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2 months in Baja
Hey fellow squares,
Thought I'd post up here about a blazer camping trip down the Baja. These are just the pics from the trip south and we still have to get home so fingers are crossed. I thought you guys may be interested. Lisa and I made it to Los Barriles the other day after around 1200 miles, and 16 nights on the road. We had a great trip south. Much of the original plan went out the window once we got going. The '77 ran like a new one. Not even an oil leak. Pretty amazed actually, but I did work on things for months to prepare for this trip. No problems with gas, and it was always available when we needed it. I was able to use my CC to pay for gas more often than I thought. Never got ripped off, like I do in front of my own house in SLC. Always felt safe. Weather sucked, but not as bad as up north. Mostly just cooler temps than we expected. A couple nights of rain made us pass through the Catavina area way faster than we would have liked. Palapa at Daggets helped us survive a night of 50mph gusts. We met the bajadivide mountain biker crew near La Cuesta de la Ley. Bahia Conception was too much of a raucous to for us to hang around. We did stay at Playa La Perla which seemed different and chill. The lady collecting the $4 fee for the palapa was a sweetie, so Lisa bought a bracelet from her. Also stayed at a super nice camp at Juncalito, where we met some people that'd driven from South America. Everything we look for in a camping trip and then some. Big views, stars all the way to the horizon, miles of nothing but everything, great street food in the dusty little towns, amazing beach camping! I'll shut up and leave the rest to the photos. Camp 1: La Jolla (out of Ensenada), barely made it before dark https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/477/32...28ee9a1eb6.jpg Camp 2: Punta San Jose, bought fish for anniversary dinner on the coals. https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/521/32...88dc716a9e.jpg THE Mama Espinosa's and Baja 1000 shrine in El Rosario https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/751/32...af89b8977a.jpg Camp 4: rainy night in the mysterious Boojums south of Catavina https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/758/32...957c7d08c3.jpg Camp 5: before the storm at BdLA https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/296/31...8d256d57ff.jpg Camp 6: Playa San Rafael - Pedro is rad as hell! https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/462/32...cb21aee6b7.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/666/31...a38e4327c8.jpg Camp 7: a cold night in the outback https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/340/31...20a560b7f6.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/697/31...e11de504bf.jpg Camp 8: in the dunes south of Bahia Ascunsion https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/294/32...94e1699666.jpg Dinner in San Ignacio was something like $12 for both of us https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/330/32...e9ec614181.jpg Even the gas station has a rad view! https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/478/31...5ac18b13e4.jpg camp 10: Playa La Perla, cool old lady, $5 palapa to escape the wind https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/525/31...447e07c98f.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/465/32...90e87ce8d1.jpg Loreto - thought I'd post a pic of us https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/302/31...5311490e39.jpg Camp 12 and 13: finally a layover at Punta Conejo https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/648/32...6750ac3d4f.jpg best sunset of the trip at P. Conejo https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/521/32...3871129e37.jpg nights 14 and 15: a couple nights of "fancy" at the Barcelo in Cabo. https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/363/31...79bb385daa.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/443/32...7c8066f4d1.jpg Camp 16: Los Frailes, dramatic whale breach 250m offshore https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/639/31...2939076e68.jpg Now it's time to chill out for a month in Los Barriles and shake off the road. March 1st we'll make a slighly faster trip north. So far the return list includes the Javier and San Miguel/Jose Comondu mountain route, and route 5 through San Felipe. https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/455/32...a488aaf7dd.jpg |
Re: 2 months in Baja
Wow cool trip and great pics.
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Re: 2 months in Baja
Beautiful place! Was there twice racing the 1000 and loved it!
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Wow. Awesome trip! Post more pics on the way back! :metal:
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You are my freakin' hero. Epic.
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Re: 2 months in Baja
Guess I'll post the good with the bad...finally had an equipment fail...
Before: https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3798/3...e403bec972.jpg After: The tire carrier broke clean off! https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/305/32...1c72b52080.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/706/32...8755242dc8.jpg 1400 miles of Baja backroads roads finally took their toll. After the fact I find out this is a weak POS chinese spindle. Got nobody to blame but myself for not building more beef into this thing. Guess I can't complain too much since this is the only fail so far. Plan to rebuild includes a 1/3 larger spindle sold by Ruffstuff near Sacramento. Gonna have to get home first with this brute of a tire inside with us. It's all part of the adventure....right??? |
Re: 2 months in Baja
that is my kind of traveling you are blessed to be able to have an experience like this that is what it's all about :metal:
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Re: 2 months in Baja
If you get tired of the flat water on the Sea of Cortez, you should go over to Todos Santos,,, especially if you surf. It's a real pretty town and has a place called "Hotel California", MANY years before the Eagles wrote their album. There are good campgrounds to the south of Todos Santos.
