We woke up Thursday morning to a glassy Gonzaga Bay. We could hardly believe how calm the water was. Once we got on the water the conditions were so perfect that I got so energetic that instead of the original agreed upon destination, I decided to point my kayak towards Punta la Tijerete (near Punta Final), some two miles away. Chuck kind of had the same thing in mind and I got no complaints when I suggested the change in plans to Brian (I think he may have been thinking the same thing), so we went for it.

Before we reached the point, Chuck veered of and went to a beach near the point because his wetsuit was uncomfortable. Brian and I continued on to the point, and I'm glad we did. There was a large flock of Magnificent Frigate birds (Fregata manificens)lounging in the early morning sun, and in the water we saw several species of starfish, crabs, and some pretty black and white striped and black and yellow striped fish. Brian also saw some jellyfish. After hanging out there for a while, we joined Chuck, then took the longer way back to camp by staying close to shore most of the way.

Along the way we passed a couple from Salt Lake City who were kayaking as well. We chatted with them for a while then continued on. By this time my arms were getting pretty tired, but I kept pushing on past my comfort level. I need to work out more. Ok, well, I just need to work out. As Chuck would say, "You need to bulk up those spindly little vegetarian arms."

When we got back to camp we had lunch before packing up and moving south to Bahia de los Angeles, or BOLA. Getting to BOLA meant more bad roads, but at least they were generally better. Eventually we hit the highway into BOLA, so the last part of the trip wasn't so tooth rattling.

Along the way we made a few stops. The first was to stop at Coco's Corner, basically just a couple of trailers in the middle of nowhere where this old guy with a prosthetic leg sells cold beer to passersby. We stopped in long enough for Coco to call me "Seniorita" when I ordered a Coke instead of a beer like Chuck and Brian D. did. A come-back came to mind, but I decided to let him have his little joke. We also stopped when we saw a dark-phase Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo Jamaicensis) on an ocotillo. On the route south, we started seeing a lot more interesting plants, including cordons and boojums. Cordons are similar to saguaro cactus, and boojums are similar to, well, nothing that I can think of. They look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Externally they are sort of like a tap root sticking straight up in the air. Internally they are like a cholla.

I'm including the following picture to make fun of Chuck, who decided it would be fun, since there was no traffic on the highway, to relieve himself in the middle of the road. Chuck should know better than to give Brian D. or I an opportunity to humiliate him in public!!!

Before dropping into Bahia de los Angeles, we stopped at an overlook with a phenomenal view of the bay. We wandered around BOLA for a short while before heading out to Punta la Gringa to find a place to camp. We couldn't find a spot that was isolated enough for our tastes, so we ended up settling for the best we could find. It would have been a gorgeous spot if not for all of the people. In truth, it wasn't like we were in a mass of humanity, but all three of us are crotchety old hermits.

We did at least get a nice sunset that night.

Punta la Gringa was quite windy, so I decided to set my tent up instead of sleeping in my kayak. The wind also drove us to bed earlier than normal.