Luigi Canyon

One thing about camping on the beach during Christmas and New Years is that one tends not to get too hung up on the commercialism that seems to have taken over during the holidays (not to say we don't miss the festivities with family and friends).  During the last week of 2015 a few of us from the beach enjoyed what turned out to be not such a leisurely hike up Luigi Canyon, located not far from our camp.  It was a fun afternoon with friends and a great way to get some exercise and wear-off some of the calories associated with the holiday festivities.

Near the the beginning of the canyon the walls there is not much water,

 the walls are steeply cut into the mountains,

and there is a quite a bit of vegetation on the floor.

The walls become narrow and the water starts to pool but it is evident that at one time the water ran fast and furious.

The banks of the canyon are so steep that in most places you have to wade through the water and it does get a little deep.

On a side chute, off the main canyon, I take a look up at Ken and decide maybe I won't go any farther up.

Mandy stands in the water waiting for us to 'hurry up...lets go', she was with us all the way and enjoyed the hike and the swimming.

Amazingly enough, deep into the canyon vegetation still grows and the water is soooo clear, and luckily not too cold because we ended up walking in the water for quite a distance.

Near the top end of the canyon we stopped for lunch in an area that opened up and was nice and warm and sunny.

Nestled on a large rock in the water a rattlesnake coiled himself into a ball trying to keep warm.  Most snakes are down by now around here and there are only a few frogs to eat in the canyon...he does look a little skinny!  He is probably asking himself how the heck he got himself in this predicament in the first place???

The water is sooo clear (did I mention that already?) and not as cold as I would have thought.  The wetness on the walls is from water seeping out of cracks and is actually warm.

Like I said, sometimes you just have to walk through the water...no option, unless you are spiderman.

It is crazy where and how some vegetation grows.  This fig tree was hanging to the wall of the canyon by its roots and reaching for the sun above with all its might...until the next hurricane comes and water rages down the canyon taking everything in its path with it.

One of the nice thing about the hike in Luigi Canyon is the fact that you can walk up the canyon and return along a ridge trail so you are warm and dry by the time you get back to your vehicle. You can walk both ways in water if you choose, or not at all.

Little burrows hang out along the rim trail.  This is a ranch and we also saw cows and horses along the way.  The area where we parked our car is also a camp for Big Horn Sheep hunters, a hunt in the Gigantes will put you back about $60,000 to $70,000 US...craziness.

The view from above, looking back into the Gigante Mountians and to the start of the canyon...somewhere up there.

Our First Visitor

In the 15 or so years Ken and I have been coming to Baja and enjoying the winters I can not remember one when friends or family have come to visit us and see what keeps us coming back year after year.  Well this year Shari, Ken's sister came for a 10 day visit and I hope we instilled in her mind a place and time that was fun as well as interesting and she "gets it"...the reason we keep coming back year after year.  

FYI, Horizon flys into Loreto via LA everyday (and WestJet starts flying non-stop from Calgary in Jan).  The Trupui resort, located 2 km from our beach rents a apartment that sleeps up to 8 for $350 US per week and is pretty darn comfortable.  Oh ya!  and happy hour starts every day at 5 pm and there is always an extra lawn chair with a great view of the Sea of Cortez. 

Ken and Shari, overlooking Agua Verde...what a view.  We just don't tire of it.

Shari and I got out a spoting scope to take a closer look at how the other guys live...I think they were looking back to see how good we have it on the beach!

 

Shari got the hang of SUP right away and had a beautiful afternoon to give it a try.

We took a trip in the Zodiac around Danzante Island and enjoyed the view after a short hike to the top of a hill.

Captain Ken (the tour guide) and Shari.

A walk up Steinback canyon was a good morning of exercise and as picturesque as always.

No tour of Loreto would be complete without a trip up to San Javier and a look at the 100 year old olive tree.

A sad day when we all joined for happy hour to say good bye to Shari.  Although she flew out the next afternoon we would carry on the tradition for the continuation of the winter season.

Another Day

Just the beginning of another day in Baja!!

6:15 and Ken is heading out fishing.  A dirty job but someone has to bring home dinner!

And  I settle down with a cup of coffee and enjoy the beginning of abrand new day.

The Trip to Baja 2014

Here we have been on the beach for over a week (oops, now it is actually 3 weeks on the beach...time flys) and I still haven't got around to telling you about our trip down to Mexico from Canada.  It was anything but uneventful, but in a good way.  We took the long way around, visiting friends, via Wyoming, New Mexico and finally Arizona before crossing the border into Baja, Mexico.

Our first stop in Wyoming was to visit John and Ingrid at home in Alto, we usually see them in Comitan on the Baja but it was nice to see their beautiful home situated at the foot of the Grand Tetons.  Both are retired from the airlines and still fly their own Beachcraft Bonanza V35 so we flew to Montana and back for lunch.  What a treat!  Ken had a smile a mile wide when John gave him a ride to the airport in his Porshe,  Ken was remembering his Porshe days.

After a couple days with John and Ingrid we traveled south to Bernalillo, New Mexico where Jay and Diane found a nice little corner on their property  where we could park our rig and enjoy some of the sights (and food) in their area.  New Mexico does have some good and spicy fare!  There really is nothing like the flavour of New Mexican chilis.  While John and Ingrid have a couple horses, Jay and Diane have four pack mules in their back pastures.  They use them for packing into the wilderness and hunting, boy they are adventuresome!  We look forward to their company on the beach this year, at Rattlesnake, and a friendly game of bocci or two.

