Baja is such a surprise. Yesterday we crossed from the West Coast to Loreto on the East coast. The road at first is just what I expected of Baja, flat desert in every direction. Maybe 200 miles with out a turn, just vast openness as far as the eye.

Then on the hazy horizon some mountains appeared. We got closer when all of a sudden the road fell away into a large canyon. Surprisingly we had climbed to over 2,000 feet and were starting the decent to the coast.

The scenery was unbelievable. Some of the best I have seen this trip. 4,000 tall peaks on the left. Crystal blue water on the right with islands scattered about. I tried to take some photos but the shy was overcast and they will not come out well, at least I’ll have the memories.

I don’t know why I was so unprepared for these sights. Baja has been a huge surprise and I will plan a trip here as soon as I can. I think I want to bring a real dirt bike though. Yesterday Gary and I took a detour to the coast. Bad mistake. The road has been used by the race trucks and was a whooped out rocky mess. It would have been okay on a race bike but on the pig, it was no fun. Gary fell three times and hurt his hand and wrist.

After one fall his bike would not run properly. He was convinced it was a stuck float and was beating on the carburetor with bigger and bigger tools. It would run on pilot and main but not in the middle. So he held it wide open to keep it running and played the clutch to keep his speed. Eventually we were stopped and trying to figure out which way to go and his bike would not start. Grinding away on the starter we were in a bad way. Finally he got the idea to give it some choke, well the choke was already on and that was why his bike would not run. He flipped it off, it fired right up and has run fine ever since.

I am losing Gary this morning. He wants to stay here and rest his hand and foot. I want to go home, so we have parted ways and will do it solo. Of course I’m going to stay on the road from here in, my sub frame is not getting any better and I dont want to stop and fix it, there is a welder in every town, but I will have to remove the fender and air box to get room to fix it. A job better left for home. So that’s where I´m heading. I hope to make it to Mikes Sky Ranch for tonight and cross the border tomorrow. We will just have to wait and see. Of course I’ll write as soon as I can.

I got this letter from Chuck, he is still in Mazatlan, read the following, it is by Chuck:

The Bonatun Mazatlan 300 just took off down the center of town…One rider per minute…Dirt bikes first allthouth just a couple dozen…I was so close to entering the 950 and almost had a 300 to ride, but their is no way I was going to pound the 950 to a pulpo and ride 1000 miles on a home made tube, allthough still holding great! And check this out, Marco a KTM 525exc rider rode this event last Dec. and suffered a DNF because of a broken wrist sustained from hitting a truck! Ya not a race truck but a farmer going the wrong way on the course…Promotors have full support from the local Federalies and town and assure steps have been taken to prevent people on course but still watch out for livestock as you will see from by photos.

Stopping everywhere including the Honda dealer here and still no 18 incher tube. .Maz 300 has heavy entries from the buggies but a Las Vegas Score and Best In The Desert driver Tom Bradley is a favorite in the 8000 class. I{m all packed up and ready to head north as soon as the leaders come in. Bikes out at 8:30 so should be in by 1:30. I hope Charlie{s report on the toll rodes are not as spendy….My thought is that he wanted a good excuse to go to Baja….Sounds good to me, but I{m gonna pin it….Charlie{s sposa Wilma has spoke to friends and they say Las Mochis north to the border is the most Peligrosos (dangerous)! Bring em on! Later Chuck

Okay, Charlie back. Sounds like we are on completely different trips now, I’m looking to avoid trouble and he wants em to: ¨Bring em on….¨ I hope he does okay, I would hate for something to happen to him. Chuck and I had a great time together. Yes there was that one day where I absolutely wanted to kill him and many other times I just wanted to burn him with cigarette butts, but for the most part we got along very well, which is not easy on such a long journey.

So I´m going to run, don’t forget to subscribe to Trail Rider and I’ll write tonight if I can find a shop.

Adios

Charlie