David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65165
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Remembering Mike Humfreville and his stories
The Baja with Mike stories that were posted by Mike here on Nomad from 2002 to 2006 are preserved by Fred Metcalf's page: https://math.ucr.edu/~ftm/bajaPages/Correspondents/BajaWithM...
 2001
 2002
 2004
2006 (Mike died shortly after his book was published)
The story list (which is linked to the full stories on the above page):
"The Storm" ( Posted: October 30, 2006 )
"Singing" ( Posted: September 16, 2006 )
"Turbulence" ( Posted: August 15, 2006 )
"Punta Eugenia" ( Posted: July 27-31, 2006 )
"Brisa's Moon" ( Posted: July 7, 2006 )
"Ballons" ( Posted: June 15, 2006 )
"Family Photographs" ( Posted: June 4, 2006 )
"Lessons Learned" ( Posted: May 18-22, 2006 )
"Buzzards and Moss Balls" ( Posted: April 29, 2006 )
"Adios o A Dios?" ( Posted: April 28, 2006 )
"A Mexican Form of Honor" ( Posted: April 26, 2006 )
"Shells" ( Posted: April 12, 2006 )
"A Personal Library" ( Posted: April 1, 2006 )
"Options" ( Posted: February 3, 2006 )
"Winds" ( Posted: January 19, 2006 )
"Comfort" ( Posted: January 16, 2006 )
"Thatch" ( Posted: December 1, 2005 )
"Rains" ( Posted: November 25, 2005 )
"Cycles" ( Posted: November 22, 2005 )
"Save Me, Baja" ( Posted: November 20, 2005 )
"Alluvial Fan" ( Posted: November 14, 2005 )
"Peace" ( Posted: November 12, 2005 )
"Cattle Tracks" ( Posted: November 9, 2005 )
"The Gecko Road" ( Posted: November 7, 2005 )
"Día de Los Muertos" ( Posted: November 6, 2005 )
"Birds and Bees" ( Posted: October 31, 2005 )
"Guerrero Negro" ( Posted: October 27, 2005 )
"Sea Scenes" ( Posted: October 19, 2005 )
"Burritos" ( Posted: October 13, 2005 )
"External Relations" ( Posted: August 16, 2005 )
"Bad Habits" ( Posted: July 11 - August 7, 2005 )
"Hearty Guitar" ( Posted: June 17, 2005 )
"Ricardo" ( Posted: June 1, 2005 )
"Family Matters" ( Posted: May 4, 2005 )
"Dolphins Dancing" ( Posted: April 25, 2005 )
"Trust" ( Posted: April 19, 2005 )
"Cups" ( Posted: April 6, 2005 )
"Adriana's Tacos" ( Posted: March 10, 2005 )
"The Bucket" ( Posted: February 20, 2005 )
"Sycamores" ( Posted: February 11, 2005 )
"Sea Lion Pup" ( Posted: January 23, 2005 )
"Cabin Fever" ( Posted: January 13, 2005 )
"Baja Heart" ( Posted: December 22, 2004 )
"Langosta - Bahía Tortugas and Punta Engenia, 1969" ( Posted: December 16, 2004 )
"Fireman's Summer" ( Posted: November 18, 2004 )
"A Queen" ( Posted: October 20, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 28: Photos" ( Posted: September 2, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 27: Epilogue" ( Posted: August 30, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 26: Final Days in Camp" ( Posted: August 25, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 25: Billy's and Burlap's Unexpected Trek" ( Posted: August 17, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 24: Billy's Defining Moment" ( Posted: August 10, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 23: Continuing Days" ( Posted: August 2, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 22: Fishing Pals" ( Posted: July 26, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 21: Friends" ( Posted: July 20, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 20: Solitude and Storms" ( Posted: July 12, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 19: Black Warrior" ( Posted: July 7, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 18: Barsam's Corner" ( Posted: June 30, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 17: Desert Educations" ( Posted: June 21, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 16: Coyotes!" ( Posted: June 15, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 15: Don the Geologist" ( Posted: June 9, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 14: The Village" ( Posted: June 3, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 13: Evenings" ( Posted: June 1, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - Bahía de Los Angeles 1985, Part 12: Perspectives" ( Posted: May 27, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - La Gringa 1985, Part 11: By Sea" ( Posted: May 25, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - La Gringa 1985, Part 10: Idle Days" ( Posted: May 21, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - La Gringa 