8 nights in Baja

Hey all.
I’m heading back up from a 2+ week Baja trip. Was my first trip and decided to go all the way to Cabo- to get an understanding of the peninsula. Now I can grasp Baja and plan future trips.
Hanging in Loreto Romanita RV Park tonight. Usually never stay in a city zone but have been following the don’t drive at night rule and found this spot for $200mex with wifi.
I’ve gone wayyyy too many photos to share.
Approx Itinerary:

• 5/14 Santa Cruz Ca to occotillow wells (camp in desert. )
• 5/15 Mexicali to San Felipe
• San Felipe (too many peeps one night )
• 5/16 bay of Los Angeles (puertocitos gas closed ) no premium from san Felipe to here
• 5/17 (my bday) locked keys in truck at bay of LA. Never put back my magnetic spare. Wasted a day getting truck open.
• 5/18 drive to San Rafael bay
• 5/19 I split from group of friends they go to San Francisquito i get to mulege
• 5/20 at Santispac beach. Met some cool people with a boat so spend the day snorkeling
• 5/21 went to loreto for a late lunch then Agua verde (amazing )
• 5/22 went to la Paz for a meal and then punta arena for the night
• 5/23 caught some skip jack tuna off the beach at punta arena head to Cabo airport to grab Gf
• 5/28 been in resort with Gf (amazing time relaxing )
• 5/28 todos santos quick look over stayed at Romanita park in loreto
• 5/29 Guerrero negro (somewhere on beach tbd )
• 5/30 Ensenada TBD
• 6/2 be home in Santa Cruz ca

Will add more pics when home.

 

Many years ago 3 of us, two 4x4 toyota trucks, mine a 1985 22re EFI single cab and 1 dog went to volunteer in the pits for BFG, Baja 1000,blew the head gasket about 350 miles down near Scamons Lagoon,(California grey whale breeding grounds) west side of Baja drove to Santa Rosalita (east side) to have the head surfaced, just happened to find a complete gasket kit, got it put back together only to have the entire engine seize about 100-150 miles later on the dirt road to Punta Abre ojo's (open your eye's point) in the middle of the night, towed by other toyota west to Abre, dropped the oil pan, pried out lower crank bearing, looked like a coors light can that had been in a bonfire, met a local fisherman he stated he had engine(22re) problems as well and finally got a newer engine in Tijuana, OH REALLY where's your old one?,(million dollar question)leaning against my house, sure as shit there she was all covered up with old rain jackets sitting on some tires, using remaining gaskets from kit, and a few days later my top half was bolted to his bottom end (sounds funny) with some fine tuning and lots of luck the mighty 22re fired up, the cost/ trade was both bumpers, offroad lights, switches, wiring and skidplates completely reasonable, no complaints here.
After leaving Punta Abre Ojo's against better judgement we turned right onto Highway 1 headed South'er toward's Cabo San Lucas about 400-450 miles. Made it, hung-out down there a few days then headed back to San Diego, got the engine rebuilt then sold the truck. Never even saw or helped out with any BFG pit stuff, Dang-it. It was quite the adventure, when we weren't wrenchen on the 22re in Abre we found plenty of time to fish, surf, eat plenty of fish and lobster hang-out with the locals and other Baja travelers.
Best time ever. I must admit though the dog was a much better navigator/co-driver, he never argued, talked any crap ,wanted to fight, threw any tool's ever. It was the 3 other guy's whom had their issues.
The whole trip was about two weeks.This is the short version, many more details in the long version,like ripping the left rear leaf's off the frame on the same, Compadre truck trail the OP spoke about.

 

The new Baja California Road & Recreation Atlas was just published. Sales have been so amazing that Benchmark Maps will do a second printing to keep up with demand. There is a digital version of the main maps on Avenza for your cell phones and tablets. I was honored to be a consulting editor and my book was mentioned.




Ordering and samples: https://www.benchmarkmaps.com/product/baja-california-road-recreation-atlas

Digital Avenza Map: https://www.avenzamaps.com/maps/1250162/baja-california-atlas-landscape-maps

My book: www.oldmissions.com

 

Dang, gotta buy this. Nice job consulting.

 

Yes, it has been a big hit, less than a month and they sold all they made... so a second printing was done! I am so jazzed it is received well! Benchmark has a big following. Amazon could not keep up with orders so anyone who orders from them may not get it so soon!

 

I did a trip report a couple years ago for TCT magazine. Copied and pasted the write up below.



Adventure seekers are always looking for new places to explore in hopes of finding unfamiliar and untapped locations. There’s something to be said about surrounding yourself in unknown environments and the adrenaline rush that takes over in certain challenges. After off-roading and camping all over California and its surrounding states -including trails in Moab, the Grand Canyon, the Rubicon, and Death Valley -in my Toyota Tacoma for the better part of a decade, it was time to expand my horizon and head south of the border to Baja, Mexico. Baja always had this mysterious appeal to me that brought feelings of both excitement and anxiety. It was uncharted territory. Navigating around a different country with a different set of laws posed a great challenge.

I threw out the idea to several of my friends in the off-road community, most of whom are also owners of Toyota vehicles with a variation of several modifications and improvements. Along with upgraded suspension, tires, and surrounding body armor, all vehicles are equipped with advanced camping set ups and other items of convenience like on-board water and compressed air, recovery gear, and state of the art communication and navigation systems. After researching several points of interests and the routes in between them, we set the dates to embark on our journey:June 2018.

