Los Seis Hombres head to Baja!

[Hppants]

What a great trip thus far. Just wondering: I would assume that you feel "safe" in that part of Mexico, or you would have high tailed it out of there by now. Are there any security concerns?

[bungie4]

Man, Between you guys and a good friend whose been down there since November....

[Tyler]

What a great trip thus far. Just wondering: I would assume that you feel "safe" in that part of Mexico, or you would have high tailed it out of there by now. Are there any security concerns?

I don't know about John and his group but I just got back from a 2-week trip in pretty much the same area and had no issues of feeling unsafe at any time. But we also took safety precautions (i.e. don't ride alone, don't ride after dark, stayed at hotels with gates to keep the bikes safe, etc.) which, honestly, we would do on any trip for the most part. This is my second trip down there and I have always found the people of Mexico to be warm, welcoming, curious and always willing to assist in making our visit the best possible.

[wheatonFJR]

What a great trip thus far. Just wondering: I would assume that you feel "safe" in that part of Mexico, or you would have high tailed it out of there by now. Are there any security concerns?

Do they give you any shit about people bringing their own M79 personal protection device with them?

[Panman]

In Mexico that depends on how much $ you have!

[bigjohnsd]

Bahia Tortuga is remote Baja Mexico. It was just over 100 miles from Vizcaino to Bahia Tortugas through desert, sand drifts across the road, salt flats, rugged mountains , with a few cows along the road thrown in for good measure.

Before turning West we passed the "Three Virgins" vo!cano.


After an ice cream cone in Vizcaino we headed West!

Crossing Salt Flats






Desert with sand blowing across the road - not fun to hit a little drift at 75-80 mph.



We eventually arrived at th "Hotel Nancy" cost $120 dollars for four rooms not fancy, but Ernesto and his wife offer good clean rooms in an aged facility.



We ate dinner at the only place that was open in town, "Loncheria Tower" the lady that runs the place has two cute Chihuahua dogs, she prepared a dinner for us, Carne Asada, Papas Fritas, beans, salad, and fresh tortillas. Six of us ate and and drank for 600 pesos. She ran across the street for beer and coca lite too.


You may wonder why Abercrombie is sitting masked by himself......He is in isolation.......



We departed Bahia Tortugas this morning at 0730 breakfasted at a Vizcaino taco stand



and altered our planned route home due to projected inclement weather forecast for Ensenada and North on the Pacific side. Instead we returned up Mex-5 to San Felipe.

Once again the desert was in bloom


We made a brief stop along the highway


If you look closely you will see someone out in the cactus banks



Squatting in a cactus patch doesn't seem like a sound idea to me but....when you've got to go

A little more desert up Mex-5 and we once again hit the Gulf of California



Our route today



Tomorrow we ride together North to Medical and East on Mex-2, SkooterG and Dean B will break off at Yuma and Sonoyta respectively, Frank, Mark, Kevin and I will head to an Air BnB in Puerto Penasco for a final night in Mexico. Then cross back into Estados Unidos on Thursday and head to Tucson and Phoenix. Abercrombie and I will then load up and head for Big Bend to join up with some friends for five more days of riding.

[SkooterG]

What a great trip thus far. Just wondering: I would assume that you feel "safe" in that part of Mexico, or you would have high tailed it out of there by now. Are there any security concerns?

No security concerns whatsoever. Feel totally safe. And unlike Tyler, I would park my moto in a place that wasn't gated.

[Festus]

Y'all could have rode Groms for the amount of off roading we're seeing JSNS

[wheatonFJR]

LOLOLOLOLOL

[D-Eagle]

Leak a little oil and you get isolated? Tough group.

[bungie4]

What a great trip thus far. Just wondering: I would assume that you feel "safe" in that part of Mexico, or you would have high tailed it out of there by now. Are there any security concerns?

No security concerns whatsoever. Feel totally safe. And unlike Tyler, I would park my moto in a place that wasn't gated.

That's because you have, like, 12 of them.

[wheatonFJR]

[bigjohnsd]

We left San Felipe under cloudy skies about 0900.

The road North towards Mexicali is straight until you hit the mountains, a few curves snd you reach the Colorado River Irrigated agricultural basin North of the Sea of Cortez/Gulf of California.

Todays ride.


Heading North from San Felipe before crossing the Laguna Salada, the mountains in the background.

Shortly after turning East onto Mex-4 we crossed what remains of the Colorado River.



Dean and SkooterG broke off at noon after a short refreshment stop in Guerro at the junction of Mex-3 and Mex-4.

Vaya con dios mi Amigos!

