Museo Mulege Entering Sierra de la Giaganta

Mision Santa Roslia de Mulege

We are not ones to sit still for too long. So a trip inland was planned.
We rented a car and wandered into the Sierra del la Giganta.
The Sierra de la Giganta is a mountain range of Baja California Sur state in northwestern Mexico. The range extends parallel to the coast of the Gulf of California, west of the town of Loreto. The Sierra de la Giganta is one of the landforms in the Peninsular Ranges, which extend 1500 km (900 miles) from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula.
Our first overnight stop would be Ciudad Constitucion. We had stayed there in December when Alanna came to visit. We went out for dinner than proceeded to get pulled over by the policia. (Why we still do not know ) I must say Ken is getting as good as me at butchering the beautiful language of espanol, but at least he is trying to speak the language. I am sure the policia were sorry they pulled us over. Anyways they were helpful letting us know where to park to watch the musical show that was happening in the square. It was fun.
The next morning we headed out to Loreto and to find the Mision San Francisco Javier.
Ciudad Constitucion is flat low agricultural land. This marks the first encounter with the dramatic Sierra de la Giganta’s. This jagged and rocky mountain range gives the appearance of rising straight from the depths of the Sea of Cortez. As we snaked our way along the highway we witnessed the different rock formations, red, black, sandstone. The cacti were beginning to blossom with a white flower. Below were beautiful white sandy beaches surrounded with turquoise water. I wished I could have taken geography to be able to appreciate the type of rock.
We stopped along a road side beach surrounded by scallop shells. Temperatures of the water around 85. The temperature outside 105.
Once in Loreto we obtained a room then headed out to find the Mision San Francisco Javier. The Mision is nestled in the heart of the Sierra La Giganta Mountains. A lone road leads into town passing scenic farms and working ranches. The treasure at the journey’s end is La Mision de San Javier, the best preserved and most beautiful mission on the Baja Peninsula. The trip left my finger nails in the side of the car. The first 1/3 of the road was brand new, the second 1/3 under construction. Side of the mountain being blown up. Big crosses along the road where the people had probably fallen off the cliff! Anyways the end was well worth the effort. The church itself is in excellent condition, with original walls, floors and venerable religious artworks. Irrigation canals from the time of the Jesuits – the first on the peninsula – still water the local fields. They did appear fairly stagnant to us.
Loreto is a charming town. It is quickly becoming a center for tourism for North Americans. Loreto has an International Airport. Loreto (or Conchó) was the first Spanish settlement on the Baja California Sur. It served as the capital of Las Californias from 1697 to 1777, until it was moved to La Paz due to a bad storm. The city of 10,283 people (2005 census) is located on the coast of the Sea of Cortez..
The town was founded in 1697 by Jesuit missionaries. The Mision Nuestra Senora de Loreto was founded in the town in 1752., Attached to the Mision Nuestra Senora de Loreto is a museo that explains the church system of so long ago. I was interested to see that the priests came from well to do families from Spain and had to pay their own way and pay for the Spanish army that was brought over from Spain. That would never happen in todays world.
Our next day trip took us to Mulege pronounced (moo lay hay). Mulege is luch. Hundreds of brilliant green date palms line the bank of the Rio Santa Rosalia.The village rests between two mountains in a tranquil valley that opens to a white sand beach and cyrstal clear waters. Orchards surround the village.
It was here that a trip to a church had us attending a service. We arrived to take pictures only to have the priest come to us and ask where we were from and invite us to attend. Could you say No. Would look REAL BAD if you did. So an hour later after communion began we left. Didn’t hurt us any. Just a lot of stares but inviting and friendly people.
The church Mision Santa Rosalia de Mulege . It was founded in 1705 and completed in 1766. It stands above the town on a hill. The mision functioned until 1828 when the decling indigenous population led to its abandonment. It has been remodeled several times but the walls and floors are original. We had an hour to look at the walls. The walls are 5’ thick cut out of lava rock blocks. Pretty impressive.

Not to let everyone think we only check out churches and cemetaries. While in Mulege we checked out the Museum. Before it housed artifacts it housed prisoners. This was a prison wian experiment with the penal system.The inmates enjoyed a great deal of liberty. Prisoners usually left at 6am for jobs in town, returning at 6pm. They could even attend town dances and a number of them married within the community.

One of the atifacts is the massive shell of a Star 48B space launched motor, which dropped out of the sky in 2000 in a near by field.
This is just a highlight of our trip. We saw so much more but I don’t want to bore anyone.

Check out the new pictures under the photo album Sea of Cortez. This will be the pictures of the summer.