OPERATION: "Epic Baja Adventure" Complete!!!!

[Boston Mangler]

Ok, this is one for the books!

The goal was to do a little site seeing and experience a little cold weather in Mex. The trip quickly morphed into something more! Much more!

We met @ my house @ 7am as planned, introduced and met one another, and headed to Tecate. My friend Rob was visiting from Boston, and this wasnt only going to be his first time to Mexico, it was also his first time camping, period!!

When crossing the border Boyd and i immediately get pulled into secondary and questioned about our trucks and where we are going, bla bla bla. We figured they just loved WHITE 80's as much as we do and they let us continue on.

The drive from the border to La Rumorosa (where the trail begins) was fairly uneventful and we made really good timing getting there. We aired down our tires, topped of the tanks at Pemex and "Headed In".

The dirt road into Laguna Hansen was amazing. All of the recent rains had everything bright green in color and the moist dirt made for very favorable driving conditions with almost zero dust! There have been times on this trail where we have needed to spread out almost 1/4 mile because of dust, this was a very welcomed treat!

Arriving at the lake, i was surprised to see it had a lot of water in it. I have been here 1/2 dozen times or so, during various times of the year, and have never seen even a drop in it. The surrounding vegitation was also flourishing because of the rains. We were surprised to be the only folks there so we picked the primo camp spot @ the far end of the lake and set up camp.

Within minutes of setting up camp and relaxing with a nice Cerveza, 2 mexican cowboys approached us on Horses asking us if we needed firewood. We had plenty but considering the low temps expected we decided to get a little more. One thing led to another and they let Scott ride the horse around camp and they had a few beers with us! Only in Mexico!

We were all pretty hungry and Stan, Boyd and Scott whipped up some amazing food and yummy deserts (complete with ice cream).

Most of us were beat and crashed pretty early on the first night. It dropped into the mid teens @ night and we were entertained in the wee hours with a very loud noise of clanging bottles that ended up being a wild horse in camp playing with a trash bag filled with emptys, and then shortly thereafter a pack (is that what its called) of coyotes were all around the camp howling like crazy! It was most excellent!

The next morning, as we dethawed by the fire we also packed up fairly quick and made tracks to Mex 3 to head south to Mikes Sky Ranch.

The road to the sky ranch in rough shape due to a lot of erosion caused by the recent rains. Again, the scenary was completely green and absolutely amazing. The roads were still passible, just a little bumpier!

We got to Mikes making good time and he was nice enough to open the closed kitchen to feed us! Mikes Sky Ranch was an awesome experience that words simply cant describe, its like a little oasis in the middle of no where. If you visit, please make sure to look for the SO CAL 80's TSHIRT on the walled signed by all of us! (THANK YOU BOYD).

Now, the interesting part begins. Our maps and my GPS software show a "Trail" connecting Mikes Sky Ranch to San Telmo Road which is the access road to "Parque Nacional San Pedro Martir", which was our desitation. I havent found anyone that had verified this or its condition, so this was a relative unknown.

When we departed Mikes and headed in the opposite direction of most folks, they all kind of gave us the "Where the hell are they going" stare.

The trail was even more erroded then the road coming in and the wheeling got more intense quickly. The trail was a tight single track that had lots of bike tracks, but no truck tracks, hmmmmmm We continued on and looking @ the time of day and the length of trail we had to do, we needed to keep moving to make it to camp by nightfall. The trail was challenging but not to the point of scary. Luckily all the rigs with us had lockers and experienced drivers, so we made short work of it and were on the pavement of San Telmo road with about an hour of sunlight left! The entrance to Parque Nacional San Pedro Martir was still a good 30 miles away so time was ticking.

The road to the park was paved but the rained had washed A LOT of debris into the road! We played it safe, took our time and got to the park as the sun was falling. There was a little miscommunication with the park attendant (due to our lack of spanish skills) and his lack of giving us a map, we drove around for about 15 minutes looking for the first available camp before dark and found one just in the knick of time! We had made it! Woo Hoo!

We quickly set up camp and started cooking! The food was awesome, burgers, steak tips, tacos, apple cobbler! Yes, thats right APPLE COBBLER! Scott made an amazing apple cobbler in his dutch oven and it was the PERFECT way to end a long and exhausting day! Stan topped it off perfect with his Ben and Jerrys ice cream! Ahhhhhh

Again, tired from a long day of driving and wheeling, we crashed out pretty early and prepared for the last day of our already epic adventure!

