Baja, Overland in an Overland, exactly 50 years ago.
- Thread starter Mundo4x4Casa
- Start date
Little Foot
Crawler/Overlander
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your story. Looking on doing a Baja trip in the next couple years with my 96 Jeep ZJ.
Mundo4x4Casa
West slope, N. Ser. Nev.
Desert Dan,
We have certainly trod some of the same trails over time. I remember you posting on here a few years ago about Baja travel. I have in a briefcase marked Baja, every one of the ACSC brochures and maps you show, except one. I have not opened it for 30 years...but it's still there and has made several moves. I do have the 18"x48" Baja map by McMahon's cartographer carefully folded up in the briefcase. We made a lot of trips to Baja and pretty much covered the northern 3/4's of the area. The most remote place I have ever been in my lifetime was a 1974 trip to Malarimo on the west coast, on the obvious hook on maps. First you had to get to Guerro Negro and stock up on provisions (mostly beer and gas). After passing the Tropic of Cancer(?) at El Arco you head west on the loneliest 150 miles of dirt track, driving over dunes and on tracks of Pemex trucks (oil exploration from the 1950's) across the Vizciano Desert (the driest desert i have ever been in and I lived in the desert for some years) down endless rocky arroyos to Rancho San Jose del Castro. This was about the half way point. There was one old pickup parked there and a herd of burros and some horses for local travel. Saddles were lined up on wooden racks. A ranch hand tried to sell me some gas but we had 80 gallons on board. I asked to at least see the gas and it was in a 55 gallon drum mixed with dirt, water, rust, and goat droppings so I declined. We finally got to Malarimo (loosely translated: bad to get to) as it is the flotsam and jetsam capital of the world. Shipwrecks, dead marine animals including whale skeletons littered the endless beach. Scammon's Lagoon is more to the east and is the crib/spawning ground for the California grey whale, AK to Baja migration.
Below is 4WD #3 that took 5 men on that trip:
1970 Toyota Land Cruiser, FJ-55, Chevy 307 c.i. V-8, 3 on the floor, Hone overdrive, 4.11's, 53 gallon replacement gas tank, 2, 5 gallon racks on tailgate, power steering and brakes, Air conditioning, 11x15 Armstrong True Trac tires, Power Lok L.S., Warn 8K winch on tomba burro. ConFer Toyota jeep trailer with locking lids and 4 gas can holders, so 83 gallon capacity.
In the middle of the Vizciano, a trailer main spring snapped so we ditched the trailer in the desert to be picked up somehow on the return. When you lose the main spring the axle wants to locate against the fender and stop rolling. We removed the entire axle from the trailer, removed all contents and put it up on the tomb burro with tongue on the roof and repacked the trailer including the axle (which Ralph Sauer is dead lifting like a weightlifter). The only woe was seeing where you were going. Both front seat occupants traveled with the doors wide open and leaning out to see around the trailer body 100 miles back to Guerro Negro. We did look a sight slowly moving into to town, hanging out the doors trying not to run over any ninos. A local mechanico found some old chevy pickup springs that he crafted, blacksmith style into the mix. He worked all day and wanted $7 whole dollars, US, for his time. Yes, he got a lot more than that. While we were waiting there was a Rodeo with lots of caballeros strutting their stuff, Mexican style, so we took in the festivities. What a culture warp to be a part of that scene.
The rest of the trip included Bahia de Los Angeles and Bahia Gonzaga on the east side. Water temp on that side in September was 88 degrees, F.
