fxr's Annual Baja Rally report

[fxr]

We had broken our Baja virginity a couple of years ago, crossing with Corwyn and Co. However, we only had nine full days available to stay, and we never got further down than Bahia de Conception. There was more to do! This time we arranged to devote three weeks to the trip, and to waste as little time as possible loitering in the US before crossing into Mexico. We left on Monday 3rd Feb, hacking down I5 and then east on CA58 to Barstow before heading south again on I15, camping just south of Barstow on a BLM OHV site. Deserted except for us.

We. Will. Never. Do. I15. Again. Bloody horrendous. 18-wheelers careening all over the road causing chaos. No actual 'incidents' though as far as we could see, (some superb avoidance manouvers) but even though I'm perfectly happy driving almost anywhere in the world, this was The Pits.

We finally got on the last back-road leg to the Potrero campground, and met up with the rest of the group. We were delighted to see Jay again who we met last time, but sadly he had to turn round and head back North due to family 'stuff'.

There was another Jay in this group - and the next morning he found his starter battery was not healthy - a bump-start was called for.

His rig, due to that kayak became known to us as 'the big banana'. Has to be said with a Brit accent of course.

Sam (Corwyn) watched the vans while the rest of us walked across the border to get our passports stamped, then we had to walk a couple of blocks and do the 're-entry' bit back into the US to get back to the vans. I remember last time I'd just sauntered straight back across the border, no phaffing. Not allowed this time, oh no.

And so onwards to Ensenada, and filling up with groceries (and beer!!!) at Walmart. The first night stay a few miles south was much more expensive this year, they wanted Mex$500 or $25 USD - after Sam had a bit of a go they relented and gave him back Mex$500, so we each had Mex$100 back - not too bad, but still a bit OTT.

Next day we headed on down south past San Quintin - last time we'd stayed at Los Olivos, a lovely quiet oasis, but apparently this year the next-door farmer had just sprayed slurry on his fields, so there was a stench and FLIES. Nearby however, was Don Eddie's: https://www.bajabound.com/bajaadventures/bajastoryteller/don_eddies_landing.php

Full marks to this place, relaxed, friendly and not expensive - the bar bill was far less than I'd expected.

The next morning the others were going to breakfast at El Rosario, where the road jinked east. Nothing for us to eat there, so we went to the local supermarket and stocked up on more provisions then set off a bit further on to make and eat our own brunch. We chose a spot where we could see back for two miles, so as the others eventually passed we slotted in behind.

We were staggered how much the roads had been improved. We sensed that the people had a real new pride in their country and their environment.

We had a pee stop at San Agustin, there's some history here with previous Baja trips, but that's not my story. :

So onwards to Bahia de los Angeles - that's for the next installment.
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Jim Crowther
1984 1.9l EJ22 Westy Wolfsburg Edition
Vespa GTS 300

[erste]

yess! great start.

[jimf909]

Great report. Corwyn encouraged folks to join during the Marymoor meetup in Seattle this fall. Someday I will!
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- Jim

[dobryan]

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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
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The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[thatbaldwinlife]

Need to get to Baja soon. Hard to find the time to dedicate to it in the spring time for us though. Maybe after the twins get out of high school.
nate
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1987 Westy
Insta: @Thatbaldwinlife
Vanagon Adventure and DIY videos:
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[Igeo]

Watching this one for sure. Planning a trip to at least Gonzaga in May. Hardest part is getting over the grapevine from the Bay Area!
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1987 Westfalia 2.1 WBX Manual

[fxr]

The scenery is spectacular in places - rock formations better than Joshua Tree, great lumps of granite flung all over the place by volcanoes, millions of "Dr Zeus" trees. We oo'd and ah'd many a time on the way from Don Eddie's to Bahia de los Angeles. Last time on the way down we stayed at Daggetts, one of the two campsites there but on the way back stayed at La Gringa - free camping on the beach 11km north of the town. So this time we told the rest we'd be off to La Gringa again, and Jay of the 'big banana' decided to follow us.

We both stayed a couple of nights - Jay because he wanted to kayak (is that a verb?) around the bay, and us because we wanted a shower (!!!!) and just chill for a day after lots of driving.

I thoroughly recommend La Gringa as a spot to stay - good beach (but watch for the hungry and thirsty bees!) and peaceful.

Preparing the shower water:

The shower head fixes with a suction cup:

Mrs fxr likes this arrangement!

The sunrises here are worth opening a curtain for:

So, refreshed and worthy of facing the world we set off again. The others were apparently going to stay in Guerro Negro to play with the whales, but we did that last time (it is VERY worth while doing it at least once) and headed onwards for San Ignacio after stopping at Guerro Negro for more supplies (beer! ice!) and fuel. In San Ignacio we stayed at Don Chon's (mistakenly called Don Fong's on iOverlander - that's the hotel opposite) - just Mex$100 for the night. Lovely little oasis by the river, surrounded by date palms.

Of course, another Westy (not our group, from Canada) turned up there - no pic, sorry, but this became a theme.

Then onwards to Mulegé. We went into town to gas up and get fresh potable water (Mex$15 for 21 litres, ~6 US gallons) and then went back a tiddly bit to get onto the dirt road to 'Ray's Place'. Ray is no more (you'll have to ask Corwyn for the story) but his widow and new partner have made a real go of the lovely Hacienda La Habana. Mex$300 (USD 15) for dry camping, USD 20 for full hook-up. Had too much fun chatting with everyone to take pics, sorry.

