Sunday, March 28, 2010
Back in USA
We have been out of range of the Internet. Currently camping in an RV park outside of a casino in Pahrump, NV. We will post the final chapters of our adventure later on this week.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Back to San Ignacio
Monday, 22 March – Playa Santispac, Bahia Concepcion to San Ignacio
1. The deck at Posada de las Flores resort in Punta Chavito.
8. Las Tres Virgenes volcanoes with recent lava flow.
We bought tamales and fritas from a woman vending on the beach today. We had decided not to cook breakfast to get an early jump on the day. As Ray says everything happens for a reason.
Learned some new Spanish today “Tenemos una llanta ponchada. (We have a punctured tire)”. The word for nail ion Spanish is “clavo”. We egressed from the beach after pumping up the tire. We drove carefully back to Mulege and filled up at the Pemex station. We got a recommendation on a llantera (tire shop) and negotiated the repair. It cost 40 pesos (about $3.50 US).
We headed north and drove the 15 miles out to Punta Chivato to check the Posada del las Flores resort. We had seen the sister hotels in La Paz and Loreto. The views from the hotel veranda were stunning. The hotel had no guests for tonight. This would be a great place to decompress. I hope they have enough business to stay open as I would like to take Boo here. Best view was outside room 750.
We left the hotel and retraced our route out to Hwy 1. We made the a stop in Santa Rosalia, a small port town that had a copper mining business until 1954 when the mine closed. A French mining company had a 99 year lease on the concession. The town has a very distinct French colonial architecture. The lumber for the wooden structures is all from Tacoma, Washington carried on the ships returning after unloading smelted copper at Tacoma for refining. There appears to be some French blood in the populations as you see people with freckles, curly hair, and hair colors other than black.
Santa Rosalia also is home of the Eiffel church. Eiffel designed and built a prototype modular church that was to be fabricated and sent to French tropical colonies. The church is entirely made of steel. The church was displayed at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris at which Eiffel won a first prize for the church and the famed Eiffel tower. After, the fair however, the church was dismantled and put in storage. The director of the mine found the church and had it sent to Santa Rosalia where it was reassembled and christened. Here it sits today.
After eating lunch, we continued north stopping at Las Tres Virgenes to look at the volcanoes. We chatted with Jesus of the Ejido A.V. Bonafil about there “Eco-Tours”. They had a small camp several kilometers off Hwy 1. It looked from the pictures on the wall, they ran hunting tours for Bighorn Sheep. The volcanoes were very interesting with recent flows from the south side. The power company runs a geothermal power plant further up from the camp.
Leaving the ejido, we drove another 30 minutes to San Ignacio. After camping for 3 days, we decided to stay at the San Ignacio Springs B&B with Gary and Terry (we here for one night on our trip south). We needed to do some laundry. We got into San Ignacio with about 3 hours of day light. After starting laudry, I wandered about town. I watched the children practice baseball and t-ball. I was happy to see young girls playing. I then sat in the plaza, read maps and Spanish books, and soaked up the feel of San Ignacio.
Dinner at the San Ignacio Springs B&B was fantastic. Without doubt the best meal that we have had on the trip since we stayed here last. Fresh tuna, scallops (lime cooked), great vegetables (which we have been lacking), and finally, apple pie.
Back into the bush tomorrow.
1. The deck at Posada de las Flores resort in Punta Chavito.
2. Boo, how would you like to stay in this room?
3. The Hotel Frances in Santa Rosalia is a great
example of French colonial architecture.
4. Another example of the French colonial architecture in Santa Rosalia.
5. Mr. Eiffel's prize winning church now resides in Santa Rosalia.
6. The church is surprisingly modular.
7. Beth, forget the Airstream. Forget the sailboat. Ray thinks retiring
to an old rail car in Santa Rosalia would be really cool. Please wire money.
3. The Hotel Frances in Santa Rosalia is a greatexample of French colonial architecture.
4. Another example of the French colonial architecture in Santa Rosalia.
5. Mr. Eiffel's prize winning church now resides in Santa Rosalia.
6. The church is surprisingly modular.
7. Beth, forget the Airstream. Forget the sailboat. Ray thinks retiringto an old rail car in Santa Rosalia would be really cool. Please wire money.