If you're feeling VERY adventurous, you can try to make it to "Scavenger's Beach",,, also known as PLaya Malarimo (a bad place to go near). It is quite a ways south of Salsipuedes (get out if you can). Playa Malarimo is a due north facing beach with a prevailing southern current. Everything in creation washes up there. We started out with 4 vehicles but, had to leave 2 of them in the canyon. At the beach, the lay of the land is very low and there is an indistinguishable sink hole there. We were in a 4 seat buggy with big terra tires. It slowed us down to a crawl even though we crossed it at about 25 mph. There were 4 or 5 abandoned trucks stuck in it. You can google it but, you start out in Gurerro Negro. |
Re: 2 months in Baja
I just saw your post.
Right on Have a killer time. Catavinia brings back memories for me (Make sure your tank is full of gas) Went whale watching in Guerrero negro(froze our a$$es off) My babe and I did the same trip as you guys about 8 years ago. We pulled a caned ham trailer down there and camped every night. Didn't go all the way to Cabo, and only for about a month. But we still talk about it today. Enjoy yourselves. Look forward to your updates. |
Re: 2 months in Baja
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Malarimo is a place been on my radar for a while. Not only in the path of a south current, but after crossing the north Pacific so it picks up all kind of stuff and deposits there. Weird stuff too, Malarimo is an appropriate name. |
Re: 2 months in Baja
Mickey, I spent 10 years taking motorhome caravans to Mexico and Alaska,,, also motorcycle caravans. The first thing I have to ask you;
Did you buy your house through Fideicomiso? Wiki has an entry; https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fideicomiso Foreigners aren't allowed to directly own land in Mexico if it is within a certain distance of the border or the ocean. If you didn't go through Fideicomiso, you don't have a true legal claim. You also have to be very careful of buying former ejido land. The Mexican GOV routinely expropriates land from private owners and gives it to the poor to form a collective farm (Ejido) They took private land near Rosarito and gave it to an ejido. The ejido people turned around and sold it to gringos to build beach houses. The former private owners sued in court and got it back. As an America, you have almost no legal standing in a Mexican court. Land in Mexico is an emotional issue even stronger than the isue of guns in America. If you didn't go through Fidieocomiso, you should try to re-sell the land. I also did pre-run & pit and chase for the 1000 for a few years. Re: Malarimo I did it many years ago when it took about 110 miles of dirt one way. It is much easier now. When yuo come oput of the river canyon that is the access, turn to the left. If you turn to the right, the land just gets lower and lower and turns into swamp. |
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How safe is this? I'm assuming you've got to roll without any means of self defense. The news always tells the worst violence and corruption stories leaving you to think if you're not killed you'll be thrown in jail to rot.
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Re: 2 months in Baja
The campaign of the current president was financed by the drug cartels. BUT, Baja California Sur is not one of the conduits to move drugs. Everything south of Gurerro Negro is pretty safe because it is quite prosperous. Foreigners have brought so much money into the Los Cabos area that the GOV comes down hard on anybody who messes with the foreigners.
I drove around all parts of Mexico from 1980 to 1990. I went through quite a few checkpoints. Give the guys a couple of batteries for their flashlights and they are happy. I haven't done pit & chase for several eyars. In Todos Santos, the best self-defence is to get to know evernbody and make friends with the locals. Learn at least a little bit of Spanish. You especially want to get to know the fishermen. Put a little fence around the yard and don't leave stuff lying around outside. You'll be fine. |
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Yea. I've camped in Baja a couple of times.
Like I posted above, once pulling a little trailer And few years before that, myself and a good friend rode our bicycles from San Francisco down into Baja on a 3 week trek. Nothing but hospitality, several times we were invited to stay in people's homes/ shacks. Ate at roadside taco stands everyday, never even felt woosie We loved riding our bikes through the armed check points. They would just look as us, as if we were a bit crazy. Not to much to search on a bike. Whenever I would talk with other travelers, they would always say they never had problems, telling me, most of what you here was media driven. You only live once, best to have fun doing it! Again mickeykreg. I hope you guys are killing it |
Re: 2 months in Baja
Hey all, surprised this thread hasn't been reassigned. Didn't know where else to put it.
We roll out of south Baja in the morning. 1800 miles home is what Google says. The '77 continues to run like a new one, just looks like hell, all covered in dust. Sorry can't post pics for now. Flickr won't let me do from my mobile. Funny to hear the safety thing. Always a concern even walking across an icy parking lot I guess. In Mexico I approach it just like I do when were backpacking in grizzly country...common sense, and lots of it. The military check points on the way south were more interested in my tires than anything else. Thanks for the tips, and stories. Will update in a couple weeks from the hopefully not too frozen north. |
Re: 2 months in Baja
:5150: This is my lifetime dream! Once i get the chalet camper rebuilt i want to learn how to pull this trip off.
DW |
Re: 2 months in Baja
Just finish that thing
Jump in it And drive south Keep looking at blogs Many people have done it Have a look at Crazyguyonabike.com It is blogs of bicyclists It will give you ideas of the areas in baja There is also a couple Baja camping books that were published a while back Search engine from amazon, and you might find them They are dated, but some of the places still pertain I keep an eye on the chalet 's Thinking of buying one That are really cool But Many of them became pretty rusty |
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GO to Baja,, just do it!
People ask me how I drove to Lima, Peru. I answer, go to Arizona and turn right. |
Re: 2 months in Baja
Sorry for being lame and not posting the return trip sooner. Here's a few more pics. Everybody says I put the blazer in too many pics, but I'm hoping you guys won't mind. Yeah yeah, I guess I do.
street tacos north of LaPaz https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4208/3...05f6567a82.jpg First day heading back north was long. Well after dark we made it to this "not a camp, camp" in the mountains between San Jose Comondu and San Javier. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4217/3...d1369a88ac.jpg San Jose Comondu https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4272/3...85584b17bb.jpg wild baja between San Jose Comundo and San Javier https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4280/3...e9485c68e3.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4280/3...5eff6207a7.jpg Mission at San Javier was my favorite in Baja https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4240/3...24b9b2bcba.jpg weird to drive on a 400 year old street https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4201/3...11728a3d4d.jpg $30 cabin rental at Tres Virgens Volcano https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4226/3...45c5ef549e.jpg road tacos...everyday https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4284/3...8c17bfe68f.jpg road side gas in Catavina Desert before leaving the highway for three days off road to Punta Canoas. Before leaving home I installed a Derale #13070 remote fuel/water separator to ease my mind in this kind of situation. The gas ended up being fine anyway. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4222/3...181ec0292e.jpg airing down for the trip to remote Punta Canoas https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4254/3...6a4126c255.jpg another night in the desert https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4268/3...2d2b28bb29.jpg more backroads https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4249/3...29e40a440b.jpg finally approaching Canoas...just to see it fogged in. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4213/3...ea3d533aa7.jpg flowers were going crazy https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4200/3...163b5e3c4a.jpg drop off to the ocean https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4219/3...3f57998c2b.jpg retired old fishing panga https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4235/3...6d1ac5ff81.jpg back to the desert and out of the fog https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4225/3...d2246fccce.jpg Baja Champions; 2500 miles of Baja and no flats https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4271/3...eb8bc1fbef.jpg $20 palapa to escape the wind at Gonzaga Bay https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4285/3...81b860afa8.jpg the last morning in Baja at Gonzaga Bay https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4235/3...ed899a5547.jpg the loyal steed get a wash in Mexicali before the border crossing https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4281/3...903315cc1d.jpg |
Re: 2 months in Baja
First on the list after returning home was to fix the bumper.
I procured the new spindle from these guys in Sandy, Utah. Spindle is obviously bigger, but what's important is that the chromoly spindle isn't welded on, the DOM sleeve is. https://www.comp4x4.com/collections/...-spindle-shaft Old spindle that failed on the left New spindle on the right https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4265/3...5ebefa36c7.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4263/3...0537beaf29.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4224/3...9f3c82d0ae.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4268/3...20bde0dce3.jpg |
Re: 2 months in Baja
Sadly, the '77 is out of commision. I was going to try finding a different, rust free blazer, but decided it was time to fix the rust. My wife said; "you have to fix it since it never let us down all the way through Baja".
Here goes nothin'! https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4240/3...b547bbc2c8.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4238/3...033b469e58.jpg I hope to be done with it in about a year. Have to do floors, bedsides, and tailpan. Will probably finish it off with a tan soft topper. Then another trip south of the border. |
Re: 2 months in Baja
Got a question offline that I thought I'd answer here.
Hi Doug, Taking a chalet to Baja would be the way to go. capable enough off road, but still able to get out of the wind. The cold wind was tough to deal with and we talked alot how we wished we had a camper. I think I'll get a custom set up built for a K5, from Phoenix camper in Colorado. I think an older truck is perfect for these kind of trips because when something goes haywire you can deal with it, fix it, and move on. Of course I've been over every inch of mine and know it really well. Also carry a lot of spare parts and tools. See if you can get a copy of the Baja Almanac map. It's literally priceless, out of print and expensive when you do find it, but worth it. We bought several books, but only used the map. https://www.amazon.com/Baja-Californ.../dp/0965866327 |
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