Day 1: Monday, 6 am, Southern California
I left on my solo adventure from L.A., and it was raining on the 405 Freeway, hard at times. After crossing the border I took the toll road for $6 to Ensenada, where I got gas around 10 am. It was cloudy on the coast, but the desert between Santo Tomas and Colonet was hot. It was cloudy again in San Quintin, but inland again between El Rosario and Catavina was warm desert with lots of cacti. A couple of guys with a truck waved me down and said they were out of gas--they siphoned some gas from my tank, and they helped themselves to a bit more than I had wanted them to have. At 4pm for $4 I ate dinner at Santa Inez. I spoke to some people from San Diego who suggested spending the night at Guerro Negro.
At 6:30 pm near Rosarito there was a big accident blocking the road on a curve. It involved a jackknifed truck and four other vehicles, one on its side. No one was hurt. There was an old dirt road that cut across the curve, and I went with three other vehicles across the shortcut, with no one passing anyone else the rest of the way to Guerro Negro.
At 8:00 pm in Guerro Negro it was cloudy and windy and cool (in the low 60s). I stayed at the La Pinta Hotel for $63. It was a nice big room, but there was no water--there was not enough power to pump it. I got to sleep by 10:30 pm.
Day 2: Tuesday, Baja California Sur
I woke up to drizzling, cloudy, and cold weather. I left the hotel and drove to Guerro Negro to get gas, then south through the desert on a long straight road. It cleared up and got hot. I arrived in beautiful San Ignacio where there were thousands of palm trees, a lagoon, and everything was green. I got a room in a hotel and swam in a three-foot-deep small cloudy pool. I met Lloyd and Alex, two funny Americans. I went into town and bought two eclipse T-shirts for about $8 each. I came back and had dinner, then headed to my room. It was hotter in the room than outside, and the air conditioning made too much noise and didn't cool it off anyway. I got to sleep around 10:30 pm.
Day 3: Wednesday, 7 am, San Ignacio
I left the hotel by 8 am, and by 9:30 am it was already 90 degrees F. I got gas in Santa Rosalia by the Sea of Cortez. This was my first time seeing it, and it was beautiful! I got gas again in Loreto, where I bought a hand-woven hammock from a roadside vendor. I passed Ciudad Constitucion and made it to La Paz, where I briefly got lost. I made the mistake of stopping in San Antonio for gas--bad gas. I passed through Santiago at sunset, then crossed the Tropic of Cancer where a large white ball by the side of the road marked my first time entering the tropics!
I was looking for an RV Park to stay at, but it was hard to find a place in the dark. I reached Cabo San Lucas at 9 pm, where it was suddenly bright and it was crowded with lots of Americans. There was a salt smell in the air. It was a marked contrast from my long day of solitary desert travel when it was close to 100 degrees F all day (and my car had no air conditioning). Now it was 75 degrees F at night. I was so tired--I left town and was hoping to find a place to stay but was getting ready to just stop by the side of the road when I spotted an RV Park! $7 por la noche. The stars were bright and the lights of Cabo were visible in the distance.
Day 4: Thursday, July 11, 1991, Cabo San Lucas - the day of the total solar eclipse!
I woke early and drove into town, parked the car, and walked around a little. At Terra del Sol Resort there were sand dunes and a nice beach, where big waves were breaking right on the sand because of the steepness of the beach. I walked to some rocks and climbed over them to another, much calmer beach. It was beautiful! Clear, turquoise water, and white sand. Two Mexican soldiers were on the rocks--I asked the lower one if I could climb up, and he said yes, but when I reached the higher one he said "no puedes escalar." As I walked back toward my car the eclipse had started, but I still had an hour until totality. At the car I got sunscreen, water, and more film. Then I went back to the beach.
I should have tried to climb some other rocks, because there were lots of people up there and they must have had a great view. But I sat down on the beach and waited for totality. There were lots of Americans around, and a drunk guy came by and we had an interesting conversation (what a thing to do--get drunk for the eclipse--I wonder if he even remembered it).
It started getting dark--like just after sunset--and then it got darker. Everybody was cheering. It was like twilight, but instead of brightness coming from the horizon it was coming straight down from above. This lighting was so strange when looking at a person's face--like a dim light was turned on overhead. The moon--a dark spot straight overhead--had a white glow around it just like in pictures, but it was so small and far away! The temperature dropped at least ten degrees. The horizon looked like sunset, the stars came out, and several bright planets were lined up with the moon and sun. It was absolutely incredible. Soon (too soon) the sun got brighter and totality was over. Somewhere nearby in the Sea of Cortez (where party boats had traveled) the peak duration of totality was around 7 minutes, but where I was it lasted around 6 minutes. This was one of the longest total solar eclipses of the millenium.
I walked back to town, then to another beach, then after walking around town a bit more I drove down Highway 1, cashed some travelers checks at a fancy resort, and then drove to Los Bariles, where I stayed at an RV Park for $8. It was crowded with Americans and had a nice beach. The temperature only dropped to 80 degrees F that night.
Day 5: Friday, Los Bariles, light rain
I left mid-morning and drove north. It was hot in La Paz and I got lost again but quickly found my way. It was about 100 degrees F again today. I got gas in Loreto, and stopped for the night near Playa Santispac, south of Mulege on the Bahia Concepcion. I stayed at a nice RV Park on the beach, with shallow, clear water, hot springs, a seashell beach, and mangroves growing in the water. I floated around in the water and explored the area on an air mattress. There was lightning at night, but there was a clear starry sky, and it was warm. I got to sleep around 10:30 pm.
Day 6: Saturday, Bahia Concepcion
I awoke to low tide and extensive mudflats reflecting the sunrise where I had been floating the day before. At 7 am I drove north all day, stopping at Guerro Negro, Catavina, Ensenada, and getting lost in Tijuana after taking the free road. I waited a long time to cross the border. I was so tired, it was hard to understand the Border Patrolman's questions: what are you bringing back? I told him about the hammock I bought in Loreto, but this answer didn't seem to satisfy him. He let me through and I got back to L.A. just before midnight.
The Hype of the Millenium
Leading up to the eclipse, there were rumors that anywhere from 10,000 to 800,000 visitors would come to a state with only 6,000 hotel beds. I had heard that you wouldn't be allowed to head south without a hotel reservation in hand, so I had one just in case, but no one ever checked this. The Mexican government prepared for two years for this event, and either the preparations worked or were unnecessary, because I noticed no problems.
The Great American Eclipse
On Monday, August 21, 2017, there will be a total solar eclipse that travels all the way across the country over a narrow 80-mile wide path. Totality will only last a little over 2 minutes, but it will be worth every second for those who put themselves in the middle of the moon's shadow. It has been a long time--July 11, 1991, when I drove to the southern tip of Baja California--since a total solar eclipse was visible within a reasonable driving distance. Luckily, after this one we don't have to wait as long. There will be another one April 8, 2024, which will last almost four and a half minutes near San Antonio Texas (the closest place for me to go see it). And the one that crosses northern California on August 12, 2045 will also last about four and a half minutes--part of the 1991 Saros 136 cycle.
Partial Solar Eclipses
The difference between total and partial eclipses is literally the difference between night and day. You'll never really understand the hype about a total solar eclipse until you see it for yourself. Go see it!
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