jefe
We have certainly trod some of the same trails over time. I remember you posting on here a few years ago about Baja travel. I have in a briefcase marked Baja, every one of the ACSC brochures and maps you show, except one. I have not opened it for 30 years...but it's still there and has made several moves. I do have the 18"x48" Baja map by McMahon's cartographer carefully folded up in the briefcase. We made a lot of trips to Baja and pretty much covered the northern 3/4's of the area. The most remote place I have ever been in my lifetime was a 1974 trip to Malarimo on the west coast, on the obvious hook on maps. First you had to get to Guerro Negro and stock up on provisions (mostly beer and gas). After passing the Tropic of Cancer(?) at El Arco you head west on the loneliest 150 miles of dirt track, driving over dunes and on tracks of Pemex trucks (oil exploration from the 1950's) across the Vizciano Desert (the driest desert i have ever been in and I lived in the desert for some years) down endless rocky arroyos to Rancho San Jose del Castro. This was about the half way point. There was one old pickup parked there and a herd of burros and some horses for local travel. Saddles were lined up on wooden racks. A ranch hand tried to sell me some gas but we had 80 gallons on board. I asked to at least see the gas and it was in a 55 gallon drum mixed with dirt, water, rust, and goat droppings so I declined. We finally got to Malarimo (loosely translated: bad to get to) as it is the flotsam and jetsam capital of the world. Shipwrecks, dead marine animals including whale skeletons littered the endless beach. Scammon's Lagoon is more to the east and is the crib/spawning ground for the California grey whale, AK to Baja migration.
Below is 4WD #3 that took 5 men on that trip:
1970 Toyota Land Cruiser, FJ-55, Chevy 307 c.i. V-8, 3 on the floor, Hone overdrive, 4.11's, 53 gallon replacement gas tank, 2, 5 gallon racks on tailgate, power steering and brakes, Air conditioning, 11x15 Armstrong True Trac tires, Power Lok L.S., Warn 8K winch on tomba burro. ConFer Toyota jeep trailer with locking lids and 4 gas can holders, so 83 gallon capacity.
In the middle of the Vizciano, a trailer main spring snapped so we ditched the trailer in the desert to be picked up somehow on the return. When you lose the main spring the axle wants to locate against the fender and stop rolling. We removed the entire axle from the trailer, removed all contents and put it up on the tomb burro with tongue on the roof and repacked the trailer including the axle (which Ralph Sauer is dead lifting like a weightlifter). The only woe was seeing where you were going. Both front seat occupants traveled with the doors wide open and leaning out to see around the trailer body 100 miles back to Guerro Negro. We did look a sight slowly moving into to town, hanging out the doors trying not to run over any ninos. A local mechanico found some old chevy pickup springs that he crafted, blacksmith style into the mix. He worked all day and wanted $7 whole dollars, US, for his time. Yes, he got a lot more than that. While we were waiting there was a Rodeo with lots of caballeros strutting their stuff, Mexican style, so we took in the festivities. What a culture warp to be a part of that scene.
The rest of the trip included Bahia de Los Angeles and Bahia Gonzaga on the east side. Water temp on that side in September was 88 degrees, F.
jefe
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Desert Dan
Explorer
Jefe
What an adventure! We should get together and share some stories and pictures.
I went out to Malarimo Beach in the early 80's and it was still very remote and hard to find your way.
Dan
What an adventure! We should get together and share some stories and pictures.
I went out to Malarimo Beach in the early 80's and it was still very remote and hard to find your way.
Dan
Regcabguy
Oil eater.
Mundo4x4,
Now that's a story!
Mine pales but some friends went out there in a Bronco and a Toyota Landcruiser. After exploring all day they set up camp,had a fire,drank some beers and were out for the night. One of the campers left a red and white cooler with a six pack outside. Coyote's silently stole the cooler,trotted down the beach and had themselves a drunk. The discarded cans and shredded cooler were stained with blood from their efforts but i'm sure it was a grand night!
Now that's a story!
Mine pales but some friends went out there in a Bronco and a Toyota Landcruiser. After exploring all day they set up camp,had a fire,drank some beers and were out for the night. One of the campers left a red and white cooler with a six pack outside. Coyote's silently stole the cooler,trotted down the beach and had themselves a drunk. The discarded cans and shredded cooler were stained with blood from their efforts but i'm sure it was a grand night!
EugeneTheTJ
Tar Heel
Literally got chills. This is incredible!
High Center
Adventurer
A glimpse of the golden age. Thanks so much for sharing.
KevinsMap
Adventurer
Nostalgia...
I do not often succumb to nostalgia, but this did it. I was there! This was my introduction into Overlanding, though it had no such name in the California of the day. I was very young 50 years ago, traveling with my family and friends from San Onofre Surfing Club, Ski Club Alpine, and the Phoenix Ski Club. On our first trip Dad was not so sure our station wagon would be suitable ;-) so he rented a u-haul van to find out. No, this was neither legal nor did anyone comment or care that we had put 1400 miles off-road in a foreign country, on a u-haul Ford Econoline. Our first and only surfer van, because before the 3rd or 4th trip we had a strange and wonderful new 4WD vehicle called a "Blazer". In between, the station wagon did suffice. Hey, the locals used them.
