A Visit to the Land of Close Encounters!

Another world here in the Baja, well worth exploring is located approximately 70 miles north of the agricultural town of Insurgentes in the Municipio of Comandú. Two small traditional villages may require a night camping on the banks of the local river, but La Purisima and its neighbor village of San Isidro, harkens back to the missionary days in the early 1700’s, and is an example of the wonderful surprises Baja has to offer, including history and tranquil spots to enjoy the real Baja.

Driving north from Insurgentes on Highway 53, the road is paved and easy to travel. Actually it has been improved over the last few years, so the pot holes from a few years back are gone and a normal car can make this trip without any problem whatsoever. After leaving Insurgentes, you are literally surrounded on both sides by beautiful farms for several miles that decrease in number, as well as, the number of inhabitants each mile that you head north. If you hadn’t filled your tank in Insurgentes, your last opportunity will be in Ignacio Zaragota, so be sure to do so. You may be able to pay a farmer or a store keeper in one of the few little towns along the way, but you will pay dearly for 5 gallons of gas! Along the way, the farm side vistas give way to raw desert views located on this continuation of the mesa that rides the middle part of the peninsula in this area, called Llano de Magdalena. But after you pass the small hamlet of Tres Marias, the area becomes hilly to mountainous where the northern reaches of the Sierra Giganta and the southern edge of the Sierra Guadalupe kiss each other. This area is also known among the world’s volcano watchers as the La Purisima Volcanic Field (PVF), an area where two plates, the Guadalupe and the Farallon plate, meet and subducted or where one plate went below the other. This plate tectonics created a dramatic rise in the earth’s surface, but also a valley that travels most of the breadth of the peninsula, albeit, on an incline. It also caused an asthenospheric window in this area, or a place where the earth’s molten core is closer to the surface than in most places, which in combination, is a recipe for tremendous volcanic activity. The volcanoes of the area have been recorded to have had activity by geologists as far back as 11 million years ago, but also as recently as 1.2 million years ago. This volcanic activity is suspected to have ended, as the geologists surmise that the subduction of these plates has ceased. The volcanoes and their long periods of dormancy, left an interesting layering effect of magnesium, calc-alkalines, basalts, silicates and adakites (re-melted rocks in areas of subduction, similar to some of the Aleutian Islands) and sedimentary materials which washed over the layers between volcanic activities. In addition, younger mesas display “splatters” and strombolian cones. In the subduction valley occurred the resulting million plus years of water running through the now arroyo, created a striking cerro, called El Pilon (the pylon), immediately adjacent to the villages of La Purisima and San Isidro. Its shape is reminiscent to the mountain depicted in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, but don’t get to excited, it is not. The film was shot at Devils Tower in Wyoming. The Cerro is unique and striking, a great photo op, not to be overshadowed is the arroyo and Rio itself, both equally beautiful.

But, I get ahead of myself, as you crest the last mountain and reach the top, the view of the arroyo, with its running water, palms, and green grasses, the view is amazing and inviting for a closer look. At the bottom in the arroyo, the road forks. To the left, the road turns to dirt and heads towards San Juanico or Scorpion Bay. But to the right, the pavement continues through to La Purisima.

La Purisima, population 532 at last published report, is a charming traditional village, with a town square and many colonial buildings from days gone by. There are no hotels or tourist restaurants, but the townspeople are friendly and the mini-markets in the town certainly can augment your camping needs adequately. One townsperson told me he had lived there for the last 30 years and enjoys the fact that never is a door or window locked in the town, and save for an occasional teenage prank, that there is virtually no crime.

Passing the town, the road turns to dirt where within a mile or two, you encounter its sister village of San Isidro. Both towns subsist on small farms that are cultivated along the river bed, as well as, the traditional woven reed mats used for walls and floor, and dried palm leaves sold to palapa makers for roofs. Along the roadside you will see the rock and concrete water canals that date back to the mission days and are still being used today. The road, cut through the subduction valley continues on through the mountains, with a few side trips to other mountain villages, and actually terminates at Highway 1 and the Sea of Cortes near Rosarito, a little south of the Bahia de Concepcion. This road actually was carved out of the mountain where early missionaries traveled between missions, as well as, the foot trail the Cochimi Indians used for over 14,000 years. Cave paintings, waterfalls and beautiful oasis can be visited. A great day trip, if you have the time.

La Purisima has a long history. As early as 1702, Jesuit Father Francisco Maria Piccolo of Palermo, Italy established the 6th provisional mission at La Purisima. Invited by the Father and the inhabitants of the area, Father Nicolas Tamaral of Seville Spain, the co-founder with Father Kino of the Loreto Mission, visited the area in 1712. His published treatise described the Indians, their dress and beliefs and their need for Christianity, as well as the flora, fauna and geology of the area and it was published in Europe and became the driving force for additional funding from the faithful and the Church to build additional missions in Lower California. The result was the building of missions here in La Purisima in 1718 (per the Catholic Registry), as well as, the missions in Mulege, and San Ignacio. The mission was moved to its permanent location in 1722 due to flooding of its original site, where it functioned until its abandonment in 1822. Unfortunately, only a few rocks remain as evidence of its existence, and you need to ask an older townsperson where to look for those!

Still, despite the lack of ruins to visit, the area with its year round flowing water, the oasis of palms and reeds, the quiet areas to camp and catch your breath are well worth a visit.

 

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