Jump to content

Recommended Posts

It looks like I'm going to get both Monday and Tuesday off for Independence Day, so I'm thinking of using this rare four day weekend for another Baja trip.

I'm thinking about a three day trip, either...

1. Crossing on bikes Saturday morning in Tecate, braving the heat and making for Mike's or Rancho Coyote. Sunday looping south and ending up back where we started or farther north. Monday north via Compadre or Laguna Henson road.

Or...

2. Trucking bikes to Ejido Erendira Friday night and staying on the Pacific coast heading south toward El Rosario Saturday. Looping south then back to El Rosario Sunday, then back to Erendira Monday and either staying til Tuesday morning or trucking back out Monday night depending on time.

I'll be on my WR250R taking it relatively easy. Light packs. Minimal slab. Cheap hotels. Copious beer and tacos. Home for the fireworks.

Anyone interested in going with me?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/20/2017 at 9:03 PM, WilliamArcher said:

It looks like I'm going to get both Monday and Tuesday off for Independence Day, so I'm thinking of using this rare four day weekend for another Baja trip.

I'm thinking about a three day trip, either...

1. Crossing on bikes Saturday morning in Tecate, braving the heat and making for Mike's or Rancho Coyote. Sunday looping south and ending up back where we started or farther north. Monday north via Compadre or Laguna Henson road.

Or...

2. Trucking bikes to Ejido Erendira Friday night and staying on the Pacific coast heading south toward El Rosario Saturday. Looping south then back to El Rosario Sunday, then back to Erendira Monday and either staying til Tuesday morning or trucking back out Monday night depending on time.

I'll be on my WR250R taking it relatively easy. Light packs. Minimal slab. Cheap hotels. Copious beer and tacos. Home for the fireworks.

Anyone interested in going with me?

Option 2 coastal sounds great, but its unlikely I can get out of work. Sounds like a great shakedown for the BRP rebuild!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Reximus said:

Option 2 coastal sounds great, but its unlikely I can get out of work. Sounds like a great shakedown for the BRP rebuild!

Yeah, it would be nice to ride father south and with the Pacific breeze. The last two Baja trips I did ended up covering a lot of the same ground just because it's hard to get that far south with limited time.

There's also a trade off between heat (forecast is 90s F for the interior that weekend) and ease of crossing the border. It will probably be much quicker to cross back on a bike than in a truck.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, the BRP rebuild took a dump om me tonight, so ill have to remedy that first.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
14 hours ago, Reximus said:

Well, the BRP rebuild took a dump om me tonight, so ill have to remedy that first.

What happened to it?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Reximus said:

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/xr650r-thread.409774/page-837

Scroll down about 1/5th of the way down...great read! 

I just got back last night at about 2300, then they put me on a tiny boat out to a giant boat this morning....was it the petcock thing?  I've been waiting to hear how the bike is working.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

About to tear into carb. Suspect petcock deteriorated and clogged carb. Ran good up otay, a little snappy at low rps coming off throttle. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/24/2017 at 5:12 PM, Reximus said:

About to tear into carb. Suspect petcock deteriorated and clogged carb. Ran good up otay, a little snappy at low rps coming off throttle. 

Do you not have an in-line fuel filter between the petcock and the carburetor?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

No, there isnt any room- and the petcock has a filter that sticks up into the tank. But alas, and inline filter would have saved me! 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/29/2017 at 3:14 PM, WilliamArcher said:

Looks like it's shaping up to be a solo ride. I'll have to take it slow and stick to the easy stuff.

Did you go? I played with my petcock, and found the bits that are now clogging my main jet. 

IMG_20170703_190840305.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just rode the bike to the border to keep things simple. Arriving at the border in Tecate at 7:00, I gassed up, got my visa, bought some pesos and was on my way by 7:30.

Out of Tecate, I headed southeast on the trail that goes by the granite dome.

IMG_3320.thumb.JPG.d3a888eb0f0beea99bee4769cf7670d7.JPG

It had been very recently graded, but it was so sandy that all the grading did was distribute loose sand across the width of the road. Eventually I overtook the bulldozer and made better time on the part he hadn't gotten to yet.

I turned due south when I ran into the Compadre trail and headed to Ojos Negros to resupply on water gas and food. It was market day with lots of food stalls set up in the market.

I took the trail that leaves from near the Pemex heading south out of Ojos Negros, then turned southeast after the turnoff toward Rancho La Lagrima. The trail took me across the 3, and I saw a lot more grading activity and lots of racecourse signs. Many trail sections that featured sand whoops the last time I passed through in April now just feature sand.

I passed by the site of Kurt Caselli's fatal livestock encounter, and eventually took the goat trail down into Valle de la Trinidad.

IMG_3322.thumb.JPG.037d155abe302e9d972aedba900eef1c.JPG

After refueling and re-watering, I took the dirt road due south toward Mike's Sky Rancho.

