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THE BIG TRIP

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irondawg

irondawg

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Apr 9, 2003
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HOLA,

I´m currently in sunny Guyamas! I had changed plans due to how cold the first two days were and how freakin unbelievably twisty 16 is out of Chihuhua! I´m talking 225 miles of nothing but tight switchbacks without even a 100 yard straight to relax. Magazine Mountain in AR comes to mind. About 500 of them.

I´ve kept a journal so far and will post it as I get a chance.

Day one was WINDY!!! And then it got cold, down to the teens. I stopped in Sanderson because I didn´t want to go up the mountains to Alpine where it was 0F.

Day two was another cold one. I think it got up to 49 but when I hit the mountains west of Chihuahua and started climbing, it got really cold. There was also a lot of ice on the roads. Mind you these roads are decent but like I said, all switchbacks climbing and decending. One spot, an 18 wheeler was stuck on the ice going up. They decided to back all the cars up so he could get a faster run up the hill :shock: which is covered in ice!!! I ask them if I can pass on the side. They let me. The side is nothing more than 6 inches of gravel then a drop off 1000 feet. Oh yeah, the gravel is covered in snow to make it just a bit more interesting. I take my time and make it thru. I had to do this about 10 more times. The last 6 in the dark. I finally had enough and by 8 I find a hotel, which doesn´t have heat of couse. I don´t think any have heat. I pile on the blankets and write in my journal.

Day 3 is a day of extremes. I go outside and the bike is covered in ice. I check the temp...8F! This is gonna hurt. I but on everything I can. I scrap the ice off the bike and load up. It´s 8:30. After about two hours and 4 ice crossings. I took a picture but when I checked it didn´t come out. Turns out I didn´t fully press the button. I had my winter gloves on and wasn´t about to take them off. I start to come down from the mountains and the temp gets to 50F and I´m burning up. I finally make it to Hermosillo and head to the coast where I´ll take 29 north. I told myself that I´m stopping with 2 hours of light left today, so I make a detour for Bahia Kino on the coast and will camp there. I done good! What a gorgeous place, 75F with a little breeze of the water. I find a little RV park and pitch my tent. After, I go for dinner and find a place where the locals eat. I get an order of fish tacos and they were great. I buy a six of Tecate and head back to the camp and take a walk on the beach. Wow, what a view. Off in the distance is Isla Tuberon, one of the biggest islands in the Sea of Cortez. As I´m walking I meet Marv from somewhere near Mt. Shasta. He´s been coming down here for 18 years. The place is a retirement community full of Americans. He invites me to dinner but I decline. Besides I want to get some shots of the sunset. And it was a good one. I´ve got some pics but yáll will have to wait until I figure how to upload. I head back to the RV park. A couple of folks come up and we start chatting about football and basketball. They ask me where I´m headed so I pull out my map. They say that going north is not good. My best bet would be to go to Guyamas and catch the ferry to Baha. Now, a little history, when I went to Copper Canyon, someone tried to suggest we didn´t try a certain road, but we did and paid the price. So, I´ve changed my plans and will head south 70 miles to Guyamas and catch the ferry. ****, I need an easy day after the 3 tough ones I just had. Also, I can do the west and east coasts of Baja like Lone Rider suggested.

Day 4, I´ve done somewhere around 1400 miles now. I´m in Guyamas where I found a parking lot which is attended and parked the bike. I´m taking the ferry at 8:00 to Baja. It´s a 10 hour trip. I went for walk and found this internet cafe. I can´t upload pictures here. I might have to wait till Cabo to do it. Anyway, all is good, I feel good and the bike is running like a top. Gas was easy to find. I haven´t been on any dirt roads yet but will once I hit Baja.
 
*sigh* AWESOME! It's good to hear you are still alive and kicking. I can't wait to see the pictures. 8 F huh? That is some crazy schizzle! :shock: I'm sitting here reading your report with my maps in front of me, hehe. I fanatsize about Hwy 16. Have to put that on the lifetime "to do list". Keep it coming.

Adios,
 
Wish I was with you. Like the old saying goes, the worst day sailing is better than the best day working. Same goes for motorcycling.

BE safe and keep the reports coming.
 
Great to hear from you. Now I have to clean the drool off my keyboard.

Was checking out where your ferry gets into. San Felipe, where the Baja rally starts every now and then. Great place for bars and hangouts, might be a good relaxing place. My dad and I spent some time in Baja when I was in high school, there are some great places.

I suggest, if you have time :wink: , going over to the Pacific Side and checking out Scammons Lagoon, south of Guerro Negro. The grey whales have migrated down from Alaska for the winter and spend it here breeding and just playing around. It can be pretty cool.

Glad to hear all is well. Keep up the reports.
 
