WEHO to Santa Cruz CA USA

HOME. Happy but I'd still rather be on the beach in Mexico.

Returned to find everything as I left it.

Gotta watch some football and mow the waist-deep grass in the backyard.

Here's a map we updated along the way. Our path down is noted with black dots and the places we slept are numbered and in order. Click the picture (or any of them) to expand it for a closer look.


NOTES FOR NEXT TRIP:
1) Bring more booze (though PR Rum is cheap there)
2) Convert to Pesos earlier. Exchange at bank was 13.5 and stores were 10 to 11)
3) Bring more Krocodille fishing lures in silver
4) Coffee stir stix (washing dishes sux)
5) Knife sharpener
6) Tide book
7) Laptop
8) Boogie board (when it's shorepound)

END TRIP. --James

Catavina to San Quintin and TJ

Got up at 6 for a hot shower but found the water and power both OFF. What a rip... I got on the road right away. When I arrived at the San Quintin exit it was too muddy from a recent rain for me to drive it. I could still reach Tijuana by dark so I decided to press on. Maybe I should have stopped in Mulege and returned the paddle... I have "extended" the rental until maybe this summer when I can get back down there. I'll get in touch with Ed and figure it out.

Reached Tijuana around noon but got lost all over hell trying to find the lanes to cross. There were so many people leaving that the normal feeder roads were closed. Once I figured it out it was another 2hrs to get to the customs dude. He didn't like that I was down for over a month and gave me Secondary. This is where they search you for contraband. The Mexicans didn't like my looks either. Of the 7 military checkpoints from Cabo to TJ I was searched at 4 of them. The US search was pretty quick and they talked about confiscating my bones but then must have forgotten. Lucky me. Continued on to West Hollywood to stay with my Bro and finish my trip tomorrow.

Headed Home

Rolled out early (6:30am) and headed north on MEX19 toward La Paz. I was having a HELL of a time staying awake. I was pulling out leg hair and slapping myself in the face but still was drifting way too much. I stopped in Catavina which is 762 miles from where I started at around 9:30pm MEX1 is not a normal road. It passes through many towns with speed bumps and stops. It's not a straight shot by any stretch so 50mph average is good.

Got a room at a Motel for 350 pesos and within one minute in the room something bit me on the leg... I should have just slept in the car but I wanted a hot shower and a toilet.

Here's a MEX1 at sunset:

Feliz Ano Nuevo!!

Slept late and packed my van for an early roll north tomorrow. I'm going to attempt an early fast run so I can stop in San Quintin and paddle the bay. I have 4 days to drive the ~1600 miles so it should fit.

We had a nice meal and drinks and then hit the show at Cabo Wabo. Sammy performed a solo show with no special guest. Rock Candy was the best song of the night from his old Montrose days. After the show there was dancing and a countdown. My midnight kiss was from a 20yr old chickie from Seattle that we had all met the night before. She REALLY had the hots bad for Garen...

Arrived at Cabo

Magrinio: Pass Puente Magrinio (river) and Rancho Magrinio to KM97 marker from Cabo San Lucas and weave down the arroyo.

Arrived in Cabo San Lucas and PARTIED like rock stars. Did the rounds at the big stops like Squid Roe, Giggling Marlin, Cabo Wabo and other little spots in between. At Giggling Garen got roped into a Mex vs US drinking and pushup contest. It was a draw that had to be settled with a dance contest. Funny stuff. At Cabo Wabo we saw Chuck "the iceman" Lindell (Alex had his pic taken with him), and a surprise show of 15 or so songs by Sammy Hagar (ex Van Halen singer) and Toby Keith. They did CCR, Stones, Bob Segar covers and original Van Halen and Toby Keith tunes. It was awesome. The place was going crazy. We bought NYE tickets for tomorrow because there is a big rumor about another special guest tomorrow also. We partied until 4:30. I'm not sure how tomorrow can top tonight.

