Adventures in Baja

I have fond memories of exploring Baja California during the period of 2003-2005. Late in 2002, I moved back to San Diego after several years living in Los Angeles, and got involved with an adventure travel group called Total Escape. With the friends I made in that group, I took a number of excursions across the border, often to off-the-beaten-path destinations like Mike's Sky Ranch, Guadalupe Canyon and Laguna Hanson.

These trips were an awakening of sorts for me, at least in terms of Baja travel. Before then, most of my forays south of the border took me to the popular beach towns of Rosarito and Ensenada to party. That was also fun, for what it was worth, but it hardly showed me the real Mexico or let me experience adventure.

My first trip to Baja was a surf camp expedition during junior high school. We went as far as Punta Baja, about 200 miles south of the border, and camped out for a couple of days. It wouldn't be until 2003 that I once again went off-roading and camping in Mexico. Now I can't wait to do it again.

I've always wanted to drive the entire length of the Baja peninsula, from the U.S. border to Cabo San Lucas. Now that I've seen the latter in all its Americanized glory, I'm not as excited about that as a final destination. But I know the journey itself would be full of adventure.