No Wimps trail first week in Jan - any thoughts from those that have lived it?

[walshdanielm1965]

as much as possible, please.?

+1.....?

[bhiggins25]

as much as possible, please.?

+1000. Cannot wait to see the pictures. ?

[BoogersDad]

First off I am super amp'd to say that I was able to go and ride 5 full days of Baja magic with really no issues. 5 riders a buggy and a chase truck all over Baja Norte and mostly great weather, bad wind on one day but ohhh well.

1030 miles, 1 (only 1) flat and one lost clutch slave ( both on the KTM, go figure).

First let me say that even if I had the GPS for the trails that someone else built I would not give them out so don't ask. The few lines we connected and made into riding trails I am fine with giving more info on.

Much respect to those that pioneered and built the single track HELL line that goes from the Sea of Cortez to the Guayquil area, you guys are gnarly! This is beyond double black diamond and I don't suggest anyone go there unless you are really up to it. I consider myself a good rider (of course I do) and not only did I fall over but one of my buddies, Jeff Laubscher, of good riding ability gave a water pump cover to this trail (I love 4 minute JB Weld). This trail is so punk rock I can't believe it is even there. We were pretty lame when we came out of the 1 track and ended up at Guayquill and decided to fix that on the last day.

We hit Catavinia for some water, gas and tacos and then at 3ish we left for Fred’s Tractor Trail. My buddy Jesse that was with us knows one of the real Baja legends, the Vick family and they said it is named that because of the crazy guy that thought this road would be a good short cut for cars to Gonzaga was named Fred, obviously certifiable. This is a black diamond and a half but shorter and more manageable than the first trail we hit. We then rode the beach up from Punta Final to Alphonsinas.

Day two had us trudge through a pretty wet Calamuje and then the mysto trails to LA Bay that are much tougher than I expected. Finished at San Francisquito just after dark, took ten minutes to drop some goodies with Pancho at San Rafael Fish Camp. San Fran had beds but not blankets for all of us, they did also have fuel and said they petty much always do.

No Wimps day was upon us and I was pumped!

We shoved off to El Barill about 730 after the five of us packed up. Jesse had a 6 gallon tank and carried 2 extra, Laubscher had a 3.2 gallon tank and carried 2 extra, Tom had a 3.4 and carried 1, Wrong Way Jon had a 3.2 and carried 2 and I had a 3.2 gallon tank and carried 3 extra gallons. 2 of my gallons hauled on a Pro Moto Billet rack, they are SICK! It would turn out we would not need all the gas though.

We made our way to El Barril, where they do have gas, we topped off from the buggy. The road that Jesse knew to Los Corrales was still washed out from 2 years ago so we figured the locals had another way so we didn’t fight through this way. We looked up the wash from El Barril and got on a two track that the AAA map does not show that hooks to the road to Santa Barbara. We could have taken another split and been quicker but we still navigated the two track, left at the sign that I think was left to San Miguel and right to Santa Barbara. The two track has some really sweet rocky sections and a good climb, 3 or 4 fences and then we showed up in the arroyo that was near Los Corrales. I never saw a road enter from the left so I thought maybe this was the only way.

The landmark that starts the real no wimps trail is the rock corral right on the beach and we stopped there for lunch and Jesse got all Brokeback Baja and went for a skinny dip. Jesse had been here before and was cool about the time of day 10:30ish, I was stressing because of all the stories I heard about the place and how damaged it was from storms.

About 11am and we are off down the beach, somehow I missed the 50 foot whale on the beach that everyone else saw. I am usually the one that sees all the stuff off trail and I think I was too focused on battling the beach rocks at this point. Once you go by the corral you can’t get lost if you stay near the beach, there are a few times you have to go inland to make some arroyos but in all you can pretty much just wing it to the out marker.

We came to a point with a couple Palm Trees right on the point and did some beach exploring and found a big open beach to Rip! Jesse was there first and stopped on the beach and then he says over the radio “a guy is coming out of the bushes and walking towards me”. The other 4 of us were scattered but I bee lined it to the beach as did Laubscher and the guy got to Jesse as we came out on the beach. Obviously he heard us coming and I don’t “think” he would have been an issue but he was carrying an 18 inch machete behind his back and kept it there while talking to us. Little sketchy if you were solo for sure and it still had me thinking but I am basically always seeing the good in people, plus he had a dog and anyone that has a dog is all good right?