8. Las Tres Virgenes volcanoes with recent lava flow.We bought tamales and fritas from a woman vending on the beach today. We had decided not to cook breakfast to get an early jump on the day. As Ray says everything happens for a reason.
Learned some new Spanish today “Tenemos una llanta ponchada. (We have a punctured tire)”. The word for nail ion Spanish is “clavo”. We egressed from the beach after pumping up the tire. We drove carefully back to Mulege and filled up at the Pemex station. We got a recommendation on a llantera (tire shop) and negotiated the repair. It cost 40 pesos (about $3.50 US).
We headed north and drove the 15 miles out to Punta Chivato to check the Posada del las Flores resort. We had seen the sister hotels in La Paz and Loreto. The views from the hotel veranda were stunning. The hotel had no guests for tonight. This would be a great place to decompress. I hope they have enough business to stay open as I would like to take Boo here. Best view was outside room 750.
We left the hotel and retraced our route out to Hwy 1. We made the a stop in Santa Rosalia, a small port town that had a copper mining business until 1954 when the mine closed. A French mining company had a 99 year lease on the concession. The town has a very distinct French colonial architecture. The lumber for the wooden structures is all from Tacoma, Washington carried on the ships returning after unloading smelted copper at Tacoma for refining. There appears to be some French blood in the populations as you see people with freckles, curly hair, and hair colors other than black.
Santa Rosalia also is home of the Eiffel church. Eiffel designed and built a prototype modular church that was to be fabricated and sent to French tropical colonies. The church is entirely made of steel. The church was displayed at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris at which Eiffel won a first prize for the church and the famed Eiffel tower. After, the fair however, the church was dismantled and put in storage. The director of the mine found the church and had it sent to Santa Rosalia where it was reassembled and christened. Here it sits today.
After eating lunch, we continued north stopping at Las Tres Virgenes to look at the volcanoes. We chatted with Jesus of the Ejido A.V. Bonafil about there “Eco-Tours”. They had a small camp several kilometers off Hwy 1. It looked from the pictures on the wall, they ran hunting tours for Bighorn Sheep. The volcanoes were very interesting with recent flows from the south side. The power company runs a geothermal power plant further up from the camp.
Leaving the ejido, we drove another 30 minutes to San Ignacio. After camping for 3 days, we decided to stay at the San Ignacio Springs B&B with Gary and Terry (we here for one night on our trip south). We needed to do some laundry. We got into San Ignacio with about 3 hours of day light. After starting laudry, I wandered about town. I watched the children practice baseball and t-ball. I was happy to see young girls playing. I then sat in the plaza, read maps and Spanish books, and soaked up the feel of San Ignacio.
Dinner at the San Ignacio Springs B&B was fantastic. Without doubt the best meal that we have had on the trip since we stayed here last. Fresh tuna, scallops (lime cooked), great vegetables (which we have been lacking), and finally, apple pie.
Back into the bush tomorrow.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Camping on Gulf of California Beaches
1. Sunrise at Ensenada San Basilio
2. Sunrise at our campsite at Ensenada San Basilio
3. Private property markers as only that you don't litter, start fires, drunk or do drugs.Campers appear welcome.
4. Isla el Requeson is joined to the mainland along Bahia Concepcionat low tide by a sand bar.
5. Shrines like this are found along the highways.
6. A look inside a roadside shrine.
7. A view of the river at Mulege looking upstream from thelighthouse. There is a lot of damage still present from
last fall's hurricane.
8. A view of the river at Mulege from the mission.Ray and Joel were attacked by bees here.
Today was a beach explore day as we tried to move north.
We woke, fixed a camp breakfast, and explored the beaches of Ensenada San Basilio at low tide. We were able to reach several of the islands through exposed sand spit. I talked to the couple from Mexico City that were camping on the other end of the beach. She gave me some tips on beaches on Bahia Concepcion. She rated Santispac and El Coyote highly. We drove the 12 miles along the single track back to Hwy 1. We only got lost once.
