The turnoff from Mex 1I left the highway around 1 p.m. both excited about the surf and nervous about having a mechanical problem or getting stuck. I did bring a mountain bike so I wouldn't be totally stranded if I got stuck, but the idea of riding any distance in the 100 degree heat wasn't too appealing. Most of the time the road was one lane and too narrow to turn around, so several times I got out of the car and walked up the road to investigate ugly sections and see if I could make it. There were some pretty tense moments, but after about 4 hours I finally came over a hill and could see the ocean. YES!
As I approached the coast the road turned ultra smooth, flat and straight, so I started going pretty fast. I was cruising along at 50mph, excited that I had finally arrived (or so I thought), when completely out of nowhere a giant white horse came running out of the bushes straight in front of my car. I let out the loudest, most girlish Homer Simpson-style scream of terror in my life and slammed on the brakes. The horse emerged from bushes so I never saw it until it was within 3 feet of the front/right of my car. Luckily for me (and him), the horse slammed on his brakes too and he stopped just before going in front of me. We missed each other by inches. If I had hit him he would have gone right into the windshield - UGLY!
"Brrrroooooks!!! P-p-p-p-pleeease don't kiiiiill meeee!"
After a quick change of pants I was back on the road. Seconds later I pulled up at a fishing camp with a perfect little longboard wave. I saw a dog but no people - they must have been out fishing. But this was not the wave I was looking for, so I turned around and headed further up the coast. After another 30 minutes of wandering it was starting to get close to sunset and I really wanted to find the spot before dark. Finally I pulled out onto a promising headland and got out of my car. This is what I saw:
Eureka!
As I approached the coast the road turned ultra smooth, flat and straight, so I started going pretty fast. I was cruising along at 50mph, excited that I had finally arrived (or so I thought), when completely out of nowhere a giant white horse came running out of the bushes straight in front of my car. I let out the loudest, most girlish Homer Simpson-style scream of terror in my life and slammed on the brakes. The horse emerged from bushes so I never saw it until it was within 3 feet of the front/right of my car. Luckily for me (and him), the horse slammed on his brakes too and he stopped just before going in front of me. We missed each other by inches. If I had hit him he would have gone right into the windshield - UGLY!
"Brrrroooooks!!! P-p-p-p-pleeease don't kiiiiill meeee!"
After a quick change of pants I was back on the road. Seconds later I pulled up at a fishing camp with a perfect little longboard wave. I saw a dog but no people - they must have been out fishing. But this was not the wave I was looking for, so I turned around and headed further up the coast. After another 30 minutes of wandering it was starting to get close to sunset and I really wanted to find the spot before dark. Finally I pulled out onto a promising headland and got out of my car. This is what I saw:
Eureka!I finished setting up camp just as darkness fell, and saw the first of many beautiful sunsets over the desert:
The next morning the surf was flat and honestly I couldn't figure out how to get down to the ocean, so I rode my mountain bike around investigating the area and hoping to find a direct trail. I never found a trail down the cliff, the only way was about a 15 minute walk from my tent even though my tent was perched directly over the surf.
Look closely to see my camp perched on the headland, and the long trail to the beach at right.
Look really closely: the tiny white speck in the upper lefthand corner is my car. A beautifully rugged and desolate landscape.
The next morning the surf was flat and honestly I couldn't figure out how to get down to the ocean, so I rode my mountain bike around investigating the area and hoping to find a direct trail. I never found a trail down the cliff, the only way was about a 15 minute walk from my tent even though my tent was perched directly over the surf.
Look closely to see my camp perched on the headland, and the long trail to the beach at right.
Look really closely: the tiny white speck in the upper lefthand corner is my car. A beautifully rugged and desolate landscape.The eroded cliffs made for dramatic settings. I saw this raptor (an osprey?) hunting fish in the ocean as well as snakes on land. Here it is landing at its nest, perched on top of a 20' tall spire on top of a 200' vertical cliff:
Here are some more photos of the scenery in the area:
That first step's a doozy!
Lots of good setups, but no surf on this day.
Here are some more photos of the scenery in the area:
That first step's a doozy!
Lots of good setups, but no surf on this day.On the first afternoon it got windy. VERY WINDY. I thought my car would fly away, not to mention my tent. I had brought lots of rope and tied the tent down to my car in several different places. I was confident everything was secure, but it was still extremely loud inside the tent. I noticed something interesting about the wind though: it was blowing straight onshore on top of the cliff, but some fluke of the terrain funneled it around and focused it straight offshore on the surf spot. It was bizarre to see a ragged, onshore, white-capped ocean everywhere except for the little nook of offshore clean surf where I was. This wind pattern held every day.
The surf was small most of the trip, but ridable every day but the first. I had one day of 6-8 foot faces, 30 second rides, and no one out there but me. I kicked out of my first wave that day screaming at the top of my lungs! It was a bit spooky because there was a lot of wildlife in the water and I was the only thing floating on the surface. But more than anything it was beautiful. In between sets I would turn around and see my osprey(?) hunting and bringing food up to its nest. Sometimes seals would poke around in the lineup too. But that's all I saw - I was there for 8 days and never saw another person the entire time, except for a few fishing boats going by.
Unfortunately my camera died after the third day so I didn't get many photos. But here's one of a rock, a starfish, and the remnants of the painting made during the filming of Sprout:
So that's it for the pictures. I basically surfed, ate, surfed, ate, built a fire, looked at the stars, and listened to music every day. Very relaxing, very fun. On the way home I got a speeding ticket and the cop took my license from me, forcing me to go to Tijuana a couple weeks later to retrieve it from the Mexican DMV. That was real fun!
THE END
The surf was small most of the trip, but ridable every day but the first. I had one day of 6-8 foot faces, 30 second rides, and no one out there but me. I kicked out of my first wave that day screaming at the top of my lungs! It was a bit spooky because there was a lot of wildlife in the water and I was the only thing floating on the surface. But more than anything it was beautiful. In between sets I would turn around and see my osprey(?) hunting and bringing food up to its nest. Sometimes seals would poke around in the lineup too. But that's all I saw - I was there for 8 days and never saw another person the entire time, except for a few fishing boats going by.
Unfortunately my camera died after the third day so I didn't get many photos. But here's one of a rock, a starfish, and the remnants of the painting made during the filming of Sprout:
So that's it for the pictures. I basically surfed, ate, surfed, ate, built a fire, looked at the stars, and listened to music every day. Very relaxing, very fun. On the way home I got a speeding ticket and the cop took my license from me, forcing me to go to Tijuana a couple weeks later to retrieve it from the Mexican DMV. That was real fun!
THE END
2 comments:
This is killer.
Thanks
But I don't know you found my "blog" because I haven't told anyone it exists yet!
YOU HAVE CRAZY INTERNETS POWERS!!!
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