In the months leading up to our trip, a new company, Vagabond Outdoors, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, launched a new wedge camper geared toward off-road and camping enthusiasts. Vagabond Outdoors introduced “The Drifter” and I knew immediately that this was something that would elevate my camping experience. Not only doesThe Drifter offer easy set up and take down, it also provides a space for gear to be protected from the elements and living space for times during rough weather -all huge upgrades to my former roof top tent set up. A small group of us decided to pull the trigger on these new campers and took them on a test run in the Mojave Desert. After being acclimated to our new setups, and with the Baja trip looming over us, we worked on modifying them to our liking,

After a series of unfortunate events, a group of ten trucks slowly dwindled down to just two, and between my buddy, Blake and I, we started to question if this trip was even feasible. Both of us had never been to Baja before and we would have to rely on the conversational Spanish I remembered from school over a decade ago. We thought long and hard about the feasibility of the trip, and despite not having the number of trucks we felt entirely comfortable with, we knew this would be the trip of a lifetime.

After a bit of research, we decided to cross at the least-populated Tecate border. As we worked our way south, we couldn’t help but notice several dust clouds in the distance and we immediately knew what we stumbled upon: The Baja 500 race. Just off the highway was a dirt road that led to several spectators and pit crews for some of the race participants. We parked our trucks along the track, deployed an awning, and cracked open a cold brew as we drooled over several race trucks that passed us by. This was the quintessential moment where we realized we have arrived. All of the nerves and angst that built up to this had finally gone away. We were no longer preoccupied with all the planning logistics and we were able to enjoy the journey we had embarked on.

Although we had several waypoints marked off on our maps, Blake and I made a rule that all our nights needed to be along the beach. We stayed true to that with three nights along the gulf in San Felipe, Gonzaga Bay, and Bahia Los Angeles; followed by 5 nights along the Pacific side from Bahia Maria all the way up to Ensenada. Nothing compared to the warm beach waves and sunsets of pink, orange, and yellow skies without seeing a soul in sight. We travelled through several destinations, both remote and popular and at many times it seemed that we were on a tropical vacation get-away and not camping.

One memorable stop that occurred early in the trip was the infamous Coco’s Corner. His house is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a makeshift barbwire fence and a collection of old items that display Coco’s creativity. Beer cans form abstract sculptures, old toilets decorated with random stickers create a centerpiece in the parking lot, and colorful pieces of oddly shaped fabric pose as an illusion of flags. Inside, mementos from decades of visitors drape the walls and ceilings, and of course, Blake and I left our mark by hammering a few patches to the wall and signing one of his many guestbooks.

Alas, everything wasn’t smooth sailing for the duration of the trip. From catching a potential thief at our trucks outside of a grocery store, to an eerie broke down truck in the middle of tight and windy trail, to thorough vehicle checks with dogs and multiple military men surrounding our vehicles, we definitely had to stay on our toes.

The adrenaline rushed like a huge wave when we found ourselves in a near head-on collision in the middle of the desert, away from any civilization. Unfortunately, an unmarked white van was speeding toward us and didn’t see Blake’s truck. Blake tried to avoid the head-on collision by driving off trail, but the van still scraped along Blake’s rock slider and into the driver-side wing of his wraparound rear bumper, causing the bumper to bend out and away from the truck, and crushing his bedside and taillight along the way. The man didn’t have any identification and didn’t want to get police or insurance involved, which was ironic considering his radiator was smashed against his dash, and his vehicle had died on the spot. Things started to get interesting when another truck showed up, and the two of them started talking. This was strange because we hadn't seen any other people or vehicles for almost two days before, and in that moment we decided that things didn’t seem safe so we took a few pictures before finally leaving.

Despite the hiccup we were safe, our vehicles were still functional, and we made sure the adventure continued. Though we ran into our fair share of anxiety-provoking barriers and challenges, this was by far the best trip I have ever taken in my truck. I can close my eyes and feel the warm evening breeze, and I can visualize those picturesque sunsets. I remembered feeling completely validated for all the blood, sweat, and tears in modifying my truck because I experienced a trip that posed one of its greatest tests. And it passed with flying colors.

Already planning for the next trip -who’s in?

 

My goodness, what a wild ride!
Did you make an insurance claim in Mexico before crossing north? Curious how that was handled.
Thanks!

 

This sounds like a trip of a lifetime!

 

We got insurance through Baja Bound and met an adjuster in Ensenada, but if I’m not mistaken, Blake didn’t have a good experience with them @tacomgee

 

A little dramatized but looked like a good trip.
Sucks the truck got hit. I thought of that scenario a few times when I was flying on the roads between san rafael/san francisquito and vizcaino.
Luckily it did not happen but I can see how it does. Must have been hard to keep going after that. It woulda taken a lotta beer and tequila for me at camp.

 

Awesome! Thanks for posting!

 

That would be a first, they are that concerned about customer satisfaction. Have him call the San Diego office to get answers. I write for their newsletter and am friends now with the owners.

 

Great read here, interesting reading everyones perspectives! Recently went on my first Baja Trip (6/16/21-6/21/21) and will be posting some pics and trip report here soon. Like David K says, unfortunately bad things can happen anywhere! I remember reading a story of guy going camping with his family and waking up to automatic gunfire from some drunk idiots near their camp in Idaho in the middle of night(the next day they found bullet holes on some trees nearby)!

Baja will have its anxiety provoking challenges, fear of the unknown will always cause that regardless of the situation. However, imo Baja is something anyone who enjoys the outdoors, off roading or camping should experience at some point in their lives (especially since we cant camp on beaches here in CA). Find someone with experience who's been down there and it will make you feel a lot more comfortable, I know it did for me on this trip.

For now here are a couple from beautiful Heroica Mulege.

 

Nice photos! I am sure you have lot's more and can write us a neat trip report??