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Baja – February 2001
Introduction: The world has become a strange place when I'm drafting a trip letter on our recent trip to Baja while on an airplane to India; and using a Palm Pilot and key board to do it! But so it is. The Baja outing came up one day when Dawna picked the Borners up at the airport from one of their trips, they chatted, and a bit latter when Wylie found a good flight deal on the internet he asked if we wanted to do it with them and we said "sure" as it basically fit into both their and our schedules. Actually, to some extent it turned out that when we then scheduled an India trip for mid February the Baja trip made a trip to Japan that Dawna was considering not work. But you can't do everything; or at least we can't. Anyway - we got tickets for flying to Cabo on a Tuesday and returning on the following Tuesday with our main interests being bumming around and hiking in the spectacular Sierra de la Laguna mountains north of Cabo. The plan was to not spend any time in the resort/busy city of Cabo San Lucas but to instead just wander around the areas. Dawna and Verni made several reservations including a rental car and then on Tuesday, January 30, 3 days after D's birthday, we were off Oh, yes, I will try to keep this trip letter shorter than usual since it is our 4th Baja trip letter of the last 3 decades so not as unique as some outings. In addition, it is being started on the way to India and will be finished after returning; by which time my trip writing thoughts will be more on the India trip letter. Postnote – actually it was 5 months later when I finally got around to editing this a bit and distributing it (or at least the URL for it), having done the India letter much much sooner and a UK+France letter at the same time. Tuesday-1: The day started off with a bit of concern, in that Friedel didn't show up at the prescribed time; and she is usually early. After waiting awhile we called her house; no answer. A bit later we talked to the Borners and they set about arranging an alternative ride if Friedel somehow never showed. But she did. Turned out there had been an accident on the freeway, much traffic, etc. So, a half hour or more late we headed to the San Jose airport. That went fine and we were really there in adequate time. The plane wasn't very full, so we spread out a bit. It also was a bit late taking off but not too bad. Scenery out the window was good but not wonderful; two years earlier when we did this flight it was spectacular. Got through Mexican customs OK, although had to open our suitcases since the random selection machine managed to select us. As we were getting our bags from the baggage claim area, Vreni realized she didn't have on the pin she had started with and it was a very nice one and a favorite. She tried to go back on the airplane to find it, but they wouldn't let her. She did the lost-and-found thing but they didn't have it, and she left the appropriate information with Alaskan Air in case it showed up. However, that evening it showed up in her sweater where it got dislodged during the flight; so all turned out OK. It did cost a bit of time, however. But we weren't in a hurry. Picked up the rental car - a four-door regular Ford that could just barely hold all our luggage in the trunk. Besides the usual clothes for four people we had a cool chest for the beer and packs and boots for hiking. Drove around the bottom of Baja and up the Pacific coast a ways to Todos Santos where we had reservations at a motel the Borners had stayed at before. Not crowded and quite adequate. The drive did get somewhat into the evening/dark so we were glad when we got there since driving in Mexico after dark isn't a great idea because of the animals that wander out onto the road. Washed our faces, walked into town (we were on the edge) and had dinner at the outdoors part of a small restaurant. Fantastic weather being neither too hot or too cool, relaxing, good Mexican food. A fine and relaxing start to our trip. Walked around the town, it is really more of a village; and a rather upscale/arty one for Baja. Then back to the motel and a good night's sleep. Wednesday-1: Up relatively early, checked out, drove the bit into town, and went to a fun place for breakfast. Relaxed, lots of coffee and I had a home-made cinnamon bun while Dawna had a Mexican omelet which I then helped her eat. Relaxing. Next we talked to a local chap about where we might go for a hike be it into the mountains or near the ocean. After much thinking he selected the latter and gave us some instructions on how to get there. Off we went a couple of miles back southward. His directions took us on a pretty bad dirt road that started westward towards the ocean but gradually turned south. Eventually we determined/voted that this was the wrong road; having gone over several spots where we three got out of the car while Willy drove it over spots we would otherwise drag bottom on. All was not lost from this outing, however, for Dawna picked up a variety of bones/skeletons. Turns out this is really easy in Baja! Went