Trail of Missions TV Recon and action filming: Baja 2019

Baja 1000 2018 overall winner (Trophy Truck Class) Cameron Steele also has motorcycle and 4x4 tours into Baja California and parts of them are aired on TV specials, usually about 3 months after. I was with Cameron in 2014 for 3 days of the first trail of Missions tour, lecturing to his guests on the history. Cameron gives each vehicle a copy of my book, Baja California Land of Missions.

For the 2019 Trail of Missions, I was invited to go on the recon trip, a month before the full tour... to scout new locations and take some action shots to be incorporated into the show.

I drove to Cameron's shop (1 hour from my home) on Sunday, where my truck would be secure for the week and we were off about 2 pm with 3 Raptors. I was in the newest one, with only 1,800 miles on the odometer (it was well over 3,000 after 6 days). Jimmy Lee Cook drove... he is one of the cameramen and operates the drone, too. Jimmy has produced/ filmed at most of Cameron's tv shows as well as other tv shows, including NatGeo.

We picked up another cameraman (Sasha) along the way and made a beeline for Calexico where Curt LeDuc and another guest with a Raptor joined us.

Across the new Mexicali West border, several of us got FMMs, and then south to San Felipe, arriving as it got dark. We had rooms at a motel that (as I understand) was once part of the El Cortez, but got divided up into 3 smaller motels? It was right on the sand... Dinner was great.
We sat out under a palapa by the sea drinking and chatting before crashing.

The next morning we had breakfast at George's a few blocks inland from the motel. I had hotcakes and bacon. We then were off to Mulegé with stops at Guerrero Negro for tacos, San Ignacio for ice cream, the dirt road north of Santa Roslía for some action shots (the network wanted more off-road action in the show) and at Mulegé we did some filming with the drone along the river. El Patron was closed and Pancho Villa's was no longer there, either... so sad. We met Salvador to ask about logistics to see La Trinidad cave art, but we ended up passing on it. Salvador was very nice and Cameron offered to compensate him for meeting us.

We spent the next two nights at the Serenidad and ate dinners and breakfast there, too. I never saw Don Johnson but did see the nice memorial chapel for his wife, Nancy, who has died.

PHOTOS:

Sunday:

The truck I was in, the Monster Energy Raptor, near Calexico, still clean!


Following Cameron, riding in the Method Wheels Raptor, south of Mexicali.


San Felipe dinner.

Monday:

Some of the highway south of Puertecitos since Oct. 1, 2018, looks like this.


Nearing El Huerfanito.




Las Arrastras, from the bridge on the new highway bypassing Coco's Corner.


Lunch at Guerrero Negro.


I had two fish tacos and a shrimp taco. They were great.




Coming into San Ignacio is spectacular.


The ice cream is great, too! This is on the left side of the plaza.


Cameron points towards the mission.


Founded in 1728, constructed between 1761 and 1786.







I will be adding the rest of the report and photos... stay tuned!

 

We had a good breakfast at the Serenidad and headed west, onto the Ice House Road and across the big valley, passing the signed roads to La Trinidad and climbing the hills...

The road north (signed for Ex-Misión de Guadalupe) from the Mulegé to La Ballena (San Juanico/Scorpion Bay) road is much better than when I drove it in 2017. We arrived at the gated and wired shut driveway up to the cinder block building, made lunch, then hiked up the arroyo as I did before and walked to the mission ruins (they are west/ uphill of the cinder-block building). In addition, we went further north to the spring surrounded by the palms before walking out to the main road at the La Presa sign and junction with the road up the hill that goes to San José de Magdalena. The road from there towards the mission is a better approach and there are no fences to go through other than the gate. This was my second time going to the 1720-1795 mission in the mountains.

The road to San José de Magdalena was destroyed in 2014 and reported reopened in late 2018. It is indeed repaired and a very dramatic and photogenic route. There is a very steep grade and for that reason, I suggest only 4WD vehicles attempt it (at least from the east).

Passing through San José de Magdalena, it appears to be a most interesting village with a cemetery of many old graves. Cameron doesn't like cemeteries so he didn't stop. I hope to return and have a better look.

Once on the highway, southbound to Palo Verde, there was a lot of discussion about going to the San Borjitas cave with the time we had left that afternoon. We stopped and had a pow-wow to discuss it and Cameron asked me if we should try the road. Salvador (in Mulegé) said it takes 3-hours to get there. I said we should at least try and see if the road is that bad as we still had daylight and the rest of the group also wanted to try.

