- Joined
- Nov 28, 2001
- Messages
- 10,302
As Andrew noted in his story, he started in our truck in Ensenada on Day 1. I rode with my buddy Sam in his Toyota chase truck to a Pemex station south of San Quintin where we had decided do the driver for the day. Andrew and Jake came roaring in mid-afternoon and handed over a strong-running truck to my co-dog Eddy and myself.
Instead of immediately heading out into the dirt, we first had a 100 mile transit stage on pavement down to the small town of Catavina. It was nice to get a little reacquainted with the truck first before charging off into the wilds of Baja but after 100 miles of asphalt, I was definitely itching for some dirt. The drive through El Rosario became a little more memorable when a dove made an impact statement on the front of Torch. Such things become a little more real when you're driving a truck without a windshield!
The 175 mile stage from Catavina to Santa Rosallita was a nice mix of terrain. Curvy smooth sections, tight, technical stuff, beautiful roads right along the Pacific, and most memorably - several large nasty silt beds. Imagine driving into a huge bowl of flour and trying to find your way through - that's about what silt is like! At one particularly memorable spot, I had to power my way between a parked rig and a stuck race car. I couldn't see anything and just kept my foot on the skinny pedal until we cleared the bed. Others weren't so lucky - several cars were buried to their frames as we powered past. Sometimes we drove to one side or another through the bushes - always trying to avoid the deepest ruts. I remember that we passed 2-3 cars on the stage and were only passed by one other car near the end of the route. Eddy did a great job in his first stint as a co-dog and Andrew's skill as car builder was again evident as we had absolutely no problems despite giving the horse a good run.
It was nearly dark as we reached the completion of the stage (see photos below - photos by Tony Tellier) and we were happy to be headed to Bay of LA for the night's lodging and some food. We drove the 15-20 miles on the highway before we met Sam and Angelo who splashed some fuel so we wouldn't run out on the final 40 miles. The dinner was good when we got there but I was a whipped pup and just wanted to sleep - which I did shortly.
Todd Z.
Instead of immediately heading out into the dirt, we first had a 100 mile transit stage on pavement down to the small town of Catavina. It was nice to get a little reacquainted with the truck first before charging off into the wilds of Baja but after 100 miles of asphalt, I was definitely itching for some dirt. The drive through El Rosario became a little more memorable when a dove made an impact statement on the front of Torch. Such things become a little more real when you're driving a truck without a windshield!
The 175 mile stage from Catavina to Santa Rosallita was a nice mix of terrain. Curvy smooth sections, tight, technical stuff, beautiful roads right along the Pacific, and most memorably - several large nasty silt beds. Imagine driving into a huge bowl of flour and trying to find your way through - that's about what silt is like! At one particularly memorable spot, I had to power my way between a parked rig and a stuck race car. I couldn't see anything and just kept my foot on the skinny pedal until we cleared the bed. Others weren't so lucky - several cars were buried to their frames as we powered past. Sometimes we drove to one side or another through the bushes - always trying to avoid the deepest ruts. I remember that we passed 2-3 cars on the stage and were only passed by one other car near the end of the route. Eddy did a great job in his first stint as a co-dog and Andrew's skill as car builder was again evident as we had absolutely no problems despite giving the horse a good run.
It was nearly dark as we reached the completion of the stage (see photos below - photos by Tony Tellier) and we were happy to be headed to Bay of LA for the night's lodging and some food. We drove the 15-20 miles on the highway before we met Sam and Angelo who splashed some fuel so we wouldn't run out on the final 40 miles. The dinner was good when we got there but I was a whipped pup and just wanted to sleep - which I did shortly.
Todd Z.
