DEVEAU
Nomad
Posts: 104
Registered: 11-29-2005
Member Is Offline
Mood: "WFO"
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DirtDogs, Day 1-2 2011
This year we only had four Dogs going to Baja, the plan was a San Quintin to BofLA loop. Dave Froman's son had been the starting QB for Louisville and
he had missed the last three years watching Adam play, we wanted him to see Window Rock and some of the other Single Track.
Day one ended up being shorter than we planned. We were supposed to leave Pt. Richmond by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, but got on the road a couple hours late.
With only 4 of us we borrowed Brian Pecore's E350 van and towed a small enclosed trailer, faster than my motorhome. It took 16 hours to get to San
Quintin, no issues.
Jardine's did not open for lunch till 12:00 and we hit the trail at 1:30, all we wanted to do today was get to Baja Catus in El Rosario for the night.
So we headed due East out of town and explored some nice faded two-track and up a few dead-end arroyos. Some of them might go through. The recent
rains kept the dust down and the 4 of us could ride pretty close, love the side by side two-track. We had planned to pick-up the 2007 B1K course but
were running too late. We popped out at the base of the Mesa about dusk and cruised the pavement to El Rosario.
http://youtu.be/WeNGB4wNtpw
http://youtu.be/s6Ud4DNeg2Y
We got a great room at Baja Cactus of $40.00, it had 4 beds, can't beat $10.00 per guy. We have not had good results at Mama Espinosas the last few
time so we were sent to El Sinai at the other end of town, good seafood, beer and a couple shots. El Primo is the owner.
We got up early on Thanksgiving and went to the Pemex to fuel and fill our spare jugs, it would be a long way between fuel. I have carried one of the
MSR (not that MSR) Dromedary 6 liter fuel cells for years and really prefer it to the usual jugs. I just clip it to my backpack with a carabiner and a
couple of spare straps. When empty it fits inside a pocket on the pack and doesn't get cactus holes like the jugs.
http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/water-treatment-and-hydration/...
http://youtu.be/FpjdN89l2pY
After breakfast at Baja's Best we headed up the wash and then onto the ridge. When we leave from San Quintin it always seems late by the time we get
near El Arenoso and get sucked out to the pavement. This year we had plenty of time and kept working East. The main road we were on was heading us
North and not towards Catavina where we were heading. Working South at every opportunity found us on some more nice faded two-track, we saw no MC
tracks. We had hoped to get through El Metate but ran into a locked pole gate and there were fresh truck tracks at the gate. I did not want some
rancher screaming at me in Spanish about what we did not understand about a locked gate so we turned around. I have a Mexican Topo map loaded on my
Garmin Colorado and it was pretty amazing how many of the very faded roads showed-up. I can't ride and look at a GPS so we would just pull it out from
time to time to see where we were.
One of the faded two-tracks did have some old SCORE paint on the Cactus. http://youtu.be/aP4a0ndEfz0 This ended up with a fence crossing it, no gate but it was an old fence and we were able to undo the lower wire and
drag the bikes under. It would have been a long ride back North. But then we found ourselves inside a fenced Rancho with locked gates. We figured it
would be best to head toward the highway and the main gate and get out of the Rancho. This worked fine and the owner was OK once we explained we did
not cut his fence.
We only ran South on the pavement a couple of miles and the fencing ended so we worked back East again, nothing exciting but fun. It got dark about El
Marmol and we had a nice night burn past El Virgin and into Catavina, it’s nice to all have good lights. We had ridden about 160 miles since El
Rosario and still probably had another 40 miles worth of fuel.
I like what they have done with the Hotel, now the “Hotel Mission Catavina”. The Pool Bar has a better feel and the bartender was friendly, he was
born in Catavina and had moved back from Guerrero Negro. We talked about how it was the El Presidente, then La Pinta and the Desert Inn before the new
owners.
Things would get interesting on Friday. More to follow.
Chase Trucks? ??
We don\'t need no stinking chase trucks!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64855
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Online
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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WOW WOW  
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El Vergel
Nomad
Posts: 197
Registered: 8-27-2003
Location: San Felipe - Puertecitos Rd., Km. 35 and Santa Mon
Member Is Offline
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Definitely
Beautifull Stuff!
Love boojums, especially in reverse!
Awesome killer vids!
[Edited on 12-14-2011 by El Vergel]
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goldhuntress
Senior Nomad
Posts: 663
Registered: 1-28-2010
Member Is Offline
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Love it!!!
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