We surfed up and down the Baja into my teens and all through them, and there was no pavement to speak of south of Estero Beach, Ensenada. Heck, most of Ensenada was dirt, streets and sidewalks, off the main highway through town.
This is where I learned to drive. Not just drive offroad; drive at all, anywhere. Starting on my 10th birthday.
There were a few cafe / restaurants deep in Baja, south of El Rosario, along Hwy1 and far from the coast. But refrigeration was rare. That meant you ordered the whole chicken dinner, because it was fresh; very, very fresh ;-) Free Range, too ;-) It usually took awhile to "prepare", but is my standard to this day about how grilled chicken should taste.
On lonely beaches, you could trade the local fishermen 1lb of Farmer John bacon for 20+lbs of live lobsters. Or enough fish for a week, fresh daily.
Ensenada baked some of the best bread this Italian boy has ever tasted, even in Europe. $1 American got you several groceries bags full.
If you broke down, your most important recovery tool was patience. Days of patience. But bacon helped too.
When supplies were low, teenage-me discovered that Corn Flakes are quite good drowned with beer, instead of the milk you no longer have. No sugar needed.
Nostalgia; strange word. Roughly translated, "our pain", implying a shared pathology. Things change, and I try not to give in to age and declare the past to be better than the present. That is almost always an illusion, a loss of familiarity. But... those were the days, in that time and place. They were indeed.
I do not often succumb to nostalgia, but this did it. I was there! This was my introduction into Overlanding, though it had no such name in the California of the day. I was very young 50 years ago, traveling with my family and friends from San Onofre Surfing Club, Ski Club Alpine, and the Phoenix Ski Club. On our first trip Dad was not so sure our station wagon would be suitable ;-) so he rented a u-haul van to find out. No, this was neither legal nor did anyone comment or care that we had put 1400 miles off-road in a foreign country, on a u-haul Ford Econoline. Our first and only surfer van, because before the 3rd or 4th trip we had a strange and wonderful new 4WD vehicle called a "Blazer". In between, the station wagon did suffice. Hey, the locals used them.
We surfed up and down the Baja into my teens and all through them, and there was no pavement to speak of south of Estero Beach, Ensenada. Heck, most of Ensenada was dirt, streets and sidewalks, off the main highway through town.
This is where I learned to drive. Not just drive offroad; drive at all, anywhere. Starting on my 10th birthday.
There were a few cafe / restaurants deep in Baja, south of El Rosario, along Hwy1 and far from the coast. But refrigeration was rare. That meant you ordered the whole chicken dinner, because it was fresh; very, very fresh ;-) Free Range, too ;-) It usually took awhile to "prepare", but is my standard to this day about how grilled chicken should taste.
On lonely beaches, you could trade the local fishermen 1lb of Farmer John bacon for 20+lbs of live lobsters. Or enough fish for a week, fresh daily.
Ensenada baked some of the best bread this Italian boy has ever tasted, even in Europe. $1 American got you several groceries bags full.
If you broke down, your most important recovery tool was patience. Days of patience. But bacon helped too.
When supplies were low, teenage-me discovered that Corn Flakes are quite good drowned with beer, instead of the milk you no longer have. No sugar needed.
Nostalgia; strange word. Roughly translated, "our pain", implying a shared pathology. Things change, and I try not to give in to age and declare the past to be better than the present. That is almost always an illusion, a loss of familiarity. But... those were the days, in that time and place. They were indeed.
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defrag4
Road Warrior
some great stories in here, thanks for sharing old timers :sombrero:
Baja seems to be calling to me this winter, I must answer. It is quite different now, with the MEX1 paved most of the way through, but there is still plenty of adventures to be had, just a few feet off the tarmac :smiley_drive:
Baja seems to be calling to me this winter, I must answer. It is quite different now, with the MEX1 paved most of the way through, but there is still plenty of adventures to be had, just a few feet off the tarmac :smiley_drive: