We have been so lucky to spend the last three days riding through a green desert. That rainstorm that rolled through a few days ago has set the desert to bloom! We have had some more unique experiences along the way, including camping behind a 24-hour tire store and cafe, and an amazing wild campsite in the desert.
There are about 225 miles of isolated road between the towns of El Rosario (where we last updated) and Guerrero Negro (where we are now). Originally we had planned to take four days in this section, but we ended up doing it in three because of the placement of small towns for resupply.
Our first day out of El Rosario was tough. There was a steep, long climb that we tackled in the morning despite the persistent fog. The views from the top had us exclaiming in delight for quite a while, until the following climbs stole our breath back. We are still leap-frogging with Antonie and Tyler, which has been very fun. On this day Antonie found one of Jason’s sandals that had fallen off his bike and landed in the middle of the road. With a groan, Jason turned around to search for the other sandal. Miraculously, he found it only a mile back, and about 15 feet off the road. Phew!
We spent that night in a very small town without an electrical grid. We asked the police-officers in town about a place to camp, and the owner of the 24-hour tire store offered the grounds behind the shop. We set up on a cement pad among barking dogs, but they quieted soon after. It was one of our most restful nights in Mexico yet! Somehow, despite Jason’s near-miss with sandal-loss, I lost my sandals here. They fell off at some point while I fastened and refastened my bags for carrying more water. Drat drat drat!
The next day was even better. We awoke to a heavy mist that had coated our tent. Because we had left the rainfly off, the water had gotten in and dripped onto our sleeping bags too. No worries, at lunch we hung everything to dry on the guardrail of the road. In the desert sun it dried in under an hour. The days riding was wonderful: we had no idea the desert could be so full of life. Flowers, cactuses, plants sprouting from every crack. We saw vultures, hawks, and hummingbirds. A few photos:
That night we camped off the road next to one of the giant cacti. We were careful to stay away from the many spines surrounding us! We took showers in the desert from our water bottles, and cooked dinner as the sun set. Just as we were getting ready to eat there was a big ‘splat’. Uh oh. The vulture that had been on the cactus above us had pooped! Of course, I (Daisy) got hit by it and Jason didn’t. What luck! Our final day out of the area was half interesting and half boring. The last 35 miles were on the straightest, most boring road you can imagine. The scenery on either side was flat and completely devoid of plant life, but we powered through and arrived at the town of Guerrero Negro. We like our camp spot here (clean bathrooms and showers), and are looking forward to our next stop on the Eastern side of the peninsula. There have been rumors of great beaches and camping, so we will see soon.
A few more photos for the road: