|
FROM THE PREFACE This account of walking six months in Baja California with Misión, my pack burro, comes straight from my heart-and perhaps a little from his heart, too. Our journey, which began on the border at Tecate and ended 1,000 miles later in Loreto, brought me moments of joy and anguish.  Make
allowance for my laughter and tears…and my seemingly wild imaginings; they
go with the territory and the experience of being alone in such a wilderness.
The winter of 1997-1998 was, in one sense, a wonderful time to make this
trip. It coincided with the biggest El Niño on record. On the west coast
of North America that meant persistent and perhaps unprecedented rain. In
spite of the difficulties and dangers posed by the storms, Misión was able
to enjoy a rare abundance of water and grazing, especially in the parched
Central Desert region of Baja. The same journey would be a very different
proposition in a year with more normal precipitation. DESCRIPTION From an overland trek down the trail of the padres, exactly three-hundred years after the establishment of Baja California's first mission at Loreto, springs Graham Mackintosh's most recent book, Journey With A Baja Burro. As well as a tribute to the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Loreto Mission, Journey With A Baja Burro is also a celebration of the dramatic beauty of Baja, the importance of wilderness, the depth of the relationship between the author and his burro companion, and in spite of the author's explicit questioning and rejection of Christian dogma -- especially that held by the Catholic missionaries -- it is, in the end, a record of a powerful spiritual, perhaps Christian, experience and a moving tribute to the courage and character of the early Baja missionaries. REVIEWS "Splendid reading! Graham Mackintosh's arduous treks through Baja are sweaty, physical metaphors for a fine writer's lifelong pursuit of the infinite. Journey With A Baja Burro is an earthy-spiritual quest worthy of the old padres themselves." --Gene Kira, author of King Of The Moon "Two hooves up! In this gripping narrative, Mackintosh recounts the logistical and emotional challenges of his remarkable entrada while transporting the reader deep into the peninsula's rugged wilderness and its rich mission-era history." -- Bill Evarts. Award winning Baja photographer, and author of Torrey Pines: Landscape and Legacy "Mackintosh has the uncanny ability to take you with him step by step on a lively adventure through Baja, mixing history with daily recollections. He has also managed, early on, to inject enough tension into the story -- the recalcitrance of an obstinate burro and the concerns of a new bride felt abandoned -- to drive the story forward and maintain its legitimacy as a page turner. Better than most, Mackintosh has done his homework. It is a wonderful book, even better than his first (Into a Desert Place), thoroughly enjoyable, well edited and a joyful read for anyone who wants to know and understand that terribly fickle lady called Baja." -- Fred Hoctor, Baja Editor, Western Outdoor News Soft cover, 6 x 9 inches, 360 pages, 38 color photos, $17.95 For your personally signed copies of Journey With A Baja Burro: Send $17.95 (plus $2.00 S/H, US addresses. CA residents add $1.39 sales tax) to: Graham Mackintosh P.O. Box 1982 Lemon Grove, CA 91946 |
