Headed south to watch the Baja 1000 Off-Road Race

Here are a few photos from a recent trip to Baja to watch the Baja 1000 Off-Road Race. I say "few" because I took hundreds of photos, many fairly decent ones, but I wanted to stay on topic the best I could without posting too many off-tangent photos.

The plan was for me to drive to Loreto, BCS, Mexico (Baja California Sur, the southern state on the peninsula) to pick up my wife at the airport -- she wasn't so keen on driving two long days to get down there. From the airport we would transition to the Pacific side to spectate the race, then slowly work our way back up the peninsula toward home, stopping and wandering along the way.

Here's a Gaia GPS file of our wanderings. Zoom is your friend. This is the northbound portion of the trip starting at Agua Verde, then back to SoCal.

While we're at it, there's a Baja 1000 course map at the bottom of this mess for reference.

Originally two other trucks would be joining us, so I was planning on some lengthy off-road sections to remote locations. But things as they are, one dropped out due to politics and the other ended up working for a major team in the 1000 (can't blame him).

Heading south, my first stop to gas up was San Felipe, about two hours south of the border on the Sea of Cortez.



About 90 minutes south of San Felipe I stopped for a break at a cool old building with spectacular Sea of Cortez views. The building used to be next to the old main dirt road, but when the new highway was realigned and paved several years ago, the building was hidden from the roadway, somewhere over the hill.



I camped the first night off of Highway 1, south of Laguna Chapala. Before I left in the morning, I set up a critter cam with a pan of water (for bait) to see what's wandering around out there. I put a rock in the pan as an escape route in case a small animal fell in. We'd pick up the cam a week later on our northbound trip. I ended up capturing a couple coyotes, a rabbit, tons of kangaroo rats, and moving bushes in the wind.



Like Day 1, Day 2 was all business driving south (Indy-style gas stops, eat on the fly), but managed to stop and grab a snap of Playa Coyote on Bahía Concepción, a spectacular blue-green bay in the Sea of Cortez.



I camped the second night near Loreto; my wife would land at 11:30 the next morning.



After the airport rendezvous, we headed south on Highway 1, and after two hours arrived at the small, dusty fishing village of Alfredo Lopez Mateos on the Pacific side of Baja.



The hotel was clean and modest, and the family who ran the place were very helpful/friendly.



The trucks left the starting line in La Paz at 9 am on race day, but didn't arrive at our location (Race Mile 205) until around 12:30. At our location, the race course made a slight right, then left, forcing racers to slow down from their previous triple-digit speeds.

On the 56th running of the Baja 1000, and for the first time ever, the race started in La Paz in very southern Baja and finished in Ensenada, 60 miles south of the US border. The course length was 1310 miles and racers were given 50 hours to complete the race. All drivers would be driving thru at least one all-nighter.

The first truck past our location was Trophy Truck 7, Bryce Menzies, who would stay in front of the pack to the finish first in class and first overall in Ensenada (22:35:33.009).



The second truck past us was Luke McMillian who finished second, only about 1:20 behind Menzies (2:36:51.721).



Helpful spectators alerting drivers that the course veers right. Continuing straight launches cars off a cliff and into the ocean, making for a bad day.



We were spectating 10 miles north of town joined by maybe a hundred locals, families with kids, BBQing, all having a great time.



The number 6 truck was driven by Robert Romo of Mexicali, Baja California who was on his way home. He eventually finished sixth (24:46:15.495). The first six Trophy Trucks started and finished in the same order.



After the race was over, we migrated to Agua Verde to camp for the night.



The day after Agua Verde, we headed north for a two-night stay in Mulegé, home to another of the California Missions.



In the back of the mission is a view spot overlooking the Río Mulegé which is one of only two “real” rivers in Baja California Sur.



The view from Hotel Serenidad in Mulegé, a classic old Baja fishing hotel. Guests can fly into the hotel's airstrip, enjoy their Saturday pig roast and fiesta (it's been running for 45+ years now), and then fly home (after spending the night, of course).



We were visiting a beach to the southeast of Mulegé and saw this group of horse riders headed our way. Many were wearing the same shirt, so I assumed they were all part of a club or organization.



A little farther up the east coast, we visited the town of Santa Rosalía to see Iglesia de Santa Bárbara, an entire steel church designed by Gustave Eiffel, yes that Eiffel.

From Wikipedia: "First shown at the 1889 Exposition Universelle of Paris, France, it was moved to Brussels, where it was acquired by the Boleo Mining Company who installed it in Santa Rosalia in late 1897. It was built entirely of stamped steel sheet squares and is supported by a formidable steel structure in a sober and austere style. It was later modified in favor of functionality, its former lateral corridors were turned into habitable space using crude masonry, and the building was stripped of several of its original stained glasses. Despite these modifications, it still preserves some of the original 1880s design."

Unfortunately, it was Revolution Day in Mexico, a National Holiday, and the church was closed.



Speaking of which, a couple blocks over from the church there was a parade in town to celebrate Revolution Day.



On our way up the peninsula, we spent the night in San Ignacio, home to another California Mission (1728).



To me, San Ignacio looks as if you asked a Hollywood set designer to build you a stereotypical Mexican village. Complete with a Mission on one end, a town square in the middle, and surrounded by small stores and restaurants.



Our next stop was another California Mission at San Borja (1762). The road to the mission is 20 miles long, but it got trashed by recent Hurricane Hillary in several places requiring long sandy detours. Ditto for the north road out of there.



Wikipedia: "Before becoming a mission, the future site of San Borja served as a visita or subordinate mission station for Misión Santa Gertrudis. The construction of buildings was begun in 1759. A stone church was completed during the Dominican period, in 1801.

The mission was abandoned in 1818, as the native population in this part of the peninsula disappeared. Structures and ruins survive."

An 8th-generation family is still caring for the structures on their property. They provide tours and share knowledge.





Heading farther north, getting colder ... the next stop was Bahía de los Ángeles, a small-town destination for sport fishermen, and around Race Mile 740 for the 1000.



Back on Highway 1 headed north -- many sections are narrow with non-existent shoulders requiring a mindful driver, especially when passing a semi.



We spent our last night on the Sea of Cortez in San Felipe. The next day we crossed the border at Tecate and headed home. The fun was over.

 

Fabulous pics and story! Thank you for sharing.

 

Hey Brotha! Dope pics. Whats your wheel/tire settup? I live in SoCal and I'm digging your setup. Thanks.

Dylan

 

Thanks. BFG AT LT265/75R16 + Level 8 wheels. Sort of the old-school desert look.