December 22nd, 2008

Baja Road Trip Part II

Bahia De Concepcion
There is a moment in the course of every trip when you realize, regardless of time lapsed or distance traveled, that you have quite clearly “arrived.” It’s a feeling; an energy. And for Heather, Hayden and I, on this 2-month road trip in Baja, it occurred yesterday when we pulled into the south beach of Playa Coyote, in Bahia de Concepcion, on the Sea of Cortez. We had absolutely arrived.

The sand is white and clean; the water crystal blue. A single row of 10×10 palm-frond palapas line the water’s edge and welcome a mere handful of over-night campers to 6-month home-away-from-home “residents.” Staring out across the water, you see a series of wilderness islands with their own secluded, sandy beaches. Our beach is bordered by peninsulas to the north and south that create a “private” bay, and perhaps 10 miles distant is the peninsula that separates Bahia de Concepcion from the greater Sea of Cortez. It’s over that mountainous ridge that the impossibly beautiful sunrise electrifies the sky every morning.

Closer to shore, pelicans, cormorants, great egrets, terns and osprey harvest breakfast, lunch and dinner from the water – the Baja food chain. They expertly ride the warm desert wind, which when we arrived was blowing straight out of the north, pushing waves before it that wrapped invitingly right into our beach.

We made camp in the northernmost palapa, setting our quiver of boats in the sand, their bows not 8 feet from the water’s edge. With the tent pitched, kitchen assembled and sunscreen slathered, I grabbed the Surfski and paddled out for an exploratory of the nearest islands. Within 15 minutes I was cresting 4-foot, warm, blue waves, which I bounded through for another 20 minutes before making the turn. The reward was linking trough after trough as I surfed straight for our camp. Within 200 yards of the sand I was laughing like a kid as I held the paddle over my head for a series of 4 or 5 interconnected troughs that married into a 20-second ride. Pure Baja bliss.

Heather took her turn, doing two out-and-backs and catching equally good rides. Then Hayden took to his own kayak and, with a little push-start from Mama, surfed 1-foot waves from 15 feet out right up onto the sand. It was an epic session to celebrate his 10-month birthday. And although he can’t speak the words yet, the look on his face carried a message as clear as the Baja blue sky: “We have arrived!”

In the Spirit of Compassion and Adventure
Heather, Brandon and Hayden Storm

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