The objective of the day was to get from our camp in the dunes to Guadalupe Canyon with it's lush palm trees and mineral hot springs. We exited the dunes near Cesar's and headed west on Mexican Hwy 2 to the toll road. We elected to use the toll road as it is much wider and bypasses the entire city of Mexicali. From there, we headed west to Laguna Salada (salty lake) and then headed south about 30 miles to the turn into Guadalupe Canyon. The photos below are what we saw.
I found this fellow hiding under a bush, torpid from the chilly night temperatures. He let us pick him up and we held him for several minutes before placing him in the direct sun. He stayed there for about 10 minutes before wandering away. His heavy tail was responsible for the tracks we were seeing in the sand. This fellow was big -- perhaps 15 inches head to tail.
Roberto was driving Kai's truck and encountered a bad side hill.
A short tug and he was on his way.
Once back on the tundra, the flowers were in bloom.
Nice verbina near our exit point.
Airing up for highway travel. The basket performed well, but we did "tag" it on the egress from dunes that had sharp landings.
Matt tightens the steering box on his 416 on the outskirts of San Luis.
Mexico allows trucks to tow two full-length trailers which seems pretty scary.
The iron pigs have not moved at all from our last visit. Note the tusks and eyelashes.
A wood fired kiln baking bricks made from local clay-based mud.
We went along the southern edge of Mexicali via the toll road. Roberto went into the city to check on the repair of his 1450 that blew the motor and we continued on to the northt entrance to Laguna Salada The lake was dry on our trip south, but would not be dry on our return the following morning.
Laguna Salada is big and took us nearly an hour at 40 mph to cross. Above, the team disappears into their dust plumes. Once across the (usually) dry lake, we head southwest toward the mountain front and Guadalupe Canyon.
At last, after much dust and many miles of washboarded roads, we reached our destination.
A view of the Laguna Salada from our campsite.
The weather was starting to close in. Clouds and fog would descend later in the afternoon.
We managed to get a nice spot to park underneath the palm trees.
Kai was cooking and he decided that steaks were in order. A great way to finish the trip. Some of those steaks are pretty big!
Hot spring water, cold beer and a pretty girl. What could be better?
Russ has that "deer in the headlights look". I'll bet it was the several ballenas he had earlier.
The kitchen is all set up and ready to go. Robert adds his stamp of approval.
Your dinner, in progress. We had steak, rice pilaf, asparagus and Kathleen made a hot cobbler in the dutch oven for dessert.
There was a storm brewing and the winds were very strong during the night. It was quite cold in the morning and then a light rain started to fall. When that happened, all I could think about was the "dry lake that would not be dry" for our exit. The next morning, we would pack and return to San Diego.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2009, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.