Baja Day 9, Feb 21

This morning was a very early morning. Not only did we have to get up early due to rain, but we had an early start to load up the camp for our 7:30 boat ride. The early start was more than worth it as we went out for some whale watching and were about the only people out there. We had the whales and the bay to ourselves. The whales slowly made their way into the bay and we watched then jumping and swimming along. The best was when we had a whale come right up to the boat and we were able to reach out and touch the whale. They are soft and velvety but with a rubbery feel. At first this seemed so special, but we quickly realized that the whales love to come over and socialize with the boats.

We spend almost 2 hours out on the boat following the whales around. We had several whales swimming together likely getting to know each other for mating. Some of the whales were quite large, it was hard to judge size when they are under water but the width of their backs as they came up for air gave the impression of size relative to other whales. What a great time we had and thankfully the rain stopped so we could enjoy this opportunity to the fullest. I managed to snap some wonderful pictures and had such a great time. We then spend 3 hours driving back to La Paz, exhausted and amazed. What a magical day. A few of us managed to catch a few z's on the ride back. We are staying the night at a truly lovely bed and breakfast, El Angel Azul, near the waterfront. We repacked our stuff, trying to leave the sand behind and prepare for an long and early day of travel. We all ate out as a group, enjoying some great soft shell tacos at a small restaurant on the waterfront.

Baja Day 8, Feb 20

Since we paddled about 12 miles the day before, today was a relatively short day with only about 4 miles. We paddled to the inlet and were out on the Pacific Ocean briefly. The beach we had been planning on camping on already had a group staying there. We had pressed on to the Pacific side in the hopes of a campsite but alas the Pacific side of the island was too rocky, so we backtracked a little. Luckily the beach we finally found, didn't have sand either. This gave us another opportunity to shake out more sand from our gear.

After lunch, a few of us went out again to see if we could get close to some whales. We had been seeing the plumbs of water rising from the inlet all day. Heading out we saw some plumes far away at first with a whale also jumping up and out of the water. Too bad no one had a camera at the ready. Some plumes were closer the further out we got until there was a set of whales right in front of us. They were so close it was amazing. I took a bunch of pictures and managed to capture a whale tail on film as well as shoot some video as a couple passed right in front of the kayak. Tomorrow, although we will have an early start, there will be more whale watching from a small skiff. It should be a little easier to catch up to whales rather then padding around in kayaks, but it was a totally awesome experience. I really can't believe how close we managed to get to the whales.

Baja Day 7, Feb 19

We were back on our previous schedule of being up, packed and ready for breakfast by 8:30 this morning. Actually, due to trying to rehydrate the night before, we were up before that to take care of some overflow on the rehydration. Once on the water, we paddled down a little way and enjoyed the small lagoon with the mangrove. The mangrove had quite a few herons of differing varieties. We saw a yellow caped night heron, a blue heron, white egrets and a black caped night heron. Back out on the water, we saw a sting ray. We paddled down passed the fishing village before stopping for lunch. We did about 8 miles at the point.

We opted to continue on in the hopes of getting closer to the inlet giving us a chance to kayak out onto the Pacific to do some whale watching. We did see some whales far out on the horizon and some tails but they were quite far away. It is good to see that they are moving into Magdalena Bay for the annual calving. We are camped on another sandy beach but thankfully the sand isn't nearly as fine as the sand at the last beach. We had sand in everything, even stuff we barely opened. Tonight there was no hike due to the long miles we put in on the bay today, about 10 miles. Hopefully we will have a short paddle tomorrow before setting up camp then a whale watching paddle with empty boats.

Baja Day 6, Feb 18

Today was a fairly easy day. We had an early start from the hotel. We ate breakfast then set about loading up the van with our stuff, again leaving behind things with the hotel for storage. The drive out to the other side of the peninsula took about 3 hours, but the boat ride over to the island was quite fast. We will be on Isla Magdalena for about 3 days padding and whale watching. The island has a long sand bar on one end and a mountainous section on the other end. We are currently on the sand bar, there is not much separating us from the Pacific Ocean.

Shortly after we arrived and set up camp, a few of us walked over to the Pacific side of the island. The surf was quite big and fun to watch. The beach was littered with sand dollars. We walked back over later in the evening and the surf died down as the was sun setting. We enjoyed a very nice shrimp dinner, the shrimp where huge in size. I ate about 13 of them and I am stuffed. We have been eating very well on this trip. I suspect that I will weigh more coming back then when I left. We are camped out on a fine white sand beach. It is beautiful, but with the wind, there is sand everywhere. I get the feeling we will be finding sand from this trip for years to come in our gear.

