EISPIRATEN

These are a bit off-topic so I don't usually write them up, but this one was nice. I can make this very long, but I won't

Last week Kris and I spent 4 days riding in Baja. I had two items on the agenda:

- Ride hwy 5 South of San Felipe. The pavement job is still unfinished, so this is a long coastal road to nowhere, and should be nice with minimal traffic. It was!

- End up in Guerrero Negro to see the Grey Whales. They're wintering in the lagoon there, and should be plentiful and visit-able. They were!

We didn't have a ton of time, so we avoided riding the less-exciting sections by taking Mexican buses from TJ to San Felipe. These are relatively cheap, nice, frequent, and don't require you to box your bike. We saw a Mexican version of the Emperor Penguin documentary. Except here the scientists mess with the penguins by capturing them with long hooked sticks, and making them hang out in the tent. At least that's what I think was going on; there was a language barrier. There was snow on the pass between TJ and Mexicali.



The bus passes this. It's largely intact, sitting by the side of the road.

Alright. We got to San Felipe, got tacos at the Malecón to officially begin the trip, and rode South. It was getting late, and after only about 5 miles we set up camp in the coastal sand dunes behind a very impressive facade to some long-planned-yet-unbuilt development:



One could do worse



The beach was full of carnage, and I acquired some heavy souveniers that I then carried with me for 250 miles. Next morning, we continued riding South. It was quite nice. Hurricane Rosa came through a few months ago, and took out a number of bridges between San Felipe and Bahía Gonzaga. The affected bridges have dirt bypasses



And the road between Puertecitos and ~ 10 miles North is actively being rebuilt, so that whole stretch is a rough dirt bypass. Puertecitos was kinda dead as a result. Barely anybody around, with no working restaurants. There was a general store that was working. They were trying hard to keep their roof from blowing away



At Puertecitos the pavement comes back. We resupplied, rode a bit more, and set up camp on the coastal lava field of Prieto Volcano.



Camp. Climbed the bluff in the morning



And kept riding.





All paved with some dirt bridge bypasses. Eventually we got to Gonzaga bay. It's pretty nice, but we've been riding past pretty bays for two days now, so it didn't seem like anything special. Alfonsina's tacos were kinda expensive but tasty. They've remodeled to make the place look fancy, and it looks really out of place now. Onwards. At this point the road is still paved, and slowly climbs inland. After ~ 10 miles, an ominous sign comes into view



and the pavement soon ends. The rest of hwy 5 remains unpaved until the hwy 1 junction about 20 miles ahead. There're two unpaved parallel roads here: the actual road, and the construction bypass. No actual construction is currently occurring however, so the two options seem comparable. The surroundings started to look like the central desert of Baja, and it was time to camp.





Beautiful sunset, camp, look at the countless stars above, sunrise, etc, etc. We broke camp, and continued South, and upwards. A few miles before Coco's we hit a junction. The road to Coco's Corner (the "normal" hwy 5 route) went left, and another unpaved road went straight. Supposedly the alignment will be rerouted to bypass Coco's Corner eventually. We went left. Coco is a character. One time a big American military airplane was flying over Baja, saw the sun reflecting off Coco's roof and had to turn back. Coco then painted his roof white so that this wouldn't happen again. At least that's what I think was going on; there was a language barrier. After more climbing on dirt we topped out on a plateau at ~ 2200ft. The pavement comes back, and the last few miles to the hwy 1 junction are paved again. From the other side:



No stores anywhere within many miles of here, but there was a restaurant about 1km south of the junction. We got food, stocked up on water, and kept riding. Hwy 1 is paved, and carries more traffic than hwy 5, but it's still fairly sparse. More cool desert views and camping. Found these guys off the side of the road



and this guy



Eventually we got to Guerrero Negro. Its public park is cool



The next day we passed by a mountain of salt



and watched a guy roll his truck twice only to walk away shaken, but unscathed



Then we got on a boat



and went to check out these guys.



They're everywhere. Yeah, don't go to Baja. It's awful. Lots and lots more photos here for those interested

What ride! If you ever get all the way to La Paz check out the local ice plant, my Father built it back in the 1950's.

Hmmm? I'm sure I'll end up in La Paz again at some point. Tell us about the ice plant!

