2017 BAJA EXPEDITION #6: Southernmost Baja (14 days/ 3,000 miles)

Heading back to Mulegé




I think this steep graded was the peninsular divide, 1,825' above sea level. Mile 21.6 (from Mulegé), about 3 miles east of El Aguajito.




For this road, you better get your ass in gear!




Looking back from where I was.

A rugged day trip, allow 4 hours each way. How long you explore the mission is your call. I was only there for an hour, I think. It was a good hour, however!

I was back to Mulegé before 6:30 pm. I had been texting with Russ out on Punta Chivato, who invited me over for dinner. I just needed to pick up some tomatoes and an onion. There is great little store in Palo Verde, practically unmarked... and he had ice for sale, too. I was at Russ's about 7:30. DONE DRIVING! (for today)

Stay tuned for DAY 13 of the 14 day trip.

 

Any shots of Punta Chivato?

 

I just stayed at a fellow Baja Nomad's place this trip, as I did in February. I researched Punta Chivato (many photos) in my TRIP #2 report: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...baja-california-san-ignacio-to-loreto.474872/

A reminder... I have all my recent Baja trip photos posted here on TW as well as on Baja Nomad forums. Just scroll back in the TRIP REPORTS forum here to see them. The 2017 trips now number 6 for the road guide research and one family trip (Memorial Day 2017). They are numbered TRIP #1- #6 (so far) and cover a lot of Baja... The research is sponsored by www.BajaBound.com your best choice of Mexican auto insurance (you can buy and print the policy online, before you leave, and the use the best Mexican insurance companies). We are producing a travel guide to Baja's backcountry and open highways... basically, outside of cities.

 

Love it. We stayed in that hotel you have two pics of, back in the early 90's. What's it up to these days? I remember having a lizard and a scorpion on the tile floor in the room. I also remember hiring the neighbor, Tony, to take us out in his panga and we caught all kinds of stuff. The kitchen at the hotel cooked up a cabrilla for us for dinner, half the price if you catch your own.

 

As I reported in TRIP #2, it is closed... in a bit of disrepair. Very sad, it is a magnificent location with excellent runways for pilots. Just not a great time for business and it needs fresh management.

 

El gusto es mio... The pleasure is mine!
I want TWers to know that Baja is an excellent place to bring your family and your Tacoma. Heck, the TRD Tacoma was developed from racing in Baja and Ivan Stewart's input. My 2010 DC Tacoma (as many others) was MADE IN BAJA CALIFORNIA! We here in San Diego County see the truck carriers going north full of brand new Tacomas, from the factory, near Tijuana, all the time.
You are afraid of crime?
Don't watch TV...
Because when I do I hear of robberies and shootings daily, here in my area of the USA!
Crime or shootings in Baja is typically between drug dealers and police. I have been camping in Baja since the 1960s and have NEVER had an incident with any such activity. I feel safer camping in Baja, where my Tacoma can take me than anywhere in the USA!
I refuse to let 'someone who knows someone' or some TV news person tell me where I should be able to enjoy history and the outdoors. IF something bad does ever happen to me, I hope it does happen in a place of MY choice doing what I love to do! VIVA BAJA EVERYONE! www.vivabaja.com is my website.

 

DAY 13 (Sun. Aug. 13, 2017)

Russ and I had a nice visit. His home is in a perfect location on Shell Beach, a private home area next to Punta Chivato. His view faces south towards the entrance to Bahía Concepción.

Russ made us burritos and all was good.

I placed my cot out by his sea wall and had the stars above me. Tomorrow I would make the drive towards home so the final day would not be too stressful a day's drive.

Sunday morning, I was on my way at 9:20.
Out to Hwy. 1 at Palo Verde and turning north...
The San Borjitas cave art access road is at Km. 156





Santa Rosalia is Km. 195 (from Loreto) and here becomes Km. 0, northbound to the state border at the Eagle Monument.

