The photos below are what we saw.
While we were eating our yummy
breakfast, these vultures were eating theirs: a dead seal that had
washed ashore.
The skull of a sea creature, most
likely a seal.
We skirted a number of large silt
beds for fear of breaking through the crust. Lesson one: just
because it is dry on top does not mean it is dry underneath. And
once you break through, it will be a mess.
Since I was back in the pack, I
was not choosing the route. How we ended up here is a mystery but
it was totally clear that this pitch was both steep and off
camber. Where Kai was when this photo was shot was the worst and
we slipped sideways on our descent. Very scary.
The off-camber nature of the trail
is more apparent in the photo above.
More wet silt beds to be avoided.
We went to the right along the beach.
We did a lunch stop on the beach
and ate our left over breakfast.
When dry, these silt beds are
dusty. When wet, they are a vehicle trap.
We took a side route to the coast
and passed some interesting stands of cactus.
The balance of the team went out
to the dunes on the coast and promptly got stuck. Kai had to air
way down to get out, but he did get out.
Meanwhile, we held our position
and listed to things on the radio. We picked up a large tire on
the road to "dispose" of it later.
The 1017A is a pretty good-sized
vehicle. Kathleen's head does not come to the bottom of the
windshield.
Bob found some sand dollars on the
beach. Given the current exchange rate, these two would be worth
about 23 sand pesos.
There were some nice crescent bays
on our path, but none had anything close to shelter in the form of
trees.
We traveled on the beach when we
could, but were frequently thwarted by the cobblestone berms.
Oh, a gravel
road. This sucker was very, very rough and slow going. Even
with reduced air pressure, 12 mph was at the limit of my endurance.
Kai got stuck in the dunes, but
was able to self-extract.
The wet sand was
heavy and sticky.
We continued south to Bahia
Maria. Bahia Maria was a sand camp, but it had strong, cold
winds. And, it was foggy and overcast the next morning.
Setup for us was easy: just find a
level piece of ground and raise the top.
Dan and Ron made pineapple upside
down cake in the dutch oven. The photo above shows the setup
prior to pouring the batter in the dutch oven. The cake was
cooked using charcoal.
This segment was a lot of trail work. But,
the gravel road kicked our asses. It was slow and hard. To
go faster would risk damaging the truck or the camper, so we elected to
eat dust all day and be the last one to camp. We passed some
American surfer dudes that were camped down the beach from us and they
came over at dusk to check out the trucks. They were an
interesting bunch. Ah, to be young again.
Tomorrow: Mission San Francisco Borja in the
center of the peninsula.
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Copyright Bill Caid 2011, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.