Fatboy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 750
Registered: 6-28-2005
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The Middle-Las Animas to Villa Jesus Maria
TUESDAY JUNE 14th 2005
LOCATION Las Animas to Bahia de los Angeles to Las Animas
WEATHER Warm/Sunny/Windy Afternoon
Made a deal with Debbie, if you kayak out to the island then we will run into town later. Justin and I had paddled out yesterday and there was some
neat looking fish out there. The water was several degrees colder around the island than the water by the shore though.
So we divided up the kids, Samantha with Debbie and Justin with me and we launched the kayaks in to a light breeze. The island is only a 1/3 mile
offshore so we where there in a matter of minutes. As we paddled closer we were able to discern pelicans and with each stoke you could see more and
more. There was about 50 Pelicans warming themselves on the rocks and as we got closer and closer you could see them get more and more nervous until
they started taking off.
When we beached Debbie and Sammie went exploring and Justin and I headed for the water. Like most islands in the gulf this one was covered in Cactus,
rocks, crusties and birdchit (guano for you sensitive types).
Crusties, to borrow a term from Graham Machintosh that he used in his book, Into a Desert Place, seems as good as any for these little creatures. I
called them Sea c-ckroaches at first until I recalled Grahams term for these little things. They cover the rocks by the hundreds and they are not very
appealing to me at all. I do not have any idea what they are and they crawl around the rocks on their multiple legs, little ones, big ones and every
size in between. Some of the larger ones were almost two inches long.
After Debbie and Sammie were done exploring the land around the island, avoiding the guano and checking out the bird skeletons they came down to the
water. The water was a little over foot deep and went out about 20 feet like that and then dropped off sharply to the depths below. I believe that is
why it was such colder water; the deeper colder water would come up from the depths and cool the shallower water. We showed the girls some of the sea
life we saw yesterday. Starfish, yellow and gray striped fish, several deep red or burgundy colored fish and others. I wish I was not such a chicken
because there was probably some great snorkeling at the edge of the drop off. None of us have ever snorkeled before and I was the only one of us that
has even swam in the ocean before. That was a brief swim ten years ago in the Pacific south of Acapulco.
We got ready to head out from the island and I talked everyone into paddling to the shore west of the island instead of heading south back to camp.
We traded kids, Debbie with Justin and Samantha with me and headed out. It was just over a ? mile to the beach and the wind was starting to pick up.
The wind was pushing us on our right sides as we paddled forcing us to have to work a little harder to head straight ahead.
This beach was covered in rocks the size of cantaloupes and did not really offer good beachcombing for us. I headed north and cut through the desert
on the way back. Surprisingly there was some good finds in the desert. It seems that most of Baja is a large fault blocks that is twisting west to
east. The gulf side is being raised with the old seafloor being exposed, while the Pacific side is slowly sinking. What is neat about this is that you
can find old seashells hundreds of feet from the current coastline.
We hopped back into the kayaks and headed back to camp. The wind was stronger now and was causing us problems, and being novice kayakers we have no
idea what we are doing. We had left early heading north and directly into the wind and then paddled west with the wind at right angles to us. Now we
were heading South East and trying to angle through the wind and the waves. Debbie was really having trouble with it and when I made suggestions to
her she just got madder and madder. After several minutes of trying to help her, I decided it was time for me to let her work it out herself and
headed in the 300 yards to shore.
I left Sammie on the beach and I walked up to camp. Ten minutes later Debbie made it to shore and spent a few minutes on the beach with the kids
cooling off. She came up to camp and apologized for her tantrum. While she got ready to head into town I spent a few minutes working on the Wrangler.
The exhaust was getting loud and I had thought that the washboard roads had wrecked the muffler.
Looking closer I saw where the muffler shop had placed a new mount from the tranny/transfercase mount to the pipe between the converter and the
muffler and it had failed. The stock Wranglers have a mount there and when we purchased ours you could see someone had done recent exhaust work.
Whoever had done the work should be hunted down and made to breathe exhaust fumes until they have no more brain cells left since clearly the majority
of them where long gone when they installed the new exhaust system on our TJ.
First of all, the header pipe from the Manifold to the converter hung down too low. The result was that the converter was only about one inch above
the skid plate and they had not installed a mount on the pipe behind the converter, as they should have. What happens then is that on any good size
bump the exhaust would hit on the skid plate. Then the O2 sensor was also only about an inch from the transfer case and any side-to-side movement
would result in a broken sensor. Then they routed the tailpipe out the back of the jeep and about six inches lower than the bumper so that during any
offroading it would always be dragging and getting hung up. To top things off they used a cheap turbo muffler making the Jeep sound like a tractor.
