General
Paddlers on the BASK trip were Mike Higgins, Kate DesLauriers, Don Fleming, Doug Hamilton, Andrea Wolf, and Herb Howe. This group paddled and camped well together. Mike was the trip initiator and did a great job of organizing our expedition. The following are a few photos I took to share with the group.
For a day by day diary with lots of photos, go to Mike's write-up at Mike's Kayak Journal.
Refer to this map for our route and campsites. Each campsite is labelled with the dates of the nights we camped there.
Sat-Sun, March 24-25
It took us two days to drive down to San Ignacio, spending nights in Ensenada and San Ignacio....things went very smoothly.....especially after the Tijuana border crossing where the new right hand turn lane takes you directly to the toll road to Rosarito Beach. No getting lost in TJ for this group although we did have our cell phones handy.
Mon, March 26
After a stop in Santa Rosalia to fill water bags, we drove south another 10 miles to the put in at a campground in San Lucas. After unloading, Mike and Andrea drove their cars to the take out in Loreto and returned by bus. The rest of us organized gear and rested. Herb took a paddle in Bahia San Lucas.
Tues, March 27
We paddled to the north end of Isla San Marcos in calm water populated by many pangas. Our camp was on a beach accessed through a cave opening. Notice how flat the water was when we did our first crossing, We even snuck in under the arch. It's amazing how quickly things can change in the Sea of Cortez.
Wed, March 28
The wind came up around 2AM, causing us to hastily move tents further up the beach and tie things down. A full norther was blowing by dawn so we took the scheduled rest day to hike. We bought fish (pargo) from fishmen waiting out the wind in the next cove. Dramatic waves pounded the shore all day...
...blocking off both the cave opening and the open beach for launching. See that little narrow opening with rocks all around and splashing waves...well I can't believe I launched through that the next day. Was glad to see Mike waiting close by in case one of us didn't make it.
Thurs, March 29
The wind was down just enough to paddle. We went down the west (lee) side of San Marcos and crossed to an estero on the mainland. Following the shoreline, we then rounded Punta Chivato to the edge of a campground where we camped in an arroyo somewhat out of the wind.
Friday, March 30
We paddled past two miles of large gringo houses south of the point then on to Mulege. We did pass by the hotel on Punta Chivato where I had ordered Margaritas on the last trip, but alas, it was early in the morning and the bar wasn't open. We went up the hurricane-decimated Mulege River and camped in Manuel's campground on a nice grassy patch. In the evening, we walked into town for a wonderful Mexican buffet dinner that came with Margaritas. What a treat!
Saturday, March 31
The group crossed the entrance to Bahia Concepcion in a 15-20mph wind. This gave us nice 3-4ft waves from the side with choppy seas around the points. I have no pictures of this crossing since I had to concentrate on every stroke. We chose a great campsite on the southern protected side of Punta Pilaris. Thanks to Mike for finding a way into our campsite that was protected from the wind and swell.
Dawn brought a scenic sunrise punctuated by the setting moon.
Sunday, April 1
On this lay over day, we hiked an old mining road to the ruins of an old copper mine.
Herb examined the shoreline south of the mine site.
We hiked up a nearby hill and came upon the base of what was probably a large round water tank.
Monday, April 2
An unusual headwind came up as we paddled to just south of Punta Santa Rosa. Our campsite was in a windy pocket beach.
Tuesday, April 3
We paddled around Punta Santa Theresa and camped just short of a gringo colony at San Sebastian.
The group gathered to observe half of a recent shipwreck. We found the other half a short distance down the beach.
Wednesday, April 4
The group refilled water bags in San Nicholas then continued on to approach Punta Pulpito with an audience of pelicans. Punta Pulpito was the point we had been warned about and the one that gives kayakers problems but as you can see, it was smooth as glass. What a magnificent point!
The paddle around Punta Pulpito was very dramatic with a variety of large volcanic and sedimentary formations.
We camped on the south side of Punta Pulpito in a red rock pocket beach...
...which offered a nice view of the point. Every trip I have one picture that is my favorite and that I think represents the trip. This is it!
Thursday, April 5
A short break on the rocky shore. Mike's favorite kind of beach.
Friday, April 6 (Good Friday)
We paddled past San Juanico and past many locals relaxing around a fish camp on Punta San Basilio. Here are some random photos of...
Mike and Kate
Me, protected from the strong Baja sun
Doug
Doug and Don....notice they don't have their sails up because many days we had a head wind! So much for the prevailing winds blowing from north to south. We would have had more sailing action if we had paddled south to north.
Exquisite formations stood out of the water as we rounded Punta Mendexares. We camped a couple of miles south in a wide campsite with a northeast view and lots of stingray skeletons scattered over the beach.
Saturday, April 7
On this rest day, paddlers took various hikes along cliff tops and into the surrounding hills. Mike and Doug spent their daily hour pumping fresh water with their desalinators.
Sunday, April 8 (Easter)
We paddled around Punta El Mangle to find a wrecked hotel and two smaller destroyed houses.
Fighting a 5-10mph headwind and an incoming tidal current...
...we arrived at a nice campsite a couple of miles before Punta El Bajo.
Monday, April 9
On our final rest day, we again hiked along the shore and into the hills...
...while Mike paddled around Isla Coronados. I ran into Mike while I was coming back from a solo hike. He asked me if I wanted a ride back but I knew he was just kidding!
Monday, April 10
We took our final paddle to Loreto. Notice all the new construction in the Loreto area. This town with its planned development of 6,000 plus homes will forever change the quaint town of Loreto.
We landed in front of a motel where we had great fish tacos at the outdoor restaurant. The trip finished as we paddled another mile to our final destination at an RV park and the cars. Thanks Mike for the great trip.
Monday, April 11-13
The drive home included overnights in Guerrero Negro and Ensenada and then a border crossing in Tecate (no line to enter the US). This was a much better way to return to the states than through the TJ crossing plus the drive through the wine growing area of the Guadalupe Valley was spectacular!