Bahia Concepcion is truly beautiful. It is unfortunate that we are running out of time. We stopped at Isla el Requeson. It was connected to the shore by an exposed sand bar. A lovely place. Being Sunday, there were many local families out on the beach for the day. We drove by El Coyote and Santispac making mental notes on a possible overnight camp but pushed on to Mulege to get our laundary done before it got too late.
Did I mention that it is Sunday? On arriving in Mulege, the laundry, like most things (including the church) was closed. Did I mention all the local residents on the beaches we passed coming north? We drove through town, which has a heavy French influence, did NOT due laundry, and had lunch at a local restaurant out near the lighthouse on the north side of the river. Mulege has seen better days. The hurricanes in 2006 and last year has done a lot of damage to the town that is still be cleaned up or repaired.
After lunch, we went to see the mission, which the guidebook warns is somewhat disappointing if you have seen Jan Javier and/or San Ignacio (we’ve seen both). The guide book always indicates there is a good view from a vantage point behind the mission. We climbed the steps up the the viewing area and were attacked by some very aggressive bees. We did not get a picture.
Since it was late afternoon at this point, we decided not to push north but to drive 10 km south and camp at Santispac which we have found has few facilities (i.e. cold showers – we are on our 3rd day without – and no internet to upload the our delinquent log.
A fisherman came up the beach and sold us some very large fresh shrimp from Bahia Concepcion. Keeping with Ray’s philosophy to use everything in the truck, I got to use the very sharp fish knife we bought in Phoenix before leaving. Right after that, we got to use the first aid kit for the first time.
We had shrimp and grits for dinner.
Saturday, 20 March – El Juncalito to Ensenada San Basilio
We woke, fixed a camp breakfast, and explored the beaches of Ensenada San Basilio at low tide. We were able to reach several of the islands through exposed sand spit. I talked to the couple from Mexico City that were camping on the other end of the beach. She gave me some tips on beaches on Bahia Concepcion. She rated Santispac and El Coyote highly. We drove the 12 miles along the single track back to Hwy 1. We only got lost once.
Bahia Concepcion is truly beautiful. It is unfortunate that we are running out of time. We stopped at Isla el Requeson. It was connected to the shore by an exposed sand bar. A lovely place. Being Sunday, there were many local families out on the beach for the day. We drove by El Coyote and Santispac making mental notes on a possible overnight camp but pushed on to Mulege to get our laundary done before it got too late.
Did I mention that it is Sunday? On arriving in Mulege, the laundry, like most things (including the church) was closed. Did I mention all the local residents on the beaches we passed coming north? We drove through town, which has a heavy French influence, did NOT due laundry, and had lunch at a local restaurant out near the lighthouse on the north side of the river. Mulege has seen better days. The hurricanes in 2006 and last year has done a lot of damage to the town that is still be cleaned up or repaired.
After lunch, we went to see the mission, which the guidebook warns is somewhat disappointing if you have seen Jan Javier and/or San Ignacio (we’ve seen both). The guide book always indicates there is a good view from a vantage point behind the mission. We climbed the steps up the the viewing area and were attacked by some very aggressive bees. We did not get a picture.
Since it was late afternoon at this point, we decided not to push north but to drive 10 km south and camp at Santispac which we have found has few facilities (i.e. cold showers – we are on our 3rd day without – and no internet to upload the our delinquent log.
A fisherman came up the beach and sold us some very large fresh shrimp from Bahia Concepcion. Keeping with Ray’s philosophy to use everything in the truck, I got to use the very sharp fish knife we bought in Phoenix before leaving. Right after that, we got to use the first aid kit for the first time.
We had shrimp and grits for dinner.
Saturday, 20 March – El Juncalito to Ensenada San Basilio
1. The Sierra Giganta towers 1000 meters over our campsite at El Juncalito.
2. Ligui has a nice beach with palapas and outhouse ... if you can find it.
3. Boo, there is Yoga in Loreto.
4. A not uncommon road hazard on Hwy 1.
5. The arroyo road ended here at Ensenada San Basilio.
6. Except for a couple from Mexico City who camped on the beach with us,all our neighbors were boats.
7. Jason and Ginny's launch was anchored near our campsite atEnsenada San Basilio.
8. Looking back into the bay from the headlands.We could see whales in the Gulf of California from this position.
9. Interesting rock formations in Ensenada San Basilio.
10. Joel on the rocks in Ensenada San Basilio.
11. Yes, this really did hurt.The cholla has little barbs that stick in you.
It is like a tar baby. It sticks to anything it touches.
