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.
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