Before leaving I had dropped off the Jeep at the local muffler shop with a list of complaints and one of the fixes they made was to fabricate a
bracket at the transfer case and weld it to the exhaust pipe. The weld had held up but the pipe did not. There was a hole there now the size of a
quarter. I removed the bracket and cut up a soda can to make a patch that I held in place with a hose clamp. Starting up the Wrangler we found she was
as quiet as ever.
Popping the hood I checked the oil, which was perfect, and other vital fluids. I noticed the power steering reservoir had come off the radiator
shroud. I replaced it and we were good to go.
We crossed the deep, soft sands to the tracks heading out the way we came in two days earlier. Luckily the tide was out and we were able to cross the
mouth of the lagoon again. We passed a camp of Americans with kayaks and then two fish camps with local fisherman in them. It was much quicker heading
out unloaded than it was heading in with everything loaded up.
As we wound our way through the desert, in and out washes we saw a variety of wildlife. There were those fast lizards, quail, doves, rabbits and
roadrunners all along this section of trail. We hit the road with Debbie driving and turned right. I had hoped to follow the road to the left on this
trip. It continues on for another 40 miles or so to San Fransquito, but it was not to be.
On the main dirt road, with only 12 psi in the tires it was much smoother to keep your speed up around 45 mph then to go slow. Just keep an eye out
for Vados, large rocks and sharp corners and you were good to go. It was a little loud with all the gravel flying off the tires and the occasionally
clunk from the exhaust.
There is a road branching off to the south five or six miles from the turnoff to Las Animas and we decide to stop and take a short break. Parking
there we could see off through the desert vegetation a grave. This is the same spot we had stopped at on the way in and it still amazing to me that
someone is buried here. I pop the hood to find that the power steering reservoir had come off its bracket again. It just slides onto a projection
molded on the radiator shroud. I replace it and we are back on the road again. 45 minutes later we are on the outskirts of Bahia de los Angeles.
After another ten minutes of driving we are at a taco stand ordering a dozen tacos. I have yet to find anything like them in the states. Some places
tacos are close and considering how simple they are it is amazing that you can?t find them. Considering how good they are it is even more amazing.
Only in Mexico do I squeeze limejuice on my tacos from the small limes that they give you. With everyone full of tacos and sodas we are off to the
store.
We stock up on water, ice and other supplies. Minutes later we are heading back to Las Animas. It is great being the passenger, being able to kick
back and enjoy the scenery. We have worked out a little deal where I drive on the pavement and Debbie acts like Robbie Gordon on the dirt sections.
She really did get the best part of the bargain though. Mex Highway 1 and most other paved roads in Baja can really make for a nerve-wracking drive.
To start with they only use eight foot lanes, most lanes in the U.S. are ten feet or so wide. At the eight-foot mark you lose four feet of lane. Then
throw in the fact there are no shoulders, just a drop off into the desert. With an overloaded Jeep, high winds and high speeds it can make for some
great times. You will be going through some rolling country where they made cuts into the hills to level out the road, resulting in you being out in
the open, then in tiny canyon, then back out in the open again and this goes on and on for miles. Add in a 20 or 30 mph crosswind with a Semi heading
towards you at 70 mph and you start to have some real fun. Every time you enter a road cut the wind dies and you correct your steering to stay in your
lane then you are back in the open with the wind pushing you around. Wind, no wind, road cut, open section, back and forth while you fight to stay in
your lane as you watch a Semi barreling down on you while he is filling up his lane and you can swear he is taking a nice chunk out of yours to!
Suddenly you are rushing past each with a combined speed of over 100 mph. Yeah, tons of fun.
It is all dirt today so Debbie is behind the wheel and an hour and a half later we are back at Las Animas. Figuring that the tide has rolled in since
we left we turn left at the second camp to skirt the lagoon around the southwestern edge and when we hit the beach we then head west a ? mile to our
camp.
In the warm evening air we see fish jumping out the water all over the place as we drive up to the beach. Past our camp is a pod of dolphins
surfacing and jumping completely out of the water to come back down with a large splash. The adults acting like kids and the kids acting like, well,
kids. We ?Oh!? and ?Ah!? for the next twenty minutes before the dolphins go around the point and are out of our view.
After dinner we are sitting around camp watching a movie and enjoying the sunset we see a set of headlights heading our way. Debbie is all nervous,
who is that? Are they coming here? They are now on the sand tracks that go out to the fish camp out on the point past our camp. As we watch they pass
our camp and go a little further along before stopping and then backing up a little. They then go forward a little ways and stop again, this time they
shut off their truck and in the twilight you can hear and see someone get out and do something. A few minutes later they get back in, start their
truck but don?t go anywhere. This is repeated a couple of times and I tell Debbie they are stuck in the sand. I go over to the Jeep and after they
repeat that process two more times I tell Debbie that I am going to help them.