Continued in the next post. First, the Day 3 photos to this point...


My Serenidad breakfast.


Getting ready.


Curt LeDuc shows Jimmy and I the ironwood craftsman shop who makes a turtle in just minutes for the rotor saw. This is near the gas station on the south of Mulegé, west side of highway.






The police pull up to Cameron and ask him for a sticker!!!


Jimmy and Curt LeDuc as Jimmy operated the drone for some action shots.


This is the wired shut gate one sees west of the sign for Ex-Misión de Guadalupe. It is just the way I found it almost two years ago. There is a big parking area here. We made lunch then walked to the mission, but not through here, we walked up the arroyo to the next road going west from the La Presa sign.


Sasha filming the mission wall up-close.


This was the inside of the mission church, looking north.


Looking southward, inside the mission church.


A güeribo tree. The reason for the Jesuits to come to this area. This kind of tree was used to build the first ship in California, in 1719, El Triunfo de la Cruz.


Cameron at the La Presa sign. Rancho La Presa is ahead, the mission is best accessed from the gated road to the left here (not a locked gate, always close gates you open), the road to Hwy. 1 south of Santa Rosalia goes uphill, to the right here.


That's me.


A narrow canyon drive on the road coming down from the mission.


A water crossing makes a good action scene.


Beautiful country!




San José de Magdalena cemetery... Only our truck stopped.

Next, we go to San Borjitas...

 

The turnoff is at KM. 156 north edge of Palo Verde (the town where the Punta Chivato road is, at Km. 155.5). I will calculate the miles to the cave site from my GPS track or Google Earth and add it here. It is approx. 15 miles of pretty good dirt road.

You drive to the end of the road (left branch at the only fork midway in) and there you will see all the signage to arrange a tour to the site. We met Ernesto there, paid the permits... as I recall it was 75 pesos per person and 300 pesos for the one guide. I don't recall if there was a camera fee (like at San Francisco de la Sierra?

Ernesto hopped into one of the Raptors, took us back a bit to a side road with a locked gate, and we went down that valley, to a parking area (has bathrooms and shade tree) where the hike begins. Ernesto said it was an 800-meter hike. There are a couple of steep parts so this is for healthy people only. Two people in our group were older than me and we all made it, but my legs were sore later!

Well. the cave is fantastic... so many human figures on such a high, steep ceiling. How were they painted up there? Micheal Angelo worked the same way, at the Vatican!

Photos:


Sign at the ranch where you first go.


The parking area at the trailhead.


Nearing the cave.












Could they be... ALIENS???


Petroglyphs of lady parts and a turtle.


Our guide.




The big stone (by the guy on the right) is covered with ancient blood residue. Ernesto said this was a sacrifice site.

 

When we returned to Mulegé, there was still enough light to film at the mission...








Dakar star and Honda m/c racer Ricky Brabek was with us.







End of DAY 3.

 

On Wednesday (Day 4) we drive almost to Loreto to find the oldest European ruins in California (San Bruno, 1683-1685).

The itinerary today was to try and get to the oldest European ruins in all the Californias, San Bruno. In 1683, after a failed attempt at La Paz, Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino and Admiral Isidro de Atondo y Antillón recrossed the gulf again and landed at San Bruno beach walked 2 miles inland and established their colony with a fort on top of a hill. Remains of the triangular-shaped fort are still visible on this hill.



First, we went to the mission visita of San Juan Londó. Cameron did not know of it and being just a half mile off the highway, it is an easy site for his tour to see. Londó was a farming location and a sort-of visita for San Bruno (1683-1685). Around 1699, it was redeveloped as a visita for the Loreto mission and even considered to be a mission by the Jesuits. However, as it did not have a benefactor or full-time priest assigned, it was not a true mission. The road west to Londó is at Km. 30.

 

At KM. 26 is a bridge over the San Bruno arroyo and on the south side, a road goes down to the dry wash. This is the access to the site (4WD only) and there is also a gravel/ sand mining operation in the arroyo you pass by. Now, the arroyo forks and the road leading north to the ruins is hard to spot. We go down the right branch to the estero and come back out to the highway and try the Playa Publica road to San Bruno beach next. This is at KM. 24 and in the military checkpoint compound. You get checked then almost make a U-turn to take the road east to the beach, right through the middle of the checkpoint structures. We go to the beach, it is beautiful and I chat with a fisherman at his shack just over to the left by the estero.
He tells me to go back and see the white gate for a road going north.
First, we take photos at Playa San Bruno. This is where the Spaniards landed in 1683.













