The Coyote & Apollo In The Headlight

I had gone to town today for some supplies and to make a much needed phone call to the states to my wife.  The sun was already an hour over the horizon and well into darkness as I drove down the winding dirt road back to my camp.  I’ve always enjoyed driving the dirt roads of Baja at night for the plants and cactus take on interesting forms in the headlights.

I’d been on the dirt road for about a ½ hour and Apollo was doing his usual 8 mile run to camp  from the highway.  Apollo was running in the light of the headlights about 150 feet in front of the Samurai.  He likes to lead the way whenever he is running.

We were going along at a good pace, about 12 mph when out of the right side window I spotted something running in the faint light from the headlights.  It was a coyote gaining speed on the Samurai  and then when it passed me it slid into the direct light of the headlights and started running about 20 feet behind Apollo.  Apollo had no idea the coyote was behind him, I guess because of the noise of the engine and plus coyotes make no noise when they run.  The coyote stayed running in the headlights for about 30 seconds just behind Apollo, I guess he must have thought Apollo was a coyote.

Then all of a sudden Apollo realized the coyote was behind him and spun around and then the chase was on.  Apollo went bazerk and took off after that coyote into the darkness.  I kept driving and then back came the coyote across the headlights with Apollo hot on its heels.  The coyote did a 360 around the Samurai and back across the headlights once again then disappeared one last time into the darkness.  I kept driving and soon Apollo was back in front again as if nothing unusual had taken place, while I sat thinking of how cool that show was.  We got back to camp and Apollo got a couple of extra biscuits for that one.

An Unusual Connection With A Bobcat

Roberta was out on a midday bike ride with Apollo.  They were about a mile and a half from camp.  It was a nice clear warm October day in Baja.  Apollo hadn’t seen any coyotes to chase so Roberta and Apollo were just cruising along enjoying the day.  All of a sudden Apollo took off like a bolt of lightening and it took a few seconds for Roberta to see what Apollo was chasing.  Much to her surprise it was a bobcat that Apollo was after!  Roberta watched for a few seconds thinking Apollo was just on a good chase with no chance of catching the bobcat but she soon realized Apollo was gaining on it real quick.  Then all of a sudden Apollo caught up with the bobcat and rolled it over under him with the bobcat upside down looking up at Apollo and Apollo was straddling the bobcat looking down at it.  The Roberta screamed at the top of her voice, NO APOLLO NO!!!  This was a very interesting moment between Apollo and the bobcat.  For neither of them made an aggressive move towards each other, they just stared at each other for a moment, then the bobcat slowly took it’s front paw and slowly pawed at Apollo, not aggressively but more as if to express a (Wow, that was a pretty darn good chase there pal, I’ve never been tackled before). Then slowly Apollo stepped off the bobcat.  

What was really interesting is Apollo made no aggressive move at the bobcat either, after he caught it and the bobcat could have easily disemboweled Apollo with it’s claws.  So Apollo slowly stepped back and the bobcat rolled up on it’s feet and Roberta called for Apollo and both the bobcat and Apollo went their separate ways.  To this day it sill intrigues me as to why the bobcat and Apollo took that passive connection while they were just starring at each other.

When I Run In The Wild

Apollo - 11 years "young"

When I run in the wild, almost anything can happen at any time.  Here is one of my experiences.

I was out for a morning run, my dog Apollo running along with me thru the dirt and rocky trails in Baja.  The air was cool, the clouds were thick and the breeze was refreshing.  Apollo was having a great time running up and down hills, in and out of the ocean, stopping to sniff this and that.  Nothing unusual about the run, just another beautiful morning in Baja.

As I was nearing a grade to run uphill, from out of nowhere a coyote suddenly appeared, running towards me.  I yelled “Apollo, Apollo!” and froze in my tracks.  I have seen many coyotes on my runs but have never had one run towards me.  There were many rocks around me to throw at it should the need arise but Apollo would have none of that because as I yelled his name he came running from over a hill.  His hackles were high and his teeth were showing and his bark was vicious.  He came straight towards that coyote and the chase was on, with the coyote running for his life!  But Apollo was hot on his heals.  Over the hill they flew with me running to watch my 11 year old dog, take control and protect me, his mama!

They ran and ran and all you could really see was the dirt flying as they sped away.  They ran over hills and into a valley and then suddenly Apollo had him!  I stopped and watched as they clashed their bodies together, up into the air, dirt and dust flying.  My heart was pounding out of my chest.  There was so much dust in the air from the fight that was taking place that I couldn’t see my Apollo anymore.  I prayed he was ok and then gathered my voice and called out his name.  A few seconds passed and there he was, running right to me!  His hackles were up, he was panting and breathing hard, but his tail was wagging.  He came to me and leaned into my legs looking at me and looking out into the desert making sure I was safe.  I kneeled down and held him in my arms, thanking him for protecting me.  He stood there so proud, then turned and looked at me and licked my face, something he rarely does. Tears came to my eyes as we shared a moment in time together that will remain in my heart forever. 

