Ski Baja - 9-18-2003 at 08:44 AM
Well Runner, and everyone else, I guess by now you know what happened. I am an idiot. Fairly simple.
I erased all of our posts regarding the stuck stories and they were just getting good.
If any of you are still speaking to me I would like to continue this thread where we left off. I had just completed a long stuck story on here when
the mishap occured. I will try again later without messing around with pictures.
My apologies to all and Runner, do you know how to say expanded metal in Spanish because I will be looking for it down here. Thanks
David K - 9-18-2003 at 04:38 PM
We forgive you J.R., don't be too hard on yourself!
To help the ball get rolling, here's my story:
I thing it was Spring Break, 1979... I was going to camp for a week on Shell Island (near Laguna Percebu). I was traveling late going there on a
moonless night. When I arrived at the mud flats that seperate the island from the desert, it was clear that it was high tide and Shell Island was a
true island at that moment!
Now, if you keep your tires in the worn track (where the mud is most compacted) and where the water is the actually the deepest, you will be fine. At
night, this isn't easy to do and I got a few inches off the track.... BOGGGGG! Even in 4WD, the Subaru wagon's little motor and 13" tires couldn't get
me out.
Instead of throwing my sleeping bad on a nice sand beach for the night, I slept in my loaded down Subaru's front seat!
At daybreak, I began to scout for some wood to place the jack on and put under the stuck tire. I was lucky and found some planks not too far away.
Within a short time, I was out and soon on the beautiful white sand beach!
I have another stuck story from Matomi Canyon... stay tuned! 
stuck- again
thebajarunner - 9-18-2003 at 07:21 PM
o.k. ski man,
not sure if you want the 'expanded metal' prescription or another stuck story.
Expanded metal, it comes in sheets at your local steel company (you can call my partner Don, at Modesto Steel and he will square you away) It is the
material that "see through" grates are made of.
In other words, it looks like real heavy duty chain link fencing stuff.
Have a couple pieces sheared, at least 12" wide and 3' to 4' long. 4' is ideal but may not fit your rig.
We always carried our race truck and pre-run spares bolted flat on the back of the bed.
So we slipped these under the spare and dougered the whole thing down real tight.
Scrape excess sand/dirt from in front or rear of each driving wheel, wedge the mat in tight and drive away. Hey, you are guaranteed at least a 4 foot
run, may have to repeat once or twice. Be sure to 'condition' the sheared edges or wrap with duct tape, they get real ugly on pants, shirts, skin,
etc.
Another stuck story... o.k., we were pre-running the "beach route" for the 1000. Came up on a real sandy track through the dunes from Tortugas (Bahia
San Ignacio) toward Rancho Cuarenta when we noticed the truck quickly losing power, finally came to a complete stop.
We were high-centered on the sandy ridge between the ruts and the rears were virtually hanging in space. Must have been a road used only by big local
trucks because our pickup had pretty high clearance. And, the tires could not really grip the mats. Oh boy.
Out of nowhere, just around the corner from the absolute end of the earth, come two kids about 12 or 14.
They helped cut brush and junk and we finally backed out and figured out another escape.
The fun part came when we opened the cooler and gave each a well iced down can of Pepsi. It was clear that neither had ever had a really cold soda
before. Boy was that fun to watch...
Nothing like two little guys having their first experience with something special. (oops, this could be headed in a very interesting direction...)
Final note- our pre-runs used to be so violent that at the end of the day every can in the cooler was bright, shiny metal.
No clue as to soda, cerveza, jugo or whatever.
ps. to Baja Vida... no, we do not take sand mats on our joint trips south. We take lots of vehicles and tow straps and stick together...
and as I tell you frequently,
"If you are where you need a four wheel drive you are where you ought not be"
stuck again
thebajarunner - 9-18-2003 at 09:25 PM
ski man
check your U2U
box
I am gone for 4 days to a meeting and the IRL race at Fontana
I gave you my cell # if you want to give me a call on the fly.
Baja Vida!
Unstuck on the board
Ski Baja - 9-19-2003 at 01:00 PM
OK then, I seem to have remembered my password or something to that effect. I will now continue where I left off. Does anyone know how to say
expanded metal in Spanish?
