Today is the hike up Mike's Mountain. Hiking Mike's is a tradition in the Baja program, and everyone hikes. Mike's is a deceptive hike, especially for people who are used to hiking the Sierra's or other mountain ranges in the U.S., because it just doesn't look all that intimidating or difficult. But, the hike starts at sea level and ends up at approximately 4,000 feet, all in about 4 miles. Doing the math results in an elevation gain of about 1,000 feet per mile.
The hike is tough, but worth it--even for those who don't make it all the way to the top. The victory is in the effort, not necessarily in making it all the way to Mike's camp at the top. We'll post some student reflections on their day as they return to the field station.
Here's an email Rafe received from Wiley Roberson the first Baja TA (circa 1979-1982) about *Hiking Like Mike.* (We are, by the way, very happy that people like Wiley and the extended Biola Baja family are reading the blog and about the experiences of new generations of Baja students.).
Here's Wiley's email:
Well, here is the story. One February I found myself at the Bay on a rather unexpected trip. Two weeks prior I had just finished assisting Rafe on another Biola in Baja class in which my truck had blown a head gasket coming back up the line from Muleje (which by the way, was the same trip as the mud hole, boat prop story). With the help of Jon Francine we were able to limp the last 150 miles into the Bay traveling 30-40mph and stopping every 8-9 miles to add water. The morning the class left the Bay, the truck locked up at the edge of the old runway out front of Casa Diaz. We pushed it back to the lab and transferred a few items over to the school van and piled in. A week later a friend and CO-assistant of Glendale Community College Baja class Steve James (aka Yoda) and myself headed back to the Bay loaded with a tow bar. Once there we stayed on a week or two to help Jose Mercado and Michael McCabe (SP?) build on Jose's house (as a side note, we were framing on the house one day only to look up and see several Orca's cruising 100yds off the beach. We hopped in Michael's boat and followed them out around the lighthouse and into very rough water and wind. The 'Keeper of the Keys' refused us further entry and quickly sent us for shore. Little did we know the Keeper had other plans for us). While there we saw Mike several times either out on his kayak or walking up the beach from his trailer. One afternoon we were privileged to be invited by Mike to make the hike up the Mike's Mountain with him to resupply the camp and spend the night. To my knowledge, Yoda, Michael and myself were the only ones ever invited by Mike to hike along or at least certainly the first. Mike didn't think much of socializing, after all, he was the hermit of Bahia. We agreed to meet early the next morning up the wash a piece on the other side of the road south of town. This was the original trail cut by Mike and I believe no one has been on it much since his death. Rafe, is the trail still there or is it gone now. Anyway, early the next morning, loaded with sleeping bag, backpack, camera and several gallons of water for Mike to store at the camp, we headed out to meet up with Mike. For some reason as we headed up the wash at the head of the trail the small talk ended as we began to "step lightly" into the habitat and domain belonging to Mike. After a 15 minute hike we came across Mike sitting on a boulder shaded by a bush alongside the wash silently enjoying the quiet of the Baja morning as I'm sure he did daily. He had a walking stick and like us had a backpack and plastic water jugs and wore a hat, bandana and hiking shoes. As he stood up his nakedness became apparent. Yes, the man was buck naked. I swear at the very moment I could hear a wild burro braying somewhere up in those mountains. He quietly told us this had always been the way he approached the mountain. He then turned and began up the trail and we silently followed him into his domain. Mike led, I followed behind...literally. Only a few times did he stop to rest and I'm sure it was only for our benefit. We arrived at the top of Mike's Mountain a few hours later and were occasionally treated to brief conversations about cutting the trail, how he dug out under the rock to make the cave, how he set up the water collection station on the boulders, the big horned sheep he had once encountered partaking of some of the collected water. We enjoyed one of the best vermilion sunsets I've ever seen and settled in our bags shortly after darkness fell. The next day we came down the mountain and parted ways at the same point as the day before with Mike heading back to his precious solitude, Yoda, Michael and myself to the building project. It was 2 or 3 days before I saw Mike again, I was working on the roof and looked out to the bay and there he was on his kayak paddling down the beach. I waved and he waved back. As I turned back to my nails and hammer I couldn't help but smile and say to myself. Man, wait til I see Rafe! I had come to Bahia just to take a broken truck home, but Bahia had another experience she wanted to share.
Moral of the story.....When hiking up a steep mountain trail for several hours, be aware, you don't want to butt into the person in front and above you...especially if that someone Hike's Like Mike....
