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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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It really is a beautiful place, thanks. Cute dog.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64739
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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The highest point on the road is at the very end at the telescopes: 9,280' (I took a photo of the sign that used to be there)... the park entrance and
camping areas are lower down closer to 8,000'.
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BAJACAT
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2902
Registered: 11-21-2005
Location: NATIONAL CITY, CA
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Graham, thanks for the pix and information..Even if the museum is closed, the trip to the sierra is worth it..
Did you ear anything about the missing priest..
On my last trip we hike to the pkace where he got lost...
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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I hiked up the road to Mirador al Altar where the priest was reported to have disappeared.
You can see there's a gate across the road so you have to walk. It's really steep for almost a mile.
Challenging but great views over the Vallecitos meadow and back across the forested plateau.
When I got back a ranger I spoke to thought the priest was safe and had apparently somehow made his own way down and out of the park. And it was all a
miscommunication... I sure hope he is alive and well. Maybe someone can confirm that? It's pretty wild and lonely country if you go far from the
trail.
And when you reach the viewpoint the whole San Pedro Martir just drops thousands of feet into the chasm of Canyon Diablo.
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astrobaja
Senior Nomad
Posts: 952
Registered: 5-22-2006
Location: near San Pedro Martir Park
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Mood: beam me up
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Today we went up to give Beto the park ranger a birthday cake, the museum is still closed they are looking for staff.
Conjecture is that the friar was smuggled back down to escape some sort of threats made to him. Maybe hes changed identity and is on a beach somewhere
in Tahiti!
\"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened\"
Douglas Adams
our website: http://bajadarkskies.com |
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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| Quote: | Originally posted by TW
It really is a beautiful place, thanks. Cute dog. |
The Queen agrees.
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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The Queen and her doggedly loyal subjects...
That's a strange story about the priest. I recall there were over 100 people and two helicopters searching for him for several days.
And that is wild and dangerous country up there on the edge of Canyon Diablo... very easy for any rescuers to be injured or killed themselves.
The edge of Canyon Diablo near Mirador al Altar. Photo from "Nearer My Dog to Thee"
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3710
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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Sorry, I am not English- which on is the queen?
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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The one being escorted to the Olympics by James Bond...
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64739
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Good one!
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irenemm
Senior Nomad
Posts: 623
Registered: 7-16-2009
Location: vicente guerrero, baja
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Mood: relaxed
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Up date on Padre Javier, He is from my church in Vicente Guerrero. He is still missing. We hope and pray he will be found. Keep him in your Prayers.
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astrobaja
Senior Nomad
Posts: 952
Registered: 5-22-2006
Location: near San Pedro Martir Park
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Mood: beam me up
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Irene, the search was hugely extensive involving bomberos, special rescate folks, dogs, even military units specialized in searching for cartel
people. Not a sign of Javier! Plus even though its unpleasant to think about if there was a body the condors with their gps units would have
eventually led people right to him. He is not here in the sierra!! Lets hope he is safe somewhere else!
\"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened\"
Douglas Adams
our website: http://bajadarkskies.com |
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irenemm
Senior Nomad
Posts: 623
Registered: 7-16-2009
Location: vicente guerrero, baja
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Mood: relaxed
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Mike,
his Uncle is or was a Federal Senator he was up there too. He comes from a very well to do family.
the other 2 Priest with him were questions for 4 days.
It is true if there was a body something would have been found.
BUT nothing.
The Church in town has said nothing as no one knows anything. I will post here if and when he is found.
We still pray for him.Thank you Mike
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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While I agree that after such an extensive search the priest would almost certainly have been found... there is a very small chance that he might not
have been, especially as he wasn't far from where the San Pedro Martir literally falls sheer, hundreds and thousands of feet at a time to the desert
canyons beneath.
View from the Mirador area looking back to the Observatory.
I recall when I was camped and exploring up there for 4 months in the summer of 2001 a drunk construction worker fell from a second story window of
the Observatory. There was blood on the ground beneath the window and a trail of it leading off into the forest.
A similar search was organized with helicopters, the military, and mountain rescue folks, and he was not found... at least not until...
And I quote from the Postscript of "Nearer My Dog to Thee":
"The search for the man missing from the observatory was
called off after ten days. A month later, a biologist conducting research in the park spotted the remains of the man’s legs sticking out from a rocky
extrusion on top of a hill overlooking the road to the observatory. It looked like he had crawled into a crevice in the rocks to sleep or find
shelter. One of his arms was broken, presumably due to the fall from the window, and animals had eaten much of that arm and parts of his legs."
I keep an open mind. However, it the priest did contrive his own disappearance, there has to be a better way than involving so many folks on such a
hazardous search. The slopes along that ridge are treacherous with slippery pine needles and decomposed granite and in many places a fall would be
fatal.
On my wanderings with my two dogs more than once we caught the stench of a large dead animal - probably a buried deer or big horn mountain lion kill -
and I was glad I didn't have to climb down to investigate.
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astrobaja
Senior Nomad
Posts: 952
Registered: 5-22-2006
Location: near San Pedro Martir Park
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Mood: beam me up
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an update: so for now the way they are going to work it is if you arrive with a group just ask to get a tour of the museum and one of the park rangers
will open it for you. I guess this is until one of the guys is appointed to be in charge of the museum.
\"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened\"
Douglas Adams
our website: http://bajadarkskies.com |
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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Thanks for the update Mike... good to know they will arrange special tours for groups.
As I'm one of the few tourists to have seen the interesting and informative displays, here are a few more pics to show what's inside...
The museum car park
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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Thanks, Graham, for the inside peek of the museum and the mountains around.
Man, are they rugged-- Yosemite goes to Baja!
Being an Alta California mountain girl now living in Baja its comforting to see terrain that looks familiar. I'm happy to see the photos of the
various pine trees and pine cones that are up there. Wherever there are pines, I'm at once at home.
Are there Manzanita up there, btw?
Oh, I just gotta go visit myself very soon.
Great post!
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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astrobaja
Senior Nomad
Posts: 952
Registered: 5-22-2006
Location: near San Pedro Martir Park
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Mood: beam me up
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Mulegena you should come for a visit, the area is a wonderful example of a sky island! It has many many endemic plant and animal species.
The elephant in the room though is that there are estimates of over 1000 cattle being run illegally in the park by a handful of local ranchers. They
have been repeated told that they have to get the cattle out but they feel entitled and continue to ignore the officials. Keep in mind it is federal
land that belongs to ALL Mexicans and is not for use by a select few.
The wetlands are severely compromised by the presence of the cattle and 100 years of their activity has damaged many of the delicate ecosystems.
The cattle are not the only negative influence on the park, some years back local ranchers got together with a Canadian forestry company and did a
fair bit of illegal logging within the park boundaries before they were stopped by the Federales, sadly nobody ever went to jail for this crime.
Still hopefully state govt will someday take positive action!
\"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened\"
Douglas Adams
our website: http://bajadarkskies.com |
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Graham
Senior Nomad
Posts: 558
Registered: 6-16-2006
Location: San Diego and DeTour, MI
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Hi Mulegena,
I don't think you'll be disappointed by a trip to the San Pedro Martir... on average the trees are bigger and older than their counterparts in the
California Sierra and the forest is generally more open and healthy and devoid of brush and understory -- thanks to a virtual absence of effective
fire suppression.
And like Mike said, all the endemic creatures make it extra interesting.
Absolutely, there are stands of manzanita throughout the park... I took these pics on my last visit.
That's manzanita beneath those sugar pines
And as Mike mentions with the cattle situation.... they are still brought up there to graze in the summer. And they are not exactly hiding... I
spotted these in Vallecitos right beneath the observatory.
And interestingly, some of the ranch families that have used these mountains for their cattle, the Arces, Martorells, and Espinozas, can trace their
roots back to missionary times and to the Spanish cowboy soldiers that accompanied the missionaries to places like the San Pedro Martir mission. These
families are mentioned and celebrated in the museum...
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encanto
Junior Nomad
Posts: 41
Registered: 3-13-2008
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It is definitely tricky, about the cows having brought alien and invasive plant species to the SPM, as well as possibly eating native plants before
they can bear seed. That damage has been going on for a hundred years perhaps?
The potential for impact on the forest may pale however next to the impact thousands of human visitors will create on the ecosystem as tourism goals
are realized. Many years back I took my kids camping to both the SPM and Yosemite in one summer. The ranger in Yosemite told us in an hour, 20,000
people can stream (including tour buses on daytrips) into the park at the peak of the season. Weeks before in the SPM, we were the solitary habitants
at our camp area for days.
I always felt blessed to be in the SPM, yet also wished others could share the wondrous feeling! Now that is more likely to happen as the road is
paved and these improvements have been installed.
It's hard to move to a foreign country and then try to dismiss the local/national heritage of that country, which in this case is the ranching
lifestyle. Years back I was able to watch those very local ranchers, authentic modern-day/old-time cowboys, in their corral branding cattle and
teaching their own kids the ropes--literally--so they might continue the work.
Around the world, nations and organizations try to preserve ways of life. As polite as I find the Mexican people, I would not try to say they should
do things contrary their culture. Masses of tourists will probably create bigger issues than the cattle, and I applaud the development of the park so
more people will be introduced to the amazing history as well as natural history of Baja.
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