A Rough Week

Since I left Santa Rosalia the landscape has become even more amazing  however the conditions this week have been less then friendly.  Bahia Conception was sheltered, mellow, and a great place for novice paddlers. However once I left the bay  and headed around the peninsula that forms it the North winds started to blow and kicked up a swell. This is also the second most remote stretch of coast on this trip. Nobody goes there in boats because there are no anchorages.  The first day wasn't too bad but by the end of the day the swells were building. It was the second day that I will remember for a long time. From camp that morning the water looked unsettled but better than the day before. Once I got out there I discovered that wasn't exactly true. That was also the morning pretty much at the start that I came across a pod of dolphins leaping out of the water. I started to fumble for my GoPro because they were close. It was then that I realized we were on a collision course. I figured they were dolphins and knew what they were doing but they did not notice me. Suddenly one leaped way out of the water and landed within 3 feet of me. I thought it was going to land on me and these things are big. At best I would have capsized, at worst it would have knocked me out. I started to scream at them to get their attention. Unfortunately, the GoPro just comes on as I yell "Don't land on me!"  They finally noticed me and scattered.  That was just the first adrenaline rush of the day. The swells coming from my left rear side kept getting bigger. My butt is basically at water level so when waves get 3 1/2 to 4 feet tall they start blocking my view of the horizon when I am in the trough. These swells were blocking my entire view of the mountains. I thought they were about 6 to 7 feet tall. A sailor I talked to later said 8. By far the biggest waves I have ever paddled in. Not the roughest water (that would have been in Deception Pass in WA) but the tallest. The swells weren't breaking which made all the difference in the world. The problem was the wind kicked up and started making wind waves that were hitting me from the right side. I would surf down a swell which would then cause me to hit a wind wave and throw up a big spray of water into my face. I did notice that this is a lot less frightening when the water is bathtub warm as opposed to the ice cold, 20 min survival time water of Washington. I wanted to get to shore but these same swells were creating a huge surf that looked even scarier then what I was in so I continued. I knew (thought I knew/hoped) that once I got to a certain point that the coast turned south and that should protect me from the swells at least. That was the case and from then on it was a 2 hour grind against a headwind to get to the cove I knew would provide protection. I expected a fish camp but when I got there it is all private property. Luckily the first person I talked to was Scott who was the caretakers son. He took one look at me and said "We can't send you back out there". I looked a little ragged and worn out. He showed me where I could set up camp and then his family proceeded to feed me both lunch and dinner. Once again the "Baja Way" of sharing what you have was shown to me. 

The next two days were windy and rough also. Wet rides each day but nothing of the magnitude of the second day. Other nice people helped. I was invited for coffee on a sailboat anchored under Punta el Pulpito which is one of the most stunning pieces of rock I have seen yet. I paddled through an arch/sea cave. The sailboat was S/V Prairie Oyster with 2 Canadians Jim and Diane. Turns out that they had sailed the South Pacific and had never met my friends Shawn and Ben but they had totally heard of their boat S/V Pangea since it was during the same years (2008 I think). Small world. 

Still waiting to run into another kayaker. I did see some people in day paddlers in Conception Bay fishing from them but no true touring kayaks. I still get the same thing from everyone that hears what I am doing. The Mexicans think I am either crazy or very strong. From the gringos I either get "Hardcore" which translates as "I would like to do something like that" or " Ballsy" which from the tone of voice translates as "You're an idiot". I think they are all right. 

Yesterday I found swarms of bees where I had planned on camping so paddled an extra couple of miles out to Isla Coronados. Much prettier campsite but there they had a rattlesnake relocation program going on. It's been that kind of week. 

The trip continues to be really rough on gear. My tent is ripped, my bathing suit is ripped, both sneakers are blowing out, and my paddle shirt can stand up by itself. It may just spontaneously combust. I may show up in La Paz half naked with nothing but my kayak and a paddle. 

Homestretch. 2 weeks to go. A person can only read, write, nap, and play harmonica so much before he starts to get bored.  More then ready to go adventure with Kathleen. When I hiked the Colorado Trail it was a longer trip but there were people on the trail to talk to pretty much every day and I had friends do parts if it with me (and my dogs). Here it is remote and I can go days without talking to anyone. Gets lonely. Plus I just don't like being separated from Kathleen for this long. At least she and I are about to have one hell of an adventure together. 