12. Ray near the rocks on Ensenada San Basilio at sunset.After coking and packing up, we headed south (I know this is a wrong direction but we have some unfinished business) to Ligui. We took the road to Ensenada Blanca, a small cove right about where Hwy 1 climbs the mountains and heads west to Ciudad Insurgentes. The beach was nice but there was a fence and a manned security gate for the new hotel that is under construction on the south side of the cove. We asked the guard if we could walk the beach and he pointed us to a opening at the far end of the fence that allowed access into the public beach. We did a walk around but didn’t get a good vibe so we went on.
We backtracked to the point where the Ensenada Blanca road made a 90 degree turn to the right on the way in (left on the way out). At this point, we turned east and followed a road down an arroyo which to our pleasant surprise landed us on another of the Loreto Municipal beaches (know of this is signed). The beach had palapas and an out house though neither Ray nor I ventured in to give a report.
After Ligui beach, we drove further north to Nopolo. This is a gold community in the Arizona mold. The place was a ghost town so we left.
We drove back to Loreto where we filled up with gasoline and tried to find something to eat. There was an outdoor palapa near the gas station advertising seafood. We went in a sat down. What followed next is somewhat comical. Since it was only 11:30 a.m., I asked if the food was ready. The waitress said no. Not sure what to do next, I asked her the same question. Apologetically, she said no food was ready. So, I said it might be best if we returned later “a le major regressamos mas tardes”. Ray looked at the table next to us. The man was eating food. Ray looked at me and said he would be fine eating that. I explained to Ray that the young women clearly said the food wasn’t ready.
We wandered on down to the Loreto malecon. We asked at a second place if the food was ready. Again “No – but try at Bajamar next door”. So on our third attempt, I asked if the food was ready, Jorge, the waiter at Bajamar explained that they did not have any “fast food”, they only served food that they need to cook – qwe would have to wait. Luckly, Jorge had spent seven years in Florida and spoke Engligh well. So I asked Jorge to help unravel the mystery. Apparently, my choice of words in Spanish left the impression that I want food immediately. Thanks to Jorge, I think we will eat again. He also gave me some pointers on navigating military checkpoint.
After paying the check we headed north. We passed through a more lengthy military checkpoint before we realized we missed the turn off for Boca San Bruno. Rather than go through the checkpoint again, we pushed on. At the kilometer 48 signpost we turned off to an unmarked dirt single track. We followed this track for about 12 miles until it ended a Ensenada San Basilio – a very scenic bay. There were about a dozen boats anchored in the bay.
We had a nice chat with Jason and Ginny. They had motored up in their small launch from Juncalito where they have a winter place in the ejido. While discussing philosophy and politics Ginny looks at us and asks “Can you imagine that?” to which Jason interjected “These guys can’t imagine, they are electricians (I think he meant electrical engineer”. Anyway, it gave us one of the better quotes for the trip. We talked to the caretaker of the property and asked about camping on the beach – no problem. We shared the beach with a couple from Mexico City and their baby girl.
I woke in the middle of the night thinking the water was under the truck. After I could see that we where still 6 feet about the water, I fell back to sleep.
Traveling the Old Mission Roads
Friday, 19 March – San Javier, (NOT) Comondu, El Juncalito (lat 25 49.850; long 111 19.492)
1. Ancient cave art. On the Baja peninsula, cave art ranges
2. The paintings were located along this stream.
3. The Jesuit Mission road from Loreto to San Xavier climbs
the Sierra Giganta. Now, it paved almost to the top of the Mountain.
Yes, I am happy.
4. This was such a great shot we had to do it twice.
BTW, Ray did not run in this race.
5. The taco goes to church ar San Javier Mission. This was the second mission in the Californias (Lorato being the first). It is described as the best example of a 17th century Spanish mission. Loreto has a population of about 150 people. I think little has changed around the mission.