Before the big plant was built there was only a small one for icing down fishing boats. My Father and some investors bought a closed ice plant in the US and moved it to La Paz. It was a very large construction job for the sleepy town. I still remember the tart smell curing concrete in the slab for the plant. At the time there were no cranes available other than those on the ship that delivered the compressor. At the job site they just built a dirt ramp up to the level of the delivery truck and used rollers to move the compressor into place. He also brought along about 500 ice boxes, old fashioned coolers that hold a block office to keep things cool. They filled up our entire yard until they were cleaned and refurbished. Before the ice plant was built, other than the large hotels that had their own freezers and refrigerators, when anything was butchered it had to be consumed or dried the same day. The plant uses ammonia coolant and produced large blocks of ice, about 2x3x5 feet in size that were scored into smaller blocks for delivery.

We lived there about three years until a local politically connected guy decided to take the business. Not being Mexican citizens or married to a Mexican citizen it is not possible to actually own any property. I was young at the time, but one day we are enjoying life attending the local school and the next we hastily packed and headed back to California leaving pretty much everything behind. Other than losing the business the local people were great and we all got along very well. The weather is about perfect there. The beaches are fantastic, the ocean is very clear, fishing is also great there. They had a lot of farming so fresh vegetables were abundant too. At that time La Paz was mostly undiscovered. I think Bing Crosby had a place there and it was a popular fishing destination, especially marlin fishing. There was a boat building yard there too. We had a small wooden fishing boat built there, rustic but serviceable powered by an old Chevrolet six cylinder engine. When family or friends visited they would often go out marlin fishing. If you see a cat in La Paz that looks like a siamese it is pretty likely a descendent of some we brought to La Paz.

Gene wrote: Before the big plant was built there was only a small one for icing down fishing boats. My Father and some investors bought a closed ice plant in the US and moved it to La Paz. It was a very large construction job for the sleepy town. I still remember the tart smell curing concrete in the slab for the plant. At the time there were no cranes available other than those on the ship that delivered the compressor. At the job site they just built a dirt ramp up to the level of the delivery truck and used rollers to move the compressor into place. He also brought along about 500 ice boxes, old fashioned coolers that hold a block office to keep things cool. They filled up our entire yard until they were cleaned and refurbished. Before the ice plant was built, other than the large hotels that had their own freezers and refrigerators, when anything was butchered it had to be consumed or dried the same day. The plant uses ammonia coolant and produced large blocks of ice, about 2x3x5 feet in size that were scored into smaller blocks for delivery.

We lived there about three years until a local politically connected guy decided to take the business. Not being Mexican citizens or married to a Mexican citizen it is not possible to actually own any property. I was young at the time, but one day we are enjoying life attending the local school and the next we hastily packed and headed back to California leaving pretty much everything behind. Other than losing the business the local people were great and we all got along very well. The weather is about perfect there. The beaches are fantastic, the ocean is very clear, fishing is also great there. They had a lot of farming so fresh vegetables were abundant too. At that time La Paz was mostly undiscovered. I think Bing Crosby had a place there and it was a popular fishing destination, especially marlin fishing. There was a boat building yard there too. We had a small wooden fishing boat built there, rustic but serviceable powered by an old Chevrolet six cylinder engine. When family or friends visited they would often go out marlin fishing. If you see a cat in La Paz that looks like a siamese it is pretty likely a descendent of some we brought to La Paz.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing your story Gene.

Wow Dima, you really do get around
I think it so cool that you can find these amazing places while riding your bike and not hiking. As for the language barrier, I think you did a good job of describing the many things you understood and observed.
What a treat to see the whales and many other treasures you found.
Great pics and report
Thanks

BTW, ? picture #2

A nice ride, a sweet vehicle rollover, AND whales? I got outside today but all I got was a small antler and a flat tire.

Great report and photos! What sort of souvenirs did you carry around and bring home?

Interesting historical note on the plane crash test, I'd never seen those videos before and it's pretty interesting. Maybe you should include it as a special non-NTSB case on your map.

Thanks for the story, Gene. Next time I'm down in La Paz I'll definitely be thinking about it. Cecelia and headsizeburrito: go down there and check it out. Baja is a great place to go explore!