This was where we said goodbye for the last time to our fellow travellers - I think everyone dispersed from here. More later.
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Jim Crowther
1984 1.9l EJ22 Westy Wolfsburg Edition
Vespa GTS 300

[fxr]

Mulegé has several camping spots - Hacienda la Habana, Don Chano's RV park, and free camping on the beach near the lighthouse. They each have their pros and cons, but Mulegé always seems to come just at the right time to stock up on water and fuel. The Hacienda is 2 miles out of town, but a very peaceful oasis of a citrus orchard. All the fruit on the trees are up for grabs, but the grapefruit are usually gone by February. Clean toilet and shower, a swimming pool (not filled until mid-Feb), loads of clean water at a good pressure. Don Chano's is apparently cheaper, and is close enough to town to walk in for provisions. The beach (no sand) is free, and there is a bar/restaurant there. It's a good mile out of town. Mulegé also has it's own brewing company with a bar outlet right at the town entrance - run by a Gringo who loves his hops.

However we moved on after just one night at the Hacienda - we wanted to make sure we covered as much of Baja as possible. We lunched in Loreto - the town centre is very touristy, and rather expensive. We were underwhelmed by the avocado salad we had at a ocean-side restaurant - a poor value way to get internet. The old Mission church looked cool, but only open during the morning. We were cheered by this place though:

We headed on south to find a beach to stay on. Playa de Juncalito looked OK on iOverlander, and so it turned out. Just be carefull not to get too near the soft sand.

Yet again we were not the only Westy on the beach - three turned up, all friends from Ontario, British Columbia and Washington.

The next day we knew that some long straight roads lay ahead, but first there was a good twisty climb up a mountain range. Then straight down to Ciudad Insurgentes, a sharp 90° left turn and hack on through Ciudad Constitucion staright for La Paz. We stopped off to explore down a 10 mile rocky dirt road to find the Playa Conejo to stay the night. Great view of the Pacific, but windy and quite a lot of long-timer campers. Not worth the shaking down the dirt road IMHO, but just doable in our 2WD all the same. Sadly there's not many other options on this stretch.

We weren't looking forward to travelling that road in the morning, but we decided to get up early and bypass La Paz (neither of us like cities much) and get further on. More later...
_________________
Jim Crowther
1984 1.9l EJ22 Westy Wolfsburg Edition
Vespa GTS 300

[fxr]

The next morning we made it back up that rocky road - I have to say it's far worse for the passenger than for the driver, we each did one way. Bypassed La Paz and lunched in Todos Santos. This is a pleasant town, lots of art shops etc. We'll be back here again one day.

A few miles further on there was an easily missed turn-off to a beach bar - and free camping. We found ourselves a spot, had a shower and wandered around to the bar - all very pleasant. By the time we got back loads of others had come along, so if you want to stay here get here early in the afternoon rather than later. And yet again some Westies joined us, the same ones we met just south of Loreto. No pics again - blame the beach bar.

We headed off again the next morning, and drove through Cabo San Lucas and San José Del Cabo - we'll bypass both in future, just loads of traffic lights and giant hotels. Aftyer checking with iOverlander, we decided to try Playa Mirimar. The threatened dirt road had mostly been paved, with only the last mile being dusty. The beach was lovely, a nature reserve, and I'm disappointed to find that yet again no pictures.

We were now beginning our last week in Baja, and we wanted to explore up the East coast now the road had been fully paved to San Felipe. We stayed the next night on the Playa Tecolote, just north-east of La Paz. Again a pleasant beach up a dead-end paved road. Loads of bars and restaurants at one end of the beach, but it was a bit chilly and windy so we gave those a miss.

We then high-tailed it past La Paz, and all the way back to Playa Juncalito, which we have 'bookmarked' as a good waypoint for our next trip down. A long trek the next day, past Loreto, Mulegé, Guerro Negro and up Mex 5 towards San Felipe. Wonderful wide fresh tarmac. We stopped off at a cliff-top site that iOverlander seemed to suggest was OK. It is about 1/4 mile from the road, with some traces of buildings that must have been abandoned after Hurricane Odile in 2014. Mrs fxr felt it was too isolated with no-one else nearby, but I thought it was quite OK.

Next day going on further towards San Felipe there were lots of settlements by the coast - frankly they all looked like homelesss camps and not at all appealing. San Felipe itself was a big disappointment, a "Spring Break" seaside town, all cheapo bars etc. The campsites there didn't look too great either, so we tried further up the coast. The couple of free sites we looked at were full of rubbish, so no thanks. We went back a mile and stayed at Pete's Place - paying USD 20 a night for dry camping, with a palapa for everyone. There was a bar and restaurant, all very clean and neat.

The chap tent-camping next to us was a beer afficionado, and a friend of his dropped in by microlight, much to the amusement of all the campers!

The tide goes out at least 1/4 mile, so it's not exactly easy to swim here.

We stayed here two nights as there didn't seem anything else up this side of Baja we wanted to see. We high-tailed it back to the US via Mexicali (no wait for Sentri passes) and stayed at the BLM site just outside the South entrance to Joshua Tree NP. We thought we'd saunter back to SF via Lake Isabella, but the weather forcast was for cold, wind and rain, so we just drove the 519 miles back home in one hit.

Huge thanks once again to Sam (Corwyn) for originally introducing us to Baja and showing us 'how it's done'.

We'll be back again, probably crossing at Mexicali and speeding down Mex 5 to get as far south as we can in the fastest time. We'll try to time it to meet up with Corwyn and whoever travels with him in Mulegé.

Until then!
_________________
Jim Crowther
1984 1.9l EJ22 Westy Wolfsburg Edition
Vespa GTS 300

[hdenter]

Do they still have the piglet races in Mulege? When my wife and I passed through in mid February 15 years ago they where having a carnival or fundraising event for the fire department or something. It was a fun time. The little piggies where fast!

Hans
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'79 triple white convertible bug
'84 sunroof vanagon
'85 weekender

[fxr]