Slight Variation
Here is one of the stretches of the ride that offered a slight variation from the Can-Am trip and our December ride. We took a little tougher course (remember, we were riding in opposite directions) on the Can-Am ride because the Maverick X3 was up to a bigger challenge. We took a trail off the highway that was rocky to start with and then turned into a tight desert trail before opening up (both literally and throttle-wise) to wide-open desert riding.
On the December ride we bypassed a part of that stretch as the motorcycles would have had a tough time through the rocky section. We did hit the desert part on both rides and it was so much fun and somewhat challenging. Challenging because you’re going faster and need to react quicker to the ruts, washes and other obstacles that come up faster than when you’re on a more technical trail going slower. Then there was the dust. It was thick at times and you have to exercise patience to let it settle before bombing across the desert (or any other part of the trail for that matter).
The desert was quite a contrast from the pine forest (to the north of the open desert) you ride through. It was a welcome cool mountain ride during the Can-Am intro and a bit frosty during the December ride. In fact, in December, the ice hadn’t melted off some of the puddles on the road by the time we rode through the forest, which is complete with tall pines and lots of vegetation. On the west side of the pine forest is a somewhat eerie burned out stretch of desert that was a stark contrast to the green of the mountains.
You climb up to about 5,300-5,400 feet in the pine forest, this after leaving Ensenada, which is at sea level. Such are the contrasts on this Go Baja Riding tour.
We would skirt that same mountain range later in the day as we crossed the great dry lake bed below 10,157-foot Cerro Picacho del Diablo.
Clearing The Air
While riding through the pine forest and even across the desert (once the motorcycle/side-by-side-created dust settled), we were thinking to ourselves just how clear the air was. But we thought/spoke too soon as after lunch (provided on the trail by Go Baja Riding) the wind picked up and created its own dust. So much dust that you could barely make out Cerro Picacho del Diablo, which we were riding near in the afternoon. It was especially nasty across the dry lake bed.
Prior to arriving on the dry lake bed and after fueling up in Valle de la Trinidad, we took Mexico Highway 3 for a few miles before diving off again into the desert. From that jump off point, we headed across somewhat white-ish sand trails through some amazing cactus before getting to the dry lake bed. We held back some on the white sand trails, allowing the rest of the group to get fairly far ahead of us so that we could open the throttle up a bit on the Wildcat we were driving. There were gentle rollers that would extend the suspension and gentle turns that gave the trail a lot of character. It was a fun stretch to drive.
Huge somewhat describes how big the dry lake bed is. Enormous works better. From there we should have had impressive views of Cerro Picacho de Diablo, but we didn’t because of the wind-created dust. But we flew across the dry lake bed as fast as safety would permit. It seemed like we would never run out of dry lake bed but eventually we did.
After the dry lake bed, we took a choppy desert road/trail, which turned into a big, wide, smooth—but still dirt—road that led to Mexico Highway 5. Once to the highway, we turned south and headed into San Felipe, getting there a little before dark.
San Felipe
We checked into Hotel Hacienda Don Jesus in San Felipe (our bags were already there as the Go Baja Riding crew unloaded the chase truck and had our gear bags by our rooms) and since there was still some light we walked the two blocks to the beach on the Gulf of California to take some pictures.
Hotel Hacienda Don Jesus (don’t drink the water) is quite colorful outside and clean and quiet on the inside. It has a nice outdoor pool and even offers Internet, though the signal wasn’t very strong. That night for supper we went to the El Nido Seafood and Steak House, another awesome meal and such good chips and salsa. You can drink the water.
Such a variety of landscapes we experienced our first day out. From sea level at the Pacific Ocean to the pine forest in the mountains to open desert to the dry lake bed and back to sea level at the Gulf of California.
It was an excelente first day of riding and just heightened our la emocion for the next two days of riding, which we’ll detail in part two of this story.
