Trod Bogs Sadly – Oddstray's Blog

It was so windy last night that the pilot light for our water heater had blown out, so cold shower. B’s face was slightly worse, so we stopped by a pharmacy to get some anti-allergy potion. Too early to determine whether it’s making a difference.

40 miles north of San Quintin, we made the eastern turn towards San Pedro Martir. Everything is so green from the recent rain, and it all looks so pastoral, not at all like the Baja we thought we knew. Eventually we start seriously gaining elevation and the scenery around us becomes a riot of yellow, orange and purple wild flowers.

At around 20 miles, we see the road down to Rancho Meling, which is where we’ll be staying later, but on up the road we go, the temperature dropping as we climb. We start seeing pockets of snow at the side of the road, and then the road goes crazy – switchbacks and hairpin turns. Eventually we get to to the entrance to the park – Parque Nacional Sierra de San Pedro Martir – and we’re up to our ankles in snow

We continue past the museum all the way to the locked gates of the observatory, at about 60 miles from Mex 1. There was a small line of vehicles in line waiting, so we can only assume that they open at some time. We hadn’t made any arrangements to visit the observatory, but it’s pretty high up and cold here – about 8,550 feet.

We turned around and started to come off the mountain, stopped by the museum, which, for some reason, had all its doors open, making it rather chilly. Further down the hill, we made the left turn onto the dusty dirt road heading to Rancho Meling, and checked in. Er hem, electricity only between 5 and 9 pm, light your own wood-burning stove in your room, and your own kerosene lamps. Can you say rustic? Not really, the place has a huge satellite dish (not for us, no tv in our room), and WiFi, if you choose to sit next to its antenna. It’s to be a communal chicken meal tonight.

This place is, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere, and it is beautifully maintained. The gardeners are at work outside our door as I write this. The hill behind our room:

I joined the communal dinner (without B, who felt indisposed), and happened to sit next to the owner, David Lang. That was wonderfully informative about the history of the ranch, and made me feel very special.

Today, Sunday, the clocks changed, and so did we. We decided to head back home because poor B’s IBS and rash were not making her life too enjoyable. All went well except for a 100 minute wait to cross the border at Tecate, and my, those border folks are brusque, don’t they realize that the taxes I pay, pay their salary?

I’ll do a wrap up post with facts and figures about this trip, next.

And we’re planning a trip to San Felipe, very, very soon.