The HiLift Story:
I spent most of the day heading into the hills on some extremely bad roads before hitting the El Camino Real which was even worse. Almost enough
room to fit between the cactus but Chayo says no problem, Its his property. And the van has been mostly used off road. We are cool!
We are headed to some cuevas de las Guaycuras, and an old way station and some springs used on the Jesuit route. But that's a different story.
After spending the day bouncing and hiking it was a pleasure to arrive back at the ranch exhausted, or so I thought. Being a beautiful day and low
tide, I thought I would go for a ride on the beach towards La Paz. Not a big deal as I have plenty of mud, sand, and snow experience off road.
What a treat after the days ride in the hills, feels like I am riding on air and I head south for about 1/2 hour. Good music and this is fun.
I spot a bunch of driftwood so I head up the beach and load up the rack. Friends need some fence posts up in the hills so I will bring them a bunch.
All loaded up and there's that sinking feeling.
So, I let the air down to 10 lbs from 20 and stick some stuff under the rear wheels. Nothing. No forward progress. OK then, I will just use the
HiLift and put some real stuff under there.
Out comes the jack and now there's a problem. The springs have rusted and it isn't working. This sucks but that's OK, I will use the floor jack.
Well, each time jacking the floor jack up got me about 2 ft. of forward progress before having to jack again.
This is not good as the tide is now starting to come in. And at 2 ft. of forward progress per jacking, I am in trouble. Should I go try and find
some help on a beach I have probably just driven 10 miles on without seeing a soul? Unload the Van before it sinks? I know, kick the dogs, yell, curse
and have a fit. Remember, this was after hiking and off roading all day. I wasn't in the best of spirits for the present adventure.
So, I am now building a new Dam for La Paz. Thanks to my trusty folding shovel, I built a sand dam all the way around 3 sides of the van and used
the bluff for the backside. The bluff was the reason unloading wouldn't have worked as there was no access to get up it.
I get the Dam completed and we are still dry so now what do I do? I know, make a drink and think about this nightmare for a minute.
Feeling a little better now, I decide to see what happened to my second favorite friend on these trips, the Hi Lift. Springs arent broken but even
half a can of WD didn't get them operating. But, I stick it in the hitch receiver and manually get the van in the air using a screwdriver and pliers
to operate the pins because I have obviously not built a big enough dam.
I then collect a load of wood for a path, put my carpet down and manually lower the van down onto Camino de la Dumbass. It has now been 3 hours
since arriving here.
Collect the dogs, and Gentlemen, start your engines. Forward movement and down goes the pedal. I use the new Presa La Paz for a launch ramp and make
it to the firm sand which is now underwater with each incoming wave.
Leaving my favorite screwdriver and carpet for the next genius who happens by, I high tail it for the ranch to try and beat the incoming tide.
Back at the ranch with a drink in hand, I am relating the evenings adventure to my two inattentive friends, both locals, one Gringo and one Mexican.
Apparently, they were not so lucky with their vehicles. They are now the proud owners of the 2 new La Paz area fish habitats. One Ford and one GMC
pickup.
TMW - 9-19-2003 at 06:05 PM
During the Baja 2000 race we were at the silt beds south of Luguna San Ignacio ready to help any poor soul that might get stuck. We were in my chevy
K1500 4x4. After the race traffic died down we decided to go thru the silt beds to the Loco Mocos pit a few miles down the course. With an eye out for
any late race traffic we headed thru. Trying to pick the best path I went to the left when I should have went right. The road was a low section with a
high bank with mucho brush on each side. I was floored in 4 wheel drive and I slowly came to a halt. I backed up and went about 4 feet. At this point
I was high centered with all 4 wheels spinning. We got out and tried some wood under the wheels but no good. I didn't have a high lift jack then (I do
now). Just then about a dozen Mexicans come out of the trees and bushes. Most of them had been drinking. They said they would get me out. They got
around my truck and tried to lift it out. You can imagine my thoughts on that. A 5000 lb truck with maybe a 1000 lbs of gear in the back, motorcycle
included. Well they didn't move it much. I asked if anyone had a 4x4 and one guy said yes and he said he would try pulling me out. It was a little
Ford Ranger 4x4. He tried to pull me easy at first. which didn't work. I explained to him to leave some slack and get on the gas and pop me out. He
did and out I came. He had put the tow strap under his rear bumper and over the ball so when he poped me, it bent that part of his bumper pretty good.
