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BAJA CALIFORNIA (MEXICO), a real Off-Road
Adventure
(especially with Jeeps)
This is a pics-series about our 1999 spring break Baja adventure. I was helping my good
friend Werner who runs an off-road adventure operation based on good old
American Jeeps.
Sorry no Unimogs this time. Next time I'm gonna be there with my 416 Diesel Monster. I
ain't gonna shovel rocks around, so that I won't slide on my pumpkins (diffs) all over the
virtually non existing road, etc...
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Convoy !!! It all starts near the US border in Mexico,
between Tecate (great beer) and Mexicali. |
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| About 30 miles south and west of a dry salt lake you find
the Guadalupe canyon. Palm trees and hot springs in the middle of a rocky desert. |
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I love palm trees, especially lots of them and surrounded by rocks. There
is a creek flowing trhough the middle of them. |
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| The overflow of a hot spring in the foreground. The water is
finally feeding the palm trees again. |
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How does this sound as the right camping spot ??? Back in the palm trees a
hot spring to relax in. |
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| This is the close up of the hot spring. A little improved
with concrete, so that the hot water stays inside. |
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Another dry river bed. Lost about 30 miles south and still west of the dry
salt lake. In search of another valley with more palm trees and hot springs. |
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| We finally found it. Another day in paradise. Can you see
the road. Don't worry, it wasn't too clear to us either. |
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How does this hit you as the next camping environment. I love it. This is
not like canyon De Guadalupe, there is no one around here, guaranteed !!! |
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| Yes at the beginning of April, with an Arctic cold front
over Northern California. This is the place to be. Sunny and warm Baja California. |
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The camp. That's it, do I have to explain more ??? Back to basics, peace
and lots of sunshine. |
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| You will find a lot of different cactus plants all over the
place. Just don't get too close. The rocks in the background make this the classic Baja
picture. |
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| Son Vincent is a good measurement to estimate the size of
a local organ pipe cactus. He's 6' 3" tall. |
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| Here a few blossoms on the top of a barrel cactus. This
particular cactus was about 4' in size. |
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Sorry, but I have to present this picture as large as it is. The rocks,
the palm trees, the blue sky, the right place to be in winter. About 5 more miles and you
have personal hot springs all for your self. Unfortunately did the Jeeps not manage the
remainder of what was once a road. Unimogs next time, for sure. |
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| One more classic picture. What a panorama. I can hardly wait
for winter 1999 / 2000 for my next Baja adventure. |
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Well, as I said, there is water. That's the road to freedom, slow and
rocky, but at the end it's worth it. |
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| I guarantee your that we where the only humans within a 50
mile radius. I wish, I would be there again, right now if I only could. |
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Rocks, sand, some flowers and blue sky. Here with some clouds. Actually,
there was some rain in the mountains in the far back. |
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| Well, again, please let me introduce "The Road". A
couple of minutes later it started to rain real hard and the road was no longer climbable
with our Jeeps. |
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Once again, through a forest of palm trees. This time we had to make sure
to not get stuck in the mud between the trees. The ground was very soft, every where. As
you can see, grass, dry palm leaves on the ground and lots of water, which is not too
obvious in this picture. |
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| Take a close look at the rear wheel. We really made an
effort to go fast through the mud. You just cant risk to get stuck. We had plenty of
trees, but no winch. |
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Back on the road again. Really, that's a nice sandy road. compared to
other parts of our trip. |
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| A short stop. I had to fix a clutch linkage on the red J10,
which broke right there. You can also see our scout three wheeler. It was the only thing
which made it to the hot springs in the 2nd canyon. |
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That's the sceene right next to the salt flat. Al you have to do is go
south, straight as can be. |
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| At the local camp spot in San Felipe. A few abandoned beach
houses, sand and the Sea of Cortez (golf of California) in the background. |
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This is the place to rest after some of the off road adventures in Baja California. The
beach 5 miles north of San Felipe Mexico.
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