Last To Cross - 1979

We decided to head to Baja and as we did one of the biggest winter storms to have hit Baja in many years was about to unload on  us.  It was a winter trip back in 1979.  It was myself, my girlfriend at the time and another female friend of ours, headed to one of my favorite spots.  

As we passed through Ensenada and on through the small town of Meneadera the rain started coming down pretty hard.  But not knowing how severe the storm was I thought maybe in a few hours it would lighten up.  Well it didnt and as we got to San Quintin it was still raining steady.  I kept driving and then we came to the small town of El Rosario.  We got gas and I figured by now it has to start letting up so I continued on.  In those days there wasn't any bridge to cross the river bed beyond El Rosario, just a concrete river road raised about 4 feet above the river bed.

Water was running across it but it was nothing more than about an inch or 2 above the cement.  Easy enough to cross so long as I drove slow so as not to splash water on the engine and stall it but not to deep and fast enough to have it in 4 wheel drive to keep from slipping.  The river bed at El Rosario is about 400 yards wide and when you cross a body of running water that wide your eyes and equilibrium can play tricks on you and if you don't keep your eyes fixed on something across the river on the other side, you can easily drive your car off the underlying road and down the river enough to get into trouble.

So we made it to the other side but by now it was starting to get dark and the rain was coming down even harder.  So much that the sides of the road, where they cut through the hills, the mud was starting to slide down across the road so I decided that was enough and we pulled over for the long night ahead of us.  My truck was fully packed and not set up for sleeping, but with all the rain and slow driving we were still a long ways from our destination, so I thought it wise to pull over and make the best of a bad situation.  We were cramped in every possible position to try and get some sleep. 
  
When morning came it was still  raining and the road was a mud slide mess so I decided to head back to the states.  Didn't look as though it was gonna get any better any time soon.


As we got to the El Rosario river it was now about a foot and a half to 2 feet deeper and that was alot of water moving.  In those days there was a Mexican who would take his tractor and pull people across in their vehicles until the water got too dangerous for even him to cross.  So we pulled up and he was on the south side and getting ready to pull a truck and trailer across which was perfect for us.  I could then follow the trailer across and keep my truck in the right spot while focusing on the trailer.  At that time I was driving a 1963 Dodge Rower Wagon 4x4 so I had good clearance but at times the water was coming in on the floor a little and I cold feel the river tugging at my truck wanting to take it away.  


I had it in 4 wheel drive to hopefully keep it from slipping in the fast moving muddy river water but it was a little nerving crossing that river.  As it was we were the last vehicle to come across that river for the next 2 or 3 days if not  longer.  People were stranded on the south side headed north as the river rose to high to cross.  Water and food had to be helicoptered in for the ones on the south side.

Flash Flood at Guayaquil - 1974

 It was in 1974.  My good friend and Baja traveling buddy Bill Minard, my dog Rocky, my girlfriend at the time and myself were just heading back home after a great and long trip that took us down through Baja and some great adventures.  We were approaching "Guayaquil" when it started to rain on us a little bit here and there.  We had seen the storm in the mountains for a while but didnt think much of it. We were about 20 minutes from our new adventure at the riverbed just past the village.  As we came around the corner the rain had let up and we pulled in behind a short line of cars that were stopped by a rising flash flood from the waters from the mountain valleys behind the village.  As we got out of the car we noticed that in the middle of the rising water was a volkswagon tied to one of the road markers with a thin rope.  We then saw the 2 guys who's car it was and they came up to talk to us.  These 2 guys we had met earlier on the trip and made friends with them.  They said that when they got to the river it was just a small stream across the road so they just drove through the water.  Before they got through the stream the water had flooded the engine because they were going too fast.  While they were stalled in the stream it began rising fast, so they got out of the car and tied a rope to the front bumper and one to one of the road markers.  By then the river was too strong to try and walk across to safety so they got on the hood of the car and someone drove out to them and they got on that car and it backed out of the river with them.  Just as they finished telling us the story the river began rising even more enough to move their car sideways to the current and over the drop off on the side of the road.  If you look closely at the picture you will see the volkswagon tied to the rope just before it broke.  

Everyone watched as the rope got so tight and the river rose even more and snapped the rope and there went their volkswagon down river with all their camping gear in it and all their personal belongings.  As we watched it all float downstream it was headed for a huge tree in the middle of the river and that is where it jammed up against the tree and stayed.  We watched the volkswagon for about 15 minutes and figured it was pretty well stuck so we started to formulate a plan to rescue their things from the car.  

I carry about 75 feet of good solid rope with me all the time for pulling people out of jams so we tied the rope around a tree on dry land and decided to use it as a lifeline to hang onto and wade out to the car and see about getting their things back.  We got to the car and got their surfboards off the top and back to shore.  One of the windows was down enough so they could reach in and roll it down all the way and climb in.  While on top of the roof they handed me some of their camping gear.  The roof had hard surfboard racks on it plus the roof was also slippery from the mud on my feet.  As the guy handed me their Coleman stove and lantern I was reaching for it and as I grabbed the stove I slipped and fell into the river with the stove against my chest and immediately the river took me part way under the car and just enough under the river that I couldn't reach for air so I was pinned there!  My one arm holding the stove was pinned against it so I raised my one free arm up and out of the water and the guy reached down and pulled me up out of the river. I was still holding onto their stove and managed to get back up on the car and back to shore but by now the river had risen too high to go back to the car to get anymore things and the sun was slowly reaching down to sunset.  So we had no choice but to wait until the river dropped enough so we could cross.  

About 2 hours later the river dropped enough and we were on our way across the river and towards home.  Our friends stayed behind to see about getting their car out at some point.

Sizing Things Up On the Mud Flats - 1974

Glen Horn and Bill Minard -1974

Glen Horn and Bill Minard - 1974

In 1974 Bill Minard, myself, my black Lab Rocky and mu girlfriend at the time decided to take an extended trip to Baja in my 1972 CJ5 Jeep.

I constructed a platform with plywood and milk crates for carrying our food supply bolted to the platform.  So imagine the four of us stuffed into this small Jeep.  Bill was sitting in the back on a folding beach chair with my dog laying underneath the chair.  Then all of our camping gear, water, 2 guitars, 4 surfboards and food for 2 months of camping.  For my dog to be able to get out of the Jeep Bill had to climb out and lift the chair up and out so Rocky could climb out, it was a tight fit.  Take into consideration that this was long before NAFTA and there was hardly any supplies in the stores like there are now.  These were the days when you had to take everything you might  need for it was near impossible to find anything.


We were packed in every possible inch of the Jeep.  Bill and Rocky were wedged in the back.  And my girlfriend and I had supplies all around us.  Both bumpers, front and back, had supplies tied onto them.  So we were loaded to the max.  These particular pictures we had taken, we had just gotten out of a really sticky muddy situation on the salt flats east of Abreojos.  The mud is salty and sticks like clay to the treads of tires so basically it is like driving on ice.  The mud fills the treads and builds up so much on the tires that it will make the tires and wheel wells to where there is no room for the suspension to work.  The tires are almost 3-4 inches taller than normal.  We were only traveling maybe 10-15 miles per hour and sliding all over the place from side to side and when I would step on the brakes the Jeep would just keep sliding along and eventually would slowly come to a stop.  It felt like it was all in slow motion.


This all took place because we decided to take one of those infamous short cuts across the salt flats, our destination was 70 miles away and when we were beginning to realize the mistake we had made, the mirages were making things look pretty miserable.  We couldn't tell whether there was water all around us or not.  So in these pictures we are in the process of trying to figure out if we should keep going or turn around or possibly take a different course out of our predicament.  


Eventually 11 hours later, we got to our destination but the poor Jeep was never quite the same.  The salt mud was on every square inch of the Jeep.  By the time we got back to the states, which was weeks later, the mud and salt was already eating the Jeep away.  A year later I sold that Jeep!

Runaway Big Red With Boojum

My dog Boojum and I were on our way home from a long trip to Baja.  On this particular journey back to the states I had been extra thristy and drank a little more water than I usually do when heading back towards the border.  The thing about drinking any liquid before crossing the border is the possibility of getting stuck in a long line with no way to take a leak.  So I always make sure my bladder tank is emptied before I get to close to the border.

This particular time, nature was calling me at a long stretch of road that had a slight downhill grade to it.  Nothing steep, just a nice gentle slope.  So I pulled over to the side of the road, stopped the engine and slid the gearshift into gear so it would keep the truck from moving because I have no emergency brake.  I left Boojum in the truck with the door open and told him to stay which he always did unless I said he could follow me.  So as I was venturing out to find a bush I got a really funny feeling that something wasn't right.  Whatever the feeling was, it made me turn around and look back at Big Red.  I was about 75 feet from Big Red and as I turned I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  It was as if everything was in slow motion for just a few seconds as I saw what was happening.

The only thing I could think of was to start running as fast as I could and hope that I could catch up to Big Red and Boojum before they went over the edge and into the ditch on the side of the road.  Apparently Boojum must have bumped the floor shift out of gear!  So it was Big Red rolling and Boojum, who was standing at the door looking at me with this bewildered look on his face while I was sprinting for the truck.  It was the fastest I had reacted on anything in a long time.  I ran as fast as I could and dove past Boojum and into the truck as it was quickly gaining speed and jumped in the drivers seat, slammed on the brakes and stuck it in gear, just in time too, for Big Red was headed for the ditch.

So I still needed the pit stop but this time I put Boojum on a leash and we both went out to the bush!