Day 34: Loreto To San Javier

One of my best friends of all time sent me a quote that speaks so truly of this bike trip and travel in general, that I had to put it here.

"The truest and most horrible claim for modern transport is that it 'annihilates space."  It does.  It annihilates one of the most glorious gifts we have been given.  It is a vile inflation which lowers the value of distance, so that a modern boy travels a hundred miles with less sense of liberation and pilgrimage and adventure than his grandfather got from traveling ten."

~C.S. Lewis.

Gonzalo had discovered a half-paved / half-dirt road alternate route out of Loreto via the mission at San Javier, which is one of the most well preserved missions in Baja.  It was a mere 100 km (or 62 miles) which allowed us to make forward progress towards La Paz, while avoiding the traffic on Highway 1.  Never has C.S. Lewis been so right.  The 40 km (or 24 miles) from Loreto to San Javier ended up being our favorite day of cycling so far.  I have friends who commute that much just one way to get to work.

We started the day by swinging back by El Caballo Blanco bookstore for some coffee and cinnamon rolls with Jeannine.  It turns out that El Caballo Blanco is not just a bookstore, but rather serves an important role as a gathering place for what I call the "townie gringos" who live in Loreto.  That is, the ones that live in Loreto year-round and don't isolate themselves out in gringo-only enclaves.  We had the pleasure of chatting with Jim (and another gentleman whose name escapes me and who kindly took a photo of us) before heading out.

My maps have a new home at El Caballo Blanco!

Jim and Jeannine send us off in style (photo credit: their lovely friend who took our picture).

Gonzalo rides out towards the Sierra de la Giganta on the road to San Javier... I think this is the fourth time we have now crossed the Sierra in Baja.

This sign has seen better days, but there are cave paintings along this road!

Silly US$200 tour be damned, we get to see some cave paintings just off this route, though not as impressive as the ones in the Sierra de San Francisco, they were still really awesome.

But mostly because we found a natural spring bubbling up here.   Since it rained last October, all the springs overfloweth.   We were told it hadn't rained for about seven years prior to that rain.

We marked this momentous occasion (that is, the finding of the natural spring) with a snack packed for us by the lovely Jeannine from El Caballo Blanco... homemade cinnamon rolls!

This quiet road winds up into the Sierra... that little dot in the upper-righthand corner is Gonz ahead of me on the climb.   

We were rewarded with amazing views of the Mar de Cortes as we climbed up...

A quick rest in the shade of this small sanctuary before continuing our climb.

A few parts of the road were in disrepair from the flooding from the springs in the last rain, and others had been taken over by overflowing springs (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Gonzalo decided to take advantage of these natural "pools".

By early afternoon, we had made it to San Javier, a small village that seems a bit out of time.

The mission at San Javier is the second of its kind in Baja, only the one in Loreto precedes it.

A beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert.

Behind the mission a ways is 300-year old olive tree that still produces olives

While we were eating lunch at the restaurant in front of the mission, Luis, the gentlemen selling cajeta and mango empanadas his wife Erika bakes in front of the restaurant, asked me if we needed somewhere to stay, and would we like to camp on his property just down the road?  It'll be great, he told me, it has lots of shade for you to relax.  We gladly accepted and followed him back to his property, where he has a small vineyard, olive trees, orange trees, lime trees, and free range chickens.

Luis' vines are just two years old, he hopes that he will have his first vino misional batch next year.

I threw my hammock up and ended up staying there for a blissful night of sleep.

If I could have, I would have taken this adorable dog with us.  She followed us to Luis' property and adopted us... she slept by us and growled at anything that came near us, she hopped up in my hammock to snuggle while I was reading, and she barked at any other dog that deigned to chase our bikes.

We spent the afternoon relaxing in our hammocks and then invited Luis for some beers.  It was fascinating hearing his story about growing up in San Javier, the various work he has had over the years (everything from construction to producing olive oil and wine), and seeing the world from his point of view.  He leads a simple stress-free life.  He doesn't like using cell phones because it makes his ear hot, even though San Javier recently got cell phone service.  He doesn't miss big supermarkets or the internet.  I could learn a few things from him.

A few travel notes for cyclists:

• Stock up in Loreto for this route because there's nothing once you leave Loreto until you get to San Javier.  It's about 20 km of fairly intense but paved climbing before the road levels out a bit... and the road is in disrepair in some sections, so be careful.  There are just enough tourists that make a day trip of this that you don't really need to worry if something happens.

• The restaurant-bar in front of the mission is the most well-stocked place in town.  While there is a community store, the restaurant-bar has it's own little market, 4L bottles of water, cold drinks, and a nice menu.  Stock up here before you leave because there is nothing except a few ranches before you get back to the highway.

• Luis and/or his wife will likely be out front of that restaurant-bar selling homemade cajeta and mango empanadas.  We found these to be really great cycling snacks and they hold up well in your panniers.