La Lobera (2005-2016)

May 2005 October 2005 April 2006 Just 3 miles west of Hwy. 1 (between Km. 47 and 48) is the dramatic coast and future sea food restaurant! July 2006 November 2006 July 4, 2011 It is 6 miles north (of El Rosario) on Hwy. 1 to the La Lobera road, between Km. 47 and 48. […]

Edits to 2023/2024 Benchmark Atlas

After a quick glance and a look at my email exchanges, here is what I could see that is new for 2023 over 2021. Note: there may be others and feel free to let me know what you discover. San Felipe Municipality added on multiple pages. Page 29: Puerto Nuevo [lobster village] (added) Page 35: […]

2023 Baja Expo

    17 year ago… Greg had big news to share! Sitting next to me was Jens Tobias, author of a new book that is full of amazing details for the Baja explorer that lives in many of us. Order you own copy: https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Northern-Baja-History-Travel/dp/B0CFZ8BHYH/ 

Guadalupe Canyon (2001-2008)

Where is Guadalupe Canyon? Fifteen miles west of Mexicali, or fifty-seven miles east of Tecate, and then 35 miles south: GPS DIRECTIONS TO GUADALUPE CANYON (WGS84) Km. 28 is the Graded Road at Mexico #2: 32°34.33′, -115°47.40′ Km. 24 is the Dry Lake Road at Mexico #2: 32°34.57′, -115°44.67′ Junction of Graded and Dry Lake […]

Montevideo in photos (2002-2017)

This page is dedicated to the colorful pictographs of Montevideo, taken by my camera from New Years Weekend 2002 to my final visit in February 2017. The bigger, better images will be the newer ones, found by scrolling down past the older ones. The photos have been color enhanced so they are more like what […]

San Ignacio in photos (mission & river, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2016. 2017, 2019)

The mission of San Ignacio de Kadakaamán, was founded in 1728 by Padre Juan Bautista de Luyando, and was the eleventh Spanish mission in California. San Ignacio was the northernmost mission for the next twenty-four years and today is the northernmost Spanish mission in the state of Baja California Sur. The site for San Ignacio […]

Shell Island, 40 years in photos (1978-2018)

The long, narrow barrier island beach, between Percebu and Bahía Santa María, is backed by lagoons on the north and the south, that fill at high tide. During lunar high tides, these two lagoons connect and this narrow beach is surrounded by water. This is why I named it Shell Island (in 1978) instead of […]

Rosario de Abajo in photos (2004-2017 + )

In 1802, the El Rosario mission (founded in 1774) moved two miles down the valley and across the river, after the spring by the mission failed. It was now located close to the river and farmlands. While the mission’s official name was Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Viñadaco, after the move the new location was […]

Santo Domingo in photos (1886-2017)

The second Dominican California mission was named Santo Domingo and located at the mouth of a long valley, a few miles from the ocean. A red-colored cliff was next to the new mission and the first services were held on August 30, 1775, in a cave in the cliff. In 1798, the mission was relocated […]

Rosario de Arriba in photos (2004-2017 + 1949-1961)

The first ‘El Rosario’ mission and first Dominican California mission was founded in 1774 at a place called Viñadaco by the Cochimí Natives. A spring provided water in the gully next to the mission until it stopped flowing in 1802, That was when the Dominicans moved the mission about two miles down the valley and […]

1974 Score Baja Internacional

In July of 1974, at the invitation of the government of Baja California and Ensenada businessmen, Mickey Thompson brought his SCORE organization (originally developed for Short Course Off Road Events, with grandstand viewing) to Mexico for the first of many point-to-point desert races on the peninsula (and in the U.S.). Mexico had cancelled NORRA’s permit […]

Santa Gertrudis in photos (2001, 2012, 2017)

> To see where Mission Santa Gertrudis is, see maps and directions at bottom of page << This mission has a unique and sometimes confused history as it had originally been planned to be named Dolores del Norte. That name appeared on Jesuit records and maps of the early to mid 1700s. Padre Fernando Consag […]

San Fernando in photos 1974-2017 (with 1926 photos)

>>To see where Mission San Fernando de Velicatá is, see maps and directions at bottom of page<< 2017 1 mile west and south, down the arroyo, and past the petroglyphs, is the mission ‘pila’ or reservoir. Below, two photos showing the water canal that once brought water here from upstream. INAH Plans: reservoir and canal: […]

Santa María (2022, 2010, 2007, 2003, 1999)

The following are my photos from five visits to Mission Santa María, from the photo albums of VivaBaja.com, showing the man-made artifacts from the 1700s (mainly in 1768 by the Franciscans who replaced the Jesuits in California, who founded this mission in October 1766 (at Calamajué) and moved it here in May 1767, for better […]

Travel log on El Camino Real,1792

Longinos Martínez, José (c. 1755–1803) José Longinos Martínez (b. ca. 1755; d. 1803), naturalist in New Spain (1787–1803). A native of Calahorra, Spain, Longinos studied botany at the Royal Botanical Garden in Madrid before traveling to Mexico in 1787. Longinos preferred the study of animals and spent his time in Mexico studying birds, butterflies, fish, and mammals. He traveled through […]