Hotel Mar De Cortez: ($61 per night for triple occupancy. A bargain)


Sammy and Toby:

Leaving Los Cerritos

Headed to our last camp spot before the hotel in Cabo and then my HUGE drive home. Found Magrino Beach. A nice left and right spot with waist to chest high waves. Short boarded fun waves over and over. We had a few hundred yard beach all to ourselves. Dinner, bonfire and ballena's...

Still at Los Cerritos

Surf is smaller but still lacking shape. At 3pm we'll head into Todos Santos for grub, beer and the championship football game between Denver and San Diego. The Chargers won 52 to something and Alex got LOADED, having met his goal of one shot per touchdown.

Los Cerritos

Los Cerritos is FIRING with peak swell hitting today. Too bad its all straight in shore pound. Paddle, take off, bottom turn and get out or get POUNDED. Read my book most of the day: The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammett.

La Pastora Beach

We woke and found the tide was too high for waves to break. Many surfers on dawn patrol but all turning back dejected to the 30 minute rough ride back to Todos. The tide won't drop before the typical 10am breeze which chills/flattens/bumpifies the olnas. NOTE: Bring tide book next time. We hadn't really set up camp so quick exit to Todos was made for am coffee and breakfast. We ate, bummed around and decided to check out Los Pedritos surf break. Pedritos was kinda surfable but it's now low tide and rocky with Urchins everywhere. We saw the Swiss folks (we keep bumping in to) again (Rafael and beautiful Rachelle). We flipped a coin and headed back to Los Cerritos which has beach break and a promise of swell coming. Rafael/Rachelle will meet us there tomorrow since it's her birthday and she wants a nice dinner at the restaurant there. At arrival we found head high outside sets and inside shoulder high shore pound. Not bad. Had fun out there.

Merry Christmas

Garen REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wanted to leave today for Todos Santos. Not sure why, but WTF. I was stuck out 100' into the beach so the 4x4'd me to hard pack and we split. I was hoping for another shot at dorado but the waves are still making a launch pretty treacherous. With big swell around there's got to be a better surf spot somewhere. We arrived in Todos and found the only place open was a hotel/restaurant name Hotel California. FANTASITIC apple crepes and coffee. Drove North on sand/dirt road toward a surf spot named La Pastora and found bigger but bumpy, windy and crowded surf. Camping overnight to see if it's better in the am. I shot video of the Becker boys surfing but it's too grainy to add here.

Baja Santa:

X-Mas Eve

Fished early for only a single fish. Determined to join the dorado club, Alex paddled WAY out and eventually hooked-up. Nice fish that was almost identical to the others we've caught. Snorkeled later with Garen to see some lobsters (Americans cannot take) and cool fishes. Surfed small little waves and met Elizabeth and Rachel from Breckenridge Co in the line-up. They were also camping so I invited them over for a fresh dorado Xmas Eve dinner. Rachel sauteed veggies and I cooked Mahi Mahi (dorado). Everything was wrapped in a seaweed paper burrito. Great feast, good company and a late night bonfire. Fun stuff.

Leaving La Playita

Left La Playita Hotel in San Jose to head over to Cabo San Lucas to setup our NYE reservations and a food restock at Walmart. Found Mex 19 and headed North to Los Ceritos which we hear has a nice surf break. We arrived and found it mostly shore pound with short to no rides. Headed out anyway. Here is the wall by the pool at the La Playita (now La Marina) hotel:


Here is a shot Alex took in downtown San Jose del Cabo of some x-mas decorations:

A few more back dated pictures

The Baja Boys and Camper:

Just another standard boring average daily sunset (expert photography by Alex):
And another:

Garen and I enjoying an adult beverage:

Me and my van driving on one of those crazy roads:

Older kayak shots

Punta Bufeo:

Bahia de Los Angeles:

Underwater Dorado Pic that Garen took

It's Monday Night!

Are you ready for some football? We drove over to downtown San Jose and wandered the shops and had some breakfast. We found a place named Shooters that would be showing Monday Night Football so we decided to stay another night at our hotel. During the game we had an arm wrestling contests in the bar. I arm wrestled Paul Beja and his daughter. See the video here:


(video pending email from Alex's camera)

Later that night I puked a full hotel room garbage can of beer and margarita after doing donuts in my van on the street on the way to the hotel. Not very responsible but fun... Garen was pissed about the driving. I felt fine in the am since I had purged all the booze earlier.

Tow Truck take-two

The WHOLE day trying to get a tow truck to drag the Suburban to a shop. We finally got them to agree to meet us at the hotel La Playita in town. I drove Garen there and we waited. They never showed. The owner of the hotel suggested his buddy that had a shop and a wrecking yard. We rented a room and finally he showed and they took off to the Suburban. I stayed at the hotel and had a nice swim in the pool and a hot shower. That was my first shower in over 2 weeks... Around 11pm Garen, Camper and Alex showed up. The mechanic fixed the truck right on the beach and did not drag it to a shop. Only one small part to fix tomorrow.

Here's camper in the kayak:

Dorado Hunt continues

Launched about 20 mins before dawn. A late start but I'll still be half way to the spot before the sun pops up. I had a good feeling. The water was making a humid feel to the colder air around. Right aftger sunrise and about 2 miles out I got a HARD strike. Line was ripping off my middle rod/reel. I was fishing 3 rods in a 'V' pattern which tuna type fish like. The middle rod was the longer one back. I grabbed the rod and kept easy pressure while reeling in the other rods in their rod holders. I was not going to let this fish swim circles and tangle my lines and get away. Once the lines were cleared I put some pressure on the fish. It easily took line back from my drag which was set for firm but not going to break pressure. After a few mins I buttoned down further and started making ground. Finally I got it to within sight and saw the brilliant yellow/green color of MY Dorado!! Finally!! It circled the kayak for a long time before I finally got it close enough to sink my gaff into it head. A perfect shot. It was not going to get away now. The pic is below. I'm guessing about 6-8lbs. The perfect size for eating and kayak fishing. Once I saw that it was a Dorado I called out to the Becker boys to paddle through my area because Dorado hang in schools. About 100' from me Garen is paddling furiously and screams "Fish On!". He eventually lands a carbon copy fish (though a little smaller ;p ). We troll another 2hrs up to about 6 miles from camp for no more takers. I filleted our fish on the beach and made a ginger-sesame-soy sauce pan fry that was DIVINE. We stuffed ourselves with fish.


After breakfast we packed and headed to San Jose but on the way the Becker boys front left wheel starts to FALL OFF. Not only the hub/4x4 is broken, but the spindle and bearings are gone. We parked the truck and I drove Garen into San Jose to get a tow truck. I stayed in SJ while Garen drove back with it. I dropped in Mulle69 (a new restaurant I didn't know was having it's grand opening) to have lunch. After a few complimentary tequila shots I was informed that I was their second paying customer. The owner was a great dude with perfect English serving his family label tequila. Good stuff. I got trashed quickly. The tow truck driver Garen was with drops him off out of town. A bus ride and taxi ride gets him to the restaurant where I'm waiting. They won't go out that far without a place to store the truck. Back to the beach to spend the night. We met Cody and Khandru (hippie girl) who are our beach neighbors. They are there because after confronting their mother for shooting Ketamine daily with a retired plastic surgeon boyfriend she has kicked them out. She owns one of the multi million mansions we're camped in between on the beach. I hope it works out for them. They seem like nice folks from Taos, NM.

Hamburgesa con queso from HELL

All night stomach ache w/dry heaves from that damn lunch at Crossroads. I knew I should not have trusted a burger at a place in the middle of nowhere. But the local dude said they used frozen Costco burgers so I didn't worry. Can't tell you how the story ends due to the graphic nature but you can guess... Over coffee we decided that instead of rushing to Cabo San Jose to get the 4x4 fixed we'd go to Punta Gorda aka Shipwrecks (famous surf spot in summer) to spend a night or two. We'd just stay on the hard pack dirt/sand and not get into the soft stuff. I said goodbye to Erwin and gave him all the Wasabi I had (he was jonesing). We arrived just past shipwrecks and found a good spot to free camp. Garen and I launched our yaks. He got a skippy and I got nada. Met Danny from a house (many million$ mansion) down the beach who caught a Dorado that morning about 2 miles out a a few miles up the beach. Spent the rest of the day in the usual way; beach combed, practiced bunker golf shots, drank beer, read and snorkeled. At night packed gear for another extra early paddle out. Gotta get that Dodo... Also rigged all my rods with squid skirts (green over pink which are nicknamed "pink panties").

