Riding Little pigs in Baja!

How was the trail from Mike's to El Coyote? Still passable obviously, but how much so?

Great ride/report! Thanks!

last ones were sold this year. 2 at steele n russo, 1 in the big show.
I am free for next winter for baja

Haywood, the road of of mike's to El Coyote was in good shape as far as I'm concerned. Its a bit rocky in a few sections but not too bad. There is the one creek crossing which was easy as the water wasn't deep. I would ride my 990 through there!

Sweet! I'm sure we'll be back down there so maybe we will meet up!

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Gonzaga to Guadalupe hot springs<o></o>
We woke up to the usual beautiful sunrise over the sea of Cortez! It was cold so we burned the rest of our firewood and enjoyed the sunrise. After we packed up camp we set out to change the oil in the bikes for the third time on the trip. Since my tools were stolen in Bay of LA he had to bum a 13mm wrench from Spanky. I ended up bringing small paper funnels so we could pour the old oil back into the quart bottles, which worked really well. We drained it into an empty gallon water bottle that we used to fill up the camelbacks, we cut the top off then poured it into the quart bottles. Today we decided to make our way up to the Guadalupe Hot springs and camp for the night. We decided to slab it up HWY 5 until the turnoff to the hot springs. We had lunch in San Felipe then headed up past HWY 3 until we hit the turnoff at Laguna Salada. We didn’t have any tracks for this so we were going off our AAA map and LB maps. If you do this be careful as if you go off the miles on the AAA map it totals 105 miles from San Felipe. The actual miles were 150, so gas was in question since the nearest gas would be in La Rumorosa which would put us at 200 miles. After you turn off of HWY 5 you ride past the dry lake and work your way up the valley. Must of this route was an old race course so its whooped out and spread out. Once you get close to the hot spring turnoff you will see an olive orchard, then head west to the mountains. As you get closer to the hot springs you get into granite boulders, then you see palm trees! This is an absolutely beautiful area and a must see! Each campsite has its own hot tub, there’s mud baths and even a small store with beer!!! The only issue this place has is being close enough to the border for Americans to come down and run their generators until 10pm along with their music playing until late at night with no consideration for fellow campers!! Even with that issue this place is amazing! We set up camp and cooked our mountain house food we had packed for 1700 miles! You can buy firewood from the owners and even food!
Total miles 228

We woke up to another beautiful Sunrise over the sea of Cortez!

Wake up Quin!!

Zane warms up before the oil change.



Interesting bird!

Zane changing his oil.

One last shot of Gonzaga Bay, I hate to leave this place!!

We were really bad about taking pictures until we got to the hot springs.


Were getting close I can feel it!

We were happy with our campsite!

Once we got to camp I realized that my rear bag had shifted over too close to the exhaust and had burned a hole in it. This was bad since I lost a satellite phone and the rest of my tools.

Once you get your camp site they fill up your tub with hot mineral water. This place isn't cheap at $45.00 a night!

Mud baths.

We scored on some cold beer in their little store!

Hot tub was filled!

Route planning for the next day, it was weird having a table! things were getting way too civilized!

This place had hot water everywhere even in the toilets! We all agreed that we might be plumming hot water to our toilets at home! It was quite nice!!

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Really enjoying this.

You guys rode some trails I've never been on---and maybe to old to now

Awesome-------thanks !!!

BigDog

Thanks Mark! and thanks for your help on tracks!, and I'll bet you could hit these tracks just fine! Cheers

Really enjoying your report, I've been lurking but seeing that burned GL bag...wow, that really sucks. I'm impressed with the single track stuff you found, don't know if I could do it.

But I'd like to give it a shot. We rode that same section from San Jose Comondu to San Isidro, I recognized it right away when you described it as "not many vehicles had been on it recently." Yeah, exactly. If it hadn't shown up on my gps, we would've turned around. That was tough enough.

Thanks, enjoying your ride report as well, looking forward to your adventures! My son is only 11 so I have to wait to take him down to Baja! I hope there's still some dirt by then! I think we were right behind you guys down there!

Big Dog, HWD and Dozer, I am reading all of your reports at the same time trying to get routes planned and some intel on the trails for my trip in May. I have only been down once, but the place gets under your skin and draws you back.

Thanks for taking the time and keep up the excellent work.