The road going north crosses the arroyo we had driven down earlier... and we did return to the highway at the bridge after exploring the old ruins.

 

Some writers call San Bruno a mission, but it was more of a colony attempt to gain a foothold in California. It lasted less than two years as poor water supply, lack of food, and scurvy all were hard to overcome. Kino and Atondo did make a crossing of the peninsula from here making them the first to reach the Pacific by land.

We first drove as close to the site as possible, did not see a trail through the shrubs and tried to find another access. We all parked on the flat to the west of the hill. The drone was launched and Jimmy and I looked to find any sign of the fort. Meanwhile, the others hiked to it and found it first. They found a good trail up from where we first drove to, it was simply hidden to our eyes. I walked directly from the Raptor to the hill and up to the site. We all returned the way I went and said the trail they took up was easier.


The north side of the fort. The church was located here and houses were nearby. from the north side.




Here I am on the south side (pointy end) at the place others have photographed from the better trail up.




I take photos all around the fort.

 

Good Stuff. Keep it coming.

 

DAY 4 in the PM:

With success at getting to San Bruno, we make a beeline for lunch at Mark & Olivia's Playa Buenaventura where we have a cheeseburger in paradise or some carne asada (I think)... I was one of the cheeseburger eaters, and it was great as always!

Cameron and another took a swim before lunch was served.
Let's say that everywhere along the Cortez that week, the water was flat, no white caps, and warm! A great time to be in Baja!

After lunch, they were asking about a side trip to another place and I recommended they see the fantastic Playa Frambes Lighthouse Resort www.mulege.org run by Nomad 'Bob & Susan'. It was great to visit with Bob & Susan, again. I was last there with Baja Angel on our 1-year anniversary (2009).

From there we headed north to the Tres Virgenes volcano power plant and eco-resort before arriving at San Ignacio for a night at the La Huerta Hotel, where we had a great dinner! Cameron invited the owners of the ice cream shop to join us.

PHOTOS:


Playa Buenaventura


Mark & Olivia's


Rental rooms


Baja Nomad sticker


Mark chatting with Curt LeDuc.


Playa Frambes Lighthouse Resort (Freshwater pool)


Bob and David K (note camera crew is in the lighthouse)




















Pushup game they play if you say one of the forbidden words of the day.


Back at Mission San Ignacio.

 

DAY 5: San Francisco de la Sierra and Vista de San Pablo

Breakfast at the La Huerta in San Ignacio was good and we were on our way north. I was the only one in the group to have gone up to San Francisco de la Sierra. before.

As in 2017, the paved road begins at KM. 117.5 (16 miles south of Vizcaíno) and climbs steeply up to the top of the mountain, 22 miles to the village. The paving ends 4 miles before the village, however. In 2017, the road surface was rough and rocky. Now, there is a layer of dirt over the rocks making for much smoother driving.

2.7 miles after the pavement ends is Cueva del Ratón. The pathway to it is behind a locked gate as you need to hire a guide. Just under a mile past the cave, is the Hostel Buenaventura (bunk rooms, meals, and arrange to get guides and permits to see cave art here). 1 km. past the hostel is the village of "Rancho San Francisco" or San Francisco de la Sierra.

We go to the village first (elevation 3,640'), take some photos, and find out about how to see the cave art... We are told to go to the hostel where an INAH rep has a desk and can radio for guides to come.

We go there and find out the details, arrange for a guide, learn it is one guide for every 4 people, and 150 pesos per person for the permit, (I don't remember how much for each guide). They also charge to use the toilet there. Several of the people in our group have lined up to sign in and began paying for their permits, Cameron asked the lady taking the money, how much more for everyone and the lady said it was six hundred and some pesos for the rest of the permits guide cost, etc. and Cameron gave her 1000 pesos and told her to keep the change.

While we waited for our 4 guides to arrive, we made lunch at our trucks. When the guides showed up they got in the trucks with us and we drove to the cave, 0.9 mile away. The guides were all Arce men (naturally) and none spoke English so I was asked to translate as I spoke more Spanish than anyone else. It was all very interesting and we took photos of the art and the guides. When I name-dropped the three mule riding ladies I know, the Arce men were all animated and gave me hugs and asked that I send greetings to them: Baja Bucko (Teddi), Trudi Angell, and Eve Ewing are the three I mentioned, plus I am friends with Edie of the new book, The Mission Walker.

