Baja y Familia!

Baja is a looooong way away! That is, if you're driving the entire way, with two 29er mountain bikes, wetsuits and snorkel gear, backpacks and hiking boots, plus a small Chihuahua, all in our Suzuki station wagon. Clearly comfort was not our goal!
But we made it to San Felipe, where Hal's dad (also named Hal/Baja Paco) and his lovely wife Robin live.
It took us about two 12 hour days in the car, no problems going through the border or driving down through Mexicali.
Hal Sr. and Robin have a lovely house with a picture-perfect ocean view, and we had our own separate apartment-great way to start a vacation!
The first full day that we were there Hal and I left Delta in the good hands of family, see photo below, and took off on a seven hour exploration hike, as is our norm.



Hal Sr. (Pops) with Delta and their own dogs!
 

We hiked about 12 miles, up and down the beach, where we found dead sharks and sting rays (sad) and then up to a rocky point jutting out into the sea.

 

Windy view from the top of the rocky point
 

Turns out the best way to see a new place is to walk/hike around and explore! We saw so much more than we ever could have through a car window.
San Felipe is a friendly, quiet fishing town. All the locals waved to us and said hello, forcing us to engage our rusty Spanish!
The time passed quickly, with wonderful family dinners and stories, time playing with dogs, hiking and biking.
One of the best days was when Hal and I mountain biked out to the Valley of the Giants, where Pops and Robin met us in the car. See below just why these cactus are called Giants, or Gigantes!

We headed from the Valley to a secluded beach where we had lunch and flew kites. But the best part was that we got to motor pace, on our mtn bikes, off Pop's Suburban! Nothing like the rush of doing 26+ mph behind a big car, on pot-holed, bumpy Mexican roads! Oh, and did I mention it was windy?! So windy that I could fly my kite about three feet in front of me! Hence the need to motor pace...

With our obsession with 14ers, mountains, and anything outdoors, we decided to have Pops drop us off in the desert so that we could attempt to summit the highest point in the near foothills to the west of San Felipe. Here's what the terrain looked like...

  

 



Needless to say, we didn't make the summit. The whole way to the base of the mountains was one big, dry riverbed full of crazy boulders, scree, and spiky things out to get you. This was one of the most rugged hikes we have ever done! Not to mention, no trail to follow. But, we had fun by jumping from boulder to boulder (this is why we need health insurance!)...

 



 

Another fun thing to do in remote desert beach towns is to chase seagulls. See how this looks in practice below...Ah, the small joys in life!

 

 

Amidst all this crazy fun, we had plenty of down-time in the evenings to visit with Pops and Robin and listen to never-before-told family tales, play with dogs, and ride in the sand rail.

 





 

And what better way to commemorate your trip to Baja than by getting permanent tattoos?! Of course nobody believes that we (mostly me) would get inked in Mexico, so here's the visual proof...

 

 

Muchas muchas gracias to Pops and Robin for being the best hosts and sharing their home with us!

Thanks for reading, and let us know if you want to drive down there, we can give you route tips and cheap hotel info.

Adios!