BajaNomad

Driving San Felipe south to Hwy 1

jgreinke - 12-6-2006 at 09:44 AM

My wife and I have 10 ten days to explore Baja (our first time) between December 23 and Jan 1st. We are coming from Tucson and are thinking of entering at Mexicali early AM on the 23rd and driving south through San Felipe to Hwy 1 and then onto Mulege by Christmas eve. Anyone know the current condition of the road south of San Felipe and approximate driving time to HWY 1, if even passable? We will be driving a 1991 Nissan Pathfinder, and have a fair amount of experience with rough dirt road travel (and love remote rugged terrain), but not looking to spend many hours to travel about 100 miles (at least not on this trip). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Rough Road

MrBillM - 12-6-2006 at 10:07 AM

Highway 5 construction to Puertecitos is almost completely finished. No problem there.

Between Puertecitos and Gonzaga, the road is "passable" for virtually any vehicle so getting there is not a question. Time, however, might be. It all boils down to how you approach VERY Rough road. Some people travel that kind of road at a high speed to minimize discomfort (or so they say). I've noticed that those people tend to replace a lot more broken parts on their vehicles. I travel those roads VERY slowly. No broken parts, but a LOT more time.

You're going to find that the road is not the kind of "rugged and remote" terrain that is an adventure. Simply mile after mile of Rough Washboard that beats the crap out of you.

DonBaja - 12-6-2006 at 10:27 AM

I can't offer you any information on the condition of the road but I can offer my experience when traveling on "rough dirt roads" I like to drop my tire air pressure down to around 20 psi, sometimes I'll go down to 15psi if the road is really bad. The lower psi helps smooth out the ride. The only downside is at some point you'll have to air back up to your normal driving tire pressure and if you don't have air avaliable it may be time consuming if you use the smaller 12 volt compressors.

bajalou - 12-6-2006 at 10:32 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DonBaja
I can't offer you any information on the condition of the road but I can offer my experience when traveling on "rough dirt roads" I like to drop my tire air pressure down to around 20 psi, sometimes I'll go down to 15psi if the road is really bad. The lower psi helps smooth out the ride. The only downside is at some point you'll have to air back up to your normal driving tire pressure and if you don't have air avaliable it may be time consuming if you use the smaller 12 volt compressors.


But remember, the lower the pressure the more succeptable the tires are to breaks from sharp rocks. It is the pressure that keeps the tire from breaking when hitting objects like rocks. So if you air down for a smoother ride, watch out for the rocks.

bufeo - 12-6-2006 at 10:43 AM

We travel the road San Felipe - Punta Bufeo frequently. Just returned from PB on 11/27.

The condition south of Puertecitos is okay. The racers (SCORE Baja 100) tend to accentuate the mogels in the turns and uphill parts (going south) but knock the tops off the washboard to some extent.

I drive about 30mph over the washboard. Don't know if that's fast or slow. Seems to be a good speed for us. Most recent truck is an '04 with about twenty round trips. No parts broken, but then we start with good parts. OEM shocks were replaced from the start.

Coming north this time driving time from PB to Puertecitos was 1:45 (40 miles).

Owing to so much going on, we didn't drive out to Hwy 1 this time, but did go over the hill to Papa's/Rancho Grande and the road is about the same as our stretch.

Bottom line is with cautious driving (not creeping and not counting stops) if you allow six-seven hours for the San Felipe - Hwy 1 drive, you won