 10-28-2020 at 07:41 PM
Some years ago you guys had pointed me to La Gringa in BOLA. As our final destination we camped there for 3 nights. It was just perfect. Cool
nights and warm water. Internet in town and shopping. MOGas. Swam with some Whale sharks and explored in our buggy.
[Edited on 10-29-2020 by BajaNomad]advrider - 10-28-2020 at 07:45 PM
Awesome report, pictures are huge but there are pictures! The repair was over priced at US prices and highway robbery in Mexico! Please post or u2u me
so I can avoid the crook. ,steve5555 - 10-28-2020 at 07:50 PM
All in all a great trip. Ive never had 3 weeks off work in 34 years of employment. At the start of this trip I was wondering if I would get bored or
stir crazy. By the end of the trip none of us wanted it to end!
We went through the border at Calexico on a Saturday at 11am. 45 minute wait and no hassle whatsoever. The CBP lady was super nice.
Thanks again for all of the pointed Baja Mexico advice over the years.
Awesome report, pictures are huge but there are pictures! The repair was over priced at US prices and highway robbery in Mexico! Please post or u2u me
so I can avoid the crook. ,
I know! But he had done the work and his boss was demanding 8000 pesos. It was upsetting but I didn't really feel I had much alternative but to pay.
Here is my broken trailer. Below that is the welder in San Ignacio. Later I heard from the Yurt guy that Lopez welding is known for vastly
overcharging. I just had to suck it up and move on emotionally.
[Edited on 10-29-2020 by BajaNomad]TMW - 10-28-2020 at 08:16 PM
Excellent report and pictures, thanks. As to the welder it's best to take it as a teaching moment and move on. You'll know better next time. Sometimes
you have no choice. TMW - 10-28-2020 at 08:19 PM
As to the size of the pictures David K posted on how to keep them smaller.
Paste the Photobucket link on Nomad as before, then add =800x right after the first IMG of the link.Lengua - 10-28-2020 at 09:08 PM
I like the big pictures David K - 10-29-2020 at 05:30 AM
Sorry those pictures are so huge. Does everyone see them that size too?
Leaving Scorpion Bay the low road back to San Ignacio I broke both leaf springs on my trailer. I assume one broke then the other. The trailer was
near capacity and in hind site I was beating it pretty hard on the drive.
Pics render fine on my iPad — iPad seems to know how to resize pics by itself.
Re trailer, I see so many leaf spring trailers with broken springs. I have only had torsion axles in my most recent trailers, I like torsion axle
suspension, they are better/smoother on rough roads
When you take trailers on bumpy roads, it pays to travel slowly. Typical trailers really aren’t very good for bumpy roads...steve5555 - 10-29-2020 at 06:54 AM
Doug must have fixed the pics. Thanks for that. Also DK thanks for the new photo hosting site!
SteveTMW - 10-29-2020 at 12:06 PM
Baja Lou broke a torsion bar on his trailer when we did the walk down El Volcan looking for a lost Mission. We chained it up and he got it fixed in El
Rosario. David K - 10-29-2020 at 12:31 PM
Doug must have fixed the pics. Thanks for that. Also DK thanks for the new photo hosting site!
Steve
Indeed he did!
Another nice feature of PostImages.org is there is no watermark messing up your fine photo for the free level. The only thing you need to do before
uploading photos is to click on the drop down selection from "Do Not Resize My Image" to 800x600 (full or max Nomad page) or 640x480 (message boards).
I have so many maps and photos on Photobucket (for sharing here), I am paying $5/ month to not have the watermark. Eventually, I will only use
Postimages and end my Photobucket account (it was originally free, since 2006).