Sunday AM was much less rushed as we had already made our 2 desitinations and the rest was just "Play Time"

Steve and Boyd cook an amazing breakfast that consisted of just about everything that one could fit in an omeletter and it was simply awesome!

We decided to check out the observatory before heading out and are very glad we did. It was clear enough to see BOTH COASTS!!!! The tour was in Spanish and i have no clue what was said, but the telescope was insanely cool and the views were about as good as they come!

After we got out of Parque Nacional San Pedro Martir we decide to make a run for the coast and have lunch on the beach before heading straight home. This turned out to be the icing on the cake, as the weather was mid 70's and hanging out @ the beach for a bit cut our border wait down to 25 mins!

After hanging and BBQing @ Erendira and enjoying the views and sunny 70 degree weather, we headed home via Mex 1 to Mex 3 to Tecate.

We had a super quick border wait and were back in the states safe and sound in now time!

We had an awesome group and am glad you all came along.

Great folks with great rigs and we suprisingly had zero mechanical or tires failures in 600+ miles and 9200 vertical feet of hard driving! Most cool!

Easy summary of the trip: EPIC

Epic Trip!
Epic Weather!
Epic Views!
Epic Folks!
Epic Food!
Epic Everything!

Tons of stories and pics to follow!

Here are a few TEASER shots:





















Stay Tuned For MANY more!

[Slomo]

Very Cool Kevin, there was even some snow left. Look forward to the rest.

[ZPDFJ]

I recognize that beach. I have caught some nice big lefts off that rock. We caught it about 6-8' and PURRRRRfect once, I got some of the longest best waves of my life there. It doesn't always work but there are plenty of places to the south and north that are good as well. I really wish I could have gone. Can't wait to see more pics..

[smittycrusher]

Really looking forward to seeing more. The teasing has certainly created some excitement. I am very happy for (read: jealous as hell of) those who where able to go.

Smit

[LandCrusher'70]

WOW. I don't know if I want to see & read more.

[Boston Mangler]

Some More:

[Bluetribal]

I love Erendira! Wish I could have a beach house in that area!

Weird that you went all the way back to Tecate from the West coast. Do you really make-up the time at the border by driving all the way back? I have had some bad border waits in Tecate too just because they only have two lanes open.

Great pics, love the snow shots and then the 70° beach shots....

[Boston Mangler]

Originally Posted by Bluetribal

I love Erendira! Wish I could have a beach house in that area!

YIKES! You need to explore more!

Originally Posted by Bluetribal

Weird that you went all the way back to Tecate from the West coast. Do you really make-up the time at the border by driving all the way back?

Time? No, its actually longer. Probably 20-30 minutes! But its safer, nicer drive, etc... I will never go to TJ again after all the stuff thats going on right now!

Originally Posted by Bluetribal

Great pics, love the snow shots and then the 70° beach shots....

Yeah, most Epic for sure!

[e9999]

nice, good for yall!

any more feedback on RTTs in those conditions?


and where are all the girls...?

[Brentbba]

Looks like a hell of a lot more fun than skiing with 28 scouts, and we had fun too! Great pics and write up Kevin. Between Toyota Trails articles and this, you've found a second coming as a writer!

[Boston Mangler]

Originally Posted by e9999

any more feedback on RTTs in those conditions?

Performed flawless and the canvas retains a good amount of heat!

One of my "How on earth did i ever live without this mods"

Any other questions about the RTT, please PM me and keep this thread on topic, thanks!

[Boston Mangler]

Originally Posted by Brentbba

Between Toyota Trails articles and this, you've found a second coming as a writer!

Stay Tuned! You may be reading about this trip in your mailbox, soon!

[Dan2722]

Very cool! After seeing the report and pics I am even more sick that I couldn't make it but happy that you all had such an awesome trip.

[gon2srf]

I just want to say thanks to Kevin, and all the guys for sharing a trip of a lifetime. In 30 years of Baja travel I have never entertained the thought of exploring the interior and this trip was just plain amazing. So glad it all came together.

I have linked this thread on Adventure4x4.net for those that post on both boards.

Oh yeah..Kevin didn't mention that his awesome girlfriend Judy had dinner waiting for us at 10:00 pm on Sunday night when we arrived at his house. Now that's icing on the cake!!

See post 64# for more pics.

[Bluetribal]

Originally Posted by Boston Mangler

YIKES! You need to explore more!

