4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4290
Registered: 4-24-2009
Location: La Paz, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: happy - always
|
|
Baja fences and walls
most of us will only deal with fences when when confronted with an occasional gate while traveling overland
but satellite images show that Baja is full of fences and walls
miners and ranchers have been equally active
to keep claim jumpers away, to protect from floods, manage livestock
I came across some walls in my collection of unusual structures when studying the maps for Fatboy's San Borja hike.
He will encounter a couple of walls - most notably on Cuesta El Faldeo on the north side of Arroyo El Paraiso 28°33'45.84"N, 113°38'51.15"W
there is also a big wall at the Cuesta El Rancho, on the trail between Rancho El Rodeo and Rancho San Pedro (Valle La Bocana in the background)
28°30'37.93"N, 113°34'9.10"W
Harald Pietschmann
|
|
Fatboy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 746
Registered: 6-28-2005
Member Is Offline
|
|
See, that is cool!
Being out in the desert and coming across stuff like that is so amazing.
It always make think..... Why? When? And again WHY?
Clearly, they used what material was on hand, but rock turns out to be so long lasting and think of all the labor that goes into it.
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64855
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Online
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
I wondered a lot about these random walls in the most odd places that can serve no purpose other to sit on!
In 1966, the Erle Stanley Gardner expedition wondered too:
Photo from Choral Pepper, posted in Desert Magazine. She researched that it could have been part of an aborted mission named Santa María Magdalena,
as shown on the 1757 Jesuit map in this region of Baja, past Santa Gertrudis (called Dolores del Norte before founding)... at the bottom edge, Miss
S.M. Mag. empezada (started):
|
|
4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4290
Registered: 4-24-2009
Location: La Paz, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: happy - always
|
|
Quote: Originally posted by Fatboy | See, that is cool!
Being out in the desert and coming across stuff like that is so amazing.
It always make think..... Why? When? And again WHY?
Clearly, they used what material was on hand, but rock turns out to be so long lasting and think of all the labor that goes into it.
|
you will come across a minimum of 2 walls
28°33'45.84"N, 113°38'51.15"W
28°36'3.02"N, 113°39'45.66"W
Harald Pietschmann
|
|
advrider
Super Nomad
Posts: 1863
Registered: 10-2-2015
Member Is Offline
|
|
Something I learned about short walls in the canyons in Nevada, was that the Indians used to chase rabbits and small game to the others waiting on the
other side of the wall to jump up and club them?
I've found many of them and they usually are near a choke point or narrow spot where they could funnel game. I've also found many hunting blinds
and even a burial mound this year with a very interesting prayer circle beside it. The rocks had been hauled over fifty miles in the Sierra Nevada to
the location.
Some of the walls I've seen in Baja look like they could serve the same purpose?
|
|
philodog
Nomad
Posts: 163
Registered: 10-9-2010
Member Is Offline
|
|
There are miles of these rock walls in the hills above El Triunfo. I'm guessing they are old property lines.
|
|
4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4290
Registered: 4-24-2009
Location: La Paz, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: happy - always
|
|
yes, around El Triunfo and San Antonio are hundreds of walls
if you have something valuable, you need to protect it
the distrust goes so far that many ranchos in the area do no share roads to get to their places - each have their own. Even if it means to run
parallel for miles
Harald Pietschmann
|
|