Baja Day 5, Feb 17

Today was a short ~2 mile paddle. Because we had paddled a little extra yesterday, we were much closer to our take out point. As such, we just had to paddle over to the next bay for our pickup back to La Paz. The conditions where very calm with barely any swell and hardly a ripple in sight. As such, we had a bit of a chance to explore the tidal zone a bit more. We got some more glimpses of red crabs on the rocks, as well as fish further under the water. The next bay over had a semi-permanent camp for tourists. We enjoyed a nice lunch and piled everything up for travel back to La Paz. One pile to stay with the boats and one to go back to the hotel with us.

Back in La Paz, we unloaded the gear at one hotel then checked into another just down the street. We enjoyed a nice rest and showers at the hotel (Lorimar). Given the limited time, we tried to clean up our clothes a little with some success. Most things dried fairly well overnight. As a group we went to dinner at a restaurant just up the street. It was some nice traditional foods. A nice way to relax after several days worth of paddling. The carnival being mostly over, we hoped for a quieter nights sleep tonight. Tomorrow we head over to Magdalena Bay for the whale watching part of the trip and more kayaking. We are all excited, hoping to see whales. The season runs Jan-Mar with Feb as the calving time. The whales should be close to the bay if not already in the bay.

Baja Day 4, Feb 16

We started today at 7:30 rather then 8:30 so we could go to a sea lion hangout and a bird rookery. The sea lions, being curious, came up almost immediately, before we even had a chance to tie off the kayaks. We tied the kayaks to a mooring buoy and hopped in to snorkel with them. The island is protected meaning we were not allowed to land nor get within 15 feet of the island. Snorkeling with the sea lions was quite interesting, they are so graceful in the water. They came over and gave us some playful nips, but not any real serious bites. It was disconcerting though. For the most part, it was the smaller females and juveniles that came over to inspect us. The larger males kept away and only came over to investigate later.

We hopped back into the kayaks and finished circumnavigating the smaller of the two islands. On the paddle, we watched an osprey attack a bird about the same size as it, looked like a Frigate bird. It kept chasing it around. We stopped at the gap between the two islands for some lunch. The gap was beautiful and serene, the water so calm. Lunch was a very interesting take on macaroni with cheese having spices in it. We had a choice to stay put at that beach for camping or continue one more beach over. We opted to press on as this beach was more of a mud flat and the next one would afford a better sunset.

Tonight is another clear night with good star gazing. The temperatures feel cooler tonight, so I pulled out the silk liner. I also pulled out my jacket for warmth. The paddle was flat and calm through the gap then surprisingly flat and calm back on the ocean. Normally the wind kicks up in the afternoon and causes some wind generated waves. This was not the case this time.

Baja Day 3, Feb 15

Another early start. Last night the skies were clear giving some great star gazing. Today was clear skies with just a touch of wind. The sea was quite calm most of the day with some chop before lunch. We stopped once for a snack and once for lunch before getting to tonight's campsite. After lunch the wind picked up some as did the ocean swells. We had been seeing a fairly consistent 1-2 foot swell but after lunch it was closer to a 4 foot swell. We were battling the wind, waves and exhaustion as we made our way into camp.

The hike up was quite rocky but not as bad as yesterday's hike. There was a tricky spot but otherwise fairly level over the gain. We climbed up to view the empty inland basin then climbed up further to a plateau to see more. The views were expansive with nothing blocking out views. We headed back down before the sunset this time to avoid navigating the tricky part in the falling darkness. It was a little more difficult coming down the tricky spot then it was going up so the light was good to have. This beach has several pelicans who gave us a show diving for fish. Several even dove together, almost synchronized.

Baja Day 2, Feb 14

Happy Valentine's Day. I received a nice card this morning from my sweetie. At least this morning didn't start too early. Most everyone was up, packed and ready to load the kayaks by about 8:15ish. We enjoyed a nice breakfast of yogurt and granola.

Loading the boats is like a Tetris puzzle. Each piece needs to fit in a certain spot and be packed down as tight as possible in order for the rest of the items to fit into their space. After we loaded the boats, we paddled south to the lagoon. It was just as picturesque and quiet as it looked the night before from our vantage point on the headwater. We saw some egrets, herons, and pelicans. The tide was just right (high enough) to allow us to get in and out without a portage.

Back out on the Sea of Cortez, we turned back to the north and paddled out towards the three islands we had seen from the headwater, Isla Gallina (hen, the smallest and closest), Isla Gallo (rooster, the middle island), and Isla Ballena (whale, the furthest north and whale shaped). By the time we got to camp, we had passed the last island, and had paddled about 6 miles. As expected (from the weather report), the wind picked up in the early afternoon. We made it to our next campsite but the wind was crazy to paddle against.

