Baja October 2017

[pappy]

I went down with Evan this time. Nine days, roughly. Gulf side. Pacific side, briefly. Back to the Gulf side. Then two nights in the mountains at a palm oasis. Here goes a few pics.

Gulf camp #2.

Coco's Corner.

Evan found his big-boy pants in Baja. With Sr. Coco.

 

[pappy]

I got stuck on a rock twice. Evan pulled me off the first. The second time (here) we stacked rocks.

 

[pappy]

Carnage with Evan: none.

Carnage with Pappy: [sigh]

• Right away started to notice the truck was getting loud. Then started to suck bad air, and a headache. Turns out the muffler shop didn't tighten down the header flange bolts. I lost one bolt, and the other two were loose. A spare driveshaft flange bolt work perfect for an in-field repair. Gasket was still in good shape.
• Found out the hard way that my ARB air line ripped off the diff. No locker when needed. Field repaired. New parts ordered.
• End of one day found I had a flat tire. No hole, but a broken valve stem. Filled up, and it held until Yuma where Discount Tire fixed it. Ordered a pair of these for the stash: Emergency Valve 2-Pack
• Now for the bad one. Once again broke off a shock mount. This time it only smashed the brake line, without needing to field repair. Drove home on three shocks.

 

[pappy]

Gulf camp #1.

Mountain camp.

 

[Poupon]

oh man..... I can only wish I was with you guys. I am working in that direction. Maybe next year.

Envious.

 

[evanz80]

We had a great trip! The weather was pretty tropical (a good thing!) until the last day, when we had big winds and decided to head back north a day early. I will try to post up some more pictures when I have a chance.

As Jon mentioned, there were a few minor items with his 4Runner, but no show-stoppers. Other than the broken shock mount, field repairs were sufficient to keep us going. Luckily, it was a rear shock that broke, so better for the long road trip home than missing a front shock. We were pleased that the smashed brake line (from the broken shock) did not let go completely, as that would have been a mess to deal with on the trail.

All in all, it was an adventure. Baja is hard to describe, but I would recommend a visit if you are interested. Very remote (but a beautiful desert landscape), which can be nice to have miles of beach all to yourself, but not necessarily ideal if you have a major breakdown (luckily we didn't!). Thanks to Jon for his hosting, tour guiding, and botany lessons! Lots of different and interesting plant life down there.