Well I gave him $20 and my brother gave em a 12 pack of non-alcoholic beer and we got out of there before they noticed it.
reefrocket - 9-19-2003 at 10:10 PM
Doug might be busy so I drug this over for you JR
Here's all I can find cached on Google:
Ski Baja:
OK then, yer stuck with it.
Years ago, while on a surf/Hussongs trip to San Miguel, I thought my 73 FJ40 was invincible. And after leaving Hussongs, I thought I was too. We
headed back to Sam Miguel and I decided to take the river bed back to the beach.
Now back in those days, that beach used to be one of the most popular places to camp and there were usually a lot of good looking girls around as well
as lot's of other people too.
So, we get closer to the campground and beach and right up next to the campground in the river bed and sink. And I mean sunk. Well, this river bed had
a layer of dirt and dust about an inch thick and below that was everything that came out of their sewer, from the public restrooms and the park.
Not only are we asphixiated and gagging from the smell but it stirred up so much stuff that the whole area smelled of this crap. Needless to say, we
were not only the laughing stock but quite unpopular as well. And there were a lot of people with nothing better to do than watch the Off Road
Dumbasses.
So I get out and immediately lose my sandals in the first 2 steps. I then cut my foot on something trying to get through this muck. Yikes ! I make it
through all this smelly gunk to the camp area and get somebody with a winch and rinse out the foot.
Back out to the Toy and hook up the winch cable and get pulled out and head straight to the surf with a full bottle of Tequila and proceed to use the
whole bottle rinsing out the cut. Well, most of it anyway!
Then, if you have been stuck in mud, you are aware of what a vehicle looks like after such an incident. Well, the only thing missing on mine was
toilet paper and corn! And what an odor. Unbearable!
So, down to the surf to race up and down the beach trying to water blast all this stuff off the vehicle. That pretty much worked. at least bearable
enough to get home with for a real disinfecting.
That was a fun trip! I don't drive in riverbeds next to campgrounds by the beach anymore. My foot never even got infected because of either the
interior or exterior Tequila. And I had another stupid stuck story to tell.. PU
mcgyver:
Worst Stuck!!
No doubt its been done before but its always an entertaining subject in Baja. I have heard some doozes!!
Here's mine: Living in San Telmo during a wet period my Samauri was really dirty, about a mile north of the village, just a mile off of the park road
was a ford on the river. Watching the locals stop in the middle of the river I said why not? Driving down in my bathing suit and parking in the middle
in about a foot of water I gave it a good scrubbing. Finished, I cranked up and instead of going across to the other bank and turning on dry land, I
just made a sweeping U turn! BIG mistake! The crossing was all round rock and tight packed but the the edge dropped off in to 3 foot deep fast moving
water! The front dropped in up to the top of the hood instantly and there was no question of getting into 4WD and backing up! The sand was rapidly
washing out from under the front wheels and it was just balanced on the edge. Hiking to the park road to go to the village for a tractor, I met a car
with 6 UNLV guys heading to the park. They drove down to the river took one look and said no problemo! Wading out they simply picked up the front end
and walked it sideways back to the rocks. It cranked right up since I had not ran it under water and I drove it out. Refusing cerveza's or payment
they drove off laughing at the old guy trying to drive a 2 foot car in 3 feet of water. Later I saw cars at night miss the crossing entirely and
require a 4WD tractor to oull them out. I check now!
Bajabus
I used to get my 28' international bus stuck all the time, just the hard headed Italian in me I guess. What always got me was trying to back up as
close as possible and perpendicular to the tide line. Our bedroom was in the very back and we just loved having the water as a view and being lulled
to sleep by the surf. My wife was always saying "I think this is close enough" but I always wanted just a few more feet. Inevitably we would sink upon
trying to leave. We always had 2 hi-lift jacks, an assortment of wood blocks, short planks and plenty of time. Wrestling a 22,000 pound bus out of the
sand is no easy feat but eventually we worked out a routine that involved dumping the grey water tank out to lighten the load and help pack the sand,
jack it up with the 2 jacks, place the planks move forward a bit and repeat the whole lifting thing about a dozen times. The worst time was at San
pedrito where we sank the sucker right up to the chassis while a bunch of surfers cheered us on then promptly lost themselves when they realized we
busted the drain coming off the black water tank......dam what a mess that was. We eventually cajoled them back into helping us by further lightening
the bus of 2 coolers full of ballenas. Let me tell you the term "up to my arm pits in *hit" didn't really do justice to the predicament. Thank god
most of the surfers there were such hard core beer drinkers with little money or motivation to leave the beach for cold brews. It taught me that a
cold beer at the right moment will definitly help you put up with a lot of crap.
