The off-road adventure route is hard…  Really hard.

We drive southwest, reach the Pacific, turn and head southeast, reach the Sea of Cortez and than go back to the southwest. Ok there is a little more to it than that, just ask Brad who has been keeping us on schedule but the course is taking us back and forth across the baja peninsula as we work our way south.  In reaching the water’s edge we cross mountains, valleys and desert.  To get to this point we have driven over pavement, gravel, dirt, river beds, swamps and cactus.

We have gone through five military check points and lost count of the cattle that have crossed our path on the road.  Occasionally we drive 35 mph.  Most of the time the needle doesn’t move past 15 and we are always searching for trail markers in a maze of crossing dirt roads and goat trails. This is hard driving.

The days start out amazing.  They are cool, blue sky, sunshine working up to 81 degrees and dry.  We couldn’t ask for better weather but the days are short. Sun down is around 5:00 pm and we have to drive non-stop just to bang out the 170 – 200 miles a day we’d planned.   We get up early, pack up and hit the road .  We don’t stop for lunch, grabbing a snack bar during a quick 10 minute rest and we still barely make 200 miles.  So we’ve taken a few liberties with the course to make the schedule and it’s still a hard route.

As I write this post I find it difficult to describe what we are experiencing on this adventure.  There is a sense of accomplishment for how far we have come.  There is also the exhaustion that is setting in and the thought that tomorrow we will get up and do it all over.

We accomplished my goal the day we crossed the boarder.  We got out of our comfort zone.  Way out of our comfort zone.  We started an adventure lots of folks think about but few attempt.  Friends and family told us we where nuts.  They asked why go down to Mexico?  Why go alone without other rigs or a guide?  Why take the hard way to Cabo?  Why would you want to do this?

Maybe everyone is right, not a lot of people attempt this adventure. We seldom see any other travelers once we leave what ever little town we stop for fuel in and never on the back dirt roads.

I’m still not sure I can fully answer their questions but I know each day I’m getting a little closer to knowing what it is about the Baja that called to me and keeps me driving.

The route is hard! Really Hard!!

Before I forget, Not only is Brad in charge of navigation, many of the great photos we post here, on Facebook and over on Flicker are the thanks to his keen eye.

Lots of Baja pictures on flicker…