12/16/24-Monday-Day 10 “Leaving Loreto”

Of the seven of us it seems that Josh, Darci and Hannah, in their hard sided camper, are the only ones who missed the noise of last nights festivities and actually got a decent nights sleep. Mark, Josh and I decide to start the day with a run down the malcón, a decision that was made before last nights parade and one that I think we all secretly regret as we start down the cobblestone street. With our workout complete and freshly showered we look forward to big plate of Chilaquiles from a small local breakfast spot called Dory Luz. After walking a few blocks through town we are met with disappointment when we see that they are closed and we return to the town square in hopes of finding some place open on a Monday morning that serves breakfast. We settle on Mita Gourmet and while not a bad meal, it’s certainly no Dory Luz!

With everyone in agreement that we would rather not spend another night in the noisy city we make plans to drive to a beach a couple of hours south and after topping off our water and fuel we do just that. About 50 kilometers south of Loreto we make a left turn off of the highway and onto the road towards Agua Verde. The road starts off mild enough and shortly turns from pavement to dirt at which point we pull over to let a some air out of our tires to soften the ride a bit over the washboarded sections. Another 8-10 kilometers after turning to dirt the road becomes a steep, narrow shelf road that switchbacks its way down to the Sea of Cortez near Rancho San Cosme. It is at this point that we make a 3 point turn onto a side road and quickly begin to regain a bit of the elevation that we had just lost. At the top of the hill we pass through a barbed wire cattle gate and drop over an even steeper decent before winding our way along a sandy track to our destination. 

The tide is out when we arrive at camp and Darci points out the reason for our chosen site. Just a short walk down the hill from where we are parked lies an exposed strip of rocks and sand, in the middle of which lies a natural hot spring that is revealed at low tide. With the lack of sleep from the previous night and the days drive on top of it, not even a warm soak can lure us away from the camper and we decide the spring can wait until tomorrow evenings low tide. 

After cleaning up for the evening we all settle in to catch the tail end of the Geminids meteor shower. We each get to spot a few of the bright celestial streaks across the sky before the real show of the evening kicks off. Just after dark we all discuss and wonder what the faint bit of light off on the horrizon across the sea could be. There aren’t any cities in the general direction and as the glow slowly brightens it occurs to all of us. We sit and watch in amazement as the full moon rises above the horizon in a blazing orange glow that lights up both the sea and the sky. With the light of the moon illuminating the night sky the meteors become less and less visible and we eventually turn in for the night.