1985, Part 9: Billy and Burlap" ( Posted: May 19, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - La Gringa 1985, Part 8: Black Warrior Chickens" ( Posted: May 14, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - La Gringa 1985, Part 7: Snake!" ( Posted: May 12, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - La Gringa 1985, Part 6: Slowing the Pace" ( Posted: May 9, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - La Gringa 1985, Part 5: The Hut" ( Posted: May 5, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - La Gringa 1985, Part 4: Las Cuevitas Again" ( Posted: May 2, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - La Gringa 1985, Part 3: The Trek South" ( Posted: April 28, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - La Gringa 1985, Part 2: Finding Las Cuevitas" ( Posted: April 26, 2004 )
"The Tempests of Summer - La Gringa 1985, Part 1: Plans" ( Posted: April 21, 2004 )
"La Gringa - 2006" ( Posted: March 16, 2004 )
"La Gringa - 1974" ( Posted: March 16, 2004 )
"Rocks and Roses on the Road to Matomi - A Previous Trip" ( Posted: February 6, 2004 )
"Depth of Heart" ( Posted: January 13, 2004 )
"Saving Baja" ( Posted: January 6, 2004 )
"Pelican Migrations at Gecko" ( Posted: December 28, 2003 )
"Friendships" ( Posted: December 18, 2003 )
"Regarding Military Checkpoints" ( Posted: December 10, 2003 )
"Family Storms" ( Posted: December 9, 2003 )
"Tiny Mouse" ( Posted: December 2, 2003 )
"Dark Days Following Escalera Nautica" ( Posted: November 14, 2003 )
"Recovery" ( Posted: November 4, 2003 )
"Mars Chasing Moon" ( Posted: October 19, 2003 )
"Santiago's Los Cascades" ( Posted: September 22, 2003 )
"A Mexican Moment" ( Posted: September 16, 2003 )
"Reflections on Mama and Papa Diaz and Bahia de Los Angeles" ( Posted: September 4, 2003 )
"Old Dirt Roads" ( Posted: August 30, 2003 )
"Monsters from the Deep - Another John Story" ( Posted: August 23, 2003 )
"The Magic Rod" ( Posted: August 18, 2003 )
"The Hut" ( Posted: July 29, 2003 )
"Life for a Life" ( Posted: July 21, 2003 )
"Malarrimo!" ( Posted: May 16 - June 8, 2003 )
"Volcano" ( Posted: April 8, 2003 )
"The Eclipse Trip - Conclusion" ( Posted: March 3, 2003 )
"The Eclipse Trip - Part II" ( Posted: February 19, 2003 )
"The Eclipse Trip - Part I" ( Posted: February 16, 2003 )
"hoar Town" ( Posted: February 12, 2003 )
"Brendan's Song" ( Posted: February 6, 2003 )
"Steel on Cobbles" ( Posted: January 27, 2003 )
"Los Tres Migueles - Part 1" ( Posted: January 22, 2003 )
"Heavy Weather" ( Posted: January 9, 2003 )
"Integrity" ( Posted: January 4, 2003 )
"The Box" ( Posted: December 26, 2002 )
"The Mine" ( Posted: December 17, 2002 )
"John's Crabs" ( Posted: December 16, 2002 )
"Down Time Up" ( Posted: December 5, 2002 )
"A Guy Named Raphael" ( Posted: December 2, 2002 )
"Bullet Trips" ( Posted: November 25, 2002 )
"Mosquito Mulegé" ( Posted: November 20, 2002 )
"Early Seaside Mornings" ( Posted: November 17, 2002 )
"Phosphorescence" ( Posted: November 14, 2002 )
"Rincon at Bahia de Los Angeles" ( Posted: November 7, 2002 )
"La Bocana, Mr. Gomez and Jack Smith" ( Posted: November 5, 2002 )
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CaboMagic
Super Nomad
Posts: 1114
Registered: 4-30-2005
Member Is Offline
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DK wow -- a good time for me to log on and see whats happening here ...
Mike and MaryAnn were such a wonderful part of early Baja media coverage on the Original Old Amigos de Baja Board, and this board - with thanks Doug
for continuing to host ..
Good of you to bring up the posts/writings of Mike - hoping he and MaryAnn - reunited in Heaven de Baja - and continuing to enjoy their being
together.
~ Lori
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Tioloco
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3936
Registered: 7-30-2014
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MaryAnn was a very nice lady. Hope she is resting peacefully in heaven. She and Mike had a heck of a Baja experience!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65165
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Quote: Originally posted by Tioloco  | | MaryAnn was a very nice lady. Hope she is resting peacefully in heaven. She and Mike had a heck of a Baja experience! |
Indeed they did... and that home on the bay (L.A. Bay) was their dream home.
