San Francisquito and Cala Mujeres, April 5th 2004.

Alberto, the local I know in San Francisquito, told me via email that he had been told that the road had been graded since I was last there in December. Just in case this was incorrect, we had carried a shovel, tow straps, and 2x6 boards for bridging bad spots in the road. I was glad that Dave Harry had joined us because his was the only 4 wheel drive in our caravan since I had to leave my 4Runner behind. However, Alberto's report about the road from LA Bay to San Francisquito turned out to be correct and the road was in the best shape I had ever seen it. I had brought 2x6 boards to bridge over the gullies that were encroaching on the road from both sides, but these had been filled in. Dave Littlejohn did have two tire emergencies. He got a bad puncture from the crushed gravel on the road and put on his spare. Then when we arrived in San Francisquito one of his other tires went flat while we were unloading. We left both tires with Alberto with hopes that they would be repairable.

At my insistence, we rushed to pack and launch before dark. Roger and I were ready early so we launched and paddled the short distance to Cala Mujeres. This is a nice sandy beach that I have camped at several times before. It is a good staging area near the shortest crossing to Isla San Lorenzo. And I'm always happier if I can get organized and packed and launched the day that I arrive at the start of an expedition. If we had not launched right away, we would have had to unpack everything anyway, get organized for an evening of camping, and done it all over again the following morning.

Roger and I started cooking dinner so everyone else could set up camp when they arrived an hour behind us. I cooked mushroom curry, instant tabuli for a salad and smoked oysters for the appetizer beforehand. We managed to finish dinner before it got too dark.