IMG_3325.thumb.JPG.d405e16f48656d6a069b3a41296778b5.JPG

I passed Mike's at 16:30 or so, and I decided to press on to Rancho Coyote Meling since I had plenty of daylight left.

IMG_3326.thumb.JPG.d1285339f8d2296ea9381b69af332588.JPG

The trail over the hill from Mike's was rougher than I remembered it being. So much so, that in retrospect I probably shouldn't have done it on a solo trip. I only dropped the bike once, when I lost traction trying to get up a rock shelf, but it was technical enough that I should have avoided it altogether rather than risk an injury while riding alone.

IMG_3331.thumb.JPG.70c868fece404f65211e7f83ab8e0ea5.JPG

In any case, I made it to Rancho Coyote Meling around 18:00 with plenty of daylight to spare. I was the only guest, so I had a cabin to myself. The food there is really good. They put out quite a spread.

Later that night two Mexican couples rocked up in buggies, so I had company for breakfast at least. One of the ladies couldn't place my accent and asked me if I was from Argentina, which made me feel very good about my rusty old Spanish.

IMG_3337.thumb.JPG.8440b141a1635f89d991a2addf9d11e7.JPG

I got a late start on Sunday due to the giant breakfast they laid out and took the easy road south to the paved observatory road. I rode the observatory road down out of the mountains and then turned off on a dirt track that dumped me out in San Quintin. The first part of the track was fairly technical, I probably shouldn't have done it on a solo trip, but then it opened up into nice high plains with good views all around.

IMG_3343.thumb.JPG.1b06cd57da51ab9aff8384b8f0e9c208.JPG

One of the Mexican dune buggy riders recommended I check out the Old Mill Restaurant in San Quintin, so I did, and they served up a creditable Yellowtail. I also ran into another SDAR member there (can't remember his name... Ed or something like that). He was riding with three other guys all on big Kawasakis and they were getting ready to take the slab all the way back to the border.

From the Old Mill I took a sand trail to the beach and then opened up the throttle on the beach heading south toward El Socorrito.

IMG_3350.thumb.JPG.b49c40bc1fe32cc6b9a9df799d2b0bc9.JPG

IMG_3358.thumb.JPG.2052c9d59b046baa5b80ade3a130cf55.JPG

After fighting my way through the dunes for a while, I turned inland onto a dirt track that loops through San Pedro Martir National Park then down to El Rosario. I quickly realized that I did not have enough time to make it before dark, so I turned off on a different track that dumped me back on the highway. That turned out to be a good decision because even slabbing it, I only arrive in El Rosario just before dark. I did take a few side excursions on the way down though.

IMG_3361.thumb.JPG.5f04ba9db60339fd2ffe9771c7ddcc0b.JPG

IMG_3366.thumb.JPG.48a079c2d969c1bec66d95cc46d28df3.JPG

IMG_3370.thumb.JPG.e60b7917b0c1378c10b804e277eed3a3.JPG

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great RR and pics! :good: Thanks for sharing your adventure! :thumbsup_anim:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Monday morning I got an early start and did the route through San Pedro Martir National Park from south to north. It starts off in a broad valley just east of El Rosario and then climbs into the canyonland where I saw my first big Baja cactus.

IMG_3375.thumb.JPG.856f08d749c6da8baeaf568d2fe5f2a5.JPG

IMG_3376.thumb.JPG.b0284c8432e3a36d9d4ace8b30ee1050.JPG

The next stretch into the national park was probably my favorite part of the trip. It was a nice double track that was rocky enough to be interesting but not difficult enough to be worrisome. Lots of cactus and whatever those funny trees are called. It felt like riding through the cactus collection of a botanical garden.

IMG_3385.thumb.JPG.eae002f39e200ab3d3657efd50e2c58d.JPG

It had some nice canyons and some good views of the ocean.

IMG_3378.thumb.JPG.1401cf2cafc939d4b9d1d287c2385b9c.JPG

IMG_3382.thumb.JPG.a6599b7d439b79667dee9113042b9449.JPG

I stopped for a seafood lunch in Camalu and took the coastal road north to Ejido Erendira.

IMG_3394.thumb.JPG.9e29e6f6eff3c0b32fbd13855c507287.JPG

IMG_3396.thumb.JPG.52a41d64dfd28884f54840d6646785a6.JPG

IMG_3399.thumb.JPG.d04a8a98a7b24e3d1c2060b8a480d5ce.JPG

I had considered staying in Erendira, but I arrived at 16:30 and figured I might as well press on to Santo Tomas, so I did.

IMG_3403.thumb.JPG.5903395bc26efd3dfc6f0883a25d8789.JPG

Not much to say about Santo Tomas except the only other guests at the hotel turned out to live two blocks from my house in San Diego.

I was pretty tired after three full days of dirt riding, so I got another early start to bug out to the border. I took the trail through Rancho La Lagrima up to Ojos Negros, refueled, re-watered and then pounded out the Compadre trail to the 2.