Dorado hunt day 2

Pre-dawn launch for another dodo run. Packed a bagel w/PBJ and lots of water cuz I was planning on going further out. Slight breeze but mixed so not sure what the dominant direction will be later. Hopefully not offshore again. I don't wanna get blown out to sea never to be seen again... Saw Dave (the finish carpenter from Oregon who spends 6mo winters here in Los Frailes) who said he caught 2 yesterday trolling from his boat. He used purple and gave me the "spot" to fish. I tied up purple and headed there. It's only 2 miles so maybe yesterday I just over-ran the fish. Big huge tight swell and now blowing 10-15mph kept me from trolling the spot more than a few times. I had to save strength to get back to the beach since it was blowing me out to sea. No dorado caught today... On the inside I fished the bottom and got a big trigger fish for the fridge. We left Los Frailes and headed for Punta Gorda further down the East Cape. We stopped at the Crossroads Country Club for beers and lunch. Got some intel from a local dude about a beach named 9 Palms and a possible Wahoo bite. Got there and the Becker boys truck 4x4 gave out on the beach. A few hours of digging and jacking and we were no closer to getting out. Finally a stranger with a 4x4 stopped by and pulled them out. Decided to camp there for the night and decided what to do in the am. Met Erwin who is the resident beach bum of 9 Palms. He's a 60+ ex San Clemente surfboard shaper German immigrant named after Rommel. He had one hell of a dirty mouth and a spitting habit. I liked him but the Becker boys could not wait to leave.

Dorado hunt

Los Frailes is Baja fishing. This place is the shit! I'd move here for sure when I retire. It's got a great beach that plunges super deep only 50' from shore. The fish are everywhere and the scenery is unreal. If I'm ever missing for an extended period or hiding out you'll find me here.

5:30am solo launch. Becker boys are sleeping. By 6:30 am I was about 3-4 miles out (normal 20 minute mile pace but I was paddling hard). No wind but there is a decent tight interval NW swell. Water temp is noticeably higher than inshore water. The air is musty humid like being in Hawaii in the summer. I've been trolling the whole time w/o a bite. By 8am the wind is starting to pick up and it's blowing the opposite of what it should be (which is out to sea). Right as I decide to start paddling back to shore my favorite rod/reel combo starts SCREAMING. 5 mins later and a bunch of runs I've got the fish close. I'm praying for Dorado but don't have a clue what's at the end of my line. It's circling is tightening and I'm thinking tuna now but it jumps out of the water and I see it's a huge Tylosurus Crocodilus (Mexican Needlefish). What a rush. This is a weird fish that you can tell from the scientific name exactly what it looks like. A huge beak of a mouth like a crocodile and full of big sharp teeth. It was very tough to get this fish un-hooked w/o getting bitten. I zig-zagged back to shore for not another bite (except for a puffer fish). I saw tons of triggers and yellow snappers but the water is so clear (at least 50') they see me coming. Landed by 10am when the wind was really blowing. Around dark the wind died so I did some night paddle deep drop fishing. I would paddle out a hundred yards, drop my bait over and paddle back with the reel in free spool. Then wait from shore for a fish to bite. I caught this nice Dog Snapper.
The Mexican Needlefish:

The Puffer fish:

La Ribera Beach to Los Frailes

Moved from Leonaro to La Ribera public beach. Paddled out and got a nice trigger fish and missed some big corvina. Pushed on to Punta Culmo and got wasted at the dive shop restaurant there. Fun but 955 pesos plus tip. Moved on to Los Frailes (fray-leeze) and parked on the beach to camp for the night. A local Punta Culmo national park dude made us move due to possibility of turtles coming up the beach at night. We pulled back a ways and set up camp. Met a local dude (Dave) who says he caught dorado 2 days ago about 2 miles offshore in 78-80 degree water current. EXCITED NOW! Rigged up the lures and kayak for a super early paddle out. Here's what a trigger fish looks like. Great eating especially for ceviche. The meat is super firm and holds up well when bagged with the lime juice.