Pemex fill-up at the first station northbound, on the east side, closest to the harbor: 16.28 pesos/ liter; 930 pesos; 57.13 liters; Dollars were accepted at 16.00: 1. I was about out of pesos, so in dollars, it was $58.13 (I gave the attendant $60 and the change was his tip). I traveled 340 miles since the last fill up, mostly off road. In Mulegé, I added in 30.7 liters... So, 87.13 liters = 23.2 gallons for 340 miles = 14.6 MPG. With all the dirt roads driven yesterday and the Mulegé gas station well known to not have honest pumps, I am not disappointed in the figure.

Some overall mileage notes that I scribbled down:
Santa Rosalía to Vizcaino (Bahía Tortugas jcn.) 88 miles (143 kms.)
Santa Rosalía to Paralelo 28° (Eagle) 136 miles (220 kms.)

My mileages have all been adjusted for the 3.5% slow odometer because I am using oversized tires. When compared to the Mexican kilometer posts, this correction is spot on. On roads where I have deflated the tires down to 25 psi, the odometer slows down very close to accurate. My tires are 265/75-16, about 1" taller than the stock 265/70-16 tires.

At the Eagle Monument Pemex (near Guerrero Negro), 28° Parallel of latitude and the state border, Pacific Time Zone...

I add gas at the Pemex station. Very nice personal there. A US$20 bought me 320 pesos of gas (16:00: 1). 15.88 pesos/liter. 20.1 liters.
12:54 PM became 11:54 AM!

19.6 miles north is Villa Jesus María (the final Pemex station on Hwy. 1 until El Rosario, or if using Hwy. 5, until Gonzaga Bay).

108.7 miles north is the Highway 5 junction (Laguna Chapala). It is 1:58 pm.

NEW ROADBED OPEN!
In the 2 weeks since I was last on this route, barriers blocking the new highway elevated roadbed (south of the original road) were removed and other cars were on it. During construction, these detours could very well change back.

Mile 0.0 Hwy. 1 & Hwy. 5 Junction, 1:58 pm.
Mile 0.9 Fork right onto new roadbed.
Mile 3.5 original and new roads rejoin.
Mile 5.2 off of new roadbed.
Mile 8.0 Construction camp, leave new road alignment and head for Coco's Corner.
Mile 12.9 Coco's Corner 2:36 pm
Mile 16.8 Las Arrastras 2:45 pm Rejoin new road route.
Mile 22.3 On pavement and new bridges.
Mile 23.2 Km. 167 (just north of previous pavement start.
Mile 35.5 Gonzaga Bay Pemex, 3:12 pm


Paved bridge, new section, Chapala Valley.


New section, Chapala Valley.


Can you imagine how Arturo Grosso made the first road through here, in 1955? Picks and dynamite!










Here is where the highway leaves the original route (northbound) and shoots straight to Las Arrastras, bypassing Coco's Corner.


Nearing Coco's Corner.


Here at Las Arrastras, is where the new highway returns to the original route, on the north end of the Coco's Bypass.


Old and new routes criss-cross a few times.


Gonzaga Bay, dead ahead!







Made it to Shell Island for my final rest stop and overnight of this 2-week research trip!



357 miles from Santa Rosalía and 112 miles from Laguna Chapala.





Good Night from Shell Island, Day 13.

One more day to go!

 

Epic thread. Thanks very much for sharing.

 

DAY 14 (Mon Aug. 14, 2017) The trip home:

I had a great evening under the stars.
Unless there is wind, Shell Island is an ideal beach camp and relaxing location. It is a 4WD only kind of place either for the deep sand on the beach or the possible mud beds that surround it. It is an island and during the highest lunar tides, sea water surrounds this barrier island beach. The access is at Km. 26 (another road cuts across from Km. 25). It is 1.3 miles to the mudflats and another 0.5 to the dry sand of the beach. The island is about one mile to the south end (Bahia Santa Maria bay) and three miles to the north point (opposite Rancho Percebu campground). Camp where ever you like or as much deep sand driving you can do.