Howdy,

Well, I finally made it across the Sea of Cortez. The ferry was supposed to leave at 8:00pm yesterday but didn't leave until 6:30am the next morning because of heavy winds. This is going to be fun! NOT! They didn't want anyone leaving so everyone stayed. I slept on the floor with my pad and sleeping bag down between the seats in the sitting area. Imagine the space between seats on a airplane. Had to sleep on my side the whole night. But, I did sleep until about 8:00am. Got up and went deck side for a while to clear the cobwebs. It was gorgeous outside. You could still see some of the islands in the distance. I made my way back to the sitting area and crashed for another two hours and the got up to desk side again and pulled out Da Vinci Code. Read for hours. Not much else to do. Almost finished the book but I noticed I was getting hot. Marcos, a German I met in Guyamas who's bicycling down to Cabo for a month looks at me at tells me half my face is red. Great! And one of my hands is too. So now I've got a sunburn on the right side of my face and hand. Cute. I didn't eat on the ferry cause it was rocking pretty good at times and I was feeling queezy. Not sure if it was because I didn't eat or the boat rocking. But after listening to people puke for hours I decided to wait. Same with Marcos. Anyway, after 23 hours on the ferry :shock: we finally reach port at Santa Rosallia about 7:00pm, we decide to find a camping spot but it's 4 miles away and he doesn't have lights on his bike, so we decide on a hotel room. We check in and then head off for dinner. It's been 23 hours since we both had anything to eat. We ask the locals...btw...Marcos speaks German, English and Spanish, he's living in Guatalahara. The all point us to one particular place and we go. The food is great. The ceviche, pickled fish appetizer is very good and I'm not one for pickles or pickled anything. Marcos and I discuss where we are off to tomorrow. He's headed north to a little fishing village and I'm off west to see cave painting and eventually the lagoons to go whale watching.

All in all it's a good day, tiring having to be confined to a small ferry for so long but good.

Cheers,
 
John,
Great reports. Glad to hear your doing well. Looking forward to more updates as the days go by.

Stay safe.

Pete & Kim
 
Was checking out where your ferry gets into. San Felipe, where the Baja rally starts every now and then.
Click to expand...

Oops, was looking at the wrong ferry.

Santa Rosallia huh. Well by the time you read this you will have already set off west. Did you happen to see the Eifel Church at the center of town. How cool to see a building in the middle of a small Baja town, designed and built by the same guy that did the Eifel Tower in Paris.

Want to here about San Ignacio after you go thru. Never made it there but everyone raves about it. A little oasis in the middle of the desert.

Hope you figure out a way to post pictures soon. It would be great to see some of your adventrues.

Stay cool and keep the, er, shiny? side up (probably not much of a shiny side any more but you get the idea)
 
Hola! I'm in San Philippe. Very touristy but I NEED to do laundry.

It's been a helluva couple days. Before I left Santa Rosalita, Marcos and I took a walk around the city. Very nice. We went to the old iron mine and the ruins near the beach. We then spotted a huge cemetary up a hill across town and took the hike. It was worth it. I wish y'all could see the pictures...now! After that, we got some supplies down town and headed for Eiffle Church. The same guy who architected the tower in Paris. I was not too impressed. Very stark and cold inside. A few girders here and there. Nothing special. We headed back to the hotel, packed and said our goodbyes. left Santa Rosalita headed NW to Guerero Negro to do some whale watching. It was a short ride that day. I think about 150 miles. I made my way to town for a bite and gas. After that, I headed to the lagoon which was down a dirt road. Cool thing was there was salt all over the place that looked like snow. I found a camping spot and while I was setting up, a guy from the next camp comes over. His name was Bernard from Austria. He came here specifically to watch whales and this was his third stop. As I started putting the tent up, it began to rain. ****! I hope it clears up! I look towards the sea and wham!! I see a whale breach!! Awesome! I see another and another!! This is going to be good. Next morning we catch the first boat out at 8:00am. There's quite a crowd. I chat with an American who's a adventure photographer and he tells us to get in the front of the boat, best place. He's been here for three days taking pictures of whales. So we get in and the little boat is packed! We head out into the lagoon. We see lots of whales. I get some good picts but they're kind of far off. Way in the distance we see more whales breaching. It's amazing that they can get their entire body out of the water. I wonder what it's like to be close when they do it. Then, to the left, one of the boats has a whale coming right up to it. I see a big fin and a girl reaches out and touches it! Oh man, how cool! Soon we see that it's a baby grey whale and it's mother. Our boat captain manouvers into place and soon the mom is along side our boat! Holy crap! She is massive! I see her looking right at me! Soon the baby comes up and sticks his head out of the water. I reach out and touch his back! Feels like wet rubber. A little soft when I pet it. He swam with the boat for a while and Bernard got to pet it too. All the time the mom is just two feet away. I get to touch the mom's fin once. I pet the baby, who is about 15 feet long, a few more times before he swims away. After, I pull out my camera and get a shot of mom looking at me. What a day! We head back and everyone is chatting how cool it was to touch them. Bernard decides to stay an extra day and do it again. We were out for about 2 1/2 hours.