back a few hundred yards towards town and found a better dirt road, and this got us to our chosen spot. It was at a beach. We then went for the (defined by the fellow that morning) hike up into the hills and back down to the ocean at another location. Great desert, fine views, neat cove at the end where we messed around for an hour or two. No people other than one boat with 3 folks in "our" cove and one other hiker who showed up later and explained that he had been in Baja for two months and the water today was the calmest he had seen. He was from Idaho and assured us it was 20 below up there while it was 80 down here. Returned to our starting point and then walked the beach awhile looking at all the shore birds. Oh, yes, at the cove we watched a master pelican go fishing over and over with great grace and on the walk between the beach and cove we saw whales out in the ocean; plus our cove had seals. Just a very nice way to spend the day. Eventually got back in the car and drove a couple of hour to La Paz where we had reservations for that night. Borners had stayed there before and it was run by a Swiss lady so they had an in. Nice spot (el angel azul) a short walk from the LaPaz main drag/walk along the water front. Had a drink at the motel patio bar and then walked to town and after a bit of strolling we went to dinner. Excellent shrimp on a bed of rice; garlic, etc. Very uncrowded, as was the town. Oh, yes, the strolling resulted in Dawna buying a relatively large souvenir - a painted wooden skeleton with joints. It will be part of the Halloween scene in the future. Back to the motel and another nice sleep. The motel/hotel is something the lady is making from what was an old historic building which adds to the charm and interest. Thursday-1: Relaxed breakfast in the patio; casadeas and our fill of coffee. The goal today was to get to whale watching country further north; but we had all day to do it so began the day by going up the coast of the Sea of Cortez because I had been impressed with writeups on the Grand-Canyon-like scenery the book talked about up there plus it was a road we'd never been on before. Initially a fine blacktop road and fine scenery of mountains to the left and sea to the right. Along the way we had a potty stop and Dawna found wonderful bones/sculls but we agreed to not take them for the meat and hair weren't all cleaned off and we figured the California inspectors would get very nasty about that. Eventually (mining town of San Juan de la Costa) the blacktop turned to dirt and very washboardy dirt at that. Bump/bump with great scenery. After some driving we figured that was enough and did a short walk into the spectacular countryside. Fine canyons, great colored rock, quiet/peaceful, and perfect temperature. Neat. We then had to retrace ourselves almost to La Paz before heading northwest on the main highway - #1 that goes all the way from the US (really from Canada or maybe even Alaska) to the bottom of Baja. Straight road but through interesting county at first; a bit boring later on. Got to our destination, Puerto San Carlos, and checked into the motel. We had made these reservations because it was supposedly the nicest spot in this small village and also we could at the same time arrange for going whale watching the next day with one of their boats; and we didn't know if getting a boat would be easy or in heavy demand as this was the start of the major whale watching season. Turned out the motel wasn't full and it would not have been hard to get a boat in real time, but it was also nice to have this all done ahead of time. Walked the town/village on its dusty streets. Lots of kids playing volleyball in the town square and generally an appealing laid back sort of place. Ate dinner in an outdoor spot that could either be described as an upscale taco stand or a downscale cafe. Quite good food (& beer) with Dawna having a "second dinner" after deciding that Willy’s fish was the best of the first dinner meals. A peaceful sleep with an earlyish alarm setting. Friday-1: Up at 7. We'd been told there would be a small breakfast like rolls, etc; but only found a coffee pot with hot water and instant coffee along side. Made use of that. Our boat man showed up before 8 and off we went in his truck pulling his boat. Not a very long drive and saw more of the village as we went. He picked up a chap along the way who turned out to be our boat driver. After the owner, a chap from Australia by the way, got the boat launched he left and we five hit the water. The deal was like $50/hour for the boat with a minimum of 3 hours and there could be up to 6 tourists, but we had just we 4 which was nice. Cruised around in this ponga which to me was a heavy duty row boat with a powerful motor. See a whale, get closer, take pictures, admire the animal, sometimes cruise along side or behind them as they swam, etc, etc. Super/spectacular. Cool but not cold and we were properly dressed. No one got even a tiny bit sick (D & I had taken some Dramamine but probably didn't need to). A fine outing with lots of nice sightings/viewings of these marvelous