Monday Sunrise


I am packed and headed to San Felipe at 7:48 am.



In town, the car wash I have used most of the other times is open and can take me right away! Getting excess mud off the truck before going to the border can really make a crossing easy. I was once threatened to be turned back because of the mud and dirt on my truck!

Car wash (exterior only) was just $5. I always give a tip because I appreciate the job they do!

The gas station in SanFelipe (at the ejido station, just north of town) was 15.91 pesos/ liter; offered an exchange rate of 17.60 pesos/ dollar and I was good for the 300-mile drive home to north San Diego County.


There is a sand dune field about 60 miles north of San Felipe, a perfect rest stop.


Just another awesome trip and fantastic service from my Tacoma. In the 3,000 miles, I had one tire puncture that we plugged and the 5+-year-old battery died on me, in the best place possible, a block from an Auto Zone store.

I took the Toll highway to Tecate (Mex. 2-D) which avoids the city of Mexicali. The toll was 75 pesos for Mexicali South; 24 pesos at La Rumorosa; and 70 pesos at El Hongo.

I was in the border line at 1:05 pm Monday and inside the USA at 2:09 pm. I got home at 3:57 pm.

SUCCESS!

Thank you to Baja Bound Insurance for sponsoring these mapping and research trips. I now have a lot of work to do to put these miles and notes into a road guide format. I look forward to sharing my work with you all and we can help each other with some feedback at what is most useful for you to have on your Baja travels.

Knowing that there are interesting and beautiful sites just out of sight may inspire you to see more of Baja than just going back to the same great place over and over? The future map is hopefully going to be useful as well. Stay tuned!
David www.vivabaja.com

I welcome your questions and suggestions to improve this trip report!

 

Bravo, great reporting. I'm sure many more people than just I envy what you are doing. Let us know when the road guide is available, I'll buy a few right away.

And I agree with what you said a few posts back... don't let any gomer who heard from a friend who heard from a friend that the Frito Bandito will get you in Baja... everybody and their mother (including mine) warned us not to tent camp up and down Baja in the early 90's. I almost listened to them but then I realized not a one of them had ever been there, so I said fck it, we're going. The first couple nights and days were rough, but something broke through on the 3rd day and I felt safer and more relaxed down there than I ever have up here. 2 weeks later, as soon as we crossed the border at Tecate heading back into the US, I instinctively locked my doors. That's no shit. Didn't even think about it till after I did it.

 

I just double checked my notes on the Salt Flat road south of San Ignacio and edited the road log and the maps... and then added a new map for San Juanico to Las Barrancas. Please save a copy if you are going south of San Ignacio to Scorpion Bay on that road!

For those interested...
I find that my 265/75-16 tires slow my odometer by 3.5%, so at my street pressure (34 psi), I correct the odometer figures by adding 3.5%. This also is agreed by the Mexican kilometer posts, which are pretty consistent on the highways and major graded roads in Baja.
When I deflate to 25 psi for dirt road driving, my odometer is reading correct, or pretty close when I compare to posted mileages.

Here are the revised mileages and maps:

REVISED ROAD LOG

The mission and town plaza is 1.6 miles from Highway 1. Continue straight, passing in front of the mission church, passing the market and hotel La Huerta, the paved street curves left, passing the Hotel Posada. Pavement ends briefly.

Km. 0 This marker sign is 0.6 mi (1 km.) from the mission/plaza. Pavement begins in 500 feet.
Km. 9 Rancho El Batequi
Km. 12.5+ Rancho San Juaquín Km. 16.5 Road left, signed to San Vicente. Km. 19.5 San Zacarias
Km. 29.5 Road left to El Patrocinio (35 kms.)
Km. 47.5+ End of Pavement (30.1 miles from the mission/plaza). The road ahead is an elevated roadbed, over the salt pan.

