Tim Gilberg
Ron and I looked at each other as the Mexican landowner cursed us in spanish. He had a cell phone and we figured out that "Policia" mean he was going to call the police. Ron speaks some spanish so he tried to ask if we could park in the area outside the gate. The man didn't seem to go for that. Ron said we should be all right here and I said I didn't want the stress of leaving the van in the area. Who knows what could happen. He could vandalize the van...or he could call the police.

It wasn't worth ruining our trip. We could just leave and go to another spot, so we made a conciliatory hand gesture that we were leaving. He went up the hill and sat on a ledge on what looked to be his property up to the left above the mud ruts and pools of muck portion of the road.

We surveyed the hill again.
It looked much harder to navigate backing up. I had a sinking sensation in my stomach that we would get stuck; it was pretty hairy. I did not think my Triple A Auto Club Towing Service would send a tow truck to the southern tip of Baja.

Ron picked a line through the obstacle course of ruts and muck and as we plowed upward the water splashed on the radiator or engine causing it to steam, but he did make it past the first part.

Strange how it seemed to me a mere 35 minutes ago that I thought going down this hill was no big deal. Ron gunned the minivan up the second incline zigging and zagging our way to safety. I felt a surge of relief. We got out to survey any damage. It looked good with the exception of mud splattered everywhere.

Although I don't speak spanish, I told Ron to let me try and communicate with the man. I am sure he was thinking what morons we were, but we didn't try and force the issue at the bottom of the hill.
I got out, made an open hand gesture and apologized and said, "Stupido, Stupido" and pointed to myself. He didn't smile, but the mood was lightened. We were off to the side of the road, and I made a gesture and pointed to the van as if to say, "Is it all right here"? He nodded.

Relieved, we could now walk through the gate with our boards. Like the US, Mexican landowners cannot block beach access.
There must be a path to allow entry to the beach, but when we were trespassing with a vehicle on private land that is a whole different matter. Once again, we grabbed our boards and made our way through the lush Oasis type trail and made it to the beach. It was not too far past the barbwire gate.

We learned a very simple travel tip - if there are any signs you can't read and a gate with a barbwire fence, do not drive your vehicle into that area.

We were only into several hours of our second day in Mexico. This is going to be quite a trip!