Stuck again but that's been the plan. Becker boys pull me back to the road easily with their 4x4:

Punta Conejo Tuna

The silver crocodile lures have been catching the sierra that feed just outside the breaking waves. The waves are smaller today and while trying to catch breakfast I hooked into something different. It was a harder pull than normal and the fish stayed down. A few mins later (light drag due to breaking waves and light line) I beached a Tuna. A Bonita. What a trip!! I released him and ate leftovers for breakfast.

Cleanned up camp and ran for La Paz. The Becker boys front disc brakes are making a gnarly sound and may not be working. On the way we found Walmart.
If you click and zoom in you can see the street sign pointing to Cabo San Lucas. The breaks are now fine (not sure what was up) and we pressed on to Rancho Leonaro after filling the propane tank and stocking up on groceries at Walmart. Rancho Leonaro hotel was closed so we drove down to their beach front view parking lot and slept in our trucks.

Punta Conejo 17 years ago

This place has a weird vibe for me. I don't normally believe in that kind of stuff but I really do feel it here. In 1991 I drove here to Punta Conejo with a friend (Johnny-O) for a 3 week surfing/camping trip. We bombed down here in my pickup truck loaded with camping gear and surfboards to find triple-overhead waves that were too big for me. Johnny-O (my bud) was shredding it up and loving it. It's a boulder bottom covered in sea urchins that I didn't want any part of. Eventually it backed off and the surfing was awesome for both of us.

Suicide: A few days after we arrived (in 1991) a German girl (named Stella) comes to camp with a big bandage wrapped around here neck. We hear from other campers that the night before we arrived she had stabbed herself with a big knife while sitting at a camp fire with them. She somehow got out of the hospital even though her boyfriend took here there and explained that she was suicidal. The next am I was up at dawn watching waves when I heard screaming coming from her and her boyfriends tent. She burst out and climbed to the top of their van with a can of gasoline. When she started to pour it on herself and the van everyone out checking the waves (including me) started screaming for her boyfriend. He came out of the tent naked right as she was trying to strike a match and grabbed her. He pulled hard on her leg and she smashed to the ground. He then beat her a couple of times and it looked like she was out when he went back into the tent. A second later she was to her feet and off running down the beach. We all screamed again and he emerged again this time putting on pants. She went a ways and then jumped in the water and swam out past the HUGE waves. Just outside the breaking waves with everyone watching from the shore she raised a hand, waved and then dove down. The boyfriend swam out after her and screamed and dove and screamed her name over and over looking for her. She had intentionally drown herself... She did not appear again for 3 days. The fish had done a number on her. It was not a pretty sight. The Federal Police questioned all of us and took the boyfriend away. We explained what we saw and he was released back to camp a few days later. We learned later that before she came out of the tent he had awakened with a rope around his throat and her tightening it down. We also heard that they had been experimenting with the local cactus plants and peyote recipes...

Accident: About 5yrs ago my friend Johnny-O died in a car crash in Baja. We had not been in touch for a while since he had gotten married and moved there full time. He was a great dude though.

Punta Conejo

The set waves are overhead but straight into shore for a pounding. We'll hike the beaches later for any kind of sandbar that could shape the waves into a ride-able form or wait and hope for the afternoon offshore wind to fix them. I tried firing some fishing gear past the swell but it's too far out to get into the fishing zone. Looks like no yaking or surfing today but there's miles of beach to comb and lots of cool shells. I managed to find a bunch more cool fishing net floats and a dead dolphin. It's a whole body skeleton with the meat gone but skin attached. I'm gunna go back to it later with my saw and remove the skull. If anybody tries to stop me I'll give them some kind of marine biologist bullshit. I wonder if I can sneak that home anyway... Garen's buddy Chris finally showed today. They had more trailer trouble and during the repair it fell from the jacks and caused more. Straightened axle, new (used) springs/shocks with welding for only $35 bucks. Rides great now except for the body damage caused during the fall. No surfing but did manage to cut the head off that dolphin. Had to leave the top half though because the gray matter was still in there and it STUNK. The lower jaw is clean though and it's cool and in my truck. Here's the before shot:

Leaving Scorp Bay

Left Scorpion Bay. It was FLAT (for waves) but the fish were bitting... The big NW swell coming will miss this spot so we decided as a group to head south. Puerto A. Lopez Mateos has BIG grouper in the mangroves and it's part of Magdalena Bay which has all kinds of whales. We arrived there though to find it a shabby/seedy run down cannery town not suitable for camping. There was a hot yellowfin tuna bite going on about 12 miles out with 80lb fish being caught. All the pangas were rented out so it was not possible to find anyone to drive our kayaks out and drop us off for fishing. We decided to leave when a transvestite hooker propositioned us. Ten minutes for ten bucks and anything we wanted or something like that (my Spanish is not so good). I thought about it for a second and even with one the third fewer options a tranny has to offer, it was a decent price. I said "No way Jose" though and we split for Punta Conejo early. Here's a sunset shot taken when we arrived. We setup a very private camp in an arroyo way away from the other 8 or so folks camping there also.

Road Pics

Some examples of the driving conditions and the amazing views. Here is looking forward, then back and another one forward of the Becker boys ahead of me. This is a "road" going from Cortez side to the Pacific.

Beach Running

Took advantage of the lowest low tide of the year and went for a ride down the beach. Here's what a 50mph ride on the roof of the Suburban looks like. Luckily I had the straps to hold on to for the bumps (probably caused by pesky turtles). KIDDING! The beach on that stretch must run for a hundred miles.

Halibut shot

Caught casting from the beach. I should have sucked in my gut to make the fish look bigger. haha...

Scorp Bay still

Bumpy ocean today.  Doesn't look good for kayaking or surfing.  Here's our standard egg&fish breakfast. 

Fished from shore for a nice halibut.  (pic here).   I saw 4, hooked 2 and landed just the 1.   

Met camping neighbor JD who lent me book THE GUIDE TO BAJA SEA KAYAKING 2008 by Dave Eckardt.  Great book.  GPS coords and everything.

Still now waves so drank beer, internetted, played baseball and continued shore fishing.  No swell according to wetsand.com so we're leaving for Magdalena Bay in the am to kayak with whales and fish for big grouper in the mangroves.  We'll meet Chirs (from Santa Cru) and his buddy John at Punta Conejo in a few days.  A big NW swell is due to hit there on Monday and last a few days.

Scorpion Bay

Up at dawn, pot of coffee and paddle out under a beautiful sunrise.  Instant fish on and continued to troll and cast just outside surf line for all the shortfin corvina, kelp bass and spotted bay bass you could want.   I kept a few of the larger ones to stock the fridge.  We eat fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I did buy some oatmeal and bananas though for a change at breakfast.  On the way in from fishing I stepped on something squishy and watched a 20"+ halibut swim away.  That's now the second time that's happened.  Lucky they're not sting rays or I'd be hurting.  Supposedly the sting is like a rattlesnake and scorpion combined but only lasts 8hrs and doesn't kill you though you wish it would.    After breakfast I grabbed the spreargun, mask and snorkel to take a look for an unsuspecting halibut.  Just like at Alejandro's, they could see me coming before I could see them and I could not get a shot

 off in time.  Also shot at some corvina but they move way too fast.   Surfed knee to waist high waves for those really long waves until the sun went down.   I love paddling without a wetsuit.

Had dinner at the restaurant and in walks a friend of Garen's from Santa Cru.  At the going away party he told me he'd be down here but no specific place.  What a trip to meet up...  We drank shots of Tequila and Ballenas (big 1 liter beers) until they kicked us out.  Then back to camp for a super lat night bonfire.  Here's a sunset pic.

