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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
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What would you do
if you broke down 20 miles in in rough Baja backcountry. NO sat phone or VHF, and water and food for only three days plus it was summer.
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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DanO
Super Nomad
Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
Member Is Offline
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How far am I from the ocean?
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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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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Would NEVER happen-------------
If I could still "roll", I would hitch up to my buddy's vehicle and have him tow me out to the pavement, and hopefully to some nearby place where we
could get it fixed, or park it under security. If I could not "roll" (shades of Neal Johns), then either get in with my buddy and go for help, or if
we can identify exactly what I need and KNOW that we can fix it, send my buddy for the parts and stay with my vehicle.
The point being that I NEVER travel into remote Baja without a buddy vehicle, or more (sat phone?).
To do so alone and without communication, in my opinion, is foolhardy.
I have broken down several times in remote Baja and I am still kickin!! because I never violate my own rule.
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Slowmad
Nomad
Posts: 243
Registered: 3-24-2005
Location: Alta California
Member Is Offline
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1) Strip down to my birth skin.
2) Salute the six directions.
3) Fish a Tecate out of the cooler.
4) Torch up an arracherra.
5) Listen to the desert.
6) Bemoan the fact that no matter how gosh darnn hard I try, I can't avoid seeing a vehicle every two days!
The only requirement for love or chorizo is confidence.
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
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Doesn't matter
| Quote: | Originally posted by DanO
How far am I from the ocean? |
just 20 miles off a regularily traveled road.
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Slowmad
6) Bemoan the fact that no matter how gosh darnn hard I try, I can't avoid seeing a vehicle every two days!
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damn ah the good ol' days....wait, these are the good ol' days!!
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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Slowmad
Nomad
Posts: 243
Registered: 3-24-2005
Location: Alta California
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | | damn ah the good ol' days....wait, these are the good ol' days!! |
I know plenty of places where I can get REAL lost...just few with my particular "wants and needs" matrix.
"My" personal querencia sees a truck every couple few days.
They rarely stop.
These are indeed the good old days, Tiburon.
Trying to enjoy them relentlessly.
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Axel
Junior Nomad
Posts: 70
Registered: 2-9-2006
Location: oceanside
Member Is Offline
Mood: In a hurry to get nowhere
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The last time I broke down I sent my buddy out on my daughters pw50. It was the longest ride of his life, but we were able to get help. Beileve it or
not we were able to find an ignition module that was good enough to get us home. It died the day after we got home.
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Martyman
Super Nomad
Posts: 1904
Registered: 9-10-2004
Member Is Offline
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Hey Slowmad:
What is an arracherra? Can I torch one too?
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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Arracherra ---- Grilled skirt steak, according to google. Probably difficult to roll and smoke.
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DanO
Super Nomad
Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Sharksbaja
| Quote: | Originally posted by DanO
How far am I from the ocean? |
just 20 miles off a regularily traveled road. |
Well fine, if you won't play ball, I'm forced to make a number of assumptions (after observing that Slowmad is more than half right).
1. My breakdown is something so severe that there is no way in hell I can fix it myself with what I've brought or can scrounge up. It needs welding.
Or I'm just a dumbass who ran out of gas 20 miles into the bush and didn't bring any extra.
2. Other than the odd quail, scorpion, snake or tarantula, I'm just as far from any substantial source of additional food as I am from the highway
(if the ocean were any decent distance away, I'd push the damn vehicle there and camp forever).
3. I won't be rescued if I stay where I am because I have found the only frickin' road in Baja that is not regularly travelled by humans. How it got
to be a road in the first place is an interesting question, but the good news is that I can leave my truck there forever and no one will be around to
steal or vandalize it.
4. I am the only person there, because if I was ever foolish enough to take my wife and kids that far off the beaten path without having an exit
strategy already in place, I'd never hear the end of it. Not like this has ever happened before, you understand. (Well, there was that one time in
the Sierra San Pedro Martir when I only brought one spare, but that doesn't really count.)
5. I can comfortably walk two and a half miles an hour carrying a fairly heavy pack, I know where I'm going, and I was smart enough at least to have
brought a flashlight, a magic marker, a hat and some sunscreen.
6. I also brought a case of Pacifico.
7. Three days worth of water means three gallons (boy, I really am an idiot if I came all the way up here with only three gallons of water).
Under the circumstances, the answer is fairly obvious. I spend a couple of days camping out in the desert and enjoying myself. I eat the food that's
not portable and requires preparation, but I save the rest. I drink the beer, not the water. I pack the portable food and the water, along with
medical supplies and a shade cloth, in my backpack and on day three, I start out at 3 a.m. Despite my hangover, I get five hours in, make a camp for
shade, food and rest. I wait for things to cool down, starting off again around 4 p.m. and I make the highway well before sundown. I use the marker
and my shade cloth to fashion a sign identifying me as a helpless gringo who needs a ride. Amazingly, Barry pulls up and I am shamed into admitting
that I am a Nomad but have gone into the wilderness unprepared for disaster. Barry takes pity on me and drives me to the nearest town and mechanic,
but only after forcing me to listen to a stern lecture on self-preservation. I get a ride out to my truck with the mechanic, who welds up the truck
and sends me on my way (or fills up my gas tank) for a pittance. I go home happy and exhausted, having learned a valuable lesson that I will probably
forget the next time I go down.
How'd I do?
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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Crusoe
Senior Nomad
Posts: 731
Registered: 10-14-2006
Member Is Offline
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Good one!!.......Never happen???? Or so you think.....It has....I am always prepared just for this kind of an event and have been stuck a few times.In
this particular scenario,I would start walking, late in the eve while it was still light.and had cooled down abit. 20 miles just isn't all that
far.Chances are if the day time temps were into 100s-- night time temps would not be below freezing-- and depending on your wilderness skills, you
could gather up some brush and make a comfy insulated bed to sleep and rest a few hours on.Lets say you had already covered 6 miles or so,and a rattle
snake or scorpions hadn't wrecked your day yet, you could take off at 4am or so and quite easily walk the next 14 miles to rescue. Basicaly assuming
this person is in average physical condition and had a decent pair of shoes,and a will to live.Lots of people do almost this just for the fun of
it.
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Capt. George
Super Nomad
Posts: 2129
Registered: 8-21-2003
Member Is Offline
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cry and call for my mommie.
\"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men\" Plato
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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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Dan O-----
That's great!!!! I just can't help myself--------I'm a retired
"Ranger"-----what do you expect????
Barry
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tehag
Super Nomad
Posts: 1248
Registered: 1-8-2005
Member Is Offline
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Sharks
Sharks:
Your postcard link is pointing to page 4 of the photo thread, not to the postcards. Which I like a lot.
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vgabndo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3461
Registered: 12-8-2003
Location: Mt. Shasta, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Checking-off my bucket list.
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Lencho: I thought you made a good point. I see so many people out in the boonies wearing sandals. Personally, I carry a pack and walking shoes when
I'm OUT IN MY BOAT.
They're always with the survival stuff in the truck.
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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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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I would curse my buddy who insisted on driving his Ford, Chevy,Dodge or whatever, and swear never to go to Baja in anything but a Toyota again!!
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Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline
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From 1969 to 1997 I made many trips to Baja from La Vegas. I only had one bad breakdown (in my 1970 Chev ˝ ton pu 2 wheel). The main carrier bearing
went on the drive shaft on the old dirt road about half way between San Filipe and Puertacitos – no other traffic then because I was the only pendejo
who didn’t know about the Brand New Paved Road. Took off my leather belt, fashioned it as a strap to hold up the shaft, limped on to the paved part,
got a push to Puertacitos from a schoolbus. Got a temp part put in to hold me to GN, went on down for 10 delightful days at Requeson
Gringos suffer twice when they breakdown: once when they overpack/overload/overprotect everything and for every conceivable situation; then they
agonize again when the breakdown was caused by something they could not, did not expect or imagine. Most Mexicans I know start out broke down. They
limp along and get where they started out for or they have interruptions --- they are guilt free and carry a knowing smile start to finish.
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coconaco
Nomad
Posts: 118
Registered: 12-28-2006
Location: Valle de San Fernando
Member Is Offline
Mood: respooled
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I would just use my ONSTAR
THE MINNOW must be lost!!!!!
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Paula
Super Nomad
Posts: 2219
Registered: 1-5-2006
Location: Loreto
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by vgabndo
Lencho: I thought you made a good point. I see so many people out in the boonies wearing sandals. Personally, I carry a pack and walking shoes when
I'm OUT IN MY BOAT.
They're always with the survival stuff in the truck. |
I have hiked 15 miles or so in Montana wearing hiking socks and tevas after my boots gave me blisters in the first 5 miles
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