Alaskawilds

Twenty years ago we drove to la Paz with a 1976 Chevy pick up, in those days all we had  was an air mattress and a camp stove. Compared to that our XP Camper is a luxury vehicle.

With that truck we drove a 40 km road to Agua Verde, a small fishing village on the east coast of the Baja. We liked it a lot 20 years ago, so we turned off from the Mex1  again this time  and drove down to the sea.
The road was pretty much like back then,harrowing  in a few places , but driveable , we are slowly getting used to some of the country roads in Mexico.
At the bottom we arrived in the small settlement San Cosme,  with free roaming goats, mules and pigs. A ranchero waved us over and we inquired where the hot springs are and he showed us the way, but  there was no road. You have to drive 1 km on a beach  along a rock wall, over gravel and mossy rocks. This is possible only at half – and low tide, at high tide the waves here crash high up on the cliff. I did not even want to think about what could happen if we had a breakdown  before the tide comes in. Günter did great, drove carefully to the other side, over the gravel piles, mossy rock slabs and between large stones. On the other side we found a beautiful little bay and the hot springs. Hot water is bubbling between stones and gravel on the beach, again you have to wait until the tide goes out, at high tide the springs are under water. We parked at the beach and once again enjoyed the peace and quiet of nature. Hiking in the morning, before it gets too hot, and lounging in the hot spring in the late afternoon, that was our daily routine. The days flew by, we sometimes lose track of time and finally we realized that it was time to move on.

We had planned to spend the Christmas holidays with our friends Leon and Rosa who had invited us to come to their nice beachfront home in Los Barriles.

Zufahrt bei Ebbe – access at low tide.

Unser Standplatz bei den heissen Quellen.

Die Zufahrt bei Flut ist unter Wasser – access at high tide is under the water.

Hot springs with neptun  – agua caliente con neptuno!

Road from San Miguel de Comondu to San Javier

Scorpion Bay –  Can you see our camper?

Hurrikan Odile 14 September 2014

San Miguel de Comondu

Misión San Francisco Javier de Viggé-Biaundó

Hochebene in den Sierra Gigantas. Highland.

Our friend Leon “El Pescador”  in Los Barrilles told us about the mountains east of Loreto and the communities and ranches in the hills and on the other side of the peninsula. The towns of San Miguel de Commondu/San Jose de Commondu, as well as Purisima and a few others were established by the missionaries that were based in San Javier, the main mission. The ranchers in the mountains still live simply, they grow corn and raise cows and goats. They make very good goat cheese.  Mules and horses are their transportation, as well as the odd truck. The roads to these towns are sometimes paved and sometimes not there. You take your chances when you take the road less traveled.

So we left Loreto and drove to Scorpion Bay on the Pacific Side, the fishing town of San Juanico is located on a beach that stretches for many miles and we did not have a hard time finding a spot to camp. You can drive on that beach, the sand is very compact. Fishing town means fish for dinner for us. We had bought  serrano chilis, garlic, cilantro, onions and limes and I was looking forward to make some ceviche. But no. The fishermen are in a coop an are not allowed to sell to anybody else. They were kind of grumpy when we asked and our Spanish language skills did not help. (Back to Rosetta stone!) They were bringing in spiny lobsters and we were drooling, oh well. We hiked back to 2 km to our camper and I made bean soup instead, with all the ingredients that should have been used in the ceviche. It was a great soup anyway. We liked it there, the Pacific has a different feel, it is cooler and wilder, surfers flock here when the waves are good in summer.

La Purisima on the Purisima river.

After a few days we decided to drive to San Javier for the annual festival of San Javier. The patron saint of that church. When we made it to La Purisima we were told that the road to San Jose de Commondu is out because of the recent hurricane. “Malo! malo!” is all the guy we stopped in town kept saying, well we DO know that word. So we turned around, backtracked and took the long way to the Commondu towns. From there we took the road up into the mountains toward San Javier. The first part was quite narrow, rocky and steep, our Dodge did a good job climbing up there, so did the driver, negotiating big boulders and breaks in the road. This was all still damage from the flooding  hurricane “Odile” brought with it in September.. But once we got up to the higher elevation the road was better and we enjoyed the drive through beautiful countryside. We spent the night at a place called Er Horno, a stone ruin and a rancho (at km 17,5). Nobody was there because all the rancheros go to the big festival in San Javier. So did we! We left early in the morning, I usually walk ahead while Günter “breaks camp”, it is a special time for me. Walking alone, looking at flowers and butterflies, enjoying the quiet and smells. We have CB radios and that way we can communicate when I wander about. On the road to San Javier we passed several pilgrims, they walk or ride to this festival, it takes some of them several days. The barancas (horse procession) come from neighboring towns and it is a big event when they arrive. I went to the church several times to see the people, dressed in their best, lining up to get a chance to touch the statue of San Javier. Finally I went ahead and did the same. The priest put his hand on my shoulder as he left the church to bless the horses and it felt right. The festival is one big party, it is an occasion to show off your horses and mules, to see and be seen and for some fun times with friends and family. Stalls sell good food and lots of sweets made from fruit steeped in sugar. You cannot count the tents and make shift shelters all over town, we were told there are 2000 to 3000 people that came for this. There is music everywhere, people singing folk songs in front to their tents (quite beautiful), bands playing “musica nortena”  even with bongo drums that give it a carribean sound. One almost forgets that the reason for the festival is San Javier, but on the third day there is a mass and people get serious. I think! We left before that, it was just too much of the good.

Helado for the esposo!

Ramada

Never wanted to leave here …

Nice view

This morning we woke to the concert of the rooster in the neighborhood, to be joined later by the dogs. After two weeks on the beach where we woke only to the sounds of lapping waves, ospreys and gulls, we ended up in one of the oldest settlements of the Baja. An old mission, which has seen a number of religious orders since its founding in 1697. Like most missions,  Loreto was built by the Jesuits. They founded Loreto and  22 more missions. The members of this order soon fell out of favor with the Spanish government and were replaced by the Franciscans and later the Dominicans.

It was not easy to leave our spot and the beach, it was such a spectacular bay, not easy to get there. The drive consisted of a 20 km rough road, mainly in a creek bed – with and without water –, steep hills, sand and several gates. The reward was a incredible place, the only company we had were a few sailboats that were out in the bay on anchor. We spent the days swimming and snorkeling, hiking in the mornings and reading in the shade in the afternoon.

But we started running out of fresh food. Our friends on the sailboat brought us freshly caught fish and took Günter out to fish, but the water started to get low in the tank s well. In addition there was a storm warning and it is not as comfortable on the beach in a strong wind, sandblasted calves and sand in the eyes, nose and ears can be the result of a beach walk.

So yesterday we drove back through the 3 gates and up the arroyo to the main road that took us Loreto. We went shopping with our bikes, ate burritos from a local street vendor, visited the church and the museum of the Mission and in the evening sat relaxing  under the swaying date palms in front of our camper.

On the way we had another military check point, the usually look through the camper, but they are friendly and polite.

Road from San Francisquito to El Arcos

Cardon cactus shoot for the moon

Cirio trees

La Gringa beach in Bahia de Los Angeles

Punta San Francisquito

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We left Ensenada behind, had enough of the “City Camping”. A beach on the Pacific south of San Quintin was out first overnight spot, only the surf, dunes and pelicans around us. For two days we enjoyed the fresh air , peace and quiet. Then we went on to Bahia de Los Angeles.

In the 60s my favorite book was called “The World We Live In”. Often my siblings and I would pour over it and study the pictures; still today I can see them in front of me.

Already then I was fascinated by strange lands. (Books by the German author Karl May did the rest. I used to read his books under the blanket late at night – with the flash light.)

The sights on our drive through central Baja brought back the impressions the book left behind. Here they were: The up to 58 ft high cardon cactus, the biggest in the world, the wolly cholla, prickly barrels and cirio trees, looking like giant upside down carrots. One can’t get enough just looking at them, sometimes there is even a flower or fruit. In between there are yellow butterflies, different birds of prey, even songbirds, rabbits and a coyote now and then surprise us.

The road down toward the coast had seen a lot of damage from flash floods. It was washed out on several places and we had to drive through the dry creek beds.

Hurricane “Otilie” has done a lot of damage a few weeks ago. The ground in town is covered with pieces of wood, sand and mud. Most houses on the beach are gone or badly damaged, headless palm trees stand all alone and point to the sky.

Clam pasta – Nudeln mit Venumuscheln

We turned north and drove a few km along the coast until we came to a beautiful sand spit and beach called “La Gringa”. And right away Daniel came running and wanted 140 pesos ($ 10.00). Oh well, it seemed like a lot, but people here have had a hard time and in front of them after the hurricane, we we gave him the money. I could have stayed longer, I dug clams, Daniels wife Silvia brought us an octopus and are new friends Pam and Mike from Aspen shared a Dorado with us.

The water and air had perfect temperatures, only a strong northerly gave us a hard time the first two days. Drifting in the sea on my back with the pelicans hitting the water all around me like torpedoes is one of my favorite things to do here. The days flow along with swimming, reading, walking, eating, learning Spanish (thanks Judi and Rick) and back to swimming, reading……..

The drive to this beach was a bit rough and therefore we do not have much company.

Two locals told us about a nice beach called San Francisquito, 140 km south along the coast, so we packed up and decided to drive down that way and check it out. It was a rough ride, a long dirt road through cactus forests and mountains, arroyos and sandy washes. Here too the storm had done damage and the road was often washed out. Lucky though the Baja 1000 race starts in a few days and this road is part of it. So it had been fixed somewhat and graded as well as possible. After 4 hours we finally made it to San Rafael, Pancho (the only inhabitant) showed us a spot on the beach where we could camp for the night. (If anybody else heads that way, please bring him some cigarettes.) The next day we walked down the beach and bought two fish from a setnetter, one for the BBQ (Corvina) and one to make Ceviche (Sierra). Now we are taken care of, we have food, drinking water (always a limited commodity) and sit on a beautiful sandy beach at Punta San Francisquito. Great swimming and 28°C.

Hola Mexico

We are in Ensenada, on the Baja, it rained last night and it washed away the dust from the city. Our friends Margarethe and Peter from Germany have been here the last few weeks, they have been cruising with their sailboat “Seatime” for several years. We visited them on their boat and got to camp in the marina parking lot. Last night we were treated to the rather loud “Day of the Dead” celebrations. The Mexicans celebrate this holiday not like we do (in Austria). They go the grave yard, bring flowers and food and proceed to party by the graves.

We partied as well, because it was Günters 52. Birthday. On the S/Y Seatime we had tasty delicacies and sparkling wine, we were spoiled.

The last few weeks we spent in California, in Palm Springs we took care of last minute purchases and paperwork, hiked in the pine forests at 8000+ ft and 70°F or on one of the many golf courses in the city at 90 °F. Sue and Banks let us use their home for our stay there and we really enjoyed it.

Then we took off to the Coronado Yacht Club in San Diego and the sailboat “Cayenne” from Austria, where we arrived just in time for Sabines birthday party. A nice celebration, with nice people and tasty dishes. We were able to camp in the harbor there as well.

We want to thank our sailing friends and Sue and Banks again this way.