We had discussions about how far to go on this day. One thought was to stay on our sandy beach and wait out the storm (if one did develop). There were few safe harbors in this area. Gregg wanted to push on to the next one and do a long 30 mile day so we would have more time to layover on the next island. Charles didn’t really want to do a day that long. Half way to the next south facing cove (around Cabo Colonet) the satellite photos showed an interesting sandy beach with an arroyo behind it. I started calling this “Mike’s Secret Beach”. Stopping there would make today and the next day pretty short. We decided to launch and check out the options on the way.
I launched an hour early and sat out in the cove pumping my desalinator to make drinking water. I had never done this from my kayak before but it worked well. These desalinators were designed to be used from life rafts and I fear using them close to shore in shallow water is sucking a lot of sand and organics into the membrane. Using it in deep water like I did here is probably better for it. I’m considering putting a small cartridge filter on the intake for shore use in place of the strainer it came with. While I was out pumping the sky did rain lightly on us. I had launched without my paddle jacket on figuring the surf was mild in the cove and I would be warm from working the pump. Instead I got a little chilled and finally broke down and put on my paddle jacket.
I found Mike’s Secret Beach on Google Maps, but it is difficult to get GPS co-ordinates off that WEB page. So I picked the waypoints off another program, Memory Map, which only has 1:250,000 scale maps of Baja. I wasn’t sure if I had really clicked in the same place but figured it would get us to the neighborhood. My GPS lead us to a similar point but not the right one. A few miles later we eventually found the right place which did turn out to be exactly half way to the next safe harbor. I suggested that the reason for doing long days is to give us more time to spend in interesting locations. This was an interesting looking place, so we should stop! Gregg Berman agreed with that logic and Charles was happy with a shorter day.
Charles and I made easy landings through the surf while Gregg turned back for a while. He had passed a sea lion acting strangely a short distance back and returned to check it out. He knows of an amoeba that makes sea otters swim in erratic circles and wondered if this seal had that disease. Or perhaps it was caught on a fishing line and needed help. When Gregg returned later we almost expected him to have a sick seal on his foredeck! Another animal to nurse through the night with its head on the foot of Gregg’s sleeping bag! However, he came back alone and made an easy landing on the beach. Despite the fact that I was waiting with my camera in case he made a spectacularly interesting landing.
I wanted to explore this beach because it was the first one we had considered with an arroyo behind it hike up. Then when we landed we found several other interesting things about this beach. The rocks on the north end of our beach turned out to be bricks instead. The foundations of long-gone structures went right down below the high tide line. Some of these were now full of sand or tide pools splashed up by the waves. One circular foundation had the remains of a fiberglass lining, suggesting it was once a water storage tank. Nearby was a big pile of mussel shells so I dubbed this place the “Mussel Packing Plant” ruins.
Later I went for a walk up the arroyo. This didn’t go far compared to some I have been in on the Sea Of Cortez side. I turned right and climbed up to the end of a little box canyon and found several natural catch basins where water collects and remains for some time after a rain. The sides of the basins were smooth rock stained black by the water. One basin still had muddy dirt in the bottom. The other one was large and could hold several hundred gallons of water but it was currently bone dry.
Climbing up onto the marine terrace I could see a road going by. These dirt roads can be seen in the satellite photos including a strange crossroad. Seeing it with my own eyes there was no reason (like a steep slope) for the road to zigzag like this. The main road was well worn by the traffic and then these two loops came off, crossed each other, then connected back to the main road. Where the loops crossed they were straight and “graveled” with a white local soil instead of the usual reddish color. Then it hit me: These loops are not roads! They are some sort of marker, a big “X”, for finding this area from the air!
There was also an almost regular grid of roads running out to the coast. I found one of these and followed it back to the cliff-top. It was recently graded and had tire tracks newer than last winter. Someone cares about this place, or at least hopes that a gringo will pay them a million dollars one day for a lot with a million dollar view of the Pacific. I decided to work my way down the cliff to the beach. Half way down I found a well-beaten trail running along the shore. I followed it back above our camp and down into the arroyo. Once you know that it is there it is easy to find. I did not have time to follow the trail and see where the other end leads.