6. God is present at San Javier.
7. The bells in the Mission date back to the mid 1700s and are still used.
8. According to Stephen at the Coco Cabanas, Trader Joes
buys organic onions from San Javier. The travel book says the
canyon below San Javier produces 400,000 tons of onions per year.
9. Joel gets high on purple Bourganvilla.
10. On our attempt to reach San Miguel Comondu,
we find the road rough in almost every arroyo.
11. The “taco” chickens out just west of Palo Chino,
a one house ranch where they probably said,
“these guys will be back in 5 minutes”. He didn't
figure the time to turn the truck around.
12. A look at the road to San Miguel and San Jose Comondu.
13. Ray with the “taco” on our retreat from the Mesa. We spent the better part of 1 hour turning the truck around on the mesa. Technically, we never were stuck since we could run in reverse. However, there were several times we were only on three wheels. On the turnaround, we got hung up and had to build a road with rocks so the truck could go forward.
14. After our retreat, Ray does a damage assessment.
15. “Where is the steering linkage?”
16. A look at the road that defeated the “taco”.
17. Back in Juncalito, Ray swims in the cove.
18. Sunset behind the Sierra Giganta.
Happy Birthday Max.
Today’s objective was to climb west over the Sierra Giganta and see the Spanish missions at San Javier and San Miguel/San Jose Comondu. The later is best accessed from the paved road north of Ciudad Insurgentes. We passed this on the southbound portion of our trip because we were cold.
San Javier is the second mission in the Californias (Baja and Alta – the US California). It is considered to be one of the best examples of a 17th century Spanish mission since so little modification has been made to the building and agricultural systems. We climbed out of Loreto on the old mission road (now paved almost to the top) to about 1700 ft. Along the way, we looked for an ancient fig tree that Stephen (of the Coca Cabana) recommended without success. We also stop to see the prehistoric cave paintings that were clearly signed where the road crossed a flowing river.
Once we crested the Sierra Giganta, we followed a west flowing river for 15-20 miles descending several hundred feet into Jan Javier. The mission was impressive. The town was neat with a cobblestone main street. From the log book, San Javier had 10 visitors today. There was a lot of activity along the road as the government is running electricity out to San Javier. It was odd. Many buildings are already using electricity – from solar charged battery packs.
We backtracked about 10 miles to where the road to San Miguel Comondu and San Jose Comondu joined the main road. (This next part is a report for Stephen back at the Coco Cabanas on the road conditions). The road went to single track when we turned off the Loreto – San Javier Road. The road was in good condition except where we crossed arroyos. At any of these, we had to pick our way through the best track. Several were unsuitable for a passenger car. None was a problem for the Tacoma.
We drove toward Comondu about 11 miles from the Loreto-San Javier road which took about 40 minutes. The first mesa we crossed had some ruts and bumps on the west side. Just west of Palo Chino, we began to climb a very large mesa. We figured at this point we were about halfway from the fork to Comondu . As we climbed the mesa, the road deteriorated quickly. Visually, you could see that the road was the drainage for storm runoff. We went up on 3 wheels several times. Technically, we never got stuck since we could reverse out of our position. However, several times, we could not go forward.
After walking the road, we decided that it was best to abandon our goal of reaching San Miguel and turn around. Our main concern was for the tires sidewalls which showed a lot of new scuffing. If we had better tires and if the truck were not loaded with our gear and if we felt there was some chance of passing traffic bailing us out (we saw none once we left the Loreto-San Javier road), we would have tried to crest the mesa and then return via the paved road to Ciudad Insurgentes.
It took us a better part of an hour to turn the truck around from our location on the road. We had to fill in the ruts in the road in order to keep all four wheels of the truck on the ground and/or to keep the truck from bottoming out (which we did twice).
The return to Loreto was with out event. We made one more attempt to find the ancient fig tree. We found many of the landmarks on Stephen’s map. However, there were many roads once we got into the arroyo and I lost my correlation to his map. We gave up for a second time on the fig tree.
We drove south to the public beach at El Juncalito to camp for the night. We have some loose plans to explore the beaches at Ligui and points further south tomorrow. Camping here at El Juncalito gives us a good jumping off point for tomorrow.
