Baja California Road Trip: Tecate to Agua Verde

Intro

After a hectic season of work for Brad, it was time to head back to one of our favorite places—Baja California! The combination of desert and ocean makes it a great vacation choice for us, the sailor and the desert rat. And it doesn’t hurt that it is warm even in the middle of winter! Ahhhh!

We had three weeks of playing and lazing around to look forward to—just what the doctor ordered!

Towards the end of October, we loaded the truck up with our sea kayaks and camping gear and headed south.

Our final destination was two solid days of driving away to Loreto, but on this trip, we decided to break the trip into two distinct parts.

However, that night we just wanted to get to the border so we could cross it first thing in the morning. It’s much easier to get the red tape done at the border during business hours.

Tecate

The following morning we crossed the border at Tecate. This is one of the most charming towns in Baja, and unlike most border towns, it actually has a provincial Mexican ambience.

Even though there are over 85,000 people in the town, it feels much smaller. Tecate is also where the beer of the same name is made. What a lot of people don’t realize is that wine grapes are grown in the lovely rolling hills of the countryside.

We’ve always felt that Tecate was a gentle introduction to Baja; a wonderful way to ease into a culture so different from ours in the States.

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Part 1 – Cataviña

Our first destination was Cataviña-Parque Natural Del Desierto Central and Bahia de los Angeles. Cataviña is located in the northern part of the peninsula and sits in the middle of a huge granite boulder field.

Besides the incredible rock formations, the Sonoran Desert surrounding us included a strange and wonderful array of cardón cactus (similar to the saguaro found in Arizona), elephant trees, and cirios (also known as boojum trees). Many of the plants found in this region grow nowhere else in the world!

A Boojum tree grows up through the granite boulders

We’ve always been intrigued with the Cataviña area but on previous trips had only stopped for picnic lunches. This time we decided to camp for a couple of nights and explore the area.

Some of the boulders are so huge, they would dwarf a two-story building. It was fun to climb around on them, acting like children in a playground exploring all the nooks and crannies!

Brad and I lazed around enjoying the solitude and incredible scenery. The settlement of Cataviña had a Hotel La Pinta that boasted a wonderful little restaurant, and one of the evenings we went into town for dinner.

Cataviña had a gas station that closed since our last visit in spring, making for a long stretch on the peninsula without gasoline. We had filled up at the last possible spot in the urban area south of Ensenada.

When traveling through Baja, you make sure that you fill up every chance you get! It is not like being in the USA where gas stations are located nearly every city block. We had enough gas to get us to Villa Jesus Maria but not enough to make the spur trip to Bahia de los Angeles. Almost, but not quite enough.

So Brad decided to go into town and see if there were any options. Fortunately, some enterprising locals had set up next to the now-defunct gas station and were selling gasoline out of containers. He bought about five gallons from them; now we were set to go to Bahia de los Angeles!

The next morning, we had breakfast at Hotel La Pinta and headed south. The morning was beautiful and sunny, and we were looking forward to seeing marine life at the bay.

Part 2 – Bahia de los Angeles

Bahia de los Angeles is known as the poor man’s Galapagos because of the richness of marine life found there. Shortly after arriving at the bay and setting up in a campground, we headed to the Museo de Naturaleza y Cultura, a wonderful little museum located in town. We had visited it on a previous trip and enjoyed exhibits including skeletons of whales and other sea mammals.

We spent the afternoon cleaning and organizing our stuff. We decided to go kayaking the next day and planned on spending the night on one of the little islands. The last time we visited the bay, we saw whales and sea lions from our boats. We were hoping to do so again.

We were up early the following morning. After doing any paddling in Baja, you soon realize that it is very important to get an early start. Winds usually kick up by late morning or early afternoon, making paddling very difficult and nasty.

While packing up, we decided not to carry a tent. After all, we were in an area that can go years without getting rain. What did we have to worry about? Boy, was I to regret my decision later!

We took off about 7:00 A.M. and headed across the bay. Our first destination was Isla la Ventana (window in Spanish). The morning was cool but calm, and paddling was enjoyable.

We crossed the bay, paddled between Islas Pata (foot) and Bota (boot), and then headed north towards Isla Calavera (skull in Spanish). Calavera derives its name from the white color given it by the cormorants that roost there, and it held one of the main attractions for us, a colony of California sea lions.

