after a long winter in jackson hole, wy. nothing says spring like our annual trip to Baja. this year there were only 3 that could make it and 3 different bikes. me on the 08 te 450, Berg Briggs on the 08 ktm 530, and joe wastabaugh on the 09 Husaberg 450. we drove tosan felipe and arrived on friday, a week before the 250. the plan is always the same, ride until we want to stop and try to ride new stuff. Day 1 no photos, but we left a little late as some of the party enjoyed the tequila festival a little too much. we rode to gonzaga and i was amazed at how much the road had progressed in a year. the pavement will soon reach gonzaga and change that place forever, or at least until the next hurricane. the plan was to fuel up at the pemix there or at Coco's and then ride the no tracks trail and window rock trail into Bay of l.a. the pemix was out and so was coco so we were forced to slab it to the Bay of l.a. it got dark and we decided to camp for the night. Day 2 about 3:00 a.m. it started raining and continued through morning. we found a break in the storm and broke camp and rode into the bay of l.a. for breakfast. joe on the Husaberg is using most likely the only Safari tank in the u.s. on his bike and was having a few issues with it leaking so we adressed those before heading on. as we were leaving the sun appeared. we were heading for san fransisquito for lunch via the green door or car door trail. the trail was different as was all of baja i saw as the heavy rains and hurricanes changed the terrain. we made it to san fransisquito and had a wonderful and expensive lunch, topped off on fuel and the set out to ride something we had never done before, the hidden trail, or some call it the malcom smith trail. it heads due south and fallows the coast and then cuts back twards 1 about 15 miles south of san ignacio. i am always amazed at how one can be in the middle of nowhere in baja and find a perfect slab of concrete. i got dark so we found a nice slab and set up camp. Day 3 we woke early the next morning an continued on. we followed the beach for a while and came across a full whale skeleton. the trail soon turned west in the direction of 1 we stopped for directions at a school figured it out and headed for san ignacio. we had a late lunch and discussed our options. most years we like to stay for at least 2 weeks but Berg is making racks for wolfman luggage and we all had to pitch in to help him fill the orders and free up some time so we could do a ride. check out his website backroadsmoto.com. we had limited time and decided to cut out the bahia tortugus section as we wanted to try a trail that was suppose to be tough according to gaspipe. so we fueled up and headed out to the whale camps. we like kyuma, because the food is always good and the camping is cheap. we try to travel as light as possible and every year we try to cut out what we do not need. i think i am about as small as i can get. i forgot to mention the LTRacing suspension is spot on perfect for me!!! that is it for now, but more to come, including the husky almost burning to the ground!!!
Day 4 my spelling is 3rd grade level so excuse me for that. we had a wonderful breakfast at kiyuma whale camp in the morning, then packed up for or big day. we headed south to la balena, the road that cuts across baja to mulege. i have heard this road referenced as the devils asshole and in previous years it had never lived up to it's name. this year is a different story as the old road was washed out and the new path follows the wash. it was basketball boulders the whole way. about 3/4's of the way to mulege we turned north on road that is said to lead to one of the toughest two tracks in baja. we went to an old mission then turned left and started to climb and climb. we reached the top of the pass. it appears that recently a D9 has been through making improvements to the old road. not overly difficult but the views were amazing. all of the moisture has made the desert lush. we descended down and continued on really fun road all the way back to san ignacio. made it to rice and beans and booked a room. did some oil changes and maintenance, bumped into other riders, and took a hot shower. more to come later
the only problem we had with fuel was at gonzaga, but as we were passing the chapala lake bed (had water in it) the fuel truck passed us. the ktm had a 6 gallon acerbis, the husaberg had the 4 + total aqualine tank + a 1 gallon msr dramadere bladder. the husky had the 3 gallon ims tank, the 1.3 gallon acerbis front syphoning tank which worked awesome and i carried a 1.5 gallon msr dramadere bladder as well putting me close to the 5.5 gallon when needed. if husky does not come out with fuel options i will be forced to go orange. i ran a 2 inch hid mounted on the handlebar for lighting and it worked great too. not sure if the stator could handle it as i had some electrical issues, but that could be other things. just starting to get into the bike after the trip. we did about 1400 miles. i hope to continue this evening. thanks for looking.
