I am sad that the final installment has arrived & been absorbed & there
will not be another 1 til next year.
Great report, Mark, & nice pics by James!
Thanks for taking the time to lead the trip & write it up so eloquently.

Seems like more time to smell the roses would definitely be in order-at
least for moi.  Hope to make the trip w/ you sometime.

Regards,

Tom-so many trips, so little time

On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 6:53 PM, mark drillock <mdrillock@cox.net> wrote:

> After the the spell of the fabulous sunrise had waned it was time to
> take the tandem kayak down and go for a paddle. Rich and I headed out
> into the shallow cove formed by the sand spit and then we went around
> the backside of the island that the spit connects with unless the tide
> is high. We mostly paddled along the outer edge of a dense kelp that
> clung thick in the shallows, spotting some tropical fish and a few
> skates as well. In the deeper water on the back side of the island we
> saw darker fish and a few fleeting shadows of larger ones. We came
> almost full circle around the island and then carried the kayak over a
> narrow part of the spit to rejoin our little cove. We parked the kayak
> low on the beach to encourage others in the group to have a go, which
> everyone eventually did.
>
> Relaxing under the palapa we read and chatted and just watched the show.
> A van pulled up behind us and a blanket vendor hopped out and opened his
> slider to display his wares. We shook our heads and said no but that
> made no difference to him. He spoke english pretty well and had a
> polished banter that would have served him well at many sales jobs in
> the US. His stuff looked better than I expected and he dug out colors
> and patterns to match what he could see of our vans. I was slightly
> surprised that no one bought anything and he finally left while
> promising to return in half an hour. A little while later another car
> pulled up and a vendor with different merchandise gave us a try. This
> time a sale was made. Happily, that was the end of it other than the
> first guy driving by again later and saying something I didn't catch.
>
> Near lunch time a newish VW Jetta with Mexican plates slowly cruised by
> and down to the end of the beach, clearly looking to camp but finding no
> available palapas. As they were coming back by to leave I stepped out to
> see what was what. Seeing just a young Mexican couple and with no music
> blaring from their car I used my crude spanish to offer them one of our
> two palapas since we really were only making much use of one. I moved my
> van way around to the other side of our camp and the young couple
> settled right in to the end palapa where I had been. They had a lot of
> gear in that car and spent some time setting up a tent and arranging
> things just so, speaking little to each other.
>
> I'm not sure where all the day went but I had a nice long siesta that
> helps explain that. The Mexican couple walked back from somewhere
> carrying swim fins and some scallops they had caught for their dinner.
> Our Kyong showed off a nice bucket of fresh clams, having tested the
> waters the day before and found them to her liking enough to gather even
> more this time. Rich set up his shower again and I had one, happy to
> rinse off the sand and salt of the last couple days. We all sat around
> the fire once more, with everyone sharing details of their lives and
> relationships as the night got slowly dark.
>
> In the morning we packed up and got our usual early start, needing to do
> so in order to make our next intended camp with plenty of daylight. We
> stopped outside of Mulege for gas and then swung into the town for some
> baked goods and to change some money. A couple hours later we had
> navigated up the steep hills to the plateau of San Ignacio and I led the
> pack into a semi-famous RV park/cafe/bar/motel called Rice and Beans
> Oasis. The place was pretty dead since it was mid-morning and I dickered
> with the bartender for 5 hot showers, getting him to cut his first price
> by almost half. It cheered him up slightly when I asked whether the
> kitchen would be open for any of us to have an early lunch after
> showering. It would be and so we did. It all took a while and afterward
> I talked to the group about the schedule. I knew there wasn't really
> enough time to make it out to the nice camping beach at Punta La Gringa.
>
> Freshened up by the long hot showers and decent food, we hit the road
> again and immediately came to the notoriously slow army checkpoint just
> at the north edge of town. There was a small line of cars ahead of us
> and nothing was happening in any hurry. When my turn came they all but
> waved me through without a word and then spent a lot of time on the rest
> of our party. Determined to make up some time, we drove the next several
> hours without any stops until just past the Guerrero Negro turn-off when
> the vast swaths of purple flowers coloring the normally dismal desert
> there made me stop. We got a few photos and stretched our legs before
> continuing. Another gas stop and another checkpoint stop before we
> finally arrived at the turnoff for Bahia De Los Angeles. I pulled over a
> couple miles later to talk again about the schedule. There simply wasn't
> enough time to make it to the beach camp much before dark and since we
> needed to get back on the road early the next day there wasn't going to
> be time to enjoy the place. We could either turn back now and continue
> north or stay on the road to the bay long enough to see the spectacular
> views of it from the overlook before finding a place to camp near the
> road. A show of hands decided it, a look at the Bay of Angels was on.
>
> About a half hour later the great bay came into view and we pulled over
> into the view point area to get a good look. I was happy to see that the
> lighting was very favorable and we spent some time getting photos of the
> pretty islands in the distance. This bay is one of my favorite Baja
> camping places and I have been out to all the islands in my inflatable
> boats. It has been designated a National Marine Park of Mexico and a big
> marina development project was stopped, in part due to international
> environmental protests.
>
> We drove the short remaining distance to the edge of town to fill our
> gas tanks and then turned back the way we came, watching along the way
> for a place to pull off and rough camp in the desert. We found one most
> of the way back to the main highway and we settled in as darkness fell.
> A million stars came out but we went into our vans calling it an early
> night after dinner. The night was very quiet and before dawn I awoke
> with the sense that fog had rolled in or something like that. It was
> misty out and everything was very wet. I went for a walk and tried to
> get a good photo of our impromptu camp as it got light out. Enough stuff
> was sticking to my shoes to make me believe it had rained during the night.
>
> We struck out early once more, this time for the border and then home.
> On the main road we encountered a truck accident at a bad curve and then
> another and another. I guess it really had rained during the night, at
> least enough to cause trouble. The sky looked like more was coming and
> as we neared Ensenada it did. We stopped there to get our last tanks of
> $3 gas and then high winds kicked up as water fell from the sky in
> buckets. At one of the last toll booth stations we stopped to use the
> restrooms and say our goodbyes as the border was not far ahead. But when
> we got off the toll road and headed along the border fence for the main
> crossing the access streets ahead were too flooded and being blocked by
> a police car. We were diverted into Tijuana, to somehow try and find our
> way in the flooded streets there. We tried a few streets and made some
> u-turns when we couldn't tell how deep the water was. Finally we wound
> around and found ourselves in line to cross, a few blocks from the
> bridge that leads to the border guard lanes. The lines of cars simply
> didn't move. Something was wrong. I finally got out and spoke to the
> others, saying I was going to get out of line and go to the other main
> crossing point inland a few miles. Everyone wanted to stay with me so
> off we went to find our way again in the streets of TJ. Somehow we did
> it, everyone staying together as I twisted and turned following a few
> signs and my memory from some years before. We got into a line where we
> could see the border guards ahead and it moved steadily. We got through
> one by one and waited ahead on the US side for the last van, only to
> hear by radio that they were headed for secondary inspection so we all
> went our separate ways.
>
> It was a fine trip and ended too soon. I am planning to do it again next
> March, maybe for a few more days or even an extra week. Thanks to  all
> who made the trip into a fond memory of friendly times. Special thanks
> to James V for his talented use of his camera to help chronicle our
> adventures.
>
> https://picasaweb.google.com/**chimivee/BajaMarch2012#**
> 5721782974679929938<https://picasaweb.google.com/chimivee/BajaMarch2012#5721782974679929938>
>
>
> Mark
>

--
Tom Buese