I had been watching some wildfire smoke to the north in Ojos Negros wondering if the fire would turn into an obstacle, but fortunately it had already burned past the Compadre trail, so I was able to stay upwind of the fire the whole way up.

Some parts of the trail were pretty toasty though.

IMG_3412.thumb.JPG.167821eb72a678340a4522a59f917ec1.JPG

This had all been green on my way down.

At one point I passed fairly close to where some pine trees were going up, but I was still upwind, so it was not very concerning. I was a bit worried about oncoming fire trucks, but I only passed one group of them, and they were parked.

IMG_3419.thumb.JPG.cff57c66f4675e067e4b4653fc95e165.JPG

I spent the last of my Mexican money down to the peso on tacos in Tecate, and then it was just a short run up the slab back to San Diego. A nice, four day trip wrapped up in time to grill some steaks and watch the fireworks.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Dang, what a great solo adventure. Thanks for sharing.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Will, these look awesome! So glad you posted. As you know, I just moved to Sweden and sooo missing Baja. I had a feeling Coyote Meiling was going to be awesome. Did you try their "oasis" pool?

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
7 hours ago, Kiprock said:

Will, these look awesome! So glad you posted. As you know, I just moved to Sweden and sooo missing Baja. I had a feeling Coyote Meiling was going to be awesome. Did you try their "oasis" pool?

 

It was too cool for swimming, but I sat beside the pool and read my book while dinner was cooking.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 7/5/2017 at 7:00 PM, Oracle said:

Dang, what a great solo adventure. Thanks for sharing.

 

Yeah. It turned out to be a good route. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had found someone to go with me though. I rode very conservatively and chickened out of a few tracks that I would have tried with backup along. There are advantages to solo riding, too: you can get much earlier starts, cover more ground, are half as likely to have a breakdown, and you meet more people when going alone.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

William, 

Awsome ride, and thanks for the pics and write up.  I'll keep an eye out for further rides headed south.

 

Mike

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 7/5/2017 at 6:43 PM, WilliamArcher said:

Monday morning I got an early start and did the route through San Pedro Martir National Park from south to north. It starts off in a broad valley just east of El Rosario and then climbs into the canyonland where I saw my first big Baja cactus.

IMG_3375.thumb.JPG.856f08d749c6da8baeaf568d2fe5f2a5.JPG

IMG_3376.thumb.JPG.b0284c8432e3a36d9d4ace8b30ee1050.JPG

The next stretch into the national park was probably my favorite part of the trip. It was a nice double track that was rocky enough to be interesting but not difficult enough to be worrisome. Lots of cactus and whatever those funny trees are called. It felt like riding through the cactus collection of a botanical garden.

IMG_3385.thumb.JPG.eae002f39e200ab3d3657efd50e2c58d.JPG

It had some nice canyons and some good views of the ocean.

IMG_3378.thumb.JPG.1401cf2cafc939d4b9d1d287c2385b9c.JPG

IMG_3382.thumb.JPG.a6599b7d439b79667dee9113042b9449.JPG

I stopped for a seafood lunch in Camalu and took the coastal road north to Ejido Erendira.

IMG_3394.thumb.JPG.9e29e6f6eff3c0b32fbd13855c507287.JPG

IMG_3396.thumb.JPG.52a41d64dfd28884f54840d6646785a6.JPG

IMG_3399.thumb.JPG.d04a8a98a7b24e3d1c2060b8a480d5ce.JPG

I had considered staying in Erendira, but I arrived at 16:30 and figured I might as well press on to Santo Tomas, so I did.

IMG_3403.thumb.JPG.5903395bc26efd3dfc6f0883a25d8789.JPG

Not much to say about Santo Tomas except the only other guests at the hotel turned out to live two blocks from my house in San Diego.

I was pretty tired after three full days of dirt riding, so I got another early start to bug out to the border. I took the trail through Rancho La Lagrima up to Ojos Negros, refueled, re-watered and then pounded out the Compadre trail to the 2.

I had been watching some wildfire smoke to the north in Ojos Negros wondering if the fire would turn into an obstacle, but fortunately it had already burned past the Compadre trail, so I was able to stay upwind of the fire the whole way up.

Some parts of the trail were pretty toasty though.

IMG_3412.thumb.JPG.167821eb72a678340a4522a59f917ec1.JPG

This had all been green on my way down.

At one point I passed fairly close to where some pine trees were going up, but I was still upwind, so it was not very concerning. I was a bit worried about oncoming fire trucks, but I only passed one group of them, and they were parked.

IMG_3419.thumb.JPG.cff57c66f4675e067e4b4653fc95e165.JPG

I spent the last of my Mexican money down to the peso on tacos in Tecate, and then it was just a short run up the slab back to San Diego. A nice, four day trip wrapped up in time to grill some steaks and watch the fireworks.

 

Very nice! 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×

Important Information