Baja Pilgrimage

[Robert E. Spenger]

My apologies to those who, like me, subscribe to several Santiago
groups, since I am sending this to each group.

This message is not about Santiago, but concerns a pilgrimage of a very
different sort. It will also probably be of interest to those who have
considered traveling with a burro.

For the first three days of this week, my friend and fellow pilgrim,
Froylán Tiscareño, and I car camped in the Parque Nacional in the San
Pedro de Martir range of the state of Baja California of the republic of
Mexico. On our arrival, we first visited the three telescope observatory
on top of one of the higher peaks and then went in search of the English
author, Graham Mackintosh, who was reported to be camping there for the
summer. We found the Parque to be quite large with numerous roads and
camping areas. Our chance of finding or even recognizing the campsite of
Mr. Mackintosh seemed rather slim. Neither of us had met the gentleman,
but we knew that he had two dogs with him and his picture was on the
cover of his latest book. We each had a copy of this paperback, "Journey
with a Baja Burro," which we had purchased the morning before when we
stopped in San Diego to get our insurance and tourist permits. By a very
fortunate coincidence, reminiscent of the strange quirks of fate often
reported by Santiago pilgrims, we met him hiking back to his campsite.
He had been joined by his family and a third dog. After introductions
and a brief book signing, they told us how to find their camp and
invited us to be their neighbors for our stay. In retrospect, it was
much like life in the refugios, with sharing of food and swapping
stories of our various travels and travails. We also benefited from his
advice on the trails that he had explored in the area.

Graham's first big adventure, a 5 megameter walk around the entire coast
line of the spectacular peninsula was chronicled in his first book,
"Into a Desert Place." While such a trip has some aspects of a
pilgrimage, I would not classify it as one. The second trip, however,
from Tecate, on the northern border, to Loreto, several hundred miles to
the south on the shore of the gulf of California, was a pilgrimage in
every sense of the word. He started on the 300th anniversary of the
founding of the mission at Loreto, the "first and mother of the missions
of all California." On the way, his goal was to visit the many missions
of Baja California and Baja California Sur. Some of these have been
maintained and some have been restored, but, unlike Alta California,
there are many that are just ruins. He had one pack burro, as well as a
backpack, and his book describes the trials and tribulations of
traveling with a burro in such an arid land. There are major
differences, of course, between traveling on the Baja peninsula and
travelling across Spain. He had to carry far more equipment, as well as
food and water, than would be needed for the Santiago pilgrimage.
Nevertheless, I think that anyone planning on using a burro for the
Camino Francés would find a lot of useful information about the care and
handling of a burro from this book.

regards,

Bob Spenger