Another Baja Adventure in the books. This year, I turned 60 on a remote Baja beach. Nobody around. Nobody, for three days. Bliss.
I crossed on March 10th, and made a bee line for the Bahia de los Angeles area. I camped at a bay north of BOLA for three nights. I had the whole place to myself, and only saw one boat. Trail to this paradise was mostly sandy, and meandering through the trees. It was 30 miles in from the pavement, but took me about 2 hours. I made camp at dusk in a spot that looked dry.
It was a full moon, and the night-time tides were crazy high. At 2:30am I heard water outside my tent. When I got up to check it out I found my tent and truck were on an island. By morning the tide had gone down, and I was able to drive to the next bay only a few miles to the southeast.
From there I went south though BOLA, where I had lunch and a quick visit to the museum. From here it's all dirt roads.
Next stop was a spot Mike and I have camped several time. The fishing is usually exceptional, but this trip I only caught one grouper.
Next morning I continued to my ultimate destination on Bahia San Rafael. For the most part the roads are in good shape (all relative to Baja, of course), except for the last five miles or so to my beach ... which is a mess. Easy an hour to hit the beach, and I'm there 4 nights. The first three days were great. On the last full day I had several fishing boats come in. Two went to the west and camped. In the morning I had two boats directly off my camp diving for scallops. That's enough for me. I leave in the morning.
From there I head north, have lunch in BOLA, blast up past Coco's Corner, and head for a beach south of the fishing village of Calamajue. This is a favorite beach, for several reasons. It's remote, but really only 9 miles from the "main" road. It usually has great fishing. And the trail only has one "hard" part. Mostly I do this trail in 2WD low. I get to the beach, and scallop divers have taken up camp, so I turn around. A perfect camp is made in the desert. I was going to spend two nights at this bay.
From here, further north where I cut inland to the Sierra San Pedro Martir. I take the long way in. The traditional route has been blown out the last few years, and I didn't want to get to the narrows and have to turn back. So, another long day, and I arrive at the blue palm canyon ... only to find that somebody has taken up residence at the cabin. Crap. Well, so much for spending a few nights here. I leave in the morning.
From here I go directly down the canyon. I did it last year, but things change. It wasn't very hard, but still slow. I will link to two videos of the narrows. Before long I'm in San Felipe for lunch. I camp at Pete's Camp ($15), let them make me lunch and dinner, and get a well deserved shower ($2). The camp only had a few campers, and was very quiet.
I crossed on March 10th, and made a bee line for the Bahia de los Angeles area. I camped at a bay north of BOLA for three nights. I had the whole place to myself, and only saw one boat. Trail to this paradise was mostly sandy, and meandering through the trees. It was 30 miles in from the pavement, but took me about 2 hours. I made camp at dusk in a spot that looked dry.
It was a full moon, and the night-time tides were crazy high. At 2:30am I heard water outside my tent. When I got up to check it out I found my tent and truck were on an island. By morning the tide had gone down, and I was able to drive to the next bay only a few miles to the southeast.
From there I went south though BOLA, where I had lunch and a quick visit to the museum. From here it's all dirt roads.
Next stop was a spot Mike and I have camped several time. The fishing is usually exceptional, but this trip I only caught one grouper.
Next morning I continued to my ultimate destination on Bahia San Rafael. For the most part the roads are in good shape (all relative to Baja, of course), except for the last five miles or so to my beach ... which is a mess. Easy an hour to hit the beach, and I'm there 4 nights. The first three days were great. On the last full day I had several fishing boats come in. Two went to the west and camped. In the morning I had two boats directly off my camp diving for scallops. That's enough for me. I leave in the morning.
From there I head north, have lunch in BOLA, blast up past Coco's Corner, and head for a beach south of the fishing village of Calamajue. This is a favorite beach, for several reasons. It's remote, but really only 9 miles from the "main" road. It usually has great fishing. And the trail only has one "hard" part. Mostly I do this trail in 2WD low. I get to the beach, and scallop divers have taken up camp, so I turn around. A perfect camp is made in the desert. I was going to spend two nights at this bay.
From here, further north where I cut inland to the Sierra San Pedro Martir. I take the long way in. The traditional route has been blown out the last few years, and I didn't want to get to the narrows and have to turn back. So, another long day, and I arrive at the blue palm canyon ... only to find that somebody has taken up residence at the cabin. Crap. Well, so much for spending a few nights here. I leave in the morning.
From here I go directly down the canyon. I did it last year, but things change. It wasn't very hard, but still slow. I will link to two videos of the narrows. Before long I'm in San Felipe for lunch. I camp at Pete's Camp ($15), let them make me lunch and dinner, and get a well deserved shower ($2). The camp only had a few campers, and was very quiet.
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