The road home

I woke up late in La Paz because I didn't have far to go. I went out to breakfast with Martine the hotel receptionist to what was supposed to be the best Carnitas stand in town. We walked about 6 blocks and went through the downtown market area which was interesting. Lots of little shops and things but this wasn't a shopping trip for me so I only saw what was in the windows. Everything is a lot cheaper there. You can tell it's a place where Mexicans shop, not gringos. 

After breakfast I went back to the hotel for a shower and then packed up to head north to the Rainbow Gathering. I got out of there around noon and rode for about 30 miles north along the inner coast of the Sea of Cortez before I ran out of pavement. From there on I faced about 20 miles of rough dirt/gravel/sand road. I passed through a small mining town called San Juan De La Costa (holy long name) and one man directed me to keep riding along a certain road and I'd find the place.

The Rainbow Gathering was being held at Punta Coyote (Coyote Point) and I could see on my map that it was quite a ways away. The road was really rough to ride on, especially on a street bike but after awhile I found out that if I just went faster and leaned back a little bit it wouldn't give my suspension enough time to bottom out when I hit a bump. The ninja's suspension has a very short travel so if I went to slow it was really hard on the bike. The trade off being that it's a little easier to lose control and go down when you're going faster. I shrugged it off and cruised along at about 30-35mph unless I came upon a creek to cross (usually filled with sand) in which case I would slow down a bit. The road was well traveled by cars and trucks you could tell which was nice to know in case I did get stuck out there somehow.

I rode for a long while, and eventually found myself in a situation I'd already been in a few times on the trip. The sun was going down, I was in the middle of nowhere, and I didn't know exactly what I was looking for. I knew the place was roughly 31km past where I ran out of pavement but that didn't help much because I didn't see so much as a small trail off the side of the road the whole way, let alone one that had vehicle tracks on it. I pulled over for a moment to evaluate my situation and then all of a sudden two mexican dudes pulled up to ask if I was ok. It was seriously out of nowhere. I askd them if they knew where the place was I was trying to get to, and they directed me back about 3km and told me to look for a small pile of stones. They said that was the place I had to turn off and they mentioned that one would expect there to be a sign or atleast a bigger pile of rocks. On my way back I saw a car on the side of the road and a couple of people standing around as well. I pulled up and for the first time in my life was happy to see hippies. They were fixing the sign that the wind blew over that was directing people to the little trail that takes them out to the beach. It was another rough sand road that I barely made it through but luckily I had plenty of practice with that the day before so atleast I made it look easy to all of those watching.

There were only about 60 people out there I'd guess. They all just set up a little commune for a month or so and camp, drink tea, eat, dance, make music, and all that stuff hippies love to do. Really pleasant crowd overall but I just chatted a bit since I arrived rather late. I set up my tent near the beach, drank some tea with them, and then had another perfect night of camping on the beach. 

I woke up and packed up since I knew I had to navigate all of those dirt roads all over again, and then another 30 miles before I was even going to begin my 300 mile ride to Mulege. I must have taken a wrong turn on the way back because I ended up right in the middle of the mining area that was the reason San Juan De La Costa existed. It was a pretty funny scene actually. All of these mexican workers roaming around and big Semi trucks hauling rocks and such and then this blue man on a little green bike riding around in every direction trying to find his way out. I ended up at the inside of the gate that I was told to turn back at the day before. The guy at the gate looked at me very strangely and said something in spanish a few times. I just said "What's up dude!" and then just kept pointing in different directions saying "La Paz? La Paz?".  I think the guy was trying to question me about what I was doing in their mine area but he gave up quickly and let me through. My plan of acting like I'd done nothing wrong worked, and well... I didn't really do anything wrong anyways except for maybe trespass. 

I made it back to the main highway and took down some water and a couple empenada's before I headed out to Mulege. Had another uneventful pleasant day of riding and even stopped for lunch in a place just north of  Ciudad Insurgentes and had some AWESOME carne asada sandwiches for dirt cheap. Chased em down with a corona and then hit the road again. I hope I remember that place.

I made it to Mulege at around 4pm  I think. I set up camp once again in my perfect little beach hut thing. They had renovated it since I was last there I could tell. It now had 3 walls (fancy stuff) and some of the palm leaves were green. I said hello to the friendly canadians and then they said they could watch some of my things for my while I went to get dinner at a restaurant down the road. I took down three MONSTER  fish tacos and a corona and then headed back to camp to relax for a bit. I ended up hanging out with Lawrence and Ricky the canadian couple and had a great time. Ricky told me about how they had been living there for 5 months during the winter for the past 11 years. She showed me their whole home away from home that they build for themselves every winter, pointing out improvements made over the years. This year Lawrence put together a full blown kitchen in the little grass hut next to their RV. The thing was stocked with a fridge, deep freezer (propane powered), stove, pots pans, condiments, and of course some cervezas.  They were also building a makeshift shower right outside of the kitchen because their children are coming to visit for christmas. They even had a big dried cactus out front for a christmas tree when the time comes. There were a bunch of small solar powered lights, as well as two large solar panels set up that I assume charge all of their batteries by the size of them. 

Later on I chatted with Lawrence about Baja, and about the fishing down there. I guess he catches most of their meals which I thought was pretty cool. They have an awesome selection in the sea of cortez since the water is a tad extra salty and is warm year round. Gringos are allowed to catch any sort of fish but no squid, crab, shrimp, clams, pretty much anything with a shell. He fried up some shrimp and calamari that he swore had been swimming that morning. Definitely the best calamari I've ever had. Might have been because he makes it often enough to really excel at it or maybe it is because it was so fresh, who knows. All I know is it was delicious. He told me to stop by for some coffee in the morning and since the sun had gone down they were heading to bed. It was now about 9pm I'd say. The moon was nearly full and the sky was clear leaving the whole beach looking very calm with that light blue glow over it that the moon always gives off on a clear night. Very peaceful.  I headed to bed and slept well.

I woke up just before the sun rose. Lawrence was wide awake next door and yelled over for me to come join them. I sat and had a cup of joe with them and chatted while we watched the sung come over the rocky hills at the other side of the way. I really can't wait to get back to Mulege. After the sun rise, I packed up and said farewell to Lawrence and Ricky, I also thanked them repeatedly for their hospitality and then set off for Guerrero Negro. I only had to ride about 210 miles today so I got to take it easy and slow down my pace. I stopped for lunch in San Ignacio which was good and then made it to Guerrero Negro fairly early. There's nothing to do in Guerrero Negro as it's just a company town. It's actually one of the worlds largest evaporative salt mines. I found that interesting but it was too late in the day to go check them out since you had to arrange it with the company (ESSA) in the morning. It's also a prime whale watching place but again it was too late in the day to arrange a boat to take me out and I didn't want to spend any more money than I had to since it was getting tight. I slept in a cheap but clean hotel near the entrance to town so I could get a quick start out in the morning for my 380 mile ride to Ensanada. I watched some TV (luckily they had english TV, and some shows I like) and went to bed pretty early. I woke up before sunrise and got ready to head out. I passed the 50 foot tall black steel structure resembling an Eagle that marks the 1 hour time zone difference between southern and nothern Baja. Being back in northern Baja it was pretty cold out around sunrise so I rode until I reached what I knew was the last gas station for 210 miles or so and then stopped for breakfast. I had a couple of amazing chicken tomales and some chorizo and eggs for breakfast, filled up on gas, and hit the road. I went through all of the familiar areas. The winding dessert road, the giant boulder formations, and the mountainous area just before El Roasio. It was nice going a little slower this time to check out the giant boulders, endless views, and enormous cactus along the way. I stopped for lunch in an awesome place called Baja's Best which is at the southern end of town in El Rosario right on the main strip. A gringo named Ed runs it with his wife Yoli and they are very friendly. The food is great, and the prices are equally great so I recommend it to anyone who heads through El Rosario. You can even get a nice room for a couple including breakfast and coffee for about 60 dollars american. In the pictures it looked like a nice deal, for a couple at least.

I kept riding and riding, back up into northern baja where people aren't as good at driving and you can tell one too many american tourists have been through there. Other than the nature and some nice roads I'm not too big a fan of northern baja, at least on the pacific side as I haven't been to the east coast. I just rode through it all day, I wanted to check out the beach in San Quintin but I promised the ninja no more dirt on this trip since it had been such a team player and didn't complain the whole time in La Paz. I just kept riding all the way back to Ensanada and stayed in the same hotel. This time I walked around their main tourist strip, checked out a couple small shops, and ate a kick ass dinner at some restaurant. I went back to my room and went to bed since it was dark out at that point. I watched some TV and then fell asleep. 

I woke up around sunrise as planned, got ready to go, jumped on the bike and headed down the street for some breakfast. I had some really good fresh fuit, huevos, hot cakes, and coffee. After I finished I fueled up and then rode to Tijuana. The border crossing itself was easy but all of the traffic and peddlers harrassing you up to the border are a little annoying. I expected it all so it wasn't a big deal. I made it across border by 11am and called a friend in LA to see if I could crash. They didn't pick up so I called another friend to have them google the drive time from San Diego to Petaluma. I'd already ridden about 80 miles that day and it was another 600 or so to get home. I said screw it, jumped on the bike, and iron-butted it all the way back. Only stopping for gas and food here and there along the 5. It was the longest day of riding I'd done my entire trip but it got me home a day early and was definitely worth it. The whole ride back from cabo went by so fast that I can't believe I back still. I can't wait to go back to baja next year and attack all of those dirt roads in the middle of the dessert I was teased by during the last 14 days. I want to go with some friends and this time bring a more dirt appropriate bike. Probably a KLR650 or something like that.

I highly suggest the road trip to the end of baja to anyone whether it be in a car, on a motorcycle, or even a  bicycle. It's worth seeing especially if you live in california since it's so damn accessible. 

I'm home safe, and I just wanted to give a special thanks to my kick ass ninja 250. It exceeded my expectations in every way and I am simply amazed at how tough those bikes are built. Well done Kawasaki, keep em coming.

Thanks to my friends Rey, Cathy, and Victoria for flying down and hanging out in Cabo for a few days. That was a most excellent break in the middle of the road trip. The resort, food, and margaritas were good, but the company was the best part.

Last but far from least would be all the people worrying about me and telling me I'd better make it home safe even when I insisted they not worry. I always kept all of you in the back of my head whenever I really really wanted to do something stupid. I figured I'd piss off a lot of people if I got taken out doing something stupid and nobody even got to watch so I held back.

Cheers,

Erich