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academicanarchist
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Great Posts and Pictures
Interesting. You can see why the Dominicans were tempted to establish a mission in the Sierra, San Pedro Martir.
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burro bob
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Canyon name again.
Baja Taco, very interesting list especially since your father describes what he found there. I agree that names change which is why we end up with
threads like this. A good example of this is your use of the name 'Providencia' for the tallest mountain in Baja. I have always called it Cerro
Encantada. The ranchers out in Valle Chico only call it Picacho del Diablo when they are speaking to a gringo. The rest of the time, amoungest
themselves they refer to it as Encantada.
David K, I appreciate your posts even though I don't agree with your list. Thanks to forums like this we can see where we disagree and work towards
making more accurate maps. At least we now no that we might not necessarily be talking about the same canyon.
I have been debating the names of these central canyons with Bruce for many years now. Even he agrees in his book that he had the names wrong for many
years. Now he says Tulare canyon is a false one between Toledo and Providencia. Problem is there are no canyon mouths, large or small, false or real
between those two.
Again the problem comes from trying to give every canyon mouth a name, something the locals don't do.
I was the person with Bruce when he got stranded in canyon de Medio when he left his ignition on. I am not sure why he calls me Vic. He had hard wire
his lights to the ignition so they would always be on when he was driving. A good survival tactic for the paved world but a bad one for off roading.
After a short hike we came back to find a dead battery and no hope of pushing it through the deep sand we had parked in. I hiked out to the ranch in
the middle of the valle to find Vincente Torres. He jumped up right away when I told him we had a "muerte bateria in Canyon Toledo" Remember he
thought that was the name of the canyon at the time.
We were halfway there when I realized that Vincente thought he was going to pick up a dead body. He was disapointed to find out it was only a pila.
When we got to the road to where we were stranded he drives right on by. When I told him he just passed the road he gave me a glance you would reserve
for marooons and said this isn't canyon Toledo. Thats when I figured out that Bruce had the names wrong.
I found the maps in Bruces book to be worthless. Several are unreadable and he neglects to pair numbers on maps with canyon names on others. An
indication to me that he is still confused.
burro bob
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Barry A.
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Baja Taco's Dad
Baja Taco------I too spent many a day with Edward "Bud" Bernhard of Coronado, and the San Diego Chapter of the Sierra Club, investigating the canyons
in question back in the late 50's, and 60's. What was your Dad's name?----I may have known him. My name is Barry Ashworth, and my aunt was Becky
McSheehy, if that name means anything to you. Barry
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jrbaja
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Unknown Lakes, Rivers and Ponds in Baja
I just put a whole bunch of em up at http://groups.msn.com/TheBajasBestGuidesPhotoAlbum Enjoy.
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Barry A.
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"Bud" Bernhard's 1963 roster of canyon names
Just to confuse things further, I am looking at a hand-drawn map by Bud Bernhard that he made on Dec. 12, 1963. This map was made to order for Al
Schmitz of the San Diego Chapter of the Sierra Club, from memory. Here is the way, and order, Bud listed the canyon names, starting on the north with
Teledo on the flanks of "El Picacho Del Diablo":
Teledo---
La Medio---
El Oso---
El Cajon---
Expanza---
Rubi---
Condonal---
Algodones---
Negoa---
Agua Caliente---
Barrosa---
Carrizo---
Parral---
Matomi---
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Mexitron
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Hi Barry--BajaTaco is Brooks Smith, and his dad was Myron Smith, who we talked about in some emails a month or two ago during the preps for the San
Pedro Martir Mission venture, which Brooks was along on!!
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Barry A.
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Oh, yeah!!! My memory is like a steel trap
Thank you, that is correct, and now it all comes back to me. Sorry about that.
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bajataco
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Mexitron
Hi Barry--BajaTaco is Brooks Smith... |
Uh oh. Just to clarify, so there is no confusion... there is a BajaTaco (me) and now Baja Taco (Brooks).
Anyway, here is a pic of Providencia...
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David K
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Chris, while you were typing this, see what I posted in the Baja Obsession thread!
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Taco de Baja
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bajataco
"Yo quero dos tacos de baja por favor".....
And we both drive Tacos too....
[Edited on 5-24-2004 by Baja Taco]
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Taco de Baja
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Barry A.
As Mexitron said my dad was Myron Smith.
