Slow Baja Winter Expedition 2024

February 10, 2025

Slow Baja Winter Expedition 2024 - Day 7

Day 7 - The Beautiful Sea of Cortez & the Breakdown

Rancho Escondido, Baja California

We woke to a beautiful morning in the desert and a full expectation of a short, dirt drive to Bahia de Los Angeles with a dinner at the Vermillion Sea Institute that night. We also knew there may be a wonderful excuse to visit the nearby Sea of Cortez. Unknown to us, the universe had other plans. Expect the unexpected in Baja.

After a quick breakfast at Rancho Escondido, we packed up for the drive north to L.A. Bay. A couple miles from the ranch we came across one of those iconic hand-painted Baja directional signs. One way was L.A. Bay, but a short distance the opposite way was San Francisquito with it's pristine, rarely visited beaches. We choose that path.

You have two choices when you head to San Francisquito; Puerto or Punta. Punta San Francisquito offers miles-long white sand beaches, an airstrip, cabanas for rent and usually some home-cooked meals. Puerto San Francisquito offers a tight, long channel from the Sea of Cortez that ends with a small dock and the same white sand beach. The port (puerto) has long been used by sailors as a safe haven (even John Wayne anchored here). The water is crystal-clear and some folks have built rarely-used homes here. This is where we choose to spend 30 minutes. It's absolutely stunning.

Soon we left the beautiful Sea of Cortez on our trek 3 hours north to Bahia de Los Angeles. Our car was the last to leave in keeping with our job as "sweep". Sometimes we'd be 2-3 miles behind the main group and then we'd catch up and have them in sight because of tougher road terrain. This method of driving stayed the same throughout the day as we pulled into Bahia San Rafael, a very small fishing village on the Gulf of California.

We were in radio contact with the main group and they informed us of a silty stretch after leaving Bahia San Rafael. When we came upon it a couple minutes later, everyone was just past it, taking a break. We had no idea, that would be the last time we saw most of the group.

About 5 miles north, we got a flat tire. We radioed ahead that we might be a little while as we were on an incline and for them to continue to BOLA (one of the many names for Bahia de Los Angeles). We'd see them later in town as it was about an hour away. Thirty minutes later we had changed the tire and were back on the road.

"What did we hit!" I shouted out, fully thinking we hit a cow or something else even though we were in the middle of a long, straight stretch of road with not a living thing in sight. The "Silver Surfer" had skidded a hundred feet to a stop with our right, front passenger hopelessly bent to the right. Somehow we had cracked/broken the steering arm holder. This is something Baja racers might do when reaching speeds of a 100 MPH or more through the desert. We were doing 25 MPH.

As we piled out of the car and checked the damaged wheel, we quickly realized this is not something you can just fix on the side of the road. We tried radioing the group but they were already behind the mountains and out of range. As the shock wore off, we realized we may be here for some time so let's set up a camp. Wino did have satellite communications and was able to get an emergency text to Matt of Barbers for Baja. Unfortunately, we weren't receiving a response.

This is one of the more desolate areas of Baja and you might not see anyone driving this road for a day. We did however see a van with a family of locals going south and asked them to let someone know we were stranded. We didn't expect much from that encounter and knew our real help would come from the group once they realized we weren't in L.A. Bay.

Four hours later, now after dark, we sat around our camp fire discussing our options. We would sometimes think we heard what sounded like a car but without anyone arriving. Eventually, close to 9pm, we saw headlights coming from the north. Fifteen minutes later, Emery, his son Edward and Matt and Mike arrived in their trucks.

We were rescued, well sort of. We all knew we needed a tow truck and a mechanic or welder but had no idea if L.A. Bay had a tow truck. We also knew couldn't leave our truck there so the decision was made for me to return with the two trucks and Wino and Olaf to spend the night with the Tacoma. I would find a tow truck and/or mechanic the next morning and return to pick up the truck to Bahia de Los Angeles........