Stuck in the Matomi River!
David K - 9-20-2003 at 09:40 PM
Traveling in remote and unmapped Baja is always a thrill. Doing it in a Subaru 4WD wagon, with 13" tires adds some challenge to the adventure...
In December, 1978, a month after finding a 'lost road' from the Sulfur Mine to Valle Chico, I returned to explore the road going south in Valle Chico.
Last time I turned north to return to San Felipe before dark.
Turning south on the Valle Chico road, this time I hoped to reach Matomi Canyon. The road was well worn, yet wasn't shown on most maps. In a few
miles, the edge of Matomi Canyon was reached, and the road steeply dropped down the side. Near the botom, on a terrace, was a ranch house (no longer
there). Living there was 80 year old Tomas Dowling. He was the owner of Rancho Matomi and he had two homes/ranchos. In the summer, he stayed at the
upper ranch (5.5 miles away). Being winter, he was at the lower ranch, near where the Valle Chico road reached the arroyo bottom.
A month earlier, SCORE ran the '78 Baja 1000 through here and down the arroyo 30+ miles to the Puertecitos road.
Tomas hopped into my Subaru to show me his upper ranch house and the 'waterfall' I have heard about (since I was a kid, at Arnold's in San Felipe).
A couple miles up the arroyo we came to a water crossing... no problem. A little further, the arroyo was flooded and I turned back. Upper Rancho
Matomi would have to wait for another day.
Back at the first water crossing, the Subaru dropped into the river (which was rising) and got stuck... GREAT! 
The water was getting close to entering the doorway... I couldn't have been in a worse place, about as far from civilization as you could be... with
an 80 year old rancher (who was trying to make a dam with wood debris in the river).
That little light bulb lit up: I was stuck in river sand, underwater, but still sand. To get unstuck in sand you let out air, right!?! Well, I reached
below the water and deflated my tires... fired up the little Subaru, and popped right out of the Matomi river!
I think that was my worst stuck... I seriously thought I might lose my car and be 70 miles from civilization!
I returned to Matomi the next summer with some friends... it was over 100? but the waterfall was flowing into a big pool. Tomas was there and pointed
out the path to us, as you cannot see the water from his ranch, where the road ends.
The next visit in '86, Tomas was gone. The lower ranch house was dismantled, and some hunters were at the upper house.
When the gang camping at El Camote's followed me there in 2001, a fellow named Rodrigo was living in Tomas' old house, hired by the new landowner to
watch cattle. See http://davidksbaja.com/matomi
[Edited on 9-21-2003 by David K]
Baja's Shell Island Adventure (1980)
Neal Johns - 9-28-2003 at 09:51 AM
I had discovered the remote Baja beach (now named Shell Island by David K) poking around the area the year before in my Land Cruiser. The
two-track off the old road between San Felipe and Puertecitos had looked inviting, so I took it. My religion is simple, if you pass a desert side road
without taking it, God will get you! After a few miles, we (my girlfriend and I) arrived on the edge of a muddy lagoon separating some sand dunes from
the mainland. We had lunch while we tried to decide whether to drive through the mud or not. We could see that the two-track continued but my chicken
blood was running into my brain. Just then a Jeep passed us with a smirk, and drove on through to the dunes. That was it! No darn Jeep can show up a
Land Cruiser! We crossed with no problems even if our Tru-Traks (remember TruTraks? The BFG?s of yesteryear) clogged up.
Surprise! There was a pristine beach on the other side of the dunes with no one in sight except way down south. Hundreds of shells littered
the beach and we had lots of time to look at them because for every revolution of the tires, we moved forward about two feet. Airing down the tire
pressure helped but there was still a lot of slippage. After camping the night, we went on to other things.