What! What if?? What if?? Relax, I will be back in a couple of minutes. I head over to see a local fisherman digging in the loose sand around his
tires with his hands trying to clear a path. Between my 10 words of Spanish and hand signals we are able to communicate that I will try to pull him
out with my vehicle. After hooking up the tow strap we hop into our vehicles and with a quick tug backwards he is moving again.
He backs up to more solid ground and I head to camp where I watch him try it again only to see him get stuck again. It is really fine windblown sand
and it is not hard at all to get stuck in it. When Jennie and I went Mallarimo last year we had the same problems and it was shocking how easy it was
to get stuck. With the tires I now have on the jeep it is not bad.
I hop back into the jeep and head back over to him. When I get there he is out digging again. After more gestures and mispronounced words (on my
part) I get the tire gauge out and we start airing down his tires thinking that maybe he has too much air in them. By the time I get the gauge my tire
is down to 8 psi, oops!
Since he is able to rock it, he gets back in and with me pushing he is able to get moving again. With his foot to the floor he makes it up the little
rise that was stopping him and I walk back to the Jeep. Just as start it, Justin walks out of the darkness and ask me how did it go? Good I say and
Justin hops in and we drive back to camp and go to bed.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 15th 2005
LOCATION Las Animas to Guerrero Negro
WEATHER Warm/Hot/Windy
After discussing it we decide to head to Guerrero Negro today. We did not want to go so far south and it can be a little bit of a hassle crossing over
into Baja Sur. Besides the military checkpoint there, they might also charge you to spray your wheel wells with something, for something. Fruit flies
or something, I am not really sure. Then they also have been asking for your papers there. In 2000 we had the papers but they were not validated so we
?paid at the border?. Was the easiest way out if you ask me. In 2003 they had the new building there and with no fuss, no money we got our papers and
were then legal. I just did not want to go through all that on this trip. The problem was we needed some cash. If we were heading home through
Ensenada it would have been fine but we were not. Our route home would be north on Mex 1 to Chapala where we would turn off onto a dirt road for
anther 100 miles or so. Going that route would mean no bank with an ATM until we reached San Felipe six days later. We knew there was an ATM in Guerro
Negro so that?s where we were headed.
We started breaking down camp around 9:30 and it was 3:30 before we were ready to go. Between the canopy, camping gear, kayaks and showers for
everyone it was a lot of work to get rolling. I was unable to find one of the life vests. Justin said he took it off and left it on the kayak. After
double-checking I figure maybe a coyote drug it off. We drove along beach hoping that we might see it, no such luck.
Being fully loaded it was much slower going out than on our trip yesterday. We were not able to go 45 mph on the main dirt road. So after bouncing
along for an hour in the 105-degree heat I had Debbie stop so that I could take a picture of a lone cactus on a hill and to let the kids out to
stretch. After five minutes we go to leave and the Jeep will not start.
It turns over just fine. It almost starts when you first start cranking it but then nothing, just spinning. By turning the key off then back on again
to the start position it almost starts. What is strange is that it only wants to run for that first brief second that the motor is being cranked and
after that nothing. It does this over and over. Samantha starts getting worried, so am I. I am just trying to act cool so everyone doesn?t panic and
beat me to death for getting them in this predicament.
After several minutes of this I start to worry about the battery and figure we had better try to push start it. It was 100 degrees out and luckily we
had stopped on a long hill. It was not very steep but it was long and if we let it roll long enough we should have enough speed built up to spin it
right over. At least, that was the plan. We were partially off the road in some loose, deep gravel so I shift in four low and used the starter to pull
us back up on the road. Very slowly we start rolling down the hill, picking up speed a little bit at a time. We are halfway down and we still are
going too slowly for me. At the bottom is a dip where as wash goes through and if we mess up this try there will not be a second try.
We are now ??s of the way down and I figure we have enough speed; Debbie is still behind the wheel when she tells me she doesn?t have any idea what
to do. I tell her to make sure the key is in Run position, push in the clutch, shift into second gear, high range and when I say so to let the clutch
out. It is now or never when I tell Debbie to go for it. With a catch and short little skid in the gravel the motor spins and comes to life much to
everyone?s relief. Sammie is so happy she is in the back seat talking a mile a minute.
