Just back from a twelve day excursion into the more remote regions of the Baja California Sur. Two of my favorite travel buddies and I made it back! Hey, just getting there is tough. Getting back is the real trick. You see the roads are not always paved in places. Some of these roads require offroad tires or four wheel drive vehicles. Sand storms cover the best laid tracks. You can get lost because there aren't any road signs for miles sometimes. Razor sharp rocks can take out your spare tire. Tides can smother the smoothest routes. Heat is always a factor. Your machine should be ready for the worst in case the normal crummy route is not available for reasons mentioned above. But the things you might see will be incomparable to many you have already experienced even if you've survived the trip several times.

Several vehicles, (Toyotas mostly) were stranded. One's driver made a costly mistake and taken the route straight into quicksand conditions. He had to leave his ride there and with girlfriend in hand walk and wait for hours for help. He spent several nights regaining the vehicle. With the aide of Antonio C. of the local fishing village, his Tundra was located at a point some sixty miles to the north, he was pulled back to civilization. Luckily all was eventually saved and that individual got out with only a bruised ego. It seems he had made the trip "many" times. O.K. I can believe stress can make you screw up, but down there, it's not so much knowing what to do that's important. Knowing what not to do is probably more important.

The other vehicle, also a Toyota Tundra driven by a youngster out of Cabo, had snapped a drive shaft. I guess the part had "fatigued" to the point of shearing the arm bolts. He had dug a hole about the size of a large metate. The "rock hard" terrain to the outer reaches of the point had survived another brutal assault. Funny the guy had a really nice wench attached to his cow catcher. Luckily it was only twenty-five minutes maybe from town. Dad was along to pay for all the damage, so I guess that worked in his favor too. Always air down a little bit and go slow. "There ain't no Auto Club out there mi amigo!"

We actually helped a youngster (joven?) get back to town. His potatoe chip delivery truck had also broken an axle. He had been standing around by the broken down panel for about six hours before we stumbled by. Got some free bags of chips out of that one!

Then when surfing a break where everyone there has paid some heavy dues, either personally or monetarily or both, try to surf with a light attitude. O.K. your kid is learning how to surf. Teach him the rules and make sure you practice them too. Don't play offensive guard and end up tracking people over you or into a rock.  There's no room for action that might get someone hurt. Calmate amigo.

But the waves were PERFECT for at least five of the twelve days and the rest of the time much food and beverage was consumed.

More on this later.

Salud!

Ghostrider