Mulege too windy

Too windy to paddle so we slept in and ate breakfast at a the best coffee place according to the poll results from last night.   Decided to head over to the Pacific side to surf more since the wind forecast was to blow until Sat.  Stocked-up on produce.  Arrived Scorpion Bay (San Juanico) and met "Pit Bull Mike" who gave us all the necessary intel on the spot.  Campsites there are excellent along with a nice clean bathroom and cool outdoor palapa style restaurant.  The right moving waves were waist high and very surfable with LONG rides about 200+ yards if you could make the fast sections.  It took me a while to figure it out but did and got some long rides all out on the nose of the board.   Here's some road shots from Mulege to San Juanico.  It's a B AD road of washouts and boulders.

Mulege Blowout

While admiring the beauty of the Mulege beaches (south down Mex 1) doing 50+ mph I had a gnarly blowout.  Sounded like a cannon shot and I'm lucky there was some room on the shoulder.  I planned for this and brought two spares.  Now I'm down to 1.

More Older Photos

Mulege campo:

Alejandro's Surf Break above Santa Rosalita.  Turn right just after the power station outside of town:

Loaded and ready to paddle:

Older Photos

Bahia de Los Angeles sunrise:

Campo Archelon in Bahia de Los Angeles:

Paddle Hunt in Mulege

Looked for a paddle at two possible spots but without any luck.  This town sucks and the hotel stinks but it was my first hot shower in a long while.  Driving to Mulege after Guerro, the scenery really changes.  The desert is very green and palm trees are in pockets all over the place.

Military Checkpoint Hint:  Each time I get to one I put my fishing book (the Baja Catch) on the dashboard.  I just say "fishing vacation" and point at the book.  Each time I get waved through but Garen and Alex get searched.  The keep getting shaken-down for batteries.  The army dudes really want them.  

I should have brought more sushi paper (dried seaweed).  We made some Corvina ceviche and rolled it up in paper with sushi rice that I made.  AWESOME.  We now eat all kinds of fish in the paper like a burrito.  

Arrived in Mulege.  Looked for paddle and had some drinks at El Candil.  Met a cool local (Rick) who gave us all the intel we needed about Mulege.   We took a palapa at Campo Don Dunas just a short walk outside of town.  $5 per person.  The campo was great (pic here) with fruit tree lined camp areas, a very clean toilet and shower and 110v at each site.  Manuel the owner turned me on to Ed who is attempting to start a kayak rental business in town.  I walked to Ed's an negotiated a deal to 'rent' a paddle. $100 buck and $50 back when I return it.  I just keep it but he's a really cool guy who commercial fished out of Morro Bay his whole life.  I'll do the right thing.  To celebrate the successful renting he poured us all multiple vodka shots and burned some funny smelling green tobacco like stuff.  

Went downtown Mulege for a pub crawl.  Hit all the bars and met a ton of folks but mostly we partied with Dwayne the gay-paramedic-Canadian-Harley motorcycle rider and his "girlfriend".  Funny stuff.  He checked out my finger and determined it's fine but needs to stay moist or it'll grow the nail weird.  I keep it polysporin'd all the time now.

Leaving Alejandro's to Guerro Negro

Super ealy am a pack of Coyotes raced through camp and must have killed something based on the screams of their excitement.  It sounded like something from a Stephen King horror scene.  With the Rattle Snake (pic here) discovered in the outhouse and that, it was a good idea to have a pee bucket in the van with me last night.  I don't want to be walking around at night.

Woke up at dawn to get in a surf before heading to Guerro Negro.  Better waves today with occasional overhead set waves.   

Arrived Guerro and tried out my ATM card at the only Banamex in town.  Worked without any problem.  That's good because when paying with dollars you get 10 or 11 pesos exchange from a store or vendor.  From a bank you get 13.x.  Mucho better...  Got the tourist card and have to pay a bank 237 pesos within the week to be legit.  We decided to stay the night in order to watch Monday Night Football.   It's 172 more miles to Mulege so we'll do that fresh tomorrow since it was getting late also.  The only hotel in town with cable said 'Si, ESPN', when we asked but they really didn't.  Moldy smelling room but it had a very safe parking lot so we stayed anyway...