Richard

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Guadalupe hot springs to Jamul<o></o>
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This would be our final day in Baja. The plan was to ride the last 37 miles of dirt up to hwy-2, then head west over to Tecate. First though we would need to hike up and check out the waterfalls in Canyon De Guadalupe. It was well worth checking out as there are at least three nice waterfalls to see. The ride went really smooth and the exit into the US border was quick. They let the bikes ride right up to the front which was nice since there was a long line! We made it back to Diamond Jacks and loaded the bikes up and planned to drive up to La Jolla. Once we got the truck jump started we made our way to La Jolla before dark. We wheeled into the La Jolla beach and tennis club with muddy bikes hanging out the back and three grubby guys looking for beer!!! Quin wheeled next to a Beemer and told the girl he had heard there was some good beach riding! She looked stunned and couldn’t really say anything until I told her, he’s screwing with you!! We spent the night in La Jolla then headed north to Chico to try to make it home for the super bowl!
Total miles 111

We made our way up the canyon to the waterfalls.

I was enjoying the hike, but sad to be leaving Mexico!!

Zane crawling up the rocks.

Here was the first waterfall.






This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip!!

We had to hit the pavement :-(

The girls are loaded up!

We classed it up at the La Jolla beach and tennis club!

This is a nice hotel, right on the beach.

One last night of beer drinking before the ride home!

In conclusion I would like to point out the good and bad of gear, bikes, and clothes.<o></o>
The Bike ran like a dream! I would definitely not go down there with a smaller tank than I did (5.3 gallons) The rekluse clutch held up like a dream and was nice in the steep stuff and rocks. The tires(Michelin desert racers) were great as were the Mouse inserts. I really liked the tank panniers for my daily stuff and the pro moto billet rear rack was a must to keep things strapped down. The stuff sack I used on the back by Giant loop although it got burned up was wearing really bad as it was. It already had holes in it so I’m going to look for a tougher one to replace it. The Giant loop bag held up great and can hold most of what you need. The front fender bag made by moose racing worked well as long as you keep lighter stuff in it. It tends to rub the front tire if it gets too heavy.<o></o>
Clothing wise I think one pair of pants (Columbia style with zip-off legs) two shirts(vapor wick style)two pairs of underwear(vapor wicking) two pairs of wool socks, one warm long sleeve shirt, and long johns, and a pair of swim trunks. Depending on the time of year of course! Remember you can always wash your clothes in the ocean, and they dry within a couple of hours. Riding gear wise the Arai XD3 helmet works well, you can use the face shield or goggles. Klim jacket and pants work really well, they have pretty much cornered the market for off road riding gear. <o></o>
Camping gear should be light weight backpack style gear. Remember lighter is better! I used a jet boil stove which is quick and simple. Instant coffee from Starbucks worked well with a few mountain house meals for back up. I brought some Kind bars that worked good for breakfast or snack. You can always restock food at local stores but remember your pretty much stuck with cookies and junk food! You’re not eating paleo down there, its carb city! <o></o>
Baja is fun weather you’re riding the highway or looking for back roads and trails! Don’t listen to the hype about the dangers of the bandito’s or the Cartel. The people you will meet are warm and friendly and you will see a beautiful country that still has that wild west feel! I just hope it stays that way!!! Thanks for following along!<o></o>

Good summary on bike and gear. Always trying to travel light and having the essentials.
I agree that traveling pavement or dirt, Baja is a great place to vacation...

Woo-hoo! Great trip and reporting. How many miles did you travel altogether?

thanks Bgunn, I'm already dreaming of going back! I guess its a little addicting going down there! Cheers to you!!

Thanks! now I can get back to work!! I went through my trip report pretty fast and it still took alot of time! We ended up riding a little over 1700 miles. My bike started with 15 hrs. on it and ended with 75 hrs. It will probably take me all year to rack that many miles on it and thats if I ride way more than I usually do!!

Thanks for an informative and entertaining RR. I lust for trail but my 800XC is not made for the tracks you took.

Bravo Your RR was not too wordy and not inundated with too many photos...just right. You kept my short attention span stimulated and that ain't easy!

Great RR thanks, the bikes rode like a dream except needing 3 oil changes, on a short trip

thanks Diggerled, you know you can always own more than one bike!! sounds like your in need of another!

Glad to hear you say that! I tried to keep it simple without too much text. I'm the same way, If a report is too lengthy I tend to skip over most of the text and just look at pictures. Thanks for following along! Cheers!