It's about 11:00 and I've got a long day of riding to the observatory to the north. I pack and get on the road by 11:45. I cross to the west through the boulder park which was cool but the road was much better. Perfect twisties so I opt to stop since I've got a ways to go.

I'm gonna have to stop now because my time's up.

Adios,
 
Keep 'em coming, John - your reports are fascinating! Can't wait to see the pictures too. 8)
 
irondawg said:
I'm gonna have to stop now because my time's up.

Adios,
Click to expand...

Ah...We rememer the days of metered Internet service.

John. Great reports. We are all living this adventure with you every time you post. Keep em coming.

Pete & Kim
 
Your reports are great. But, they evoke an incredible sense of jealousy. I wish I was there. But, I guess it is not my turn.
Quick question. Habla Si Espanol?
 
Okay guest, who are you? :-P Forget to login?
 
The reports are great! Keep 'em coming. Just remember folks: Jealousy is a disease. :angryfir:
 
We need pics!!! You're killing me! Oh, have you found the voice recorder useful at all, or are you just using your steel trap memory? :-P

Adios,
 
Hola,

mrr1150gs - just enough spanish to get me in trouble. 8)

I´m back in Santa Rosalita. My northern route is over and gladly. I didn´t like Baja Norte. Too cold, touristy and just plan nasty looking. I think if I was on a smaller true dirt bike it would be more fun. That way I could stay in the mountains and ride the trails. I see plenty of them.

Anyway, let´s get started....

I wake up and can´t move. My back and left shoulder are absolutely killing me. Must have been the 60 miles of washerboard up and back from the observatory, which was a freaking bust and then the 50 miles of dirt road to San Felipe, which wasn´t as bad but still tough when you´re crossing mountains. I think I pulled a muscle or got a rib out of whack. I mean I can´t even take a deep bredth.

I force myself up, pop some Tylenol and get the shower hot. It takes a while for hot water down here...anyway, I do some stretching in the shower to loosen things up. Yep, definitely pulled a rib muscle and today starts a full day of riding dirt. This is gonna hurt. I pack up and out the door by 8:30. I hit the coffee shop, yes, San Felipe is touristy, and get a large mocha and wait for the second hand book store to open to trade my Da Vinci Code for a couple other books. When the owner finally arrives, I hold up the book and her eyes light up. She tells me she´s dying to read this. She tells me I can have any three books I want for trade. I pick out a couple Clive Cussler´s including Inca Gold, seemed fitting, and we trade. I tell her I´ve only got room for 2.

I gas up and head down the road. I get turned around a bit since my map and GPS don´t exactly have the roads correct but I find my way. My rib is killing me but I can feel the Tylenol kick in. After about 10 miles of nice pavement, I hit some of the nastiest pot holes known to man. I mean these things are wide and deep. I stand and put my butt as far back as I can to keep the front light. This goes on for about 15 miles and then the dirt which was welcome. The dirt was pretty smooth in parts but once I got up into the mountains it was pretty rocky but still loads of fun. There´s nothing like riding fast on an open dirt road. Even though I´m hurting I can´t keep the smile off my face. In some areas I can manage about 20mph, but some I´m in 4th and doing 50 to 60. The bike feels like it´s dancing under me but not out of control. This is riding! The views are excellent too. I make a corner and I see the most gorgeous cove with high hills surrounding a green lagoon with a perfect beach. I´m surprised no one is down there. Then I realize there is no way to get down there! No road or trail. Cool. Unspoiled perfect cove. Not too many of these anymore.

I keep going south along the beach until I hit a place known for it´s salt water hot springs. I stop and check it out. Hmm...I think I´ll pass not wanting to get sick. The place was kind of dirty, I did snap some picks from atop a hill. I continue down the dirt road. Every once in a while stopping to take a pict. I get some nice shots of a huge rock in a small bay. Man, I wish I could send these to yáll. I press on. The dirt road continues for about 100 more miles. At one point is Coco´s Corner. He´s very popular with adventure types and Baja 1000 racers. I pull in and he offers a coke. After 100 miles of dirt, I´m glad for a cold anything. After a bit he runs, well, limps, he´s got a wooden leg, back to his very small trailer and pulls out a sticker and puts it on the Jesse case. Cool! Then he gives me another and I put it in my journal. He then pulls out his huge guest book and draws a little picture of me and the bike and I write a little something in it. He asks me where I´m going and tell him about the trip. He then draws a little map in the book and I add a star for Austin and a star for Antigua. Since I´ve got my journal out, I ask him to sign it. He writes something in spanish wishing me well on my journey. I see a No. 5 on his book and ask him about 4. He tells me someone stole it but he got a call from policia in Newport Beach, CA and he knows who has it, so Coco is going there to get it back in a few months. I hope he does and kicks that guys ***. I break out the jerky for lunch. I offer Coco some, he takes it but can´t eat it. No teeth he tells me and then plops out his dentures onto the picnic table. Hehehe! I check out is little place and there´s panties hanging all over the place including ones that are about 5 feet across! What crazy brought a pair that big all the way out in the middle of nowhere? Kookie!