You could hear them barking and watch them as they swam and lazed around on their island. We were able to paddle rather close to the island and observe them; they didn’t seem very concerned with us at all!

From here we could see Isla Piojo (louse), home of a permanent colony of pelicans.

The winds were starting to kick up by then and clouds were darkening the sky. We decided to head back to the south side of Isla Pata. Strong winds were coming out of the north and we wanted to get to a more sheltered area.

We pulled up on the beach and looked for the most protected area we could find. Since it was a tiny island, our choices were quite limited. With the cloud buildup, we had toyed with the idea of heading back to the mainland, but the wind now took the decision out of our hands. We had to hunker down.

As we ate dinner, the clouds got thicker and thicker. It started to sprinkle, surprising both of us. But that was to be just the beginning.

Shortly after going to bed, it started to pour. We jumped out of the sleeping bags, removed the ground cloth, and rigged a shelter over ourselves and the bedding. It wasn’t pleasant, but it kept us from getting soaked.

My thoughts worried over the fact that there was a chance that we might even be stuck for another night if this windy, rainy weather kept up. We got little sleep that night!

When we finally rose in the morning, the weather had abated somewhat and we broke camp quickly, determined to get back to the mainland before the next go ’round of wet weather.

On our way back, the wind kicked up and made the final stretch very difficult. I was having trouble even getting anywhere. I spent a half-hour in one spot even though I was steadily paddling! Talk about frustrating.

Brad is a much stronger paddler than I am and went ahead to get the truck, while I headed to shore about a mile short of our launch ramp. I was glad to get out of the boat.

I think the most disappointing thing was that we never saw any whales on this trip. Perhaps they headed to deeper water because of the storm.

Back at the truck, we cleaned everything and loaded up. We were back on the road by noon. It was time to head further south and warm up!

Part 3 – Santa Rosalia

After camping off of a road leading into the San Francisco de la Sierra mountain range, we continued south to Guerrero Negro. The town is located on the 28th parallel, which separates the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur.

There is not much to be said for the area as far as scenery goes, but as is the case in much of the less scenic areas of Baja, the marine life here is amazing! The area is flat, drab, and has little vegetation to break the monotony of its landscape.

But nearby Scammon’s Lagoon on the Pacific Coast is famous for a remarkable event that occurs every winter. Starting in January, huge numbers of female gray whales travel to Baja’s largest lagoon all the way from Alaska to give birth to their calves.

Because of the massive whaling enterprises of the 1800s, gray whales became nearly extinct. They are now protected and their numbers are estimated to have grown to about 21,000.

Gray whales are huge, being 30 to 50 feet long and weighing 20 to 40 tons! The young calves consume 50 gallons of milk per day and gain 60 to 70 pounds PER DAY! Brad and I had taken a whale-watching boat tour on a previous visit and got up close and personal with a few of them. What an experience that was! They truly are gentle giants.

We continued on to San Ignacio, a charming town on the edge of a peaceful oasis surrounded with palm trees. These date palms were introduced by Spanish missionaries over two hundred years ago.

The town has an annual date harvest and fiesta in July. In town is a mission that was completed in 1786 by Dominican friars for Spain, and church services are still held there daily. The town square is completely shaded by six huge Indian laurel trees which lend a very elegant, inviting look to this lovely park.

Pangas (fishing boats) at Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur

One of the things Brad and I really wanted to do was to go to the archeological museum in town to get more information on the prehistoric cave paintings found in the area. Unfortunately the museum was closed for the day and nobody around town could provide more information. We hoped we’d find the museum open on our return trip home.

We left San Ignacio and headed south to Santa Rosalia, an industrial town that owes its existence to copper and manganese mines founded in the 19th century. There is a church in town that has a remarkable history.

The church was constructed of prefabricated iron wall panels and was designed by Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame. The church was a prototype for missionary churches in France’s humid colonies of Africa that were constructed of materials resistant to termites.

On the southern outskirts of Santa Rosalia is our favorite hotel in all of Baja, Hotel El Morro. Once we get to there, we KNOW we are on vacation.