The following are mileages from the mission/plaza in San Ignacio:

34.7 Bypass road south, avoids whale camps and village. Signed San José de Garcia. Log goes on right branch, to the lagoon.
36.1 Pancho’s whale camp entrance, on right.
36.2 Lagoon shore.
38.8 Fork, keep right. Left goes into village.
40.2 Crossroad. Antonio’s Camp is to the right, Kuyima Camp is 0.4 mi ahead. Turn left (east) to continue south. Operations open during whale watching season. Typically, that is December-April.

40.9 La Laguna village, pass through to far side. Several optional roads come back together.
42.8 Join graded bypass road from Mile 34.7, above.
46.7/ 0.0 Major Fork. Small sign “Salina” here. The left branch is the high road via Rancho Cuarenta and the access to San José de Garcia. The low road returns to the high road after 39 miles. This road log uses the more popular low road, longer but smoother driving, if dry. Reset odometer to zero.

The washboard surface begins very bad, but soon improves. Deflating tires by ~30% improves the ride and traction off the pavement.

14.7 Abandoned building and many high poles now serving as osprey nests mark a former desalinization project. The road soon reaches the salt flats. It is advised to avoid any shortcuts across the flats and stay on the route that follows the desert’s edge.

22.2 El Dátil fishing village. Limited supplies.
32.0 Sand dunes near the south end of salt flats. The road begins to turn inland.
35.1 Rancho El Datilón. The road soon turns south and crosses an arroyo.
41.7 Junction with high road coming approx. 39 miles from the fork at Mile 0.0, above. Turn south for San Juanico and on to La Paz.
46.7 Rancho La Ballena at Arroyo San Raymundo. The mountain road from Mulegé came in here, but recent storms may have altered the route.
52.8 Cadeje an oasis village with an airstrip.
61.0 San Juanico town entrance. Motels, restaurants, supplies. Popularly known as Scorpion Bay by surfers. Paved road south to Las Barrancas and on to Ciudad Insurgentes and Highway 1 to La Paz or Loreto.




REVISED MAPS:








The more direct, original dirt road between San Juanico and La Purísima is between the red pointers, along the paved roads. The north end has the blue truck symbol. The dirt road is approx. 20 miles long between the arrows. Another access is when the new highway reaches the edge of Estero San Gregorio, reducing the dirt drive to La Purísima to about 12 miles.

 

An amazing trip you had

 

Muchas Gracias, el gusto es mio!
(Thank You Very Much, the pleasure was mine!)

 

See my other 6 trip reports in 2017 here, in this forum, that covers most of the fun areas of the 1,000 mile (road) long Baja Peninsula. I have one more trip to wrap up the research needed for the future guidebook.

TRIP #1: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2017-baja-expedition-1-east-side-of-baja-norte.468548/
TRIP #2: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...baja-california-san-ignacio-to-loreto.474872/
TRIP #3: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...e-palm-canyons-chapala-to-san-quintin.480078/
TRIP #4: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...idad-san-quintin-remote-pacific-roads.488412/
TRIP #5: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/trip-5-june-2017-central-baja-guerrero-nego-el-barril-san-ignacio-bahía-tortugas-and-more.495653/
TRIP #6: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...southernmost-baja-14-days-3-000-miles.505996/
TRIP #7: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2017-baja-expedition-7-tijuana-to-san-quintín-and-9-000-sierra-san-pedro-mártir.515492/

 

My New Maps for the areas from San Ignacio to Cabo San Lucas, in this Trip Report:

 

Great post thanks! Love going to Baja, hopefully will go for a few weeks this fall

 

I hope you can go too!
Have you been watching Cameron Steele's 50 Best of Baja Series on YouTube/ Facebook?

Here are the last three episodes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=82&v=hSoYTE0fC38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=62&v=UIYpLckLsjk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpU7ZyfFhco

 

No I hadn’t heard of those, but luckily I’ve got a lot of downtime traveling for work this week I’ll definitely check them out!

 

I last visited Baja Sur in ‘96, and am thankful for your work posting your time there. Definitely plan to go back soon! Thanks!!