Another 25 kilometers and I´m back on tarmac and highway 1. It´s almost 3 and I´ve got over 300 kilometers to Santa Rosalita where I´ll stay the night. I hit two military check points along the way but am waved through once I show my permit. Still no one has gone through my bags.

Tomorrow I plan to head down the east coast to Mulege and Loreta where I may camp and hit the beach for some relaxation after todays marathon ride. I think I did like 175 miles in the dirt and 225 on the road. I´m hungry and I need a shower.
 
I'll say it one more time, you are my idol. Especially as I sit here in my office, watching I-10 traffic crawl by outside. Your adventure makes my wanting to ride to Alaska seem like a ride to Austin.

Maybe when you get back and rest up for a day, you could join me going North...
 
A recent message from down there...

Irondawg said:
Hey dude!

Well, after a good meal and nights rest, I´m feeling a bit better. Still kinda sore though. I´ve been trying to post the latest to advrider but keep getting error screens. Can you post yesterdays report for me?

I checked my laundry today, the folks in San Felipe did it for me, and noticed that I´m missing two pair of socks! The *******s folded one sock each so it looked like all four pair were there. There not the usual kind, there the thin poly wicking ones that I wear under my woolies to keep my feet dry. I´ll never find socks like those down here.

I´ve been having the weirdest dreams lately too, especially last night. I think I´m gonna try and write a short story. Before I go on, I just finished Da Vinci Code which is about ying yang, black white, male female type stuff. So this dream was kinda like a chick flick. I guess it´s a balance thing, you know, macho riding stuff all day and then chick flick kinda dream. I´m becoming balanced. Go ahead, call me a *****!! :-P

Anyway, I´m ready to hit the road. It´s almost 10 and I want to get to Loreta by noon to soak up some sun.

BTW, I´ve been keeping up with my journal, I think I´m up to 27 pages or so. Got about 90 pictures so far. I haven´t used the recorder yet. I like writing stuff down better. I´m also keeping little notes on the map.

Cheers,

John
Click to expand...

*sigh*

Adios,
 
Howdy,

I'm currently in Loreta. The trip down from Santa Rosalita was probably the best of the trip yet. Awesome vistas, and I must say, Bahia Conception must be on the top 10 list of sites to see. Absolutely gorgeous. On the way, I spot an Adventurer with a Houston sales tag! Cool, they're two up. Once he notices me we pull over and do the greet thing. Turns out he just bought the beast in Houston, had it shipped over to San Diego and is riding south to La Paz to catch the ferry, then to Mexico DF where they live. Their names are Jorge and Bibian or Vivian for gringos. We decide to ride to Loreta together. We get rooms at a decent rate and then head for an early dinner. They ask where I'm going so, as usual, I break out my map. They've been to all the places I'm going and make many suggestions. Cool. After dinner we go check out Loreta. Nice place, but small. This place is known more for fishing and dolphin watching then anything else. We check out a few museums and the mission. We head back and talk bikes and about the mods I've made. Oh yeah, Jorge is a big bike nut. Has had all kinds of bikes. This is his first BMW and he tells me he waited far too long to take the plunge. He's finally found a bike he likes...and he's only got 880 miles on the clock! I give him my journal to sign and he puts numbers for his office, house and a place they rent on the weekends. They say I should definitely join them during the weekend. Cool. I give Jorge, advrider and twtex websites and a couple others so he can get some gear for his new ride. They've gotta make a call and I want to check out places and costs for deep sea fishing and hit the internet. We decide to catch up tonight and grab some beers. If I don't go fishing, I'll ride with them to La Paz tomorrow. BTW, they have run into Marcos on his bike a day or two ago. I show them my picts and it was definitely him. Small world man.

Before I forget. I mentioned earlier that I didn't like north Baja. The reason is because every place I went reminded me of the border towns across Texas...dirty, dusty and just plain ugly. The further you get south, the more of REAL Mexico you see. Which is pretty nice. I'm glad I'm here.

Today marks a special occasion. This is the longest I've been on the road. I've had longer vacations but none riding. I'm having a ball.
 
John~Glad to hear that you are enjoying yourself. Keep the updates coming. The whole whale adventure sounds awesome. Looking forward to seeing all the pictures. Take care~Debutante
 
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