Tonight's campsite is very small. We are all perched on a small shelf just above the tide line which is a very small area. With the tide coming in, it is quickly becoming even smaller. We have been told we will be okay but it looks tight. We did a little snorkeling after setting up camp. A small school of fish swam just ahead of us before darting off into the depths. The hike up to the top was quite a climb but worth the views. We watched the sunset then made our way back down to enjoy supper. We had some very good star gazing with clear skies and very little light pollution.

Baja Day 1, Feb 13

Today was a long day. We ended up getting in quite late last night by bus from Cabo to La Paz then we found out we had over-packed and had to pare down our pile of gear. We were then up early to repack and finalize the gear. Having been told to expect much cooler weather we packed dry pants and spray tops. We also had limited space in which to pack things.

We loaded all our gear up into the truck and went down to the outfitter to finalize sleeping bags and wet suits as needed. A short walk took us down to the beach were we loaded up the small skiff that was to take us over to the islands. This leg of the trip was taking place up and around Isla Espirito Santo, protected as a biosphere as part of the Nature Conservancy. On this leg of the trip we are to paddle, hike and snorkel around for 5 days. Our group is 5 people plus 2 guides, including professional photographer Daniel Fox. The boat ride over was a bit rough but otherwise pretty and scenic. We saw a couple of whales on the boat ride over. We set up camp and enjoyed a nice lunch before splitting up.

We broke up into a couple of smaller groups with one person resting at camp, then several people went snorkeling while the rest of us enjoyed a 2+ hour paddle to the south. We passed a nice enclosed lagoon with mangroves. When the tide is low it is hard to gain entry into the lagoon so we continued on to the next point. With the tide going out, some red crabs were exposed on the rocks.

Back at camp after the paddle, we rested up before hiking to the top of the headwater to get a view of the lagoon and to watch the sunset. The lagoon had clear turquoise waters surrounded by vibrant green mangroves. We hiked down in the gathering darkness and enjoyed a nice but later supper. The skies were cloudy that night so not much start gazing was done. We had a new moon recently so not even the moon was visible. We had a little rain sprinkle down on us just after laying down to sleep so there was a flurry of activity as everyone jumped up to close up the tents, then we were down for the night, enjoying the silent calm.

This trip was made possible by both Aquapac and Alaska Mountain Guides. I am grateful to Aquapac for this opportunity and Alaska Mountain Guides for a wonderful experience. Stay tuned for more posts on this trip.

Preparing for Baja

We are leaving soon for a kayaking trip to Baja. The spare bed has been piled high with gear and we only just packed is away the other day. I get the feeling though that tonight we will be going through everything for that one last pass through and to make sure important things are taken care of, like charged camera batteries and spares. I also need to make sure I have the charging cables for my Nook and Peek. I don't know if I will have time to use them (they said bring a book), but I am hoping I do get to use them as I want to know how much battery time I get out of each device. I want to know how long they will last on a hiking trip. During my AT thru-hike, the one thing I found I didn't like to go without was books. So having a Nook with tons of books on it should satisfy the bookworm in me happily.

Having the Peek along is again more for testing how it works for email access and to try to keep maintaining the blog. I hope to be able to electronically do some of my journal entries so my family can follow along. This will be a great test, assuming I can pick up signal down in Baja for the thing. I also have to figure out how to email posts to Blogger to actually give on the go posts. This could be lots of fun assuming the battery gives me a long run.

Happy New Year!!

Welcome to 2010 everyone. Hopefully the new year will be great. We have big plans this year. Not only do we have a trip to Baja planned (which I won), but we have a wedding to plan (so much for eloping), and money to set aside for a backpacking trip. Big goals but I have faith that we can do these. Where there's a will there's a way.

Moved in

We are all moved in with just a couple of items left at the old place. There is still the final paperwork to do Monday afternoon, but we are out. We will unfortunately not have internet at the new place for about a week. We are also trying to figure out how the programmable thermostat works. There are boxes everywhere and the place is a mess, at least we managed to get the bed set up and will have a place to sleep tonight in comfort. This has been a crazy move, we picked up the truck Sunday morning and did the move in one day. Good thing we had a ton of people show up to help or we would not have finished in the one day. We even managed to get the truck back before they closed at 5:00. So begins the unpacking. Fun stuff. Seems a waste that we just packed all this stuff up and now we have to unpack it again. We also need to sell off duplicate items and unused hiking and backpacking gear, of which we have a ton.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Hope everyone who reads this is having a great Christmas. We did have a nice Christmas and are looking forward to better things in the new year. We move this weekend so fingers crossed that all goes well and nothing gets broken. Happy holidays.