A Day In The Life Of Fid

For those of you who are interested, the following is a description of my life right now. 

The alarm is set for 5:30am which is better then the 4:30 it was when I was still in the Pacific time zone. Either way, it is still totally dark when I wake up. This gives me time to pack up my gear, make breakfast and a mug of coffee (I "borrowed" Kathleen's camping French Press), drag the boat and gear down to the edge of the water, and then to launch just as the sun is breaking the horizon. It is light enough to paddle before then but honest to God's truth I saw JAWS in 4th grade and it is still messing with my head. Twilight paddling freaks me out.  It tends to be cold in the morning where I need my shell but as soon as the sun comes up it gets warm fast.   I then paddle between 15 to 25 miles. The wind usually picks up midday which is why I start so early.  Sometimes that means by 9am and sometimes it never occurs (rarely). That usually determines how far I paddle that day. Sometimes I will troll a fishing line behind the boat if I feel like dealing with cleaning and cooking a fish. Pretty much if you drag something shiny that wiggles behind you then there is a fish that will come and try to eat it.  By 11am to 2 pm I have reached my goal or am driven ashore by the wind. I then unload everything and set up camp. By then I am hot and sweaty so I will often jump onto the ocean to cool off. Then it is time to eat my lunch (usually a peanut butter and jelly tortilla), send out a SPOT signal to the world to tell everyone I am alive, figure out the next days paddle on the charts, and then take a siesta on the shady side of my tent through the hottest part of the day.  Around 4:30 or 5pm I will go walk into the desert to see what I can find for a bit. Then it is time to make dinner and shortly after it is dark I go to sleep. Somewhere during the course of the afternoon I will journal the days events also.  Survival takes a lot of time. I really haven't had as much time to read as I thought I might. I also have my harmonica to keep me occupied.  It is a simple but very fulfilling existence.  

Mulege - Gateway to Bahia Concepcion

 In Mulege. Gateway to Bahia Concepcion, Mecca for paddling in Baja. That said I have gone 420 miles and 27 days without seeing another kayaker. I have seen some little sit on top day paddlers on people's beaches but no one actually paddling. If I don't see someone this week I may go the entire way without crossing paths with one. I am finally taking a full rest day. I have had some half days but never a full rest day and the weather has really cooperated so I haven't had to take a weather day either. Basically I am 2/3 done and it is time to dump out all my dry bags and reinventory what I have left. I can resupply here and in Loreto in about 8 days. I am going to head from here into Conception Bay and have some mellow days there. There is a hot springs I want to find and some little islands that are an easy day paddle. About 19 days left. Still a chunk to go but the end is in sight at the same time. It is becoming more tropical now. The water is becoming noticeably warmer. Palm trees have started to appear. The types of fish are changing. My kayak keeps scaring up flying fish and I have seen sting rays by the hundreds. Whales still make occasional appearances. I had a 25 foot whale shark circling within feet of my boat, and the views under the water when it is calm continues to be amazing. This area has been commercially fished pretty hard (both legal and illegally) and that shows in the much lower density of sea birds here.
Mulege has an international flavor. So far I have met Mexicans, Americans, Canadians, Germans, and a Belgian. There is a pretty big expat community that lives here and it is easy to get to on the highway. Once again everyone I meet wants to take care of me. Give me rides, show me around town, help me find stuff, give me supplies, etc. Not one person who lives down here feels unsafe. If you are looking for some sun and sand I would highly recommend coming to Baja. It has been a fantastic place to visit.

Easter in Morro el Fraile

Easter Sunday turned into the best day ever. I had spent the night on a crappy beach next to a 

dirt racetrack with motorcycles, ATVs, and dune buggies racing by and just a little ways from a 

large gypsum mine spewing dust.  I paddled the 7 miles to Santa Rosalia easily. It would have 

taken a hurricane for me not to paddle across the bay. I had low expectations for Santa Rosalia 

and they were exceeded in every way. I paddled into the marina where I promptly met two 

wonderful Canadians Russ and Gwen of S/V A-Train. I don't know if it is possible but Canadians in 

Mexico may be even nicer than Canadians in Canada.  They had absolutely no problem having me leave 

my kayak tied up behind their boat and watching it for me while I went into town for a few hours. 