Move the clock up a year and I am poking around Baja with two buddies, one with a Jeep CJ-5 and the other in another Land Cruiser. Nightfall
approached and I declared "I know a great place to camp!". It took us a while to get there and it was dark with no moon. The lagoon was full and the
two-track disappeared under the water. Said I: " No problem, I have been here before and if you stay on the track, there won't be any problem, just
follow me". That's when things started to go terribly wrong.
I took off in low range with the two guys behind me and things went OK until the unseen underwater "road" bent right, and I didn't. I
started to bog down and screamed the infamous words "Pass me on the right!" just before I got stuck. The Jeep did so and went two more car lengths
before he got stuck. We heard on the CB the other Land Cruiser say he was stopping. There was a loud silence before they started cursing at me. The
other Land Cruiser was stuck also. The Jeep had a winch on the front bumper which was of little use because we were behind him. I had a small portable
winch which we hooked up to his trailer hitch on the Jeep to pull him backwards a ways. As the winch owner, they let me stand in the foot of brackish
water and operate the controls. What could go wrong, it was only 12 volts? My screams told the others that the kickback voltage from the motor
windings was more that 12 volts and that experiment quickly ended. Next, we broke out the Hi-Lift jacks and pushed some large jack boards down into
the mud without moving the Land Cruiser upward. By that time it was midnight and we decided to sleep in the vehicles until daylight. They didn't sleep
too well because they thought the rising tide would bury them alive. A few crabs in the water and mud did little to calm their fears.
The next day?s vista was very informative. If we had continued straight the way we were going, we would have been in the unseen mud flat on
the edge of the dunes which was much worse that where we were. Guess we missed that right turn. We fooled around some more with the Hi-Lifts to no
avail and then turned our efforts to the Land Cruiser closest to the mainland. By burying the spare tire in the mud and using a come-along puller, we
got him out about noon. We drove back to San Felipe and tried to hire the large wheeled war-surplus boat launching vehicles to come and pull us out.
No luck, they had to remain there to pull the boats out. We then had to decide which would be better, a 400 foot rope, or some planks to serve as
railroad tracks. Eight foot long, two inch by twelve inch planks were decided upon and we went to the lumberyard on the main drag. They sawed them to
length by hand and we loaded six of them on the Land Cruiser fenders/running boards.
Back at the lagoon in the late afternoon, we set to work getting the Jeep out. For some reason, they vetoed getting my vehicle out first. We
pounded nails into the boards and bent them over to give more traction to the soon to be muddy "railroad tracks" and started to work. Using the boards
as giant jack boards for the Hi-Lift, we managed to get the wheels started up on four "tracks" and laid two more boards behind them. The plan was to
go like heck backwards until the Jeep ran out of track and then pray. We must not have prayed to the right Gods because as soon as the Jeep got off
the boards it would go only about 50 feet, and had no steering control whatever. Oh well, only 350 feet to go. The boards that we could manhandle and
lift so easily early on, took on a life of their own toward the second midnight. The suction from the mud on a heavy eight foot by 12 inch board was
all we could overcome toward the end. We got the Jeep out at midnight and my former friends camped on the warm, dry, sand and informed me that "if"
they were around the next morning, "maybe" they would help me out. The next morning, the water had gone down a little and we started on my Land
Cruiser. Around dark, we and our aching backs had it almost out so we quit and they again camped in tents on the sand while I spent another night in
the Land Cruiser. The next day after a little more work, we all headed for San Felipe. We checked into Ruben's Camp where we proceeded to wash off the
six inches of mud onto the gravel driveway. We got a few funny looks, but it was a rustic campo at that time so we got away with it. When queried as
to where we got the mud, we just shook our head and said "south". A few months later, my former friends presented me with a tee shirt that said "Pass
me on the right!"
Rumor has it that there is a causeway there now.
[Edited on 9-28-2003 by Neal Johns]
David K - 9-28-2003 at 12:01 PM
Good story Neal, I can relate!!!
By the way, the causeway (built in '84) is mostly melted away. Seems someone wanted to build a campo on Shell Island, but abandoned the project. This
is all tidal/federal land, so ownership could not be obtained (this is my thought). Because it really is a barrier island beach, chances are it will
remain unchanged for many years. Aerial and satellite photos of 'Shell Island' are in my web site in the first link called 'About David K...'.