The book Mike wrote was about their first time living on the sea, before kids (was at today's Camp Gecko location) and then after they had two boys,
(staying just north of La Gringa) and living like locals, off the land and sea. Read the book!
Baja Angel and I visited them at the home in October 2005, just over a year before Mike's death: https://vivabaja.com/p1005/
Their home:
Upstairs views:
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65165
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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The last photo I have of Mike, was when he attended the Pyramid Resort Book Signing event (as a new author, he was so proud), May 6, 2006:
https://vivabaja.com/book4/
Mary Ann vanished from their dream home, taken by thieves who also took her pickup truck, around midnight in mid December 2020. The burned truck was
later found under a Highway One bridge, about 55 miles distant.
One of the last photos taken of Mary Ann by her Bahía amigos:
Mike and Mary Ann are survived by their two sons, 'Miguelito' (Mike Jr.) and Kevin. Kevin and his wife recently welcomed a new baby into their family.
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BoenBaja
Nomad
Posts: 237
Registered: 12-24-2023
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Thank you David for posting this. The photo of the 2 story house at Doc’s Camp Gecko reminded me of the first time I took Shelley to BdLA
many many years ago. Shelley is, to put it mildly, not too adventurous when it comes to traveling in Baja. At that time the cutoff road from Mex 1 to
the bay was so riddled with potholes it looked like a bombed out airstrip from WWII. Accordingly, she was not happy with the drive over as we must
have averaged about 12 mph pulling our 25’ iAlpenlite 5th wheel. Once we made it to the edge of town where the dirt road heads down to Doc’s she
was in a bit of a tizzy and began questioning me on my choices of where to camp. As we drove up the small hill by the cemetery she asked how far Camp
Gecko was and since I’d never bothered to clock the mileage I estimated a mile and a half. BIG mistake as she immediately looks over at the
odometer. At a little over a mile she starts in - “You said it was a mile or so, this is the worse road you’ve ever taken me on, the bandidos are
going to come down from the hills, attack us and rape me in front of you! Blah blah blah.” Finally we get over the rise and I was able to point out
the two story house at Camp Gecko which calmed her down a bit. We camped just south of the house on a beach that we ended up dubbing “Shelley’s
Bluff” as once she exited the truck she saw a pod of dolphins swimming just off shore and a flock of pelicans diving for food, and she was hooked!
The only bad thing that happened was the fridge in the trailer was jogged open on the very washboarded road and a quart of salsa fell out and broke
open all over the floor.
We met Mary Ann that trip (Mike had already passed). Shelley so loved it there that we made special efforts to visit Doc’s on every trip down until
he closed the camp down to campers years later. On a couple of trips we rented the house as our trailer couldn’t accommodate the friends traveling
with us. And then a future trip I convinced Shelley to visit Bahía Asunción. The road out from Vizcaino junction was about as potholed as was the
road to BdLA, except at the new paved road at the turnoff to BA (although the last seven miles of the new road were unpaved at this time.) So Shelley
starts in again - “How far is this place? How long is it gonna take us to drive there? Is the road this bad all the way there? How long are you
wanting to stay? Etc, etc, etc.” I told her I’d like to spend at least a few days there as it was such a distance off of Mex 1. We parked on a
bluff overlooking the entire bay at Campo Sirena, met the most wonderful folks, from people camping next to us to some local expats who came over to
shoot the breeze. My recipe for Margaritas was well received, but Shelley’s Cajun fried Calimari strips literally had campers standing by the door
of our camper holding their plates waiting for the next batch. We ended up buying our lot there a couple of months later.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65165
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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What a wonderful story!
Yes, the magic of Baja has different ways to grab us, and hold on for the rest of our life.
I know the two story house at Camp Gecko... Paulina's mother used to live in it. One cold night, my kids and I got back to Gecko late from doing some
'lost mission' searching (Dec. 2002). 'Baja Nana' invited us to crash in the upstairs room. On one of the Spring Break trips (2003, I think) we were
partying at Camp Gecko and Travelpearl (Debra) made clam chowder in that house. Someone using the bathroom wastebasket as an ash tray, set in on fire!
Lots of smoke some blackening of the wall, I recall.
The home in my post is Humfreville's, a mile or so north of Gecko (and Beach Bob's). Larry C's and Roger Mears' homes are closer to it.
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advrider
Super Nomad
Posts: 1897
Registered: 10-2-2015
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Loved the book and was lucky enough to meet Maryann and some of the other campo gals years ago on a moto ride. Super nice people.
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