Turns out randomly that it was Easter which I did not know until I got there. Easter is a big holiday 

in Mexico. 

I went to the store and got some supplies and water. The Mexicans were very interested in my 

water bags as I transferred the water from the plastic jugs into them. Pretty much the consensus 

about my trip is "hardcore" from the gringos and "su es loco" from the Mexicans. I then went and 

ate a real breakfast of eggs,bacon, hash browns, and toast. The next trick was trying to find 

Internet. All the places were closed since it was a holiday. I even had a Mexican guy try to help me 

find a place, who later I learned had been deported from Tacoma (of all places) 2 weeks before. 

I gave up on that mission but then on a whim stopped at a restaurant across the street from the 

marina for a beer and they had Wifi. I got to chat with Kathleen and my Mom so all my main 

goals for the day had been completed. I went back to my boat, loaded up, thanked Gwen and 

Russ for their help and paddled a few miles out of town to where I knew there was a place to camp. 

Morro el Fraile is the most spectacular camping spot on the planet. It is going to be really hard 

to ever beat this spot. A flat ledge with water almost 3/4 around it that jutted out from the land. It 

was made of sandstone and the rock was full of shells and fossils. I was able to jump off the ledge 

and snorkel around the rocks, kelp, and coral. Sea lions and whales swam by a short distance from 

the ledge. Because the ledge juts so far out into the water, people came there to fish and probably 

have for 100s of years. Here the technique is to use a weighted hook with a piece of fish as bait. 

They would twirl the hook through the air and then launch it as far as they could. Some of the guys 

could really get it out there. It appeared that the further you could throw then the more fish you 

caught. 

A Mexican family (two brothers Javier and Marcos, their wives, kids, and Mom) caught some 

fish and then invited me to have some ceviche they made right there. It is funny. The Mexicans are 

always very concerned about me and their hot sauces. That day was the first day when I was truly 

frustrated not being able to have conversation in Spanish. The sunset was of course amazing. The flat 

water turned a rainbow of colors while the sky did its yellow to red to purple transition. 

I killed the batteries on  both my video and still camera. That was followed by a bazillion stars with 

meteors streaking overhead. I fell asleep to the sound of whales breathing. It really was an almost out 

of body experience kind of day and the high from it still lingers. The only thing that could have 

possibly made it better was if Kathleen had been there to share the experience. 

The internet lied: Grinding it out to Santa Rosalia

Kids. Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. LA Bay to Santa Rosalia I knew was going to be one of the longest legs. Turns out it is hands down the longest. My Internet research found a site with pretty exact milages listed for this leg that said it was 139 miles. Boy was that wrong. The guy must have been smoking crack when he was  looking at his GPS. I ended up paddling almost 190 miles to complete it. Took me a couple of days to realize how off it was and that I needed to refigure on the charts. Made it to Santa Rosalia with one day of water left. Cut it kind of close. Psychologically it was a rough week at times. The realization of the added distance got added to the fact that I was in a grind out the miles part of the trip. The first two weeks you have excitement of the adventure and something new to get you going. Week three into four you have "wow, I have gone 200 miles which is an achievement but there are  still 500 to go!"  That and a rough day on the water (high wind and rough water in a bad spot of coastline) coming around Punta las Animas put me in a bit of a funk. However by the end if the leg I was better.  Had some beautiful camping spots, the weather has been very cooperative, and I have passed the halfway mark which means it is all downhill from here. 3 days gets me to Mulege which is the gateway to Conception Bay, one of the premier kayaking spots in Baja. So far I have only seen local fishing pangas. I have seen no other kayakers, no sailboats, no fishing trawlers, or a cargo ship until I got to Santa Rosalia. There I finally saw a cargo ship loading gypsum and a pair of sailboats.   The next section has Highway 1 (the main road up and down Baja) along it so I may see more people along here then anywhere else. If I don't see kayaks in Conception Bay then I may never see any. I was surprised I didn't see any in LA Bay. 

The wildlife highlight of this section (there are many to choose from) was a 2+ mile long line of whales (50 to 100 to I have no idea how many) that were leaping out of the water and making loud smacks when they hit the water. It sounded like thunder. It went on for about 5 minutes before the settled down and just went back to being a whale parade headed north.  Amazing to watch but too far away to film. 

More when I can report again. 

Through the Heart of The Wall

First time I have gotten to a computer. Can´t find WiFi or I would add some pictures. Red sky in morning, red sky at night. Amazing sunrises and sets. Wildlife galore. Whales breathing as I sleep in my tent. Dolphins frolicking outside my tent. Sea lions grappling birds 20 yards off of my kayak. Just under 200 miles done at this point. The first week was a good warmup with lots of houses and a road nearby. This last week was the most technical section. The most remote area with no road anywhere near and the cliffs went straight into the ocean. Very few beaches if the wind picked up. Next section is 139 miles to Santa Rosalia which is just short of the halfway point. It tends to be very windy here. I have had 3 days of calm out of 13. I get up very early to get as many miles in before the afternoon winds start to pick up (usually starting at 9am. So far I have had one fisherman offer me marijuana and 2 run ins with the Mexican Navy so I would say so far the authorities are winning the drug war. All the Americans and Canadians that live down here feel quite safe. They say just don´t do dumb things just like in the US. I have met some great people here. People have invited me to their houses, fed me, given me rides to the market, etc. Both expats and the Mexican people. This is the 5th time I have been to Mexico and each time it has been great. The hardest part of this trip is missing Kathleen but I can look at the mountains and water and have to pinch myself that I am actually living this dream. It will be over before I know it. The funny thing is I keep dreaming about snow.

Into Mexico

     So I made it out of town.  Everything took much longer to get done then expected but eventually it got done.  The entire house was packed into boxes and everything was put into a storage shed for the foreseeable future.  Initially the storage shed was neatly stacked and packed but I will admit by the end I was just throwing things into it to get it done.  If there is an earthquake there will be major problems trying to get the door open.  While I was piling stuff in there I did have some moments where I was convinced I was about to be buried in a crap-a-lanche of my own belongings.  I managed to get everything done with only a few scrapes and cuts on my hands and shins. 
     I have now spent the last 5 days taking my time visiting friends as I made my way to Juli's house in LA out of which I am staging the Baja trip. I spent a night in Portland and then 3 nights in Northern California visiting friends from High School, undergrad, vet school, and former coworkers.  It was a relaxing few days to catch up with old friends and to slowly get my head wrapped around the upcoming weeks.  Good food, a few drinks, and chatting it up with friends I hadn't seen in way too many years was the perfect way to immerse myself into the trip.  It also allowed me to catch up on some neglected sleep. I picked up a friend Toby at LAX who is going to come to Mexico with me and then drive my truck back to LA where it will stay while I paddle.  The clouds chased me down then entire way.  I did get some sun yesterday afternoon but even today in LA it is completely overcast.  Meanwhile I hear that Seattle is gorgeous.  Soon after a few weeks of burning under the sun I will probably be praying for clouds.   
     Now that I am dropping into Mexico the amount of communication I will have and internet access will be very intermittent at best.  My cellular service will be disconnected so from now on the only way to contact me will be through email (solsoul@aol.com) or through Facebook. I will only be able to check this when I can get a WiFi signal so it may be 2 months before I can get a solid update posted about my trip.  My SPOT tracker is supposed to update my position on Facebook  but it has not seemed to be working.  At least it has been sending a text message/email to my Mom and Kathleen which is the important thing it needs to do so they don't worry as much.  However on the front page of this blog there is a link for "My current position" which should show my camping spots for the last 7 days. Once I get back and have my own computer I can post pictures again
    The plan is to take a day or two to hang out in San Felipe, get a lay of the land, enjoy being in Baja and set off when the wind allows.  700 miles and 7 weeks later I hope to pull into La Paz.  My Mom has now decided that she is going to go to La Paz so she will meet me there and watch my stuff while I go get my truck and Kathleen to come back down to La Paz and get my boat and gear.  As a result I will have a much nicer hotel room then I would otherwise once I get to La Paz.  I will update as soon as I can.  Thanks to everyone for the support and help, especially Kathleen, my Mom, Juli and Morgan for being home base LA,  Nicole, Nick, and Heather for feeding me and giving me shelter on the drive down, Toby for helping with the launch, and GU for the support on this expedition.