Frank, Mark, Kevin and I continued on to Puerto Penasco along the East side of the Gulf of California.

This area is a "bio-reserve", desert, sand from the gulf, sand drifts, on the roads and evidence of earlier storm related flooding bin every wash and arroyo.





you can just see the gulf waters in the background.

We found our nice third floor condo in Puerto Penasco, dumped our stuff and headed out for supper not having eaten any lunch.

We found a steakhouse close to the condo and enjoyed an AL Fresco supper.




I scored a home run with the braised pork leg/shank! #1!





Tomorrow we head straight North to Sonoyta, cross into the good old USA and after a short stop in Ajo AZ for lunch, Kevin and I will head to Phoenix while Mark and Frank head towards Tucson.

Total trip - so far 2700 miles.




More tomorrow from Phoenix

[LKLD]

Awesome trip!

[Hppants]

Normally, as rivers move toward their mouth, they get wider and larger. I didn't realize that it's the opposite with the "Mighty" Colorado. Perhaps we have dammed and controlled most of the water out of it upstream?

[wheatonFJR]

Normally, as rivers move toward their mouth, they get wider and larger. I didn't realize that it's the opposite with the "Mighty" Colorado. Perhaps we have dammed and controlled most of the water out of it upstream?

Ummmmm <whisper> Los Angeles...

[SkooterG]

Normally, as rivers move toward their mouth, they get wider and larger. I didn't realize that it's the opposite with the "Mighty" Colorado. Perhaps we have dammed and controlled most of the water out of it upstream?

Living 'out east' I suppose you don't get inundated with all the news about the western USA drought and sad state of the whole Colorado River basin. Lake Powell and Lake Mead - the two huge reservoirs on the Colorado are at ridiculous historic lows. Colorado river water is split up between states and Mexico based on very old agreements. Problem is, there is currently not enough water. California is biggest user and has priority. Leaving Nevada (Las Vegas) and Arizona somewhat screwed. Fortunately, Arizona gets a lot of its water from it's own mountains watershed, and ground water. It's currently a big deal out here. Fortunately, its been a wet winter but that won't fix years of perennial drought.

[Panman]

Drive down I-5 someday and you see a lot of farmers are getting the water shut off by the all the signs with all sorts of slogans about "No water, No Food" but CA keeps importing people!
Yuma is interesting on how much the farming is dependent on the Colorado. They have a few interesting Museum's that talk about the upper and lower dams. Not a lot of good riding down there but its not Wet like here.

[bigjohnsd]

After the night in a luxury condo at Puerto Penasco the remaining four Amigos were up early and ready to hit the road. Kick stands were up slightly before 0730, gas tanks were filled, A quick stop was made for mixed goat and beef quesadillas, we cleared Puerto Penasco just before 0830.

An uneventful ride North to Sonoyta ensued. We stopped briefly and converted all remaining pesos into dollars then proceeded directly to the border. Crossing was easy, no line, three open lanes.
Once back in Estados Unidos we pressed on to Why, AZ for a quick break, A drink, some reminiscing, and some goodbyes as Mark and Frank headed East towards Tucson while Kevin and I headed for SkooterG's Phoenix abode. We hit a little traffic once on I-10 but stopped for a sandwich and let the traffic dissipate. Once back on the road we had clear sailing to SkooterG's and arrived about 1500.





While Kevin attended to loading the trailer I rode to a car wash and rinsed some of the grime from the Gray Ghost II. A little over 3,000 miles in thirteen days, not a lot of miles per day but a lot of smiles per mile!



Can't wait to go again, we are already looking at 2024.

[bigjohnsd]

Drive down I-5 someday and you see a lot of farmers are getting the water shut off by the all the signs with all sorts of slogans about "No water, No Food" but CA keeps importing people!
Yuma is interesting on how much the farming is dependent on the Colorado. They have a few interesting Museum's that talk about the upper and lower dams. Not a lot of good riding down there but its not Wet like here.

Water in California is shared across three main sectors.
Statewide, average water use is roughly 50% environmental, 40% agricultural, and 10% urban, although the percentage of water use by sector varies dramatically across regions and between wet and dry years. Some of the water used by each of these sectors returns to rivers and groundwater basins where it can be used again. https://www.ppic.org/publication/water- ... alifornia/

Folks like to look at the population of California as the driver of water issues when in fact it is that 80% of the water "used" in California goes to agriculture. Agriculture is vitally important to both California and to the nation that it feeds but we need to face the fact that it is agriculture and not the population of California that consumes the water. https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Water-Use ... Efficiency