Return to Alcatraz!

<first Chris, Coco and Myself at Coco's Corner>

Chris Marzonie's photo

After grabbing much needed supplies in Bahia (beer, tortillas, etc.) we headed back north of town to cross the dry lake bed and head towards Ensenada Alcatraz. Or since I spent my birthday there this year, Playa Algodon! It wasn't nearly as green down here, but we were still wary crossing the lake bed with the obvious rain they had gotten in parts of the peninsula. A lot of worry for nothing though. Long, flat out drive over the bed and an old lava flow until you get to the canyon that leads you to the coast.

Right before you arrive on the beach there is a mile or so, of mud flats that are inundated from extreme high tides. This section was a bit wet and muddy. I walked part of it in front of Chuck and the rest of the group before we decided to just floor it and hope for the best. Chuck gunned it through and I hopped onto to the bumper of Chris's truck and rode the rest of the way in. It ended up not being too bad, but the last thing you want is to get stuck out there.

Back at my happy place... :)

We quickly noticed a couple of coyotes working the beach. They would end up being around the entire week we were there. Every morning you could find the fresh tracks as they scavenged anything we dropped.

For the next five days or so we literally sat on the beach and did as we pleased.

Chris Marzonie's photo

I'm on vacation I can sleep in dangit!

Home sweet home, affectionately known as Hobo camp.

It was a bit windy and cool the first couple of days so I did some hiking. Chris and I picked the tallest peak we could spot from the beach and headed for it. I think it ended up being just over 1,100 feet from sea level (literally).



Chris Marzonie's photo

Chris Marzonie's photo

During another hike, the local coyote and I kept playing a game of follow the leader. I started by following him up a wash. After a while he got bored with me a disappeared. Not long after that I noticed he had just gotten behind me and was following my lead up the hill now. Gorgeous coyote. He looked surprisingly healthy, I guess the beach combing is pretty good here.

When the wind finally calmed, Chuck and I launched the kayaks. We had been skunked last trip on fish and were determined to fix that this time. It didn't take long before Chuck found the magic formula, bouncing spoons off the bottom over deep rocky reefs. After that, it was easy pickings.



 Chuck Hathcock's photo

Chris Marzonie's photo

Dinner is served! With the wind calmed the kayaking was really spectacular. Lots of dolphins and sea lions every time out. Occasionally you could hear a whale surface, or spot a sea turtle too.

Chirs Marzonie's photo

One windy afternoon, we made the hike up the beach around the point to the north. The little cove had another gorgeous beach that we had considered camping at before, it's a bit more exposed with higher tide lines, but still gorgeous.

 

Al took off to meet some friends of his on New Year's Eve. I'm not sure whether he would have been sad  or relieved he missed out on the festivities that night... I'll just post a few pictures and leave them without comment.



It was an entertaining evening.

The morning of the first Chuck and I turned and made the long haul all the way back to Phoenix. Chris hung out for another day on the beach before continuing south on his travels.

Been back a few weeks now and I already miss that beach.
Here's the New Years Crew

Chris Marzonie's photo

 Chuck Hathcock's photo

Mexican Holidays

Several months ago after noticing how much airline tickets were to fly to Texas for Christmas/New Years, a plan was formed to make a Baja trip instead. Chuck was in as well, so we put together a trip and headed south and crossed the border on Christmas eve. We took the same route for the first leg of the trip as we did in the spring, crossing at Mexicali and heading for San Felipe. First stop was just north of San Felipe. I have to give Michael from the spring trip credit for this, but no baja trip would be complete now without a stop at the fireworks stand.

Grande Boom! Worth every penny.

Chuck and I ended up purchasing a small armory, money well spent.  We headed into San Felipe.

About this point in the trip it became very clear that this was a different sort of trip then the one I made in the spring. In the spring Chuck and I bounced all over the place looking for endemic species and wildlife. While that trip was more of a biology trip then anything else, this was straight vacation. I hadn't taken a single note in my field book, or written down any of the birds I had seen to this point. Very strange for me.

I really like San Felipe, the town looked like it might have been hurting a little from a lack of tourists. Especially considering it was Christmas eve.

It was nice to see the Sea of Cortez again, I missed it.

I decided that when I can finally have a dog, I'm coming down to Mexico and taking one of these guys off the street. I was also fond of the lack of a need for a boat ramp.

There were two more very important stops in San Felipe before we could continue south.

Number 1...

And number 2...I wish I could describe how happy this makes me. No matter how many times I try, I could never make these as well as the little Mexican lady.

We also met up with Al, and Chris in San Felipe. Chris is starting some half year long trip ending in Central America. If only I could skip half a year of work...

We left San Felipe later then intended therefore we decided to head towards Percebu, north of Gonzaga Bay, to crash for the evening. The place was deserted, so we made ourselves at home under a palapa. After a dinner of chips, local salsa, and tequila I crashed hard into my sleeping bag. The weather was still getting extremely cool in the evenings and the wind was moving. However the sunrise in the morning definitely made up for it.

 Merry Christmas to me!

We managed to get out early enough to avoid anyone coming around looking to collect a fee for camping. Headed south again, we found the end of the pavement and aired down the tires since much of the driving from here was on dirt road or two tracks. The road was actually several miles of pavement further then it was when I was here in the spring. They are really trying to get a paved road all the way into Gonzaga Bay.

We stopped briefly in Gonzaga Bay for brunch. I had huevos rancheros with fresh shrimp... holy crap it was good. The wind was still howling though. We had originally intended to stay here a night but with the weather being as it was we decided to keep moving and head inland a bit.

After several miles of dirt road we came to Coco's Corner. Chuck and I stopped here in the spring but Coco was unfortunately in the hospital. He was home this time so we stopped, had a beer, and chatted with him for a while.  The man is a Baja legend and it was great having the chance to listen to him for a while. Chris got a pic of us with Coco, I'll be sure to post it when I get it.

After Coco's we turned inland and drove up Calamajue Canyon, a new route for me. I love finding water in the desert.

The Mineral formation from a spring in the side of the mountain is one of the landmarks this track is known for.

Very cool. Now even though this was a vacation and not a biology trip, I still looked for wildlife. I can't help it. I didn't find anything out of the ordinary, just some killdeer. But definitely wouldn't mind coming back up this canyon again to do more looking around. The two track followed the stream several miles into the canyon. Even after we climbed out of the canyon the road didn't lack for scenery.



Note the plants that look like Joshua Trees, similar but different species.

The further down we went the greener it got. They had obviously gotten some rain. The desert looked like a gold course in places it was absolutely incredible. All the elephant trees that are usually leafless and brown, were leafed out. Everything was green, talk about good timing on our part. The recent rain would probably let things green up and photosynthesize for only a few weeks. It was great.

The light was getting low but you can still notice the green. For reference, this picture was the same road just further north where it obviously didn't rain as much.

Check out the size of this Cardon cactus!

We found a ridge off the road to camp. Still cool and windy but man the veg. here was fantastic.



And more green in the morning! It was green all the way to HWY 1 and almost to our turn off just north of Bahia de los angeles.

Nice fairway huh?

Ok, sorry for the picture dump. But after having traveled, worked and camped in the desert for the last year... this was incredible.

We made our way in Bahia de los angeles to get supplies and gas up before heading to Ensenada Alcatraz.