Cameron told the Arce men that he will be back in late June with 60 guests (Trail of Missions 2019) and that he would provide a feast for the whole village, asked what kind of food would they like. He also asked if they would like him to bring them anything. Two of the men asked for small tents so that when they take people down into the canyons on mules, they wouldn't have to sleep in the open. Cameron asked that they not tell the villagers about the feast so it would be a surprise.

One of the trucks returned the Arce men back to the hostel while we headed down the mountain. Approaching one of the ranches passed before dropping down the mountain, a man was by the highway, a hatchet in one hand and a walkie talkie in the other, waving his arms.

It seems that the INAH rep wasn't happy with the money she charged us, or the extra Cameron gave her and demanded 350 more pesos! She radioed that rancher to stop us and get more money. LOL. We gave him 350 pesos and just had to roll our eyes. She also knew there was a group of 60 coming in a month thanks to Cameron...

Here are the San Francisco photos:








Old church at San Francisco.






The man at the hostel was selling a candy made from goat cheese. Curt LeDuc bought a jar.












L to R: Jason Scherer, Curt LeDuc, Cameron Steele, Ángel Arce Arce, Oscar Arce Arce, David Kier (me), and Filiberto Arce Ojeda.

 

The Visita de San Pablo is one of the mission sites I have not been to before. I tried in 2017 only to find a locked gate just as I entered San Pablo Canyon.

Nomad's have been there, XRPhil in 2010 (whose photo I used in my book) and Kevin (Baja Okie) about 10 years earlier. I have historic photos from 1949 and the 1920s, as well. The visita building looks a lot like Mission Santa María in style and made of adobe bricks upon stone. Some (even INAH) have mistaken this ruin as a mission and even called it Dolores del Norte, a mission that only existed on paper and whose name was changed to Santa Gertrudis upon being founded in 1752. San Pablo was probably attached to Santa Gertrudis but being midway from San Ignacio, it is possible that Padre Consag of San Ignacio was involved here?

In my TRIP #5 report from June 2017, I detailed the road from Hwy. 1 to the locked gate, which is south of Prosperidad, the big brick building from 1916, made by the Boleo copper mining company, near Guillermo Prieto.



Driving south on Monday, we stopped at the Vizcaino auto parts place (by the bank) where Curt LeDuc knew the owner and he knows the town's people. We asked about a guide to take us there. One of his customers at the counter pulled out his phone and showed us San Pablo visita photos he had recently taken... We had our guide! He has access to the gate key so we told him we would be back on Thursday. His automotive shop is next to the Hotel del Sol/ Hotel Martitha (they are either one and the same or one is right behind the other. Both signs are on the front).




The road from the locked gate to the ruins is 8 miles long, it is very rough and slow driving. A goat ranch is midway in.




We stop to visit with the rancher. Curt LeDuc checks out the branding irons hanging in the tree.








The road comes right to the front door of the visita.






Cholla cactus is covering much of the adobe slump.



2019 (Kier)

A trail (El Camino Real?) climbs a slope offering this popular photography location. Here are other's pics in the past:

2010 (Lang):


1998 (Clough):


1949 (McDonald):

 

Adobe mission-era structures are built upon a stone wall base, foundation.


Cameron Steele and I. He won last year's Baja 1000 and is prerunning the 500 this week. Nice to go from slow 4x4 trails and history searching to racing the same month, eh?


Ricky Brabec, a top off-road m/c racer.


A large corral just past the visita.


Rock wall road construction near the goat ranch.


This dead Ford Ranger is parked on the Camino Real, the road detours down to the arroyo and goat ranch here and comes back up to the Camino Real route beyond. In many places in Baja, new auto roads are made right on top of the mission roads of the 1700s. The Camino Real was not quite as wide as a single lane dirt road.


The Guillermo Prieto road off Hwy. a is excellent and we all easily cruised over 100 mph here. The Ford Raptors were pretty nice.

We arrived at Guerrero Negro and got our rooms. Dinner was good, I had the breaded sea bass plate and a shrimp cocktail.

