Adios Baja, Hola Jalisco

From Baja

Baja has treated us well.

When we tell people that we have ridden from Mexicali, more often than not we get perplexed reactions. Ranging from ¨youre insane´¨, to ¨that road is crazy¨, and every once in a while we get words of encouragement and amazement. People like to refer to riding through Baja as RIDING THE BAJA, but thats unfair. Sure 90 percent of Baja visitors ride Hwy 1 which cuts south through the entire peninsula, but they fail to acknowledge that there are all sorts of other options to get off the beaten path. Riding on that highway was both fast and enfuriating. It was nice to make miles on smooth pavement, but not so nice to ride constantly on a road with relatively heavy traffic, and that road having zero shoulder for space from traffic. We did quickly get into the habit of hopping off the road if we saw semis coming from both directions. I think Lisa would agree that many of our favorite moments were when we were out on the slow dirt roads, not much traffic, and the rewards were really earned. We have no idea what the roads will be like in Mainland Mexico and beyond, but at least there are options as there were in Baja.

Ive gotten so far behind on the blog that Im just going to put captions below the photos to tell some of the story. Hope you can enjoy...

From Baja

leaving Puertecitos to see the Sea of Cortez become overwhelming, too bad the clouds don{t show how turquoise that water is...

From Baja

get used to pushing when the pavement ends

From Baja

las montanas son muy bonita

From Baja

gonzaga bay, one of our favorite spots on the sea of cortez. At low tide a sandbar is exposed and you can hike out to the island

From Baja

so many beautiful sunsets, this one over Lisas beautiful bike

From Baja

clouds meant storm in the mountains, which meant scary 50mph winds where we were down below

From Baja

the Boojum Tree, named by Dr Seuss, and the coolest plant on the peninsula...

From Baja

From Baja

nice waves on an impressive swell near Santa Rosalita surf camp

From Baja

From Baja

beauty in the sand dunes north of Guerrero Negro

From Baja

so many birds in protected marshland outside of Guerrero Negro

From Baja

From Baja

people have fun with their shredded tires in Baja

From Baja

these trees were a delighted site for us in San Ignacio

From Baja

first of many 200 plus year old churches, this one in San Ignacio

From Baja

Volcan Tres Virgenes which humbled us and had us turning back shy of the summit

From Baja

ouch!

From Baja

From Baja

most fun descent of the trip possibly down to the sea of cortez at Santa Rosalia

From Baja

From Baja

this trip could have the highest number of phenom sunsets of any trip weve done

From Baja

Bahia de Concepcion, a snowbirds heaven

From Baja

not a bad campsite on an island

From Baja

crossing the water to go back to the bikes

From Baja

climbed up high to check out San Javier church, off the beaten track for sure

From Baja

From Baja

From Baja

the Sierra de Giganta seen from our last beach on Bahia Conception

From Baja

amazing mountains and amazing canyons

From Baja

hiking up canyon Tabor

From Baja

whoa!!

From Baja

From Baja

back to bike pushing to get over the 4wd drive rd thru the Sierra de Gata, and down to Bahia de Muertos

From Baja

the payoff for that pushing

From Baja

From Baja

on a different, SANDY, dirt road along the eastern cape. Too much barbed wire, too many mansions, too much sand. sigh...

From Baja

From Baja

Cabo Pulmo was a magical spot

From Baja

with great snorkeling to boot

From Baja

the next day we entered the zoo at Cabo san Lucas, and this is the beach at Lands End

life has been good and it is time to move on...

From Baja