Notes on finding a good campsite: If you turn at the sign saying “El Juncalito”, you will wind up down on a ejido with some permanent trailers and houses. From this sign, go south on Hwy 1 about 100 meters. When you see the km 97 sign post, go another 25 meters. This is the track that goes to the beach that is own by the Loreto Municipal government. Stay on the heaviest track until you reach the beach.
Right about the time we were getting ready to cook, the winds suddenly kicked up. It went from dead calm to 30 MPH sustained in about 10 minutes right about when it was time to cook. The sand was blowing across the beach. It was too windy to light the stove. Tonight’s menu was tequila, dorritos, canned trout w/ saltines and a banana. Still sinking but better than airline food.
We have about three hours of moonlight tonight. The beach here is beutiful.
1. Ancient cave art. On the Baja peninsula, cave art rangesfrom 4,000 to 10,000 years old. Kind of looks like modern graffiti.
2. The paintings were located along this stream.
3. The Jesuit Mission road from Loreto to San Xavier climbsthe Sierra Giganta. Now, it paved almost to the top of the Mountain.
Yes, I am happy.
4. This was such a great shot we had to do it twice.BTW, Ray did not run in this race.
5. The taco goes to church ar San Javier Mission. This was the second mission in the Californias (Lorato being the first). It is described as the best example of a 17th century Spanish mission. Loreto has a population of about 150 people. I think little has changed around the mission.
6. God is present at San Javier.
7. The bells in the Mission date back to the mid 1700s and are still used.
8. According to Stephen at the Coco Cabanas, Trader Joesbuys organic onions from San Javier. The travel book says the
canyon below San Javier produces 400,000 tons of onions per year.
9. Joel gets high on purple Bourganvilla.
10. On our attempt to reach San Miguel Comondu,we find the road rough in almost every arroyo.
11. The “taco” chickens out just west of Palo Chino,a one house ranch where they probably said,
“these guys will be back in 5 minutes”. He didn't
figure the time to turn the truck around.
12. A look at the road to San Miguel and San Jose Comondu.
13. Ray with the “taco” on our retreat from the Mesa. We spent the better part of 1 hour turning the truck around on the mesa. Technically, we never were stuck since we could run in reverse. However, there were several times we were only on three wheels. On the turnaround, we got hung up and had to build a road with rocks so the truck could go forward.
14. After our retreat, Ray does a damage assessment.
15. “Where is the steering linkage?”
16. A look at the road that defeated the “taco”.
17. Back in Juncalito, Ray swims in the cove.
18. Sunset behind the Sierra Giganta.Happy Birthday Max.
Today’s objective was to climb west over the Sierra Giganta and see the Spanish missions at San Javier and San Miguel/San Jose Comondu. The later is best accessed from the paved road north of Ciudad Insurgentes. We passed this on the southbound portion of our trip because we were cold.
San Javier is the second mission in the Californias (Baja and Alta – the US California). It is considered to be one of the best examples of a 17th century Spanish mission since so little modification has been made to the building and agricultural systems. We climbed out of Loreto on the old mission road (now paved almost to the top) to about 1700 ft. Along the way, we looked for an ancient fig tree that Stephen (of the Coca Cabana) recommended without success. We also stop to see the prehistoric cave paintings that were clearly signed where the road crossed a flowing river.
Once we crested the Sierra Giganta, we followed a west flowing river for 15-20 miles descending several hundred feet into Jan Javier. The mission was impressive. The town was neat with a cobblestone main street. From the log book, San Javier had 10 visitors today. There was a lot of activity along the road as the government is running electricity out to San Javier. It was odd. Many buildings are already using electricity – from solar charged battery packs.
We backtracked about 10 miles to where the road to San Miguel Comondu and San Jose Comondu joined the main road. (This next part is a report for Stephen back at the Coco Cabanas on the road conditions). The road went to single track when we turned off the Loreto – San Javier Road. The road was in good condition except where we crossed arroyos. At any of these, we had to pick our way through the best track. Several were unsuitable for a passenger car. None was a problem for the Tacoma.
We drove toward Comondu about 11 miles from the Loreto-San Javier road which took about 40 minutes. The first mesa we crossed had some ruts and bumps on the west side. Just west of Palo Chino, we began to climb a very large mesa. We figured at this point we were about halfway from the fork to Comondu . As we climbed the mesa, the road deteriorated quickly. Visually, you could see that the road was the drainage for storm runoff. We went up on 3 wheels several times. Technically, we never got stuck since we could reverse out of our position. However, several times, we could not go forward.
After walking the road, we decided that it was best to abandon our goal of reaching San Miguel and turn around. Our main concern was for the tires sidewalls which showed a lot of new scuffing. If we had better tires and if the truck were not loaded with our gear and if we felt there was some chance of passing traffic bailing us out (we saw none once we left the Loreto-San Javier road), we would have tried to crest the mesa and then return via the paved road to Ciudad Insurgentes.
It took us a better part of an hour to turn the truck around from our location on the road. We had to fill in the ruts in the road in order to keep all four wheels of the truck on the ground and/or to keep the truck from bottoming out (which we did twice).
The return to Loreto was with out event. We made one more attempt to find the ancient fig tree. We found many of the landmarks on Stephen’s map. However, there were many roads once we got into the arroyo and I lost my correlation to his map. We gave up for a second time on the fig tree.
We drove south to the public beach at El Juncalito to camp for the night. We have some loose plans to explore the beaches at Ligui and points further south tomorrow. Camping here at El Juncalito gives us a good jumping off point for tomorrow.
Notes on finding a good campsite: If you turn at the sign saying “El Juncalito”, you will wind up down on a ejido with some permanent trailers and houses. From this sign, go south on Hwy 1 about 100 meters. When you see the km 97 sign post, go another 25 meters. This is the track that goes to the beach that is own by the Loreto Municipal government. Stay on the heaviest track until you reach the beach.
Right about the time we were getting ready to cook, the winds suddenly kicked up. It went from dead calm to 30 MPH sustained in about 10 minutes right about when it was time to cook. The sand was blowing across the beach. It was too windy to light the stove. Tonight’s menu was tequila, dorritos, canned trout w/ saltines and a banana. Still sinking but better than airline food.
We have about three hours of moonlight tonight. The beach here is beutiful.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Around Loreto
Thursday, 18 March – Loreto (lat 26 00.904; long 111 20.521) , Canyon Hiking, Escondido, El Juncalito
1. The Coco Cabanas is our home in Loreto.
2. Early morning canyon hiking south of Loreto near Escondido.
3. Stephen and Josie of the Coco Cabanas meet us in the canyon.
4. Ray sits by the palm pool as I climb the canyon wall to get to the next cascade.
5. Swimming in the pools in the canyon.
6. The Loreto Malecon looking north from the south-end.
7. A mural decorates this hotel on the Malecon.
8. Green mangoes hang from the tree next to the mission.
9. This is the mission in Loreto.
10. The commercial/tourist street in Loreto.
11. A side street on Loreto up from the Coco Cabanas.
12. ould not tell if this dog wanted to come out and play ....
Busy day.
It turns out the Coco Cabanas is another travel oasis. Run buy Stephen and Barrett Scalapino and their families, their hotel is a nice place to get off the road, get clean, and meet other travelers. The cabana setup includes a full kitchen and private bathrooms. The rooms are very clean and tidy (the best accommodations so far on our trip). The hotel is located one block off the north end of the Loreto Malecon and is a short walk to the historic district. To do a plug for Stephen and Barrett, here is their contact information:
e-mail: barrett@coco-cabanas.com
web: http://www.cococabanasloreto.com/
phone: 011-52-613-135-1729 (from the US)
phone: 613-135-1729 (from Mexico)
We chatted with Stephen last night about what to do in the area. Stephen, having been connected to Loreto since he was 14, was a wealth of knowledge. He told us he and his wife Josie were going hiking in a nearby canyon in the morning and offered to show us the trailhead if we could be ready to go by 7:00 a.m. Ray and I, never to pass on a good hike, were geared up and ready to go.
We drove south on Hwy 1 to Escondido and turned right toward the mountains. The hike was reminiscent of Guadalupe Canyon earlier in the trip but this time the water was much lower volume and contained in pools. The dry canyon made for an amazing hike allowing us to climb the river bed (something we could do in Guadalupe Canyon). The pools (which had some water flow) provided accent to the scenery. The canyon eventually closed and the dry falls to steep & tall to scale safely so we turned back.