mammals. Maybe should have gone for 4 rather than 3 hours. After lunch, we went back to the motel, changed into less warm clothes, and went back to the place from the night before for another good meal - even somewhat hungry by now having been out in the sea air all morning and having had no breakfast. We then went back to the main highway, drove a bit north, and then back to the coast to the other main spot in this area where folks go whale watching; the village of Puerto Lopez Mateos. Went out to the harbor and lazed around but didn't see any whales. They were getting ready for a whale watching festival there in a week or two and setting up booths, etc. Wonder if they get enough folks to make it economical. They are certainly trying having built a new pier, and having quite a number of pongas there ready to take care of the tourist. No tourists to speak of this day, however, for it was before the festival and also quite windy. Bought a few souvenirs at a stand there and then headed back down the road to La Paz. This time the road was a bit more dull since we had done it the prior day; but still always interesting. Got to LP and went to a spot the Borners had stayed before. Older, nice gardens, interesting. The only available room was one that had a bedroom and a loft room. We took it for the four of us and it worked out just fine. Sat around watching the Sun go down and eating snacks and drinking some manhattans (yes, I brought a bottle full). Then walked into town and ate "diner" at a taco stand they had eaten at before. Fine meat tacos and excellent/fun potatoes that were basically stuffed with cheese and some meat. Think that was also the night we had ice cream cones, unless it was two days earlier when we were also in La Paz. Saturday-1: Modest/adequate breakfast that came with the room and then off to the south to explore "Willy’s Road." I guess basically the day of going north to the "Grand Canyon" was my road and this was one Willy had selected as interesting. It was excellent going through mountains and desert and to villages on the Sea. Highlights included fine views; a considerable period walking one beach which had endless interesting rocks and dead sea life, and views; and being amazed how one small village had a long string of brand new, brightly painted orange, street light poles on "main street. " There was even wiring in process to actually make the lights come on; although not quite finished. We were so amazed/tickled by this we even took some pictures. Outside of town we drove dirt roads to a light house and then drove through a spot where they were commercially making salt from diked sea water - just like the SF Bay. As with everywhere, we had these places to ourselves, took our time, wandered around, had a beer from the never empty cool chest; etc. Then we drove back to the center of Baja over a slow and washboardy mountain road. Some of the time we actually drove on a path next to the road because it was smoother - following the example of the locals. Met up with highway 1 and turned south. First stop was a fish taco stand that Dawna and I had hit twice two years ago. Still excellent, still happy to let you bring your own beer to the picnic table. Only problem was we over ate by having a third shrimp taco because it was so good. Went to the nearby yuppie shopping center and bought some excellent smoked fish (we had done that two years earlier as well) and had a refreshing cup of coffee in a bar. Then headed down the road to Santiago. This could be a long story but basically there is a motel/restaurant (Palomar) there and the restaurant is written up well. Since it is near the hiking area and looked fun we tried to stay there two years ago but they had no rooms vacant. This time Dawna spent a lot of time trying to call them from the US but never managed to get them, so we gave it a real time shot and again they were full. We did look at a room, however, and it was pretty basic. Nice folks though and we talked with them enough to learn their new phone number for future reference and also learned that they were open for dinner that night but not the next because that was Sunday. Drove back to Los Barriles and stayed at a place in the book. Bit strange as it was clearly a spot for rich hippies to do things like wind sailing, snorkeling, diving, kayaking, etc. Adequate rooms and surf making a nice "noise" just outside our room. Cleaned up a tad and headed back to Santiago for dinner. Meant driving in the dark both ways which isn't the best thing to do but we didn't want to pass up our chance. Folks were glad to see us, things weren't crowded, weather continued to be perfect, ate outside as always, and had a fine meal. D & I had shrimp (again) and Willy had a combo of shrimp and fish that was probably the winner,. Only problem was that we had eaten too much lunch so couldn't fully enjoy the diner. Very attentive service, W&V did some dancing to the music that was playing, and that even improved the service. All in all a splendid Dawna-birthday-dinner which is what it became declared as. Splendid time, but that night I had diarrhea.. Sunday-1: I did not have a great night, although not terrible either, so got up rather slowly. This combined with the breakfast being prepared slowly (partially because it was Sunday) and our little group doing some talking/planning as to where to stay that evening, met we got rolling a bit late. Back down the main road to Santiago and then on a dirt road into the foothills to the west. Nice country side with rocks and trees and canyon, but also slow driving. Finally got to the end of the road at San Donisio where we took off for a hike along the Canon San Dionisio. First, however, we gave a chap a little money since he was acting like he owned the trailhead. Alternately walked along the trail (cacti, rocks, trees) and the canyon bottom (boulders, small pools of water, sand and palm trees). Very nice; as was the weather. Dawna and I had done this two years ago and were happy to be doing it again. The only drawback was I started out feeling like I'd already done an 8 mile hike in terms of energy level; so we all took it relatively slow (better for seeing things anyway). When we stopped at a rest spot a couple of hours in, I elected to stay there while the others hiked another 45 minutes or so up the canyon. I didn't fall asleep but I sure rested and enjoyed the breeze and swaying palms, etc. They enjoyed the rest of the hike noting that it was better than before. We then had some lunch and headed back as it was getting to where we'd be in the dark before reaching our hotel for the evening. More nice views/scenery. Oh, yes, by hiking westward in the AM and then back in the PM we managed to basically always have the sun at our back and have nice sunlit images in front of us for our views. Got our car and drove a ways back, stopping at a scenic spot for a beer. The Sun was getting lower but we finished the dirt road before dark. We had decided that morning to stay this evening at the same hotel we had booked (in San Jose del Cabo) for Monday night and had managed to call there and make reservations. Drove to it, checked in, and cleaned up. We were very very dirty from the dusty trail. This motel, the Tropicanna is where D&I stayed a few nights previously and is rather Americanized but still small; as contrasted with the real resorts in the area down at Cabo. No one but Willy felt like eating much, with my stomach/system still not fully recovered, so we just went to dinner at the motel restaurant. The Borners had had a nice meal there a year or so ago but this time the service was extremely slow and the food seemed like it was just warmed up or something. Perhaps another hit via the "Sunday being the cook's day off" which is what the breakfast situation was all about. My soup was actually OK, however, and about right for me. Dawna had some soup that wasn't eatable and a salad that was OK. Verni had a large salad and when her system got off later that night she blamed it perhaps on that salad. Meanwhile, I'd been wondering about what sort of water had been used to make our instant coffee on the morning of the whale watching! Slept well and felt much better in the morning. Monday-1: This was the day for Verni's system to be off, but she was able to hang in there. We drove back up the road and then toward the foothills to a little village called Caduano where we talked to some people to figure out where the road to our trailhead for this day was. Took their instructions and headed into the foothills on a road that gradually got worse and worse. A few place we three would get out and let Willy drive over rough spots and keep from dragging. It was also easier than before because we didn't have a truck full of suitcases weighing things down. Got to the trailhead, gave a friendly old (probably younger than us) lady a little money "to watch the car while we hiked" and headed up Canon San Pablo. This was one Dawna and I had not done before. We had done Canon San Bernardo which was between this one and the one we did yesterday, so wanted to try the third of these big (and about all) three. Spectacular, and not just because (a) it was new and (b) I was feeling much more energetic. Also quite different. We mainly walked up the canyon bottom along wonderful multi-colored rocks with veins and all manner of nice things to look at. Much of the time it looked like a California main street in front of us with palm trees on the two sides of the "street" and great boulders in the middle along with pools of water. Super, but guess I've said that already. We also were out a bit earlier today so not pushed as to when we needed to turn around. Eventually, had lunch at a scenic spot. On both hikes, our lunch featured tortillas and tuna fish (from a can) with the others adding peppers and avocados to their "sandwich." Plus fruit. Quite good and folks decided this works better than carrying bread for a sandwich and having it get all scrunched up. Walked a bit further to explore what was over the next ridge (more ridges) and then turned around and came back, this time mainly by a trail that ran along the side of the canyon and was much easier walking than on the rocks. Also, different