“This sand is hellish. Please, let me get out of this sand.” –Ewan McGregor, somewhere in Mongolia, in The Long Way Round
If it’s sand you love to hate, leave the support vehicles and BBC film crew home and come to Baja. While you’re at it, swap your 600-pound adventure-tourer for a dirtbike so you can enjoy the sand rather than curse it. In Baja you can ride on beaches, dry lake beds and mud flats, through water crossings and bogs, along sandy two-track and rocky trails, all in a land with friendly natives and gorgeous scenery. At least, this is what I tell my friends who’ve watched McGregor’s The Long Way Round DVD but haven’t been off-road in Baja.
This year my friend Chas Rundberg and I decided we’d help a new rider discover the wonders of Baja by picking a route that offered adventure without undue risk, challenges skills and, above all, gives a good time. To do this, we chose the classic waypoints south—Mike’s Sky Ranch, San Felipe, Bahia de Los Angeles, San Ignacio and Mulege.
Laguna del Diablo—imagine bones bleaching in the merciless sun—is a natural wonder and dirtbike playground reached from Mike’s in a few hours. Here on the vast dry lake we turn on a whim, carve doughnuts and generally indulge the child within. With a GPS and some old waypoints, we find the broad sandwash leading to San Felipe. This is the first deep sand for our new rider, George Rodgers, whose reaction is not unlike Ewan McGregor’s. With some coaching and encouragement each time he picks up his bike, George eventually makes it.
A hundred miles farther south at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere stands Coco’s Corner, a folk-art palace built by a local legend. Coco pulls cold beers from his fridge, tells us who passed through recently, and warns us about deep water in the canyon. It would be nice to spend the rest of the afternoon here, but we leave and take the turn-off to Calamajue Canyon. A steep scree-strewn trail winds down from the mesa into the canyon where a brackish stream makes for frequent but easy crossings. Gradually, the red and yellow rock walls close in and we ride in the stream, pressed on each side by tufts of sharp grass. There’s mud between the clumps of grass, reminding us of celebrity adventure riders pushing their BMWs through soggy Siberian meadows. One fall coats George and his bike with black ooze that will leave traces for the rest of the trip.
Later on, the canyon floor changes to pea gravel interspersed with stretches of deep sand. The only way to get through this is to stay on the gas. Eventually we rise out of the canyon onto a plain populated with grotesquely beautiful cactus. Another long sandwash and we emerge at Highway 1, happy to see the pavement. At sunset we pull into a beach-front motel in Bahia de Los Angeles, where freshly caught seafood, a few margaritas and a walk on the beach conclude a long day.
At 5:30 the next morning, the first rays of sunlight peek over the islands to the east and not long after we’re heading south to Mulege. There we enjoy a day of rest and repair for bodies and bikes. We need time to loosen tight muscles and tighten loose bolts. Passing San Ignacio on our way back north, we decide to see more of the Pacific coast. The larger fishing towns all look alike: flat, wind-swept, less scenic than the Gulf towns. By now, eight days into the ride, Baja fatigue has set in. Tired and cranky, we switch to pavement. But just sitting on the bike holding the throttle open is boring and it’s getting cold. Then it rains. By the time we find a place to stay, it’s after dark and we’re soaked.
Dinner in San Vicente is a bottle of tequila, swigged under a rotating ceiling fan draped with wet gloves, socks and pants. Our final day is sunny and, thanks to yesterday’s rain, dust-free. After crossing the mountains to the east we arrive in Valle de Trinidad for lunch and by mid-afternoon are back in Santa Veronica. Once the bikes are loaded in the truck we head for the border and dinner in San Diego.
I’d like to think Ewan McGregor and pal Charlie Boorman would have enjoyed this trip. It’s the right level for starting an epic journey, and God knows our Thumpers are the right match for Baja and would be good for a future “Long Way Somewhere.” Even in 10 short days we experienced some tense moments and uncomfortable, even painful, situations—just the things that grow enjoyable in the retelling. Maybe next year we’ll take along a video camera.
Sound off! What’s your favorite adventure ride?
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