Surfing in Central Baja

The next few days we eased into Baja time which generally means slowing down the clock. The morning ritual went something like this, make coffee, run the dogs on the beach, and then either fish off the point, go clamming in the shallows or in my case look for surf at some of the points to the south.

Clam feast

The fishermen of our clan pulled in some nice fish and a bunch of large clams that were immediately cut up and made into ceviche. Jan also hooked a decent size Sea-bass, which was delicious and ended up in our fish quesadillas.

One morning Mary and I found a nice right point with only a couple longboarders and fun lined up waves. We also scouted out some other potential surf spots for future  expeditions.

Storm front coming in from the West

After few days we noticed an ominous group of storm clouds coming in from the west. We made a group decision to pack up and head further up the coast to hopefully skirt the storm.

Checking the Baja California Almanac , it looked like it was possible to access the paved road far to the north by following the dirt roads up the coast. This was a route Jan and I had discussed on an earlier trip and were itching to try.

We packed up the trucks, cranked down the rooftop tents and headed north up the rutted jeep trail. We passed miles and miles of untouched beaches which begged to be explored so it was really hard to focus on the trail. Of course having Mary jabbing me and saying “Keep your eyes on the road!” helped.

Swimming in the icy cold Baja ocean

Around midday we decided to stop and set up camp at a picturesque spot near a lighthouse and a long stretch of beach. Since Alban and Paul had left 10 feet of snow in Austra they had no problem jumping in the freezing cold Pacific.

Next morning we continued up the coast before veering into the Baja desert.
Deep in the desert we startled a herd of wild burros that briefly raced along side our Landcruiser.  The leader of the herd was all white which was pretty cool. They quickly disappeared behind some rocks so we missed our photo opportunity.

Heading towards the Baja coast

The narrow mud trail that wanted to drop you in the river.

The jeep road which had been fairly good up to this point took a turn for the worse when it hooked towards the coast. The super narrow, muddy trail was sandwiched between a large hill and a deep river that emptied out into the ocean.

I tried to get traction by putting a tire on the drier hill side which immediately started the Landcruiser sliding sideways towards the river. Not a good idea  . I straightened out, gunned the motor which kicked up gobs of mud and slipped past the narrow section.

Michael followed me in his large Tundra, which was amazing considering how much wider his truck is. Jan and Jeff engaged their lockers which seemed to help a bit but nevertheless it was a scary section of trail.

We ended up in a small fishing village, blood slowly returning to our knuckles, and followed the trail back into the desert.

After close to 4 hours and 60+ miles of offroad driving we hit the paved road north of Catavina.  We aired our tires back up and headed north towards San Quintin.

Gift shop at Kuyima

Leaving mid day from San Ignacio meant we wouldn’t make it to our final destination before dark. We arrived in Guerro Negro after lunch and tried to find the amazing taco stand that J had found on his last trip.

Unfortunately as is often the case with small roadside taco stands, this one disappeared, moved or possibly morphed into some other business. Bummer ! so we settled for a sit down restaurant in town which was marginal at best.

Lone steer along highway - Baja Sur

It was almost dark when we stopped to top off our gas tanks in the small town of Villa Jesús María. A little further up the road we hit our last military checkpoint of the day and then turned off onto the dirt to find a campsite by the beach.

Luckily J had remembered a great spot he had camped at on a previous trip and he led the charge down the dark, narrow jeep trail to the rocky beach.

The next morning we awoke to the sound of rain tapping the roof of the Maggiolina tent. We quickly scrambled to move everything into or under the Landcruiser just in time for the rain to stop.

Airing down at Punta Rosalillita - Central Baja

We were on the road by 7:30 AM and quickly made it to the turn off at Santa Rosalillita. After driving the narrow Baja roads for a few days, the road at Santa Rosalillita feels like a “super highway”. The road was improved for the infamous “Esclara Nautica project that never took off (thankfully) and now seems strangely out of place.

We raced down the “super highway” towards the coast until we hit what J likes to call “the road from hell”. Its’ not that it is particularly technical to drive, but it has some of the harshest washboard in all of Baja. It is the kind of washboard that rattles your fillings, your vehicle and anything else that is not strapped down. We aired our tires down and started our final drive to our camp site.