views, albeit not as spectacular. Got back, had our hike-end ceremonial beer, and drove back to our motel. No water in the room so went straight to the pool (even dirty) and had a relaxing swim. There were high clouds by now plus it was getting late so no sun bathing, but the swim felt great. Now there was water and we cleaned up and went to a recommended restaurant for our final meal which we declared to be Verni's birthday meal (her B-day is in February) analogous to the B-day dinner we had for Dawna two nights ago. A rather upscale place filled with yanks in a very nice garden setting. Fine food, good (Mexican) wine, and a fine time was had by all. Everyone was able to eat, although Verni's system had trouble again later that evening. I had tuna and it was superb and D had a fish pasta that was also excellent. Tuesday-2: The day to fly home. Got up slowly and did things like packing, organizing, Vreni swimming, and some shopping, etc. Then checked out and drove a bit south to where there is an inlet/cove (Estereo San Jose). Wandered around, looked at shorebirds, walked the beach a bit, and had a picnic lunch centered on the smoked fish we had bought a few days earlier. Nice. A chap came by who rents kayaks for going around in the "inlet" but it was too late for us to give that ago. If there are half as many birds back in there as he claims it would have been a good activity -- next time. And then it was time to head to the airport. Checked in the rental car which by now was extremely dirty but not damaged. I got D&my seats changed to something with a window on the right (not into the sun) side and we boarded the plane on time. It was very empty as had the plane been going down. The same was true two years ago. Heck, I bet one of these days Alaska Airlines cancels that non-stop flight from San Jose to Cabo which is so convenient for us. Anyway, great views of the mountains we had hiked in, the coastal roads we had drive, the enticing islands out in the Sea of Cortez, and much much more rugged Baja just waiting there for us to explore someday. By the time we got to the states there was overcast so the views were no longer as good. Went through customs smoothly even tho it is a bit inconvenient because it is off in an entirely different building from the actual terminal and Friedel was there to pick us up. And it was cold - both by San Jose standards and certainly by Baja standards. Yes, we were back. Not that it was anything like the shock the folks from further north receive when they go back, but still significant. Conclusions: Baja continues to be neat. The new places (my road and Willy's road) were excellent, the whale watching was great, and the hikes in the Sierra De la Laguna mountains were superb. I should have mentioned that on the first hike we came upon no other hikers and on the second we saw one pair of people on horseback on the side trail while we were in the canyon center. So, not crowded even though perfect weather. On the other hand, the rains are in August and September so it would be neat to do the next outing in November or so trying to not get rained upon but having everything green and lots of water in the canyons. A couple of these canyons connect with canyons from the other side so a few day backpacking would be the thing to do if you were into that; and we could be tempted to do a few day mule-pack-it while we walk it sort of outing; which they have according to the books. Wouldn't want to rush however for need to take in the views and also there wold be some significant elevation gains. We basically had no elevation gain on the walks we did. I kept track with my normal altitude reading watch and both Willy and I kept track of where we were with our GPS's. Next conclusion ==> the new Palm plus keyboard does work; albeit not as nice to use as my small laptop. But significantly less weight and volume and no concern for the battery running down. The draft of this letter probably consumed a couple of hours and the symbol on the battery indicates much more than 3/4ths of its power is still available. That should be a great feature when typing longer items such as perhaps on the return from India (postnote – it was). And there is plenty of memory for all the typing one could want to do. There will be some overhead in transferring this draft to the desktop PC and then cleaning it up, but based on some practicing I did after buying the item a week ago, I don't think that will be very burdensome. While discussing tech stuff, the unit has a rechargeable battery and the charger is very light weight too. My laptop charger probably weighs more than the entire Palm unit. Only time will really tell if the Palm is a useful tool or just a clever gimmick for its various normal functions but it is certainly well designed and seems useful thus far. PPS - we got some nice pictures and the Borners took lots, like real tourists do, a few of which we'll make copies of. And of course they are on a CD so maybe I’ll e-mail or post a few chosen ones to people. Sigh, it is the 21st century after all |
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