Day 2: San José del Cabo to the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains – 19.9 mi/32 km, +2270 ft/692m

Adventure ho!

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, I headed off to the mountains. But first, I had to navigate about 8 miles through the San José del Cabo suburbs and along Mexíco 1, the highway between San José del Cabo and La Paz, to the north. Thankfully, there’s a dirt road running parallel to the highway for much of the route, so I was able to minimize my time on the road itself. (Note: the official route has recently been reported to be closing/closed. I’m not sad that I missed multiple miles of deep, unrideable sand.)

From here, the route starts a steady uphill climb, crossing arroyos that cut through the mountainous landscape. The road has a fair bit of traffic, mostly ranchers (I assume), but I did see a few families out exploring and playing in the cool water of the arroyos.

I stopped at the first arroyo I came across for a quick break. I spoke to a local family out enjoying the day, they let me know that many of the arroyos have active streams now because of the late fall hurricane that hit this area. I headed off up the road, only to be passed by their car a few minutes later. We met again at the second arroyo. They stopped to play and make lunch, while I stopped to eat my cold soaked couscous before continuing onward.

Continuing a steady climb into the Sierra de la Laguna I finally reached a downhill stretch where I came across the Buddhist retreat, Tsegyalgar West. This community owns a significant amount of land in the area, signs on both sides of the road notified visitors that the area is private property for miles. About a mile after the entrance to Tsegyalgar West, I came across a beautiful arroyo with a fast flowing stream. Sometimes called, “las pozas budistas,” or, “The Buddhist Pools,” I took the opportunity to cool off in the water and refill my water supply for the evening to come.

I continued on another mile or so before finding a great campsite next to another arroyo filled with flowing water. A steer laid down on the other side of the arroyo and watched me set up camp for the night. Once the sun set, about 5:45 PM, the clouds rolled in and darkness settled over everything. The heat of the day quickly faded and I went to bed before 8:30 PM.

Ride With GPS route