We arrive at Bahia de los Angeles at 5:35 pm. Everyone is starving, so I drop them off at the little restaurant while I go fill up the Wrangler. I am
nervous about turning it off at the Pemex station, but I would rather find out here in town instead of the middle of nowhere. After filling up the
tank and the tires I go to start it. First time it does the same thing, second time-same thing. O.K. now I am worried, I try again and it fires right
up. Whew!
I head over to the taco stand, wolf down five tacos covered in limejuice and start to feel good again. We hit the store for more water, ice and
snacks for the long drive we have ahead us. I figure we will be at our little beach outside of Villa Jesus Maria just in time to see the sun sink in
to the Pacific.
We drove about 37 miles out of Bahia de los Angeles and again we have been hit by very strong winds for the last 25 miles and we are only averaging
about 45 miles an hour. It is starting to get cold and I am debating whether or not to stop and zip all the windows in and put the upper door halves
back on. I figure that it will be after dark before we get there now with our slow progress so I am getting myself psyched up to drive after dark in
Mexico.
I really do not like to do that. The roads can be stressful enough in daylight and after dark it will be much worse. With headlights pointing a
little high because of all the camping gear in back, no reflectors on the road, free ranging cattle and the Semis with their lights blinding you, it
all leads to more stress than I wanted. This was supposed to be vacation!
Then the kids start saying how cold it is also, so we pull over to put on the windows and the doors. We get one window on and zipped up and after
starting the second one I leave it for Debbie to finish while I climb on top to get the doors down. I hop up on the tires and to my shock they are
gone! They must have blown off in one of those strong gusts of winds somewhere in the last 37 miles. Great! With the doors being a tan colored fabric
I figure I best bet is to look out for the blue foam mattress I had folded the doors in.
We both thought that we lost them in one of the big gust a ways back so I am not to concerned when ten miles later we still had not found them. At
the fifteen-mile mark I was starting to get worried. Now we are at the twenty-mile mark when I slam on the brakes and holler there are the mattresses.
Glad no one was behind me! I back up and pull over and everyone gets out for break and a quick stretch while I get the doors and mattress back.
With doors and windows on we turn around and head out for Mex 1 again. It is not long before we are at the junction of Highway 1. Heading south on 1,
the sun sets and dusk fades to twilight. Soon it is dark as we are winding through the hills, with the northbound travelers flashing us to turn on our
low beams on, problem was that they were. The tools were buried in back so there was no way I was going to stop and adjust the headlights. We went
through our first military checkpoint tonight, after a couple of questions they waved us on through. After thirty more minutes of driving after dark
we reach Villa Jesus Maria.
Now if we could just remember all the turn offs to get to the beach and at night to boot. It is about 9:15 pm when we turn off on what we hope is the
right road. Yep, here are the three stop signs and three sets of topes, there is the police station and there is the school.
A few minutes later we are on the rough dirt road heading out to Jose Y Maria/Morelos Y Payon to the lighthouse. So far, so good. We know that there
is a shorter way but this will take us to where we want to go. From where we are to a point a couple of miles north of here are several small secluded
beaches surrounded by rocky bluffs, some have tracks down to them, some you have to walk to. We find the one we camped in back in 2000.
Debbie is worried about being able to get out, we were able to get out in the Cherokee back then so I go down. At the bottom the sand is very loose
and soft. We are unable to drive to the north side so we decide to camp on the south side where the road comes down. In order to move the jeep around
to where we want it I have to let the tire pressure down to 10 psi so that we can set up camp. It is after 10 pm and when we get out of the Jeep you
can here the surf rolling in and a small colony of Sea Lions barking a hundred yards away in the dark. We get the tent up and the beds in and went to
bed to the crashing of the surf, the barking of Sea Lions and fall asleep.
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Neal Johns
Super Nomad
Posts: 1687
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Lytle Creek, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: In love!
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Good detailed trip report, thanks.
Hot tip: Put in more paragraphs with spaces in between to make it easier to read.
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
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Great report-----
Really enjoyed your report. I think that Bahia Animas is the primo bay in all of Baja-----been going there for about 30 years.
Sounds like you had a true "Baja Experience"------love it.
A little disappointed in your problems with the Rubicon-----I was thinking of getting one. What's your evaluation of it, so far??
Barry
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Tomas Tierra
Super Nomad
Posts: 1281
Registered: 3-23-2005
Location: oxnard, ca
Member Is Offline
Mood: Tengo Flojera
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what is a Rubicon??
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
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Sorry about that------
A "Rubicon" is a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, the jeep with all the best (presumably) stock components for successful off-highway touring------possibly the
best "stock" 4-wheel drive going, if it did not break down so much.
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