Up Shit Creek...

Now the norm I awake at dawn and go to bed around 8pm.  First thing is a pot of coffee and then prep kayak for fishing.  Today however I discovered my paddle did not make this leg of the trip.   I can only guess that I was relieved of it when I left it on the beach overnight in Bahia de Los Angeles.  Alex also is missing his net.  Luckily the waves were still firing so I surfed instead.  Waist to chest high again with super long rides.   After my am surf I worked down a very long (5 miles) beach casting for any fish to bite.  Along the way I pulled on every piece of rope sticking out of the sand.  I found a bunch of really cool fishing float that I'll add to my collection on my backyard fence (pic here).  I also used the long walk to blow off the steam of missing my paddle and being on a mostly fishing trip without a freaking paddle...   The locals told me it might be possible to find one in Guerro Negro. We need to go there anyway for our tourist cards.  Did some spearfishing but could not get any hits.  I stalked many fish in my mask and snorkel but could not get any hits.   A guy earlier in the day got a 30" Halibut.  That's a nice fish...

Leaving Cortez Sea for the Pacific Side

Packed up camp to get some groceries, gas, water and eat at this great little restaurant we discovered.  Cheap, good and big portions.   The wind is a bummer so we wanna head over to the Pacific side to see about some surf.  Arrived at Santa Rosalitta and headed north on a terrible road looking for a way to the playa (beach).  After 3 or 4 where my two wheel drive van could not go we finally found Campo Alejandro's.  What a find!!!  $5 per night per car which included fresh (local) water, a shower (cold) and a cabana  (pic here).  The best part though were the waves.  A right point break over sand that runs about a 150 yards.  That's fun.   I immediately suited up and paddled out to enjoy them before dark.  Perfect long waist to chest high with head high set waves.  Another beautiful sunset (pic here).    

Thumb Update:  Nail has fallen off and healing looks good.  (pic here)

Bahia de Los Angeles

Campo Archelon is really cool.  Neat stone walled palapas right on the water.   We awoke at dawn to prep our kayaks for fishing.  No wind at all and a BEAUTIFUL sunset (pic here).  Barely got away from shore before my first fish-on.  The bay is crawling with Spotted Bay Bass.  Nice little fighters but not much sie to them.  Switched baits to try for a Yellowtail but no takers.  More Spotted and a grouper (that spooled me) from the shore of Isla Smith that I paddled out to and fished from.   The wind started to blow hard so I head for camp.  5hr paddle covering about 7 miles.  Cooked in camp and listened to stories from a camping neighbor Richard who used to be a mercenary in Angola.  Weird stuff...

Beluga Campo to Bahia de Los Angeles

Got up early to leave for Bahia de Los Angeles. Discovered the Suburban had busted a shock and the top shock mount was sheared in half. Garen later extended the shock, poked it in the ground and went in reverse until it completely busted off. It´s not really needed with all the springs they´ve got on that lifted monster truck.

Forgot to mention the night time visit from the Mex army last night. They snuck up the beach on us but Camper (Garen´s dog) sniffed them out and started barking. They turned on their head lights, walked up and then just kinda hung around and chatted. Evenutally the main dude patted each truck and asked ¨ IS OK?¨, we said yes and he (I guess) determined to not bother and search our trucks.

Gonzaga Bay early in the am-

Here´s some scenery on the road to Bahia-

Punta Bufeo Day 2/3 and out

Had coffee with some local residents (Ford and wife) and they showed me their house. Nice pad with a great solar system. That´s how I wanna retire. We fished before that for very little action. A weather system had kinda moved in and the only fish on I had spooled me out of line. It must have been huge but my gear was too light to stop it.

Drove to Gonzaga Bay and camped at Campo Beluga. Here´s a shot of their standard palapa on the beach which exists at most campos. We had a great game of baseball in the parking lot.

We had lunch at Alfonsinas and stocked up on groceries at Rancho Grande Mini Market out in the middle of nowhere. We´re two days of solid driving on CRAPPY dirt-rock-sand roads and this oasis mini market fully stocked pops-up.