Trip home

I decided to go home and visit with the family as I finally got my visa paperwork in order and I wasn't sure when I would have a chance to go again. It was good timing too as my father was leaving for work in Africa shortly and my brother was in town visiting too. I also had a HS reunion happening and was thinking of going but at the last minute the event coordinator canceled the event and put in a plan B event. Since I wasn't invited to the first event, I couldn't find the second event. All I could find was a listing for an ice cream in the park event for families. Not exactly what I wanted to go to. I eventually found the main site for the HS page that listed the upcoming events. And there was plan B, with 4 people having rsvp'ed for the event. I stayed home and spent some quality time with my family instead.

The drive was long and I didn't want to drive it but I had also received a used canoe that I wanted to drop off so I drove the 10 hours to get home. At least I had some podcasts to listen to. I just found Decoder Ring Theater. They set up their shows to be about 30 minutes long and in the old radio show style. They are lots of fun but after listening to about 20 of them, I found the commercial in the middle a little annoying. I think I like the Red Panda Adventures a little better then the Black Jack Justice show, and I haven't had a chance to get to any of their other shows. Worth checking out.

While the trip there was uneventful (driving at midnight does make a big difference to the number of idiots on the road and truckers are nice drivers), the drive back was a hassle. The car fortunately decided to break down only 15 minutes from home but the repair stranded me for another day in Montreal. And cost an arm and a leg. The water pump seized and killed the timing belt causing the car to stall. Good thing I was pulled over. Oh well. I had a good trip and I made it back in one piece so all was well.

Back home in warm DC

Another year is about to pass and I don't feel any wiser. Mostly I feel the same which I guess is good. No new aches or pains. I have been diligent in doing my knee exercises to make sure they don't get worse. I also have a ski trip coming up and I want to make sure it isn't my knees that slow me down. They have been doing fairly well lately which is good.

I didn't do much over the Christmas break. Mostly I stayed in to avoid the cold weather and the large piles of snow. I guess I am not really used to winter anymore. I also played xBox360 games on my brothers new console. I think I am going to have to get one, but it might be better to wait until I get a nicer TV. The little 14 incher I have is not worth playing games on anymore. I also tried to catch up with my backlog of gear reports. I had 5 reports all due on the same day and another due later this month. I managed to get them all done thankfully.

Happy New Year!

A new year has sprung up on me with out much warning. I really am finding it hard to believe that 2006 has past by so quickly. Where has the time gone. I went out to two parties with a friend. The parties really were not that great but the company was great and made up for it. We ended up watching movies all night after ringing in the new year. Monday actually felt a lot like a Sunday, nothing got done.

I picked up book 4 of the Megatokyo Manga. I was going to order it online from Megagear but in the end I was at a book store and decided to pick it up. I am not sure where the rest of the books are right now. I still have to unpack all my books but at least they are now out of the way, ie filling up the closets. I feel like there are still so many things I have to get in order to make the place livable and every time I think about it I end up putting it off. With a car repair bill coming up I am also not sure how much I should go out and spend on furniture. I have the option of bringing home some of the lab shelves and supports. That will work for the bed room but I am not sure it will work for the living room. Also some of the shelves are very wide, there appear to be enough narrow shelves to make it worth the effort. Maybe I will pick them up when I come get my plants.

Merry Christmas!!

I must have been a good girl this year, Santa was very nice to me. I received a very nice microwave, and knife set as well as a cordless drill and screw driver. Those last two would have come in handy when I was setting up my dining room table and kitchen counter but I will still find uses for them. I have a curtain rod to put up, the top to the kitchen counter needs to be screwed down and the hole for the handles still need to be drilled.

I feel a little bad that I didn't manage to finish the sweater for my father for Christmas. Other than that, I did get most of the things on my list. My mom was very happy to finally receive her very own iPod. I think we were all happy to see her get it too, especially since I had bought it in September. It was the best kept secret, everyone knew but her. That meant that she also got a nice speaker dock to go with it.

We had a slightly smaller family dinner this year, only my grandparents came over this year. Normally we go to my grandparents house and my fathers brother and his family are also there. With that many people, it makes for a big supper and my grandparents were just not up to it. So we invited them over and it was a big production. Everything was really good. It is no wonder that people gain weight over the holidays, with so much good food around, I just wanted to eat everything. And the desserts are really hard to give up too. I need to get back out and hit the trails.