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BajaGringo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3922
Registered: 8-24-2006
Location: La Chorera
Member Is Offline
Mood: Let's have a BBQ!
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
You could stay at Astro's, Meling's or Posada Don Diego and drive up for the day. I did that when there was no pavement, so even easier now.
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Mike and Pam have a wonderful guest cabin. You really should check it out...
Baja Dark Skies Inn
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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Yes, Baja Dark Skies is such a special place. Thanks Mike and Pam for showing me around a couple of years back, it was fascinating!
And I'd forgotten those yellowjackets... had a few of those chasing after my lunch. But this year and on previous visits it was the honeybees that
mostly buzzed around my table in search of water. Not a big nuisance, they weren't aggressive, but I felt bad if I left out a bowl of water, there
would be a dozen drowned bees when I returned.
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JohnMcfrog
Nomad
Posts: 156
Registered: 8-1-2012
Location: San Diego, Punta Abreojos
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Thanks for bringing up the topic of the San Pedro Martir. It has brought back many memories that have not been visited in some time.
I used John Robinson's "Camping and Climbing in Baja" as sort of a bible in the 70's and 80's. There was no GPS or topos, so things were much
different than now. A good source for more current information is in this report: http://www.dankat.com/swhikes/devil.htm
My first backpack in the San Pedro Martir was after many trips to the eastside canyons of the Sierra Juarez. We got kind of lost on the first day in
the maze of canyons and went for a few hours without water. We got to La Gruella meadow and it was like heaven.
We followed one stream going towards the west and found it filled with small trout that have adapted to this area by becoming miniature. The species
is Nelsoni and they were so numerous that we tried to catch them by hand. I have since fly fished for them at Mike's Sky Ranch and they are good
fighters. That spring the grass was at a uniform height throughout the forest and it looked like a giant city park that someone had mowed.
I kind of got the bug to climb Picacho del Diablo about 25 years ago after the above backpack. I joined two other people and hired a guide who had
been the head of San Diego's search and rescue team. We went in from the west, stopping for a great meal at Meling Ranch.
Without GPS even the guide got lost once. Going with him was special in that he would point out where this or that climber was buried (with the
family's permission) because they had made some serious error in judgement. I was hoping that we wouldn't make some similar misstep. It took four days
for us to make the peak and back.
I will always remember the feeling of remoteness and wilderness in the San Pedro Martir. Without the current technology of sat phones etc. my time
there was an adventure in retrospect but rather frightening at moments along the way. Of course, the epic approach of Norman Clyde from Yuma to the
east side of Diablo and then to the peak is hard to even imagine.
I didn't see any snakes on the climb but two weeks after our trip a Sierra Club fellow was bitten by a snake which reportedly had one and a half
inches between the fangs. This has been a big year for snakes in San Diego, so definitely be aware while hiking there. Reasonable caution should keep
everyone safe.
Have a great trip and thanks again for tickling those old memories.
View from the Peak looking toward the Gulf
Looking toward the South
Wall Street
[Edited on 8-29-2012 by JohnMcfrog]
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5912
Registered: 7-18-2011
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Hey John,
Thanks for sharing those magnificent photos. What an accomplishment. Very cool.
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J.P.
Super Nomad
Posts: 1673
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Punta Banda
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Mood: Easy Does It
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The last time we were up there poking around the Observatory was closed but the guy there took us up to the platform around the outside and let us
take pictures, WOW what a View.
If one gets up early its a very nice Day trip fron Ensenada.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65118
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Online
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Love the photos... very few Baja Nomads have climbed to the top of Diablo, others have tried. Thank you John and welcome to Nomad!
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13212
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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very incredible photos of the top .... as close as this little lady will ever get to seeing it ....
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