Day 5 the plan was to slab 90 miles to guero negro and then ride along the coast to visit some friends in santa rosalolito. last year when we reached rosalolito we were looking for a place to eat, no such luck but a local couple offered to cook for us so we took them up on it. we were invited into their humble abode and the lady started cooking and serving up the best food we had ever had in baja. we had to tell her no mas before she would stop cooking. the house was covered with pictures of horses. it was one of those experiences you never forget. so this year we stopped by to say hello and joe had some pictures of his horses and family to give to her. we conversed the best we could and tried to explain were we came from and the different animals that are native to our area. showed them pictures from jackson and then she offered to cook again. we regretfully declined as we needed to get going, but a quality friendship has been established despite the language barrier. look close he still has the remote control in his hand, a true man!! so off we went to ride the 22 day trail, a section of single track that is 70 + miles from the pacific side to the bay of l.a., the fun stuff. about 9 miles in we stopped and set up camp. more later but here is teaser photo of this unbelievably fun trail
Day 6 the plan was to ride the 22 day trail to the bay of l.a. and get a room for the night. we broke camp and took off. the trail connects with a road that leads to the san borha mission and as we got there in record time we went to go check out the mission. it was well worth the detour and we had an excellent tour. after leaving the mission my rear brake had faded into nothing. i noticed i was loosing it on the 22 day trail but had no way of fixing it. when we reached bay of l.a. i tried to bleed the brake and it came back a little. i had a blown seal, but that is no reason to stop a ride so we had dinner, hot showers and planned our next day. we had heard rumor of another single track just north of bay of l.a. that starts at campo gringo and will connect with the window rock trail. this is awesome because one can ride from the bay of l.a to gonzaga with only about 1 mile of slab. so the plan had been set, brake or no brake, at least i still have my front brake.
Great report, brings back some great memories. San Fransiscito and the scalops the size of your palms and the ride into the mission that I called the Dr Suess ride due to the crazy looking fauna and colors. Glad you guys had fun and made it home safe. Is the 22day trail singletrack all the way from G Negro to Bay of LA?
he 22 day trail is about 90 miles north of g negro and goes to the mission rode about 15 miles outside of bay of la. sorry i have been busy at work and skiing fresh snow, along with rewiring the husky so i have slacked on this thread. i will try to finish it up this week. thanks to all who have had a look.
Day 7 the plan was to ride from bay of l.a to gonzaga on a new stretch of single track that connects to the window rock trail. not really knowing where this new section stars we set with the limited directions we had and somehow found it. there was some technical climbs and descents and throw in no rear brake made it a challenge. but i made it through and the trail does connect with the window rock trail. we made it through that section and the trail has seen a lot of use since our trip last year. part of me thinks it is a shame, but the other half says that is baja. i don't like seeing single track widened anywhere, but when a trail is that good the word is bound to get out to the same kind of people that destroy the trails in my local areas. i don't know what the answers are other than more education. that is it for my rant. we decided to do the calamuje wash and the this rocky trail into gonzaga. the rains had completely smoothed out the wash and changed the landscape. the whoops were smoothed out and the big mud hole was gone. i did not recognize the place. we made it through except Berg got a flat. this was good, because the previous year we had 17 flats between 3 of us, although some of them were do to messed up rim locks. it was still progress. at this point i was thinking how well the husky had performed. i was aprehensive about taking it in the first place beacause of the lack of fuel. after i do have a small leak in the ims, somewhere near the top, but not a major issue. we started to gonzaga via a rocky mountain pass, i don't know the name of, and stopped for a minute. after the stop i noticed a fuse had popped. so i inserted a spare and rode off (mistake #1). the trail was pretty technical but a blast none the less. we pulled into gonzaga at the store for supplies before fueling up. we went to leave and the fuse had popped again so I replaced it (mistake #2). as soon as i replaced i saw a red glow from the wires right next to my air filter. my first instinct was to pull the fuse to stop the current, but fire had already started. luckily Berg thought to use his camel for an extinguisher and dowsed the flames. we dove in to start the repair. always time for jokes amongst friends even in dire situations, me laughing about the situation we were able to patch it together and get everything working. it is always good to travel compitent people. Berg is talented mechanic and fabricator. Joe understands electricity. my first mistake of the day was thinking how good the husky had been. the second was not diagnosing the issue when the fuse popped first. i have had some issues there before, but that 90 degree turn in the wires to the fuses hadnever been an issue, just a concern. when i got back home i rewired that section. here is what i did: i incased the wires in a piece of tubing and rerouted them away from any possible chafing points. i hope it works. we got a palapa and set up camp.
Day 8 the last day was an easy ride into san phelipe. no major mishaps and we were able to se some of the baja 250 race. we missed the motorcycles but were able to see the trucks. thats all folks, thanks for looking!! here is a link to berg's report. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=562601
I really appreciate you taking the time to document your trip, it looks like an incredibly fun journey. It also sheds light on some of the electrical issues people have mentioned occasionally.