We visited Escondido and walked about the new port. Then we drove up to Juncalito and navigated our way through a maze of dirt roads to the public beach. Another stunning location. We scoped out a camp site (we might use this later), hiked the headlands and coves, and took a nap.
Then we were back to Loreto for a daylight explore (it was dark last night when we got in). We walked the Malecon which has great views of the surrounding islands, mountains, and Gulf of California. Then we went to tour the Mission, the first in California. Then we had dinner. Loreta, like Todos Santos, seems to be cut from the Carmel and Santa Fe molds. It is a really nice town.
We are staying a second night at the Hotel Coco Cabanas and making it an early night. Ray is actually asleep on the couch already. We are gearing up for a trip up into the mountains tomorrow to visit the Mission San Javier and perhaps Mission San Miguel Comondu if the road allows. Stephen gave us some good tips of thing to see along the way. It should make for a good post when we return.
1. The Coco Cabanas is our home in Loreto.
2. Early morning canyon hiking south of Loreto near Escondido.
3. Stephen and Josie of the Coco Cabanas meet us in the canyon.
4. Ray sits by the palm pool as I climb the canyon wall to get to the next cascade.
5. Swimming in the pools in the canyon.
6. The Loreto Malecon looking north from the south-end.
7. A mural decorates this hotel on the Malecon.
8. Green mangoes hang from the tree next to the mission.
9. This is the mission in Loreto.There is a good museum attached that had a lot of English text.
10. The commercial/tourist street in Loreto.
11. A side street on Loreto up from the Coco Cabanas.
12. ould not tell if this dog wanted to come out and play ....or bite my leg.
13. Loreto Malecon at sunset looking south.
Busy day.
It turns out the Coco Cabanas is another travel oasis. Run buy Stephen and Barrett Scalapino and their families, their hotel is a nice place to get off the road, get clean, and meet other travelers. The cabana setup includes a full kitchen and private bathrooms. The rooms are very clean and tidy (the best accommodations so far on our trip). The hotel is located one block off the north end of the Loreto Malecon and is a short walk to the historic district. To do a plug for Stephen and Barrett, here is their contact information:
e-mail: barrett@coco-cabanas.com
web: http://www.cococabanasloreto.com/
phone: 011-52-613-135-1729 (from the US)
phone: 613-135-1729 (from Mexico)
We chatted with Stephen last night about what to do in the area. Stephen, having been connected to Loreto since he was 14, was a wealth of knowledge. He told us he and his wife Josie were going hiking in a nearby canyon in the morning and offered to show us the trailhead if we could be ready to go by 7:00 a.m. Ray and I, never to pass on a good hike, were geared up and ready to go.
We drove south on Hwy 1 to Escondido and turned right toward the mountains. The hike was reminiscent of Guadalupe Canyon earlier in the trip but this time the water was much lower volume and contained in pools. The dry canyon made for an amazing hike allowing us to climb the river bed (something we could do in Guadalupe Canyon). The pools (which had some water flow) provided accent to the scenery. The canyon eventually closed and the dry falls to steep & tall to scale safely so we turned back.
We visited Escondido and walked about the new port. Then we drove up to Juncalito and navigated our way through a maze of dirt roads to the public beach. Another stunning location. We scoped out a camp site (we might use this later), hiked the headlands and coves, and took a nap.
Then we were back to Loreto for a daylight explore (it was dark last night when we got in). We walked the Malecon which has great views of the surrounding islands, mountains, and Gulf of California. Then we went to tour the Mission, the first in California. Then we had dinner. Loreta, like Todos Santos, seems to be cut from the Carmel and Santa Fe molds. It is a really nice town.
We are staying a second night at the Hotel Coco Cabanas and making it an early night. Ray is actually asleep on the couch already. We are gearing up for a trip up into the mountains tomorrow to visit the Mission San Javier and perhaps Mission San Miguel Comondu if the road allows. Stephen gave us some good tips of thing to see along the way. It should make for a good post when we return.
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