The Longest Day: Mulege to Bahia de Los Angeles

28'95 N ~ 113'55 W

We started out the day with the intent of driving to San Ignacio, just beyond Santa Rosalia, but ended up getting an earlier start than planned so decided to go on to Guerrero Negro, total mileage about 180 – a pretty long day’s travel in Baja. It turned out that we got to Guerrero Negro by 2pm, and because it was 98 degrees out, we didn’t think we would particularly enjoy sitting at the RV Park or walking around a fairly unattractive agricultural town, so we decide to push on. Just north of Guerrero Negro we crossed the border between the two states of Baja California Sur and Baja California. This border is also the point at which the time zone changes from the U.S. equivalent of Mountain Time to Pacific Standard Time, so we gained an hour; all of a sudden it was 1pm, so we continued on. Around 4pm we pulled into Daggett’s Camp at Bahia de Los Angeles –total miles traveled 199.7, our longest day of driving yet in Baja. We really haven’t done anything yet but set up camp and fix dinner, so we have to save a report about this area for another time. Of final note regarding today’s journey is the fact our refrigerator is still working, so we’re back to boondocking, and we passed through 3 military checkpoints between Mulege and the turn-off from the main highway to head out to Bahia de los Angeles. At the first checkpoint, we were asked a couple of cursory questions, then waved along. At the second, we were asked to get out of the car so they could conduct an inspection. Two young men opened the glove boxes and cooler, looked under the front seats, moved things around in the back of the car, then waved us along. At the third checkpoint, again, we were asked questions, told to get out of the car so they could inspect the interior, but then were also asked to open up the Chalet so they could look inside. We now assume that the checkpoints will become more and more thorough as we get closer to the border. Drugs, guns and illegal transport of people are the things we’re told they’re looking for. The young men who conduct these inspections always have very serious looks on their faces to accompany their automatic weapons, but as we engage them in conversation, they begin to smile and become quite friendly.