 

I have caught some episodes on TV before, this is definitely a trip I want to do in my lifetime thanks for sharing @David K

 

My pleasure! Please see the Vikings in the Desert show I am in, this coming Tuesday on the Travel Channel, Season 4 opener of America Unearthed. Scott Wolter goes to Arizona, then California, and finally with me down into Baja. Set your DVR, a sit is on at 10 pm in most areas. I wrote about doing the show here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/went-to-baja-feb-2019-to-make-a-tv-show-episode.595432/

https://www.travelchannel.com/shows...9PHa_cHfC_Hw4cG5BHZf7n6xW3cNVpGExjfy3tGqcRtF4

 

Following the lead of PAB's (Cameron Steele) Missions trip I did a Missions trip with my wife and then 5th grader in 2017 on his spring break. His class project over spring break was to build a volcano and give a 10 minute presentation about volcanoes. So it was perfect we stopped at the Tres Volcanos camp and took pictures and went (not on the preserve) and collected rocks. Using your Mission book as a guide along with my past knowledge my wife had a great time on her first Baja trip. I can't wait to get her back there. She loves cave art so I'm setting waypoints for the places you're going to now. Thanks.

 

You have my mission book? Thank you! If you need painted cave locations that are easy to get to, I could do a post in a new thread or post a link to ones on Baja Nomad forums.

 

DAY 6, Friday: Guerrero Negro to Mexicali

We had an early start, 6 am (MDT) and as we drove 2 miles north and passed the Eagle Monument, that would be 5 am + the drive time from the Malarrimo Hotel. The objective was to get some morning tv shots on Laguna Chapala of the Raptors "turning money into dust" (a Curt LeDuc quote).

I made a point to photograph each washed out bridge detour between Gonzaga Bay and Puertecitos, plus any other major road damage or interesting image. Let's put a number by each detour photo...


Gas stop at Villa Jesus María and a photo looking over to (the late) Carmalita's tamale shack. I was surprised to see (to the left) that Tortas La Casita was gone. The attendant said Lupita moved it across the highway somewhere.




Villa Jesus María pump prices 7 days ago.


Nearing Laguna Chapala, May 2019.
In July 1973:

Before the Baja Highway was completed, we couldn't wait to see the changes coming to Baja and to go fishing at Loreto! My dad had just traded in his 4WD Chevy Suburban, thinking the highway would be close to finished... It was not. From near San Agustin to Laguna Chapala we were on the old Baja 1000 road we drove by Jeep in 1966 as the new roadbed was not yet bulldozed and graded for pavement in that section. Paving going south ended near El Progreso (40 miles southbound from El Rosario) and began is sections around Punta Prieta, and fully paved near Villa Jesus Maria. What they did to finish the work between July and late November was truly amazing! They built the Eagle Monument and traffic circle in those few months, too. I was 15, and made mileage notes and sketched maps to self-publish my first Baja guidebook giving the conditions and road details, location. People were hungry to know about the new road and the route it used compared to the old road.


My sister typed the book pages and my brother-in-law (a bank manager) copied them. I made the cover freehand, punched the holes in the paper, and sold them at two book stores in Escondido. A feature writer in the local paper wrote about it and Channel 8 in San Diego showed the book on a morning TV show called "Sun Up" I sold every one I made and they still sold after the highway was completed (as I added update notes). I finally retired that book. It did inspire me to keep writing about Baja and a year later, we drove to Cabo, taking notes, and my next guide was published in the Baja Bulletin Magazine's Special Edition.

OK, out onto the dry lakebed of Laguna Chapala for the camera guys:














Regroup at the south end of Hwy. 5. Curt LeDuc and one other leave for Ensenada where his son is in a race. The rest of us head for San Felipe.


One mile of dirt then paved to the hills. Same as I reported last August in my trip report then.




Coco's Corner. We knew Coco was not there. His helper was busy removing cans from a line and tossing them on the road!




We were concerned and asked what was up. He said Coco asked him to. That they needed income from recycling them.




Fresh paving north of Las Arrastras. All traffic is back on the older road. Last year, one could stay on the new roadbed as construction had halted.


Highway workers, once again.


Back on the paved highway at KM. 167.5, 12 miles south of the Gonzaga Bay Pemex.




It is still a Pemex station!

OK... more to come, including the detour photos. Stay Tuned!

 

Does anyone here on Tacoma World want to see the remaining photos back to Mexicali? There were 9 detours around washed out bridges plus the 9-mile detour along the new roadwork north of Puertecitos.
They are posted on my trip report on Baja Nomad: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=92768

 

Always enjoy reading your trip reports! Thanks for the great pics and details!

 

Thank you! I hope you get a chance to see me at 10pm Tuesday on America Unearthed season 4 opener where I show Scott Wolter a petroglyph in Baja that might be a Viking ship. Scott is looking for Vikings in the Desert in Arizona, California, and Baja California, Mexico.