The hotel sits in a lovely setting on the edge of the Sea of Cortez, surrounded by lush tropical-looking vegetation and flowers galore. The rooms have their own little patio overlooking the harbor, and the hotel even has an aviary filled with songbirds that begin singing at dawn.

Connected to the hotel is a wonderful restaurant that has a magnificent view of the water, and their specialty is fresh seafood brought in by the local fishermen. When I’m there, the song that comes to mind is Jimmy Buffett’s “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” as you feel the rest of the world fade away.

Part 4 – Cave Paintings

On a previous trip to Baja, we had taken a drive from the highway south of Santa Rosalia. You can follow a rough dirt road for 75 miles, looping back to the highway near Mulegé.

We had read about it in a book called Backroad Baja: Maps, Logs, Trip Information, (Trip Eight) and the area turned out to be more beautiful than we could have ever imagined.

We took two days to drive it, camping that night amongst the gorgeous palo blanco and Zalate trees and surrounded by incredible volcanic rock cliffs.

Trip 8 in Backroad Baja book by Patti and Tom Higginbotham

Because we had enjoyed our earlier trip so much, we decided to explore a new road in the same area. We headed up a dirt road that would take us through the village of Santa Agueda, our final destination taking us deep into the mountains. We were hoping to see some of the ancient cave paintings that we’d read about, some of which are located near the end of the road we were on.

Not much is really known about those who painted these larger-than-life figures of animals and people, but they were painted by the only culture in Baja that left behind artifacts that had nothing to do with shelter or eating. Archaeologists say they were painted about 10,000 years ago!

We headed up the road, past a village named Santa Agueda. This settlement was established by the French to supply fresh water to the copper mining operation at Santa Rosalia.

The houses built by the French stand out conspicuously amongst the Mexican’s homes; they are built of wood, not the block and cement of the local population. There is no wood to build with in this desert locale, so the French had it shipped all the way from Oregon!

The road to Ranchos La Higuera and Candelaria was extremely rough and we practically crawled our way up into the mountains. The scenery was spectacular and we decided to camp early in a spot with a panoramic view.

It turned out we were less than a half-mile away from Rancho La Higuera. While we were setting up camp, a gentleman named Manuel came by to greet us. It turned out that all the land surrounding us was his family’s. He readily gave us permission to camp there, and we made arrangements (in very bad Spanish) to have Manuel lead us to the cave paintings the following morning.

The next morning we made our way to the ranch house, passing a friendly young man herding some goats. This was to be the beginning of a purely magical, lovely day!

Immediately upon our arrival at the house, we were invited in to meet the family and have coffee and homemade tortillas served with their own goat cheese. They were to the most kind and wonderful people you could ever hope to meet anywhere!

Señor Manuel led us to the cave paintings. We were fortunate to have his guidance; we would have never been able to locate these hidden treasures on our own.

We were amazed at how well preserved the pictographs were, especially considering that they had been painted on a pretty exposed wall of rock. Not really a cave, but more of an overhang. Only a couple of the pictures were clear enough to know what it was without requiring much imagination.

One of the photos is a rock art depiction of a deer and another was of bighorn sheep. It was incredible to think these pictographs were about 10,000 years old!

When we arrived back at the ranch house, Manuel and the family showed us around their property. Brad had expressed interest in where they got water and power, so we were shown a tank with hoses coming from two springs located nearby and the solar panel that supplied power for their limited needs.

As Brad mentioned earlier, they grew many kinds of fruit and vegetables. They also raised sugar cane, cattle, chickens and goats. All in all, it was my idea of pure heaven!

It was hard to say goodbye, but we finally left and made our way south again. We spent the night in Mulegé and listened to the election non-results on Brad’s A.M. radio in our room!

Part 5 – Loreto

The following day, we made our way to Loreto. On a previous trip, while Brad was out in a kayak, I had discovered a fabulous campsite with a view to knock your socks off!

It was located right at the base of the rugged La Giganta Mountain range, and looked down on one of the loveliest views of the Sea of Cortez you could imagine. After doing some chores and re-supplying in town, we set up camp and sat back to enjoy the scenery and peacefulness.

As we were getting ready to settle in for the night, two pickups came around the hill and stopped below our camp, turning their headlights out. Feeling that they were watching us, we turned off our lantern. As soon as we did, they turned their headlights on and quickly drove their trucks up towards our camp!

