Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8923
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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Baja Grande: L.A. Bay to Mission Santa Maria a.k.a. "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE"
It is now 7 a.m., and our group caught wind that there was no gasoline available at the main Pemex station in the Bay of L.A. The entire town was out
of power! How on earth would we get our vehicles back up Hwy 1? Or, would we resort to traveling back up to Gonzaga Bay to the Pemex station? What
a catastrophe!
With our group all together at 8:30 a.m., the generator pump was turned on, and mysteriously, the Pemex sprang back into life, pumping $2.35/gallon
gasoline back into our Jeeps (and Toyotas), and we would be able to reach Catavina in just 2 ½ hours. In Catavina, our group parked across the street
from the La Pinta Motel where we dined at a wooden structure adorned with the four letter word we came to love – CAFÉ. After washing our hands in a 3
gallon concrete-lined bowl, we had lunch in one of our favorite places on the peninsula. After lunch, it was a fast 3 minute drive to Rancho Santa
Ines where we aired our tires down and marveled at a group of birds sunning on cacti, with their wings spread out, soaking up all of the sun their
extended wings could take in.
Jay and Brigette McKnight drove down Interstate 5 from Cupertino, CA in their stock Toyota 4 Runner. Still wearing its’ original manufacturer
equipment running boards, this Toyota received a modest boost from 32” height All-Terrain tires. The trip into Mission Santa Maria from behind the
wheel of a stock Toyota with marginal traction-assist resulted in our assembling an impromptu team of spotters that would help Jay and Brigette reach
the mission, but not without requiring a yank strap to climb a steep ledge that would have otherwise left this Toyota out in the wilds of Baja.
The trail into “Mission Impossible” contains a small canyon that starts off the action. Vehicles too tall, too wide, wearing tires that are too bald,
or vehicles without enough suspension articulation had better look elsewhere for a good time on the trails in Baja. This trail is considered by most
to be Baja’s most difficult and most challenging. A trail that eats gears, differential housings, tires, and in our case, steering components from
perfectly new ’07 Rubicon Unlimiteds!
As our group of 13 vehicles (down from 14), idled up a benign hill, we stumbled upon an unfortunate driver of a near stock YJ and his Toyota
SR5-driving buddy who was pulling the YJ out at the end of a long day. With his rear differential exploded and only being able to pull with
front-wheel drive, this unfortunate driver showed us all what lie ahead if we dared to continue. Most travelers simply park their vehicles at the
grade above, “The Widowmaker” hill and hike the last 1.5 miles to the mission. Instead, our goal was to camp near the mission, making it our home for
both the 21st and the 22nd – Thanksgiving Day.
Traveling along this route containing off-camber slabs of granite, steep descents, and rocky streambeds, both our driving skills as well as our
efficiency on Baja California’s most challenging trail were put to the test. At 4:15 p.m., we passed the mission. We had roughly 45 minutes to make
it down the last 1.5 miles of trail in order to set up camp, but just as we passed the mission, a call went out over the radio – Mike in his ’07
Unlimited Rubicon was in trouble.
::To be continued::
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64595
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Oh goodie... 
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8923
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Oh goodie... |
Dark humor from the Toyota crowd...
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64595
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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I love that road!
After photographing Roy's Land Rover, Baja Angel and I climb back up to take our turn:
Oh, what a feeling!
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8923
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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The stock 4Runner that went with us had a considerable lack of ground clearance and approach angle. Much less than your pickup truck. I guess the
new model has been improved this way? Not sure, but all that low-hanging plastic was permanently scarred and disfigured off of the McKnight's
4Runner...
| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
After photographing Roy's Land Rover, Baja Angel and I climb back up to take our turn:
Oh, what a feeling! |
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