Ehh, it's a good location, not too far from the States and a good stopping point to explore further. But you are right I need to explore more down their for sure, because that is the farthest South I have been. But just fell in love with that little coastal farm town.

[SOCALFJ]

Looks like a blast as always Kevin. I think you have reached your Epic word limit for one post!

[latinoguy]

Thanks for sharing....what great times...great pics too. I will have to make the next trip for sure...

[619TOY]

Wow, this definately turned out to be an awesome trip! I never had any idea that Baja had all this to offer. Like many, I'd only ever been down the west coast. It is tuly amazing what a variety of scenery you experience once you head inland.

It was great meeting many of you for the first time and seeing those of you I've wheeled with before. I'm also happy to have been invited on this trip by Kevin, who I've met but never wheeled with, until now.

Here are a few of the pics I took. Hope you enjoy them.



Day 1
Crossing the border:



View of our campsite:



View from camp:



Relaxing with some refreshments:




Day 2
On the trail to Mike's:




Inside Mikes "courtyard"




Kevin's "coyote" (I think it was a Queensland Heeler)




Relaxing at Mike's:




On the road again:






Bungalo's at the observatory:





Day 3

My two forager's finding crumbs:



Sunup at camp:







Zoey watching over us:




The dynamic duo terrorizing camp:




Bubba patiently waiting for breakfast:



Views from the observatory:

[Boston Mangler]

WOW!

Awesome pics Steve!

[Bluto]

What other positives are there to say!
Great people and trip = great pics!
I have more incentive to maintain my truck up to par to get out on the next EPIC trip!

[gon2srf]

Awesome pics Steve. We need to add Steve's picks to the DVD, Kevin. Steve can you dump these pics on photo bucket? I'll bet you guys already have this covered..... don't ya? Cool.

[Boston Mangler]

Originally Posted by gon2srf

Awesome pics Steve. We need to add Steve's picks to the DVD

If he is willing to bring his camera or card to my house, i would be more then happy to!

[gon2srf]

Originally Posted by LandCrusher'70

WOW. I don't know if I want to see & read more.

Hope the game was worth it......Go Chargers!!

[gon2srf]

Originally Posted by Boston Mangler

If he is willing to bring his camera or card to my house, i would be more then happy to!

If he dumps them on Photobucket or similar you can upload them from the site, no worries.

[Boston Mangler]

Originally Posted by gon2srf

Hope the game was worth it......Go Chargers!!

HEHEHEHEHE

I was doing my best to refrain from that, glad someone else mentioned it!

I think routing for the Chargers is like begging for punishment. Sure they may win last week or next week, but eventually they will have their ass handed to them by the PATS!

[Boston Mangler]

Originally Posted by gon2srf

If he dumps them on Photobucket or similar you can upload them from the site, no worries.

Gotcha!

[LandCrusher'70]

Originally Posted by gon2srf

Hope the game was worth it......Go Chargers!!

I'm glad I was able to catch the game but, after looking at the pictures and reading the write-up, NO WAY.

I really wish I could've been there with you guys.

Originally Posted by Boston Mangler

HEHEHEHEHE

I was doing my best to refrain from that, glad someone else mentioned it!

I think routing for the Chargers is like begging for punishment. Sure they may win last week or next week, but eventually they will have their ass handed to them by the PATS!

Is "Ass handed to them by the Pats" the same as "Throttled by the Colts"? If so, let the Chargers get their asses handed to them, and we'll see you at the Super Bowl.


In all seriousness, this looked like a really awesome trip. "Epic" for sure. I'm glad you all had fun and I hope I have the opportunity to make the trip next time. My trip to A-B was a bucket of sand on a beach in comparison.

ROCK ON!

[Boston Mangler]

Originally Posted by LandCrusher'70

Is "Ass handed to them by the Pats" the same as "Throttled by the Colts"? If so, let the Chargers get their asses handed to them, and we'll see you at the Super Bowl.

Touche!

Originally Posted by LandCrusher'70

My trip to A-B was a bucket of sand on a beach in comparison.

That his been my impression of A-B for awhile now!

[Brentbba]

Steve - awesome pics.

Next time I won't pass on this!!!!

[gon2srf]

Originally Posted by Boston Mangler

Touche!



That his been my impression of A-B for awhile now!

AB is in our back yard so to speak, it's fun and there is stuff there that can tear the sh*t out of your rig. Don't knock it, we need to save it.