As we approached La Salina, we could already see by the strong offshore winds that it was not going to be great flying weather. After a hearty breakfast at the Baja Seasons Resort, Greg, Lee Anne, Berndt and I decided to leave Bob and Tony to the mercy of the winds. Someone had to be the sacrifice, right? So we headed on down the Baja peninsula in search of the perfect dune and wave.
     The first night, we camped in the desert, just beyond the turnoff to the Bahía De Los Angeles. The wind was howling from the north, and the winter sun had set early, leaving us to drive during the early evening. Camping somewhat near the highway, we all swore that one of us was snoring, but I think it was the trucks coming down the hill all night - brapapapapapapap....
     After some good java in the morning, we headed onward across the desert, stopping for a great lunch at a small restaurant in Santa Rosalía. Ajo (garlic) was the spice we added to the meal, to head off the amoebic diarrea syndrome, and by the end of the feast, we were pretty ripe!
     Back on the road again, we were now driving down the gulf side of the peninsula. The north wind was still howling, creating a small swell of almost surfable size in the Sea of Cortéz. I was tempted to paddle out and catch a few waves, just for the pure novelty of surfing this side, but it just wasn't that good. We found a beautiful sand bar leading to a small island where we camped for the night.
     I flew the parakite for awhile in the strong north winds, leaving butt trails as it pulled me through the sand. Sunsets are really amazing sometimes here in Baja, and this evening played its symphany of colors against the high clouds in glorious style. We even found enough wood to have a really nice fire for about two hours. Lee Anne leads the cook-a-thon tonite with Trader Joe's Pahd Thai noodles, sweet and sour with peanuts and seasoned tofu.
     The next morning we were a bit lazy about getting on the road early, likely due to the beautiful surroundings we had found. I transformed one of my parakites into a "quad", with four lines to control it with - essentially adding the ability to brake the wing. This gave me incredible control of turns in the light wind, and soon I was cranking and banking the bigger parakite like crazy! We decided we had to get a small teddy bear the next time we were in town and put a radio inside of it so one of us could "narrate" the flight from above. We could add comments like "I'm flying!!" "Wheeeeee!!" and "Death Spiral!!" for the amusement of all.
     A little south of where we camped, we made a right turn to head for Scorpion Bay on a good ol' baja dirt road. It was fun to finally get off the main highway and get deep into the desert. We passed through some really quaint little mexican towns on the way to the coast, nestled into a rich oasis where a river ran through the desert. Date palms, mangos, persimmons, guavas, papayas and sugar cane were all growing here, and the people in San Isidro seemed quite friendly.
     Arriving at the coast, the wind was coming almost straight in at the dunes below Scorpion Bay (Punta Pequeña), maybe 10 degrees to the north. I scrambled up the steep sandy face and launched into my Scorched Earth/X-Ray combination for the beginning of some sweet dune soaring.
     Now, imagine if you will, a 250 ft sand dune perpindicular to the prevailing wind, ten miles long. The convective winds are caused by the desert heating up during the day, pulling the cool ocean air perfectly straight in to create the smoothest, sweetest soaring conditions imaginable.
     The frigate birds have two tails, and are the epitome of aerodynamic design, and consistently stay 300-400 feet over our heads while we are flying. There are even beach thermals, which the osprey, pelicans, turkey vultures and frigates use to get even higher. Sometimes we can watch these magnificent birds and use their instincts to find even more bouyant air. At one point, after working the lift in front of the highest point of the dune with the frigates, I looked down at my altimeter watch and saw that I had over 500 feet of altitude!
     We flew for hours, then headed for the town of San Juanico, and Scorpion Bay - just across the bay. We found a little palapa perched above Second Point, and decided to go surfing. Perfect peeling rights, this place is really outrageous! The size was somewhat small, but we had fun until dark. The next morning, Dave came by and told us where the HOT shower was, and we talked awhile about where to land a plane here in the future to avoid the long drive.
     Two days later, and we are really getting used to this. Surfing in the morning, flying all afternoon, bonfire at night, aaahhhh......
     On the way home, we stopped to camp at the Wall. We were hoping the surf would be fun, but it was out of control - 7 and 8 foot sets breaking all over the place. So we went flying instead! La Salina was our last stop for a hot shower and real beds, and another flight on the ridge as well, completing an absolutely memorable Baja trip!
     Scorpion Bay has an awesome web site at www.scorpionbay.net, but it says nothing about foot launched flying at the dune. We are likely the first to ever fly this place with the exception of the local frigates, etc. Check it out!
 

 

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