Once in Arizona we found ourselves at Chino Valley and at the home of fellow biking enthusiast  Don Short where we rondez vous'd with Carl and the three of them did a little dirt biking before the flood rains came and drove them home.  I on the other hand had the common sense to stay at home in the first place.  Stop two in Arizona was at Chris and Carls place in Yuma.  It is always good to visit them and also a convenient place to get our Mexician visas and our first taco of the season from our favourite taco stand in Algadonas.   

Once again this year, we travelled highway 5 down through San Felipe and Coco's Corner on our way to the beach.  This year however we crossed at San Luis Rio Colorado and took the toll road #2 to the south of Mexicali and then caught the #5, way easier and it only cost us 62 pesos.  What a deal and way less of a headache than driving through Mexicali.   We only spent one night on the road at Rosarito  and where on the beach at Rattlesnake by 4:00pm just in time for happy hour, and that was even giving us time to get fuel and propane.

Now we are all set up.  The beach at our doorstep.  The Zodiac, paddleboard and kayak in the water.  The bikes are full and ready to go.

 

Myself with John and Ingrid, and Ken in front of John's plane.

 

John and Ingrid toys!

The Grand Tetons.

The view of the Grand Tetons during or flight to lunch with John and Ingrid.

Just some beautiful scenery along the way.

A little off road riding around Moab, 

The sun sets on the hills around Moab makes the rock come alive with magnificent red colors.

The streets of Vermillion are lined with petunias.

Just more beautiful roadside scenery.

The tracks with Palomas Peak in the background, a very pretty sight from Bernilillo.

The streets of Santa Fe are a showplace for the famous New Mexican chili.

At the Santa Fe farmers market they sell vegetables that have not been treated badly...Cage Free Tomatoes.

Happy Hour with Jay and Diane at the Hyatt in Bernillio.

This food at this place was Udderly Delicious!  Lots and lots of famous people have dinned here including the last three presidents.

Dog-gone-it let's get going.  Don and Carl are ready to take Ken on a little bike ride.

Well that about rounds it up for the drive down and chances are it may be a few months before you hear from us again...it's busy on the beach!   Really!!1

Summer Just Goes On and On

Looking down Adams Lake on one of the "nice days" while we camped during the September long weekend.  The water was like glass, Ron's Kingfisher was in the water with the fishermen on board, I am taking advantage of the calm day to kayak and the Bush Creek campground is in the background.

One weekend we camped with my parents at Davis Lake, just off the Old Colemount Rd, the campground was great but the fishing sucked.  While camped there we did a nice motorbike ride via Old Colemount Rd to Brookmere, across to the Coquihalla, down the Coldwater valley and back to our campground on the Kane and Voight Valley forrestry roads.  A great ride that took about 2 hours.

Ken's happy being on anything with a motor.  The Sea-doo felt a little weird when you're used to a motorbike but fun all the same.

Sue and John rented a cabin on Okanagan Lake for a week in September and invited us for a night.  What a treat riding the Sea-doos and having a weinny roast on the beach.  The view down the lake at night, looking north to Vernon, was nice and a little different than what we were used to.

One of my favourite rides around Kelowna is the KVR-Chute Lake road that runs from Kelowna to Naramata/Penticton.  Gerry joined us one day for the ride which ended up with us visiting Shaun and Iris in Summerland, what a great day, what a great view!

Naramata is home to a whole lot of wineries with some award winning wines.  Unfortunately while on the bike we couldn't take in the wine tasting but the view of Naramata Bench was beautiful just the same.

We were so lucky the weather held out for us into the end of September.  We decided to take a road trip to Oregon, Ken on the Tenere and I was on my KLR.  Along the way, in Yakima we stopped at a restaurant for Tamales, yum yum I can't wait to get to Mexico.

 

Mt Jefferson off in the distance as seen from the Deschutes campground in The Cove Palisades State Park.

Looking at the Deschutes River down from a ridge on the Tamalau Trail above our campsite at The Cove Palisades.  A spectacular view and a great 7 mile hike along the plateau.

The viewpoint at the summit of the McKenzie Pass between Sisters and McKenzie Bridge on Hwy 242, a must for bikers.  The pass is totally volcanic stone from the Belknap Crater and the road snakes through the lava field, warning don't try this road in a large RV.

We met Brian and Sandi at McKenzie Bridge, we were tenting and they were with their Tiny Trailer "Miss Piggy".  Brian fabricated the trailer with parts from 11 cars, 5 trucks and 2 motorcycles.  Sandy made a mean meatloaf in her Dutch Oven...my favorite!

We drove and camped along the scenic Deschutes River.  The ride was very picturesque but the trains were a little loud during the night.

The pleasant view of Hwy 97 running along side the Columbia River.

 

Wild Horses Monument (or its real name is Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies) overlooks the Columbia River.   The monument is made of steel and started in 1989 but is still a work in progress.  Next time we pass by I'm walking to the top of the ridge.

We timed our trip to Oakridge perfectly, it just so happened that Mike and Hortensia were entered in a pie making contest.  I couldn't help myself and had to enter as well. I made a Tailwind Chili Pie and Hortensia made a Coconut Cheesecake (she walked away with first prize in the creme category).  The best part was after all the pies were judged we got to eat them all, and there must have been about 15 to sample.  

What a summer, lots of camping and fishing while traveling the B.C. northern interior.  Lots of visiting with friends and family.  However, while I am writing up this post on Oct 6th the weather has turned cool and it trying to rain.  Ken is loading the trailer and then I'll finish up laundry and shopping...it is time to head south.  It is time to head to the Baja for the winter.