The drive up the coast is beautiful with every beach seeming to top the previous . The sun was shining and the wind was cold. J’s brother Alban brought a mango seed to plant in an area with year round water so when we passed by a natural run off we stopped. Sadie (our Boston Terrier) helped plant the seed and got river muck all over her legs and belly. Nasty stuff, the muck not the mango planting.:)

Our rock wall was stood the test of time

After a bit of technical 4-Wheeling, we arrived at our campsite. Were were happy to see that the area was empty and that the rock wall we had built last summer was still standing. We grilled some delicious pollo asado and carne asada for dinner while we listened to the waves crash against the rocky point.

With the majority of our trip itinerary behind us, it was time to settle in to Baja time.

Grey Whale Information Session at Kuyima

The previous night’s wind had subsided by the time the sun began its’ morning ascent.  This meant our skiff would debark as planned.

After a few cups of camp coffee and a light breakfast the group headed on over to the palapa for a quick information session.  Soon after we donned our life vests and waded out to the waiting panga.

Grey Whale mother and calf in San Ignacio Lagoon - Baja Sur

In no time at all our small skiff was bouncing across the water as our guide gunned the motor and we headed out to sea.

We had learned that although the grey whales frequent the entire lagoon at San Ignacio, there was only a small area where we were permitted to get close. This is to ensure that the disturbance to the mother and calf is minimal.

The grey whales make the 8 week journey from Alaska to congregate in San Ignacio where they give birth, breed and care for their young. After that they hang out for a bit, then make the long journey back usually by the end of April.

The number of grey whales out in the lagoon was incredible. We could see numerous whales breaching and spouting water. Mothers and calves would swim side by side their long backs gliding effortlessly past us. The sheer size of these creatures was overwhelming and most made our panga seem ridiculously small.

Large Grey Whale in San Ignacio Lagoon - Baja Sur

The desire to edge closer was immediately followed by the urge to back away out of respect. Our boat driver expertly navigated our small panga, to minimize disturbing the whales but one of the larger whales  got a little too close and bumped our skiff with his large tail.  We were knocked around a bit and sprayed with water but luckily no one fell overboard.

After this friendly whale love tap, we spent some more time, watching the whales until our boat driver suddenly exclaimed “mirar alla, mirar alla” and excitingly pointed starboard. At first we weren’t quite sure what we were observing, but soon came to realize where all the baby whales were coming from.

More photos from our Grey Whale trip 

Next exploring Baja’s Central Coast

Arriving in San Ignacio - Baja Sur

Tropical oasis at San Ignacio - Baja Sur

Around lunch time, the desert scenery gave way to a large group of lush palm trees and a large tropical pond. We had officially arrived in the sleepy Baja town of San Ignacio.

Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán

Everyone was pretty hungry from the 5 hour drive so we found  a great little restaurant right on the main street and enjoyed some great local food.

After lunch, we stretched our road weary legs by walking around the central town plaza and checking out the 18th century mission known as Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán. The mission is very impressive with walls made of volcanic stone and beautiful surrounding gardens that permeate the air with the fragrance of orange blossom.

Driving towards San Ignacio Lagoon - Baja Sur

We hopped back in the vehicles for the final stretch towards the water where we would camp for our grey whale eco-tour. The dirt road out of town was fairly easy but we aired down the tires to make the ride a bit more comfortable.

Our designated campsites at  the Kuyima eco-camp were located right on the edge of the water with beautiful lagoon views.

Sunset at San Ignacio Lagoon - Baja Sur

Since Kuyima main effort is on ecotourism, their focus is not on tourist dollars but to sustain the environmental quality of this amazing ecosystem. This did mean no camp fires so it was somewhat of an early night once the temperatures dropped.

We fell asleep anticipating tomorrows boat trip where we would see the grey whales on their southern most stop.

North of the border rendezvous

Our trip south started under drizzly skies with a rendezvous at the Salk Institute.

Our trip caravan consisted of two diesel Toyota Land Cruisers, a brand new Jeep Rubicon (who would later earn the name ‘El Jepe’), and Mike’s large 4×4 Toyota Tundra.