This big beach is also the marker for the exit trail. It is a long sand beach now and ends in a raised point that looks like a small island almost (Punta Trinidad I’m pretty sure). If you look right there is a group of palms about ¼ to a ½ mile off the sand and that is the turn marker to enter the Trinidad Arroyo. I had thought you rode to Punta Santa Ana but I was wrong I guess. The beach section of No Wimps is much shorter than I thought but beautiful. After turning in off the point you will see two track that takes you up the valley and you will look for another rock Corral at El Gato where you will get to better two track. Most of the time you stay left at the intersections and you will pass some ranches along the way. You will come to a 4 way intersection where there are no buildings or signs and you go straight to a metal fence that swings at you with a bunch of broken tail lights tied to it. Next you will end up in the middle of the old volcano and past that you will come to the big dirt road, left to hwy 1 or right to the cave paintings.

We hit the Hwy at Alfrado y Bonfil and could have saved 3.9 pavement miles if we had taken the route through El Carricito.

135 miles from San Francisquito to the Highway 14 miles south of San Ignacio and I still had the 2 gallon cans on my rack but we poured everything else but were in no danger of running out.

After doing No Wimps I was super pissed I had been turning right at San Francisquito all these years and following Baja 1000 courses to Vizciano and then down the pavemant 40 miles to Rice and Beans. No Wimps is a black diamond in remoteness but a blue square in ability needed to make this trail. The single tracks I rode in the north made this look like a 50cc track if you know what I mean.

We slabbed it to GN and the next day had an awesome ride where we linked up the beaches from GN to Santa Rosalalita. This is easy event for a moderate map reader and some of the beaches were awesome but also soft for long pulls. We hit Morro Santo Domingo and El Tomatial no problem. Jesse the Mad Dog did a double black diamond rock climb and it looked like the first trail ever over the headland to connect to the surfing beaches at the Wall. Santa Rosalalita from GM (with 3 miles of pavement for me the *****) was 78 miles.

We then rode the Seven Sisters to Catavinia. We passed the Chapalla turn and then took the next right inland. At the next split Tom decided to deviate from what is better known as a chase road for the 1k and went right. On the AAA map the road ends at a place called San Jose but the road keeps going and goes through awesome mountains and rocky passes (our buggy made this trip) and goes through a place called Todos Santos (one rancho). This road connects about 8 miles shy of the Hwy on the road that goes out from Catavinia. This road has a similar decent/climb to the big one in the Comondu road, you know the one if you have been there.

Last day we were committed to connecting Catvinia and the single track back to the beach. We went a couple miles on the Hwy and turned off right. We did the back and forth a bunch but ended up at the El Marmol ruins pretty easily. Then we went down the graded road west until we caught a pretty good two track and followed it until it ended and Jesse found a single bike track, being the Baja racer I spotted the ribbon. Someone was marking a trail. We took that for about ½ a mile and then navigated ourselves to the top of the single track entrance, mission accomplished.

Once at the top of the 1 track Jesse wanted to try the wash to the right and there were tracks so off we went. Each rock climb or outcropping the tracks became less and less but we kept going miles after all the tracks ended. We couldn’t get through and it was going south so we decided to turn back.

We jumped on the 1 track for a return mission through the toughest trail I have seen in Baja that is that long, approx 12 miles of rocky single track.

Once to the road we took the dirt to Puertocitos and jumped on the beach for an epic 50-mile sand ride to San Felipe!

EPIC!

[gdbarr1976]

Very Nice! If/when the stock market goes back to 15000 I will drop everything and do a ride like that.

Gary

[trackmaster]

wow, thats awesome! who needs gps with that detail. pics!pics!pics!?

[mexihonkey]

wow, thats awesome! who needs gps with that detail. pics!pics!pics!?

BBM said he totally needs the GPS tracks.... when he figures out how to use one.

Great report, last people I saw venture off the beaten path from San Francisquito came back in the dark filled with cactus.

[RottenRob]

Great report, thanks!

[BajaBoundMoto]

You all know how 2 peoples definitions of "difficult" or "Hell" or "black diamond" varies greatly pending their skill...

I've ridden with 3 of these 5 guys and they ARE super excellent riders. Pro level. So believe the comments from PAB.

First let me say that even if I had the GPS for the trails that someone else built I would not give them out so don't ask.

What I dig about these guys is that go their way, sniffing out a route. They aren't glued to a lame screen with numbers swiped off the Net.?

We made our way to El Barril, where they do have gas, we topped off from the buggy.

He left out that the buggy then turned around and headed to El Arco. The buggy didn't follow the bikes (didn't follow North of G.Negro either).

[DIRTDOGS]

Damn, what an great story, that is what the non-racing side of Baja is all about.

Once at the top of the 1 track Jesse wanted to try the wash to the right and there were tracks so off we went. Each rock climb or outcropping the tracks became less and less but we kept going miles after all the tracks ended. We couldn’t get through and it was going south so we decided to turn back.

EPIC!

