| Pages:
1
2
3 |
Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
|
|
Exploring
I was exploring the desert around San Francisquito. The area was strewn with boulders, both large and small. The picture you are seeing is fairly
characteristic of what the landscape looked like. My kind of country.
|
|
|
Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
|
|
Sometime around mid afternoon I rounded a large rock and entered a large opening to find this. What you're seeing is the floor and wall of a cave
large enough to let you stand upright. Behind me was an enormous flat rock laying on it's side. It stood about 2-3 feet high and was as wide as a
grand piano.
|
|
|
Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
|
|
I placed my belongings down in the sand and looked upward. On the ceiling, above the flat rock I saw the following painting. I laid down on the cool
flat surface and examined it more closely. The left painting was clearly a turtle. I could never decide what the right one was. Laying there, I
thought about them for some time and started to theorize why someone would decide to paint a turtle and not something else.
I thought about the people who must have lived in this spot years ago and what life was like. The countryside is waterless and pretty barren. I don't
know what they subsisted upon but a good meal probably was hard to come by. A turtle was probably a real feast for these people. Not too difficult to
catch it was by far and away the best they could get. A time to celebrate. And so the picture came about.
|
|
|
Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
|
|
It was pleasantly cool in there despite the surrounding heat. Eventually I rolled off and looked for other signs of the past. The following image
confirmed that people had actually lived and cooked in this cave. The dark blotches on the wall is actually carbon that has remained after all these
years. It must have been where they roasted their food and the smoke from their fires has left its black marks.
|
|
|
Iflyfish
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3747
Registered: 10-17-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
Great pics. What a find. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Iflyfish
|
|
|
Natalie Ann
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2819
Registered: 8-22-2003
Location: Berkeley
Member Is Offline
|
|
Nice little illustrated story, Igor. Thanks for sharing it.
I thought for sure that second picture with its windswept rocks would be my favorite... until I saw the fourth image - that is really something.
Those black carbon smudges create quite a dramatic effect along with the contour and color of all that rock. You're really lucky to have had this
experience... but then I'll bet you know that.
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
.....Oscar Wilde
|
|
|
Paula
Super Nomad
Posts: 2219
Registered: 1-5-2006
Location: Loreto
Member Is Offline
|
|
Very intriguing pictures, Igor, it does look like a beautiful part of Baja! As amazing as it is to see the major paintings and petroglyphs, the sense
of discovery when you just happen upon artwork is also rewarding.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64855
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
Great find and thanks for sharing! Baja inspired ancient man to 'write' stories about it (via pictographs and petroglyphs) as it inspires us to write
about in in books and online!
|
|
|
Paula
Super Nomad
Posts: 2219
Registered: 1-5-2006
Location: Loreto
Member Is Offline
|
|
Hmmmmm.......... the second photo.... the fourth photo.... the second, no, the fourth.... well, I have to favor the second, as that uplifting form
seems like it could support a whole mountain, even as it protects the egg in the shadow beneath it.
Fortunately, we don't really have to choose a favorite, eh, Nena? 
|
|
|
Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Paula
As amazing as it is to see the major paintings and petroglyphs, the sense of discovery when you just happen upon artwork is also rewarding.
|
I really agree with you on that statement. I've never seen any of the great baja art caves because I just hate being guided.
I have gone to great lengths to take my kids in my boat through schools of porpoises so that they know the difference in the thrill of a natural
experience compared to what their classmates are getting at sea world.
You can develop an entire philosophy in life about how close you are living to the fullest when you learn on your own as opposed to having someone
else teach you. But that's taking things too far for now.
Thank you for your comments David K.
When I took these pictures, and BTW the first was taken just a couple of hours before the cave discovery, my favorite was the 2nd. I like the arch in
the second and the wall texture in the 4th.
|
|
|
Paula
Super Nomad
Posts: 2219
Registered: 1-5-2006
Location: Loreto
Member Is Offline
|
|
Igor, don't write off going into the mountains with a guide. The guys down here are just old-time ranchers, not your know-it-all official US guide
type. The hard thing for me in the sierra was the protective boardwalks and railings that INAH is putting up. Really overkill, and they do lessen
the experience. Go now while some remain "unprotected"!
|
|
|
Natalie Ann
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2819
Registered: 8-22-2003
Location: Berkeley
Member Is Offline
|
|
I agree with Paula, Igor... and a good first adventure is with Salvador in Mulege, out to the Valle Trinidad. Seems like it would be a great daytrip
for you and that son of yours on your summer vacation.
[Edited on 4-27-2007 by Natalie Ann]
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
.....Oscar Wilde
|
|
|
Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
|
|
Oh, one other problem I forgot to mention ... I'm a cheapskate.
|
|
|
fdt
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4059
Registered: 9-7-2003
Location: Tijuana, Baja California
Member Is Offline
Mood: Yeah, what if it all goes right
|
|
Beautiful, all of them.
A well informed Baja California traveler is a smart Baja California traveler!
|
|
|
Paula
Super Nomad
Posts: 2219
Registered: 1-5-2006
Location: Loreto
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Oh, one other problem I forgot to mention ... I'm a cheapskate. |
Well, don't let that stop you! If you go to INAH in San Ignacio and arrange your trip with them, it won't cost much. They set you up with the guide
and animals, you bring gear and food (bring enough for the guide too). Uncountable photo opportunities await you on your trip!
Not trying to twist your arm, I'm sure Nena isn't either..  
|
|
|
Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
|
|
Would you care to add your images from that area. I would be interested, as would be others, I'm sure.
|
|
|
Natalie Ann
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2819
Registered: 8-22-2003
Location: Berkeley
Member Is Offline
|
|
Yeah, Paula, I am trying to twist his arm. Even if he is a cheapskate, I think he and his son would really enjoy either your way of seeing cave
paintings or mine. And as you said, won't be a lot of time one can still do that.
I'll try to find some photos from my trip and post some... but I'd be particularly interested in seeing some of yours, Paula. You did the
mules/horses and the big trip, the whole nine yards and then some, and I'll bet the photos are great.
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
.....Oscar Wilde
|
|
|
tripledigitken
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4848
Registered: 9-27-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
Igor,
What an adventure to just stumble upon that site. It's one thing to go to a known location and enjoy it, but to discover
one......................that's a perfect Baja moment.
Nice pictures, as usuall. We expect that from you!
Would love to explore the site next time we go to San Fransisquito. An extraordinary area it is and one of my favorites in all of Baja.
Thanks
[Edited on 4-27-2007 by tripledigitken]
|
|
|
Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
|
|
You know, Ken, I would never be able to find that cave again. It was off the graded road between Bahia San Rafael and San Francisquito, but beyond
that I haven't a clue. No dwellings were in sight and no distinctive landmarks.
No big deal really. There are better caves all around. It's just nice to find something when you're not looking for it. That's the best part. Not
being shown were it is and not having it all explained to you.
|
|
|
tripledigitken
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4848
Registered: 9-27-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
Igor,
Come on you don't have GPS coordinates?
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2
3 |
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
