SunMan
King Taco
I had two weeks off for Christmas, the co-pilot unfortunately only had one. There was a mediocre swell showing on the charts, hmmm…what to do? Stick around and battle the crowds at the local spots or bail to Baja? This is definitely a rhetorical question. Baja is the main reason I bought my camper anyway, so with about a day and a half of prep I was off.
I usually leave home late the night before I cross and flop in Chula Vista for an early go the following morning. I had some last minute things to do on Sunday and as things have it I was ready to go well before I had planned, so why wait? I may as well get as many miles behind me as I can. I left the ‘Nard at 11:00 am and was across the border by 2:15 pm and in El Rosario by 7:00 pm having tacos. I had already broken my rule of diving at night in Mex but after a leisurely dinner I figured it was only one more hour a nice, remote desert camp site. For those of you who know this long, dark stretch I was really glad to have my KC’s to helping me out. I found my usual spot and was popped up by 9:30. Beat from a long day behind the wheel and with the coyotes singing me to sleep, I was out in no time.
Up at daybreak, a beautiful Baja sunrise and the smell of wet desert in the morning.
With a hot cup of Joe in my hand I was off for the easy 2.5 hour journey to the coast…or so I thought.
I knew they had gotten some rain in Baja and it was evidenced by some of the muddy vehicles I passed while driving down. Not long into my drive I was to found out just how much rain they received, this was not going to be a fun drive. 50 miles of this was not exactly what I was looking forward to. I did not take pics of the worst stretches as I was too focused on navigating through the ruts.
Two hours in and only half way to the coast, ugh…just look at my tires. Moondust and rain are a bad combo, I pretty white knuckled it the whole way…wondering which one of these mud pits were going to gobble me up. I figured my trusty hound wouldn’t be much help with the digging if I got swallowed. Oh well, moral support is always nice.
In actuality it wasn’t that bad at all, just slow going. I realized that the bottoms of the holes where pretty solid but 4WD did get me out of a few sketchy predicaments.
And finally the coast. I stopped to leave some clothes and sunglasses with some fisherman I have visited previously. And also to procure some lobster…and maybe have a beer or two. Today I would have to work for it though.
Towing the boat out to the surf...
After beaching the panga I dragged it back above the high tide line. I shoulda took my camera but boarding a panga in the surf line and having to navigate 4 foot close out sets to get outside I figured it was best to leave it behind.
Our take for the day…you should have seen each of the traps when I pulled them up, L-O-A-D-E-D!
After making a delivery of bugs to a few guys camped about a half hour away I started making my way to my intended destination.
I should mention that when traveling most anywhere on the coast of Baja you will find yourself needing to navigate salt flats or marshes. You must also be mindful of extreme high tides as they alone can make them impassable. Factor that in with some rain and it is downright sketchy. We had both rain and near 7’ high tides. Bad sitch. And while talking to the fisherman he told me of two guys who were towing a trailer and were stuck for two days after the storm. First I ran into their hole, and later I ran into them and their snot covered jeep and trailer. They were surfing just before another crossing.
I decided to go for it…look at my tracks and you can see how far I went before chickening out. I got up on the ground cover and turned around. The other side of the salt marsh is beyond the far end of the beach in the photo.
My tires after the first attempt…
There is an inland road which I decided to try but I wanted to do some recon on first. I walked a half mile across it only to find series of mud pits 50-100 yards long, and that was only half way across. No thank you.
At this point I had been defeated. My only option was to return to the spot with the guys I delivered the bugs to, not exactly an A+ spot but you take what you can get sometimes. Room for one more guys?
I finally got a surf in, it was small but fun. Besides, the new swell was due tomorrow. Another long day. It seems you always have to work for it down there. Man was I hungry.
Sorry guys, but who’s it gonna be???
I usually leave home late the night before I cross and flop in Chula Vista for an early go the following morning. I had some last minute things to do on Sunday and as things have it I was ready to go well before I had planned, so why wait? I may as well get as many miles behind me as I can. I left the ‘Nard at 11:00 am and was across the border by 2:15 pm and in El Rosario by 7:00 pm having tacos. I had already broken my rule of diving at night in Mex but after a leisurely dinner I figured it was only one more hour a nice, remote desert camp site. For those of you who know this long, dark stretch I was really glad to have my KC’s to helping me out. I found my usual spot and was popped up by 9:30. Beat from a long day behind the wheel and with the coyotes singing me to sleep, I was out in no time.
Up at daybreak, a beautiful Baja sunrise and the smell of wet desert in the morning.
With a hot cup of Joe in my hand I was off for the easy 2.5 hour journey to the coast…or so I thought.
I knew they had gotten some rain in Baja and it was evidenced by some of the muddy vehicles I passed while driving down. Not long into my drive I was to found out just how much rain they received, this was not going to be a fun drive. 50 miles of this was not exactly what I was looking forward to. I did not take pics of the worst stretches as I was too focused on navigating through the ruts.
Two hours in and only half way to the coast, ugh…just look at my tires. Moondust and rain are a bad combo, I pretty white knuckled it the whole way…wondering which one of these mud pits were going to gobble me up. I figured my trusty hound wouldn’t be much help with the digging if I got swallowed. Oh well, moral support is always nice.
In actuality it wasn’t that bad at all, just slow going. I realized that the bottoms of the holes where pretty solid but 4WD did get me out of a few sketchy predicaments.
And finally the coast. I stopped to leave some clothes and sunglasses with some fisherman I have visited previously. And also to procure some lobster…and maybe have a beer or two. Today I would have to work for it though.
Towing the boat out to the surf...
After beaching the panga I dragged it back above the high tide line. I shoulda took my camera but boarding a panga in the surf line and having to navigate 4 foot close out sets to get outside I figured it was best to leave it behind.
Our take for the day…you should have seen each of the traps when I pulled them up, L-O-A-D-E-D!
After making a delivery of bugs to a few guys camped about a half hour away I started making my way to my intended destination.
I should mention that when traveling most anywhere on the coast of Baja you will find yourself needing to navigate salt flats or marshes. You must also be mindful of extreme high tides as they alone can make them impassable. Factor that in with some rain and it is downright sketchy. We had both rain and near 7’ high tides. Bad sitch. And while talking to the fisherman he told me of two guys who were towing a trailer and were stuck for two days after the storm. First I ran into their hole, and later I ran into them and their snot covered jeep and trailer. They were surfing just before another crossing.
I decided to go for it…look at my tracks and you can see how far I went before chickening out. I got up on the ground cover and turned around. The other side of the salt marsh is beyond the far end of the beach in the photo.
My tires after the first attempt…
There is an inland road which I decided to try but I wanted to do some recon on first. I walked a half mile across it only to find series of mud pits 50-100 yards long, and that was only half way across. No thank you.
At this point I had been defeated. My only option was to return to the spot with the guys I delivered the bugs to, not exactly an A+ spot but you take what you can get sometimes. Room for one more guys?
I finally got a surf in, it was small but fun. Besides, the new swell was due tomorrow. Another long day. It seems you always have to work for it down there. Man was I hungry.
Sorry guys, but who’s it gonna be???
