Baja! The Spanish word for lower, (as in Baja California, Mexico), is used with familiarity to identify that rugged and often misunderstood finger of desert and mountains poking a thousand miles south of the U.S. border into the abundant waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez. Baja also means adventure - long deserted beaches, awesomely beautiful scenery, and escape from the awning-to-awning RV parks to which so many travelers seem inescapably tied to by an artificial umbilical cord. One can only wonder why we have four-wheel drive campers . The reason is places like Baja.
About 5 million years ago, a slow tectonic slide forced ragged peaks out of the Pacific, as the Baja peninsula divorced itself from the Mexican mainland. Schizophrenic to say the least, the land can be so harsh and barren, only lizards and snakes hope to survive, but cross a ridge and drop into the next arroyo, and life is in such a chaotic celebration, it defies our concept of desert. Dry, desolate, rugged and inhospitable - in most cases, even inaccessible - a land of rock and cacti slashed by wide arroyos of soft sand purged by periodic flash floods rushing down from distant canyons. This is Baja California.
But there is a lighter side. This crotchety old man called Baja has a young, beautiful, and vivacious mistress: The Sea of Cortez. Standing waist-deep in her warm amber waters at sunrise, fishing pole or first cup of coffee in hand, one could not wish for a more accommodating hostess. Her graceful arms of white sand arch along the coast, embracing bay after deserted bay. Once called the Vermilion Sea and later the Gulf of California, the Sea of Cortez is the youngest of the world's deep-water gulfs, with a depth of nearly 2 miles at its mouth, where the Pacific Ocean pours in. Though the once prolific fishing has been tainted by commercial operations, the Sea of Cortez is still one of the biggest "fish traps" on the planet - world-class angling by any standards.
To the west, south of Ensenada, the rugged Pacific coastline is largely undeveloped until you reach the southern tip, where tourist meccas like Cabo San Lucas and San Jos del Cabo poke their high-rise condos into the sky.
Until recent years, the road system was so atrocious, all but the most adventurous four-wheelers shied away. Passes such as the Three Sisters and La Cuesta de la Ley guarded the entry, becoming part of Baja's legend and mystique. For many, Baja is unnecessarily intimidating. Certainly, like a sharp knife, it demands respect, but with reasonable care and preparation, there is little to fear and the rewards are many.