How frightening this was! We were at the end of a dead end road, making it impossible to do anything but wait and wonder what was going to happen. We had never had a bad experience in Baja and began thinking things were about to change. Were we going to be attacked by banditos? Were they going to rob us? What would we do?

Those excruciating moments felt like hours while we waited for their arrival. Just before they got to us, the lead driver put a flashing yellow light on the truck’s roof.

As soon as they had us in the beam of their headlights, three men jumped out and one demanded something in Spanish. Well, our Spanish is quite limited as we attempted to explain to them.

It became clear that they thought we could be poachers with weapons illegally hunting the bighorn sheep found in the area. Things quickly settled down when we explained we were just camping and certainly not in possession of weapons.

It turned out that two of the men, Juan and Leo, were basically game wardens for an area about the size of Rhode Island. They monitor the population of the bighorn sheep and enforce hunting regulations—all without the safety of weapons of their own! They were as terrified as we were approaching us not knowing if they were going to be shot. They had a very good reason to be cautious!

The following morning, Juan and Leo came back to make sure that we understood that everything was “cool.” We had an enjoyable visit and learned much about the wildlife in the Loreto area. We had always been curious if there was any wildlife in Baja’s mountains since we had never seen sign of any.

Not only were there bighorn sheep in these canyons, but they told us that there were also mountain lions and coyote. In fact, a nearby canyon is named El Gato (the cat). Before leaving, Juan and Leo made arrangements to go hiking up the nearby canyon, Cajon de Tecomaja, with us later that day. They were on the lookout for the borrego (bighorn sheep).

When Johnny and Leo came back for the hike, they brought a friend, Leon, who spoke English. Leon worked for the Biosphere Preserve in the Loreto area, and we enjoyed learning more about Baja. We were pleased to learn about some of the conservation measures that Mexico is undertaking to preserve some of the their natural wonders. In the canyon, we saw hoof prints of the bighorn sheep but none of the animals themselves.

The following day, Brad and I explored another side canyon named Mesquite that the men had told us about. The flowers in the canyon were incredible! Baja had had some rain just a few weeks before we arrived, and the vegetation was showing its pleasure. Everything looked fresh, lush and colorful.

After our hike, we headed into town to meet with some friends from Flagstaff, Arizona. Tom and Linda were meeting us in Loreto at Café Olé for dinner. That night we stayed in a hotel located right across from the Misión Nuestra Señora de Loreto, the oldest mission in Baja and Alta California (which is our state of California)! The mission was built in the early 1700s!

Part 6 – Agua Verde

After our night in town, we all headed to a lovely bay that Brad and I had discovered earlier in the spring—Agua Verde. The road in gets pretty interesting in spots; there are steep, blind corners that only one vehicle can fit through. You constantly look ahead to see if you can see anybody coming and plan ahead!

There had also been some pretty bad washouts on the dirt road since we were there before. But we made it safely and found a beautiful beach.

As we were setting up camp, a family living nearby came by for a visit. It constantly amazes us how friendly and welcoming the people in Baja are. And they listen so patiently when we try speaking in our poor Spanish. The gentleman told us about some Indian paintings on the cliff behind us.

We camped on the beach that night. Tom went fishing from the shore, while his wife, Linda, rooted for the fish! Brad and I hiked up to the pictographs. These were much smaller than the ones we had seen at La Higuera and also very different.

The pictograph wall consisted of red handprints, something you see quite often at Grand Canyon and in the southwestern United States. We couldn’t find any information on them but assume that they are from a more recent period.

We headed out the next day; each couple in their own direction. Brad and I wanted to check out some new back country roads, and Tom and Linda were going to spend some time playing on the beach. We found a new area and camped out again, this time in a canyon between Mulegé and Santa Rosalia.

The following day, we met Tom and Linda for dinner at Hotel El Morro overlooking Santa Rosalia’s beautiful bay. We shared stories over candlelight and fresh seafood, both couples already planning future trips.

When we left early the next morning, we made a beeline home. Two days and 1100 miles later, we arrived back in Clarkdale. We were happy to be back where toilets flushed properly and we could pump our own gasoline, but we were already looking forward to our next trip back to Baja!

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