Bay of the Angels and Land of the Free

Bay of the Angels and Land of the Free

Though this is our fourth year travelling Baja, we had never been to Bahia de los Angeles, until now. The famed Bay of Angels sits on the east Sea of Cortez side of the peninsula and can only be accessed by a 66 km road from MX highway 1, so it’s a good 3-hour round trip of driving to visit it. 

This year we decided to give it a go. Not really worth it. Nothing in town. Playa La Gringa for boondocking is another 12 out of town with the last few km being bumpy dirt. The campground is just open rocky beach. 

On the plus side, they are pretty rocks. And you can dig for clams. But it was windy and the water was the coldest we’ve experienced this winter. M’eh. Good we made it here but think we’ll give it a miss in future. 

We left after three nights and decided to trek all through the dirt patch on MX Highway 5. There has been much progress on the paving and we were able to use the new road for a portion of the journey, so it only took 2 hours - except for the stop to have a beer with Coco (the man, not our dog!) at his Corner. 

Then stopped for the night at Papa Fernandez campground at Punta Willard, about 180 km south of San Felipe. It was a very relaxing evening sitting on the salt and pepper sand beach as the sun went down, enjoying the amazing array of wildlife on view. 

At dusk, the shallows came alive with foot-long sleek fish with dorsal fins and tails that stood above the waterline. They did look and move very much like baby sharks. Who knows?  

That night we were buffeted by massive wind gusts that continued through the morning, so we decided to head out. And kept going. And going. Though we had no intention of crossing into the USA that day, we ended up reaching the border at Mexicali by 3:30 PM and got through at 4. 

After the long day’s drive, we were happy to pull into the Walmart in El Centro. A roasted chicken and a salad kit, some wine, and we were set for a lovely evening in the parking lot! 

In the morning we stocked up - as you can’t bring fruits/veggies/meat across from Mexico - and on towards the Coachella/Indio/Palm Springs area. 

At freecampsites.net we found a boondocking place off Box Canyon Road just south of Joshua Tree National Park. This place is AMAZING! Wild rock formations and slot canyons, every bit as unique as the national park, and totally deserted! 

Though when we parked, we realized what people like to do in these “wild” areas. The ground was littered with bullet and shotgun casings. Sure enough, within minutes of setting up camp a group of gun enthusiasts showed up with their pistols to target practice at the rocks. The sounds of their shots echoed through the canyon - thank heaven Coco didn’t get freaked out. Welcome to the USA! At least they left after an hour. 

And the rigs!!! Down in Baja most campers are in even smaller units than ours. On this side of the border we look like Lilliputians. A fifth wheel just went by that must have been 45’ long! 

Andrew raked up all the shotgun casings and we are going to have a fire tonight. Our little bit of clean-up of this beautiful place!