We drove through the border at San Yisidro without any incident and headed south trying to escape the madness of Tijuana and Ensenada.

Our mantra when travelling down in Baja is “expect the unexpected”. This was reinforced 50 km north of El Rosario when “la policia” stopped our caravan to let a construction truck trailer pass us.

Unfortunately for us this wasn’t an ordinary truck. It was trailering a massive two lane wide tank that was completely blocking the highway.

As the caravan slowly inched up the hill, it soon became apparent that the weight of the enormous tank was too much for the truck. Everything came to a halt, and the truckers decided to start backing the massive structure back down the hill.

Car backup outside of El Rosario

Problem was there were a growing line of cars at the bottom, us included, with nowhere to go.

To add to the spectacle, an old relic of a van pulling a trailer loaded down with household goods decided he should pass everyone on the left. He forced his way to the front of the pack only to discover he was going nowhere.

Huge Dump Truck tip over near El Rosario

Just when it was looking like we would have to turn around and camp towards San Quintin, the truckers managed to rearrange the trio of trucks towing the trailer and get a running start up the hill. Once at the top, with enough space to pass, the line of 50 plus cars was allowed to squeeze by.

Since the delay cost us precious day light hours and we have another mantra “never drive in baja at night”, we gassed up our trucks in El Rosario and rushed to find a nice camp site.

Desert Camping near Catavina Baja

Our delay by the large tank was somewhat of a blessing in disguise. J & G knew of a nice spot in the desert somewhere between El Rosario and Catavina that was beautiful. The area was full of large Cardon cactus (think Saguaro but larger) and numerous cactus flora unfamiliar to us north of the border.

Trucks were parked, rooftop tents cranked up, sausages were thrown on the grill and we settled in for a night around the camp fire, laughing at the events of the day.

Sometime later in the evening the owner, of the property stopped by and was offered a couple cold Pacificos in exchange for letting us camp on his land.

When I read that the Biofuels Action and Awareness group at UCSD was putting on a “How To Make BioDiesel” workshop I decided to check it out. Since the workshop was a short walk from my office it could not have been more convenient.

The presentation was well done and we even got to make a small batch of biodiesel right in the lab. Really great to see students working towards reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and increase the public awareness of bio-diesel.

You can check out their website at UCSD BioDiesel

Thanks guys.

Bob

Moon Shot with a Canon S95

I don’t consider myself a photographer by any means. I am more of a point and click guy. Problem is once you try to get some tricky shots you can’t rely on just point and shoot.
Fortunately our Canon S95 has manual settings where you can set various options found in higher end cameras.

For this particular shot you really need a tripod, but I managed to do it balancing it on a book .
The settings I used were , f 4.9, 1/125, ISO 80, 15x digital zoom which I found on Google somewhere.

Ford Starter Relay in the Land Cruiser

Funny thing was it started most of the time but occasionally I would turn the key and nothing, dead. Unfortunately it usually occurred at an inconvenient time;  truck filled with groceries, sitting out in Anza Borrego or getting ready to leave for work.

With our pending Baja trip less than a week away, I decided it was a good time to make the Land Cruiser a bit more reliable.
The solution came from my friend Jan, who had a similar issue with his 1HD-T powered diesel Land Cruiser. Seems the stock starter solenoid which is from the original gas engine setup can’t give sufficient power to the diesel starter motor.

The solution he came up with was to wire in a heavy duty starter relay from a Ford truck.
The relay gives the 1HZ starter the juice it needs and now no more starting issues.

New Leaf Biofuel in San Diego

One of these days I will equip the Land Cruiser with a bigger gas tank

I took a quick trip down to New Leaf Biofuel to pick up some B-99 biodiesel. Couple of big semi trucks filling up on biodiesel which is always good to see.

What’s great about New Leaf is that all of their biodiesel is made from waste oil.

Best batch I ever had was from unused virgin olive oil that had expired. The restaurant supplier couldn’t sell it as food so in to the tank it went

Learn more about how New Leaf is fueling San Diego’s fleets here.