Day 2 - Mikes Sky Rancho to San Quintin 100ish miles

Day 2
Mikes Sky Rancho to San Quintin
100ish miles

The Tecates flowed like the rio the night before as we shared stories with some other riders from Bend, Oregon. A bit of frost on the roof that morning had us like WTF! this feels like Montucky. We knew the cooler temps would be short lived. We exchanged some map info with the Oregonians and we shoved off south, with the idea of hitting their recommended trail out of Rancho Coyote. The trail out of Mikes was a work out for the ole KLR, with the other boys making short work of it. The baby heads were enough to keep my fully loaded bike on it toes.

Some awesome looking blooms as we headed out.

 We passed a entourage of Mexican 4 wheelers heading the same way. That must have been some slow going.

We stopped in at Rancho Meling for a few cold ones, the cervezas were mucho refreshing and we enjoyed the rancho porch.

We back tracked to Rancho Coyote and took the trail that takes off to the west just as you come into the ranch from Mikes (before the cattleguard). I was feeling some trepidation about the trail, as the riders who suggested it were obviously better and had 690's with a lot less gear. I agreed to give'r a try. We encountered some sand for the first bit and then got into a few rocky dry creekbed sections. While the KLR did handle it, it was at the upper limits of my skills and teetering on possible bike damage if I tipped er over. After 5 or so miles, we hit a junction and hung more to the south.

This overgrown and little used road was more manageable, just lots of rock. It spit us out at goat ranch, where we eventually encountered a locked gate. We reluctantly tipped the bikes over and dragged them under the gate, just thankful that the folks working in the nearby fields didn't seem to be concerned with us. We also took a few minutes to refurb my buddies drybag set up on 450. It was bouncing all over place and had already worked through one of his NRS straps.


We soon dumped onto the pavement and flowed through some nice looking ag land. There were a chitload of bees on that section, several times riding through what felt like someone tossing a handful of gravel in the air. Only one rider picked up a sting to the face.

We crossed Hwy 1 and headed out for the coast. This riding along here was some of my favorite, beautiful views and smooth. It was crazy to see how many folks were working along this section, bagging up rocks for what I assume was destined for landscaping purposes. And you thought your job sucked!

 We pulled into Molino Viejo right at dusk, ready for some good food and drinks. The boys ordered a couple of bubbling cauldrons of goodness

There were several moto groups hanging out at the hotel's bar area. A few cool guys from Colorado on 990's (advriders?) and a big possee of SoCal riders on smaller bikes. The hotel was great and the food even better. One guy commented on it being like the Claim Jumper of Mexico.....jajajaa

This dude was tearing it up in the bar. Good, but one of the more aggressive serenaders I've seen in Mexico. Are you having a conversation? Don't worry mi amigo.....I'll get a little closer and a little louder :-).

Here's a 60 second highlight of the day

Day 1 - Mexicali to Mikes

Day 1
Mexicali to Mikes
175ish miles

Just like Christmas eve, I slept like shit in the HoJo of Calexico. Rousting the boyz, we enjoyed a super continental brekkie and set out to find a place to park the truck and trailer for 2 weeks. We settled on Parking Del Valle - Parking Lot, Forklift Service & Storage Yard. Pulling it to the yard, my gut churned a little bit. The lot was full of wrecked cars and parted out cars. We spoke with el Jefe and he set our mind at ease, 24 hour watchman, razor wire....the works. The only thing he suggested was we remove the license plate....okay....when in Rome. We geared up and set out. Give this place a look, we had no issues and it was only $4/day. He even moved some junkers with the forklift to give our rig a front row parking place.

Had to include the obligatory entrance shot

Followed by the turn right after entering and following the non existent WALL! 

It was a great first look for Bombearo and J, as they were Mexico newbs. We followed the wall for 5 or so miles and then weaved through the ghettos of Mexicali. I purposely and maybe stupidly thought it would more interesting to fumble through the west side of Mexicali. The sights and the smell for the 2 newbs was eye opening.

We beat feet for La Rumorosa and then turned off for Laguna Hanson. Grabbing fuel just at the Pemex, just before the turn. Only 2 miles onto the dirt and we had our first mechanical. I had added a tool tube to my bike, on the opposite of the exhaust. 

Well, I think the first good bump caused the swingarm to come up and contact the tube. This resulted in the black KLR chain guard wrapping it self up in my wheel. After dicking around for an hour to remove the shit show and reinstalling it, I pitched the tube off the side of the road. Braaap. 

Pulling the mess out of the wheel

Cruising the road to Laguna Hanson.....braaap! 

                                                              Valle de Trinidad

Minute highlight of the first day....make sure to turn Quality on to 1080p HD

Baja 2017 - 13 days and 1900 miles

This thread is somewhat of a dream that started to form over 5 years ago when I figured out that I need to buy a motorcycle. I don't remember exactly what the spark was, but something to do with the cliche stuff of Dusk to Glory and The Long Way Round. I was at a point in my life that I needed something new. So I bought an 06 KLR650 with the goal of riding somewhere in Mexico for more than a week.

  Let it be known, the name is tongue in cheek, joking and hopefully translates into a cheesy meant The Smoke Eaters.

During those 5 or so years, I farkled too much like all KLRistas do. And I putzed around Montana and Idaho doing mostly on day trips. And then I spent an shit ton of time in here reading and reading. I saved and bookmarked an enormous amount of information. The years passed and I still had yet to put dates to my Mexican adventure. Then finally a year and half ago, my lovely wife Mrs. Snirt said, " You just need to pick a date and then things will fall into place." So as any good husband does, I obeyed and announced to all my potentially riding mates that it was going down in March of 2017. I immediately had one bite from a co-worker, Bombearo. He brought the skillz, mechanical prowess and fun factor that would be perfect. Digging into the details of my plan, at times I thought he may bail. We picked up a 3rd rider (not on advrider....yet) and stuff fell into place. Working at FD, there were numerous other bomberos that were on the fringes, but couldn't commit. Enough with the background.....We left Montana at 0400 hours with the trailer and 3 bikes - KLR650, WR450 and a KTM350. We hauled ballz all day, pounding a case of redbullz and dreaming of cold Tecate. 1200 miles and 20 hours later we arrived in Calexico. This trip is very close copy of BigDogAdventures route. He was awesome, helping me with questions and sharing the ultimate GPS track. We would follow it and became more confident in it's delivery as the days progressed. Big Dog is the man!