We followed that for a while and still think it must come out somewhere, I thought it would end-up turning West. We probably did not follow as far as you, we took it my mistake heading West on the single track and were low on fuel and daylight.

[BoogersDad]

You all know how 2 peoples definitions of "difficult" or "Hell" or "black diamond" varies greatly pending their skill...

I've ridden with 3 of these 5 guys and they ARE super excellent riders. Pro level. So believe the comments from PAB.

What I dig about these guys is that go their way, sniffing out a route. They aren't glued to a lame screen with numbers swiped off the Net.?

He left out that the buggy then turned around and headed to El Arco. The buggy didn't follow the bikes (didn't follow North of G.Negro either).

Thanks BBM...calling me Pro is nice coming from a Baja legend! I do like a challenge though!

Too funny, I guess you could read it like teh buggy went with us at El Barril but it for sure went to El Arco, FYI the El Arco Rd is freshly graded and smooooth they said!

[BoogersDad]

We followed that for a while and still think it must come out somewhere, I thought it would end-up turning West. We probably did not follow as far as you, we took it my mistake heading West on the single track and were low on fuel and daylight.

My buddy Jesse has owned a house at San Juanico for over 20 years and is CONVINCED that ALL washes come out somewhere and can be ridden! He is a Baja vet like few others.

[Baja trail Rider]

Hey BD not true Too many 30 foot drop offs.

[BoogersDad]

Hey BD not true Too many 30 foot drop offs.

Copy that, glad we didn't hoist the bikes down the one we got too! We carry a 30 foot strap for bike towing and hoisting! Almost lost one in the ocean before and broke all the baby straps so now we have a big one!

[southcamp1]

Great write up! What bike did you and the other riders use? How did the short daylight hours limit your exploring... ?

[BoogersDad]

Great write up! What bike did you and the other riders use? How did the short daylight hours limit your exploring... ?

The short daylight was an issue only because we really didn't know how long some of the sections would take. We would have spent more time on the beach at the No Wimps trail had we known it would only take us a couple hours to get to the Hwy. Last time Jesse had been there the section from the turn out to El Gato corral took 2 plus hours and it only took us 45 minutes to an hour this time.

Myself and my buddy Laubscher were on Honda 450x bikes, Tom and Wrong Way Jon were on KTM's 450 off road version and Toms had been punched out to a 525 I think. Jesse rolled a XR400 with no skid plate!

My next BIG ride is in May and the time will have changed so we will use that to our advantage. Many of the routes I used I will take my non-Baja full timer buddies on with my annual trip that month.

[BajaBoundMoto]

How did the short daylight hours limit your exploring..

That's a good one.... these crazies have a habit of ending at 11pm and starting pre-sunrise. They like HIDs (except for Jesse the nut i bet)

[BoogersDad]

That's a good one.... these crazies have a habit of ending at 11pm and starting pre-sunrise. They like HIDs (except for Jesse the nut i bet)

You nailed us Tim. My DA boys that do my Cabo ride all run HIDs and we commonly come in at 11pm and at times 2am. Sometimes we sit on the beach for sunset and kill some time and then ride in in the dark just because we love our lights (Baja designs, shameless plug).

Jesse would rather run no light......ohhhhhhh good story......

We were riding into Catavinia and Wrong Way Jon got a flat. We watched the full moon come up and made a fire for a bit. Jesse and I waited for the buggy that had a flat too. Well anyway, Jesse and I were doing side by sides when i started flipping my light off to see how light it was out....DO NOT TRY THE FOLLOWING AT HOME KIDS.....well Jesse the nut job gets my drift, we are both idiots, and he turns off his light (Tim I loaned him and HID for the trip, he has a double for the 1000 he ran but not a single). Well so we are now riding in 3rd and 4th gear side by side about 6 miles from Catavinia on the white sand stone roads....sooooo sweet. Well then I get some idea of riding wheelies while side by side, in the dark with our lights off. Man my Wife would have had a hard time understanding that one if I had got hurt being that stupid. It was one of the best session of the trip tough!

FYI - pictures are coming. Wrong Way Jon is a pro shooter and has a site jonbeckphotography.com and will soon post some shots and probably a link.

[bhiggins25]

Already an epic thread. Great stories BD. Give this man some gas!

[southcamp1]

yeah that's what I wanted to know if you might have bit off a little more with a little more daylight. I like riding at night too, but I'm good if I know where I'm going. I'm getting ready to downsize from the BRP to a 450 for some of the stuff I ride, curious how big of bike you would want down in that area. 450's seem to be getting the run...

[Scotty Breauxman]

but I am basically always seeing the good in people...

Right on!

F'Ing Epic Ride, Insane report and it does take more than balls, inspiring. THX