I remember going on many trips to Baja as a kid with your Aunt Becky McSheehy as welll as many of the old Sierra Club people like Laurence and Ivy
Foster, Bud Berhard, the Stalnackers (sp?), etc. I recall your Aunt Becky had a really cool red and white Toyota Landcruser (1970's era +/-).
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Barry A.
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BT--1979 red and white Toyota Land Cruiser
BT-------You are right, Becky had that Land Cruiser for many years. She sold it about 12 years ago, not telling anybody in the family that she was
doing so. She sold it to a Ford dealer in Chula Vista for $2000. It was worth at least $8K---only had 65K miles on it. We were really dismayed. She
traded it for a Ford Escort car, but never drove the car. She passed away just after that. When she decided that she could no longer go 4-wheeling,
she just gave up living. I knew all the folks you referred to very well, especially Laurence and Ivy Foster, and of course, Bud. Thanks for your
reply. Fun stuff.
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bajataco
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Baja Taco
...And we both drive Tacos too....
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No way!  Is that how you came up with the "Taco" ? That is how I ended up with
it.
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Don Jorge
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Baja Taco,
Your dad is a legend in these parts amongst me and my friends. I enjoyed his visits to our farmstand and his stories of Baja in the good old days.
We miss him. His passing seems like the ending of an era in these parts. Deep down he was a farmer as he could b-tch and moan about prices and
theft with the best of us.
Do you have photos of your dad's trips? If so I would love to see them sometime!
Regards, Jorge
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Taco de Baja
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Don Jorge
Have tons of Baja pictures, my dad took over the years. Trouble is the vast majority are slides.
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David K
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Brooks, if you would consider it... how about selecting a bunch to show the Baja that you and your dad shared memories of and we can do a slide show
at the next Viva Baja party? Your dad was indeed one of the early pioneers of modern Baja exploration.
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Taco de Baja
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Old Baja slide show
Sure, although many of the photos are from the 40-60's well before my time. Many are labeled, although some are not.
Maybe a good time to have a "where was this photo taken?" 
I know many are of the San Felipe and surrounding area, the Laguna Salada palm canyons, as well as the Estero and Punta Banda area. My mom is
remodeling here house, so I don't know the exact location of the photos at this time.
Many if not most are in the old rectangular magazines and not the current round magazines.
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Mexitron
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Baja Taco is now "Taco de Baja"....thanks Brooks--that makes things a bit easier....
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Taco de Baja
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New name
Yea, I just wanted to make it easier for others to differentiate between the two tacos, so I changed my name since bajataco had the name primero.
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David K
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Yet another list of canyon names...
Hi guys, while my son was riding his dirt bike in Ocotillo Wells, I finished the book 'Where The Old West Never Died' by Paul Sanford c1968. This is
the Meling Ranch story as told by Bertie Johnson Meling, in 1966.
Miss Bertie tells how her father (Harry Johnson) would prospect in the canyons around "Pedro" (short for Sierra San Pedro Martir).
On page 48:
<<<< The canyon to the north of the high peak called La Providencia is called Diablo Canyon. Then going around the Sierra San Pedro Martir to the
right (clockwise) is Canyon Esperanza which dries up in the summer, Arroyo Copal which has good water - Mr. Gilbert had a ranch there; then Canyon
Providencia on the east; Canyon Toleta, then Canyon de Medio, where Salve kept a heard of cattle for several years. Now he has a few horses over there
(1966). Then comes El Cajon, which is a fine place to camp and has a good trail down from the top of Pedro. Sheepmen usually use that canyon to get up
and down the mountain.
Canyon Algodones (cotton) has a spring at the bottom of the mountain with pastures and corrals. No one seems to know how cotton seed got into the
lower canyon but it still grows there in less dry years. Canyon Cardonal is east-south-east of the high ridge and always has water - and cardon
cactus.
Incidentally, the peak named La Providencia on most maps, is sometimes called El Diablo Peak. That name is far mor romantic for climbers and resue
parties. It has been named in the news several times in the past few years as mountain climbers have tackled it in wintertime. >>>>
The book goes on about Mision San Pedro Martir in the next paragraph...
Great stuff... Just thought you would be interested... There is more about how the San Felipe desert outside Canyon El Cajon had evidence of being
much greener in the past, with large tree trunks/roots on the desert floor...
I also finished Bernie's new book (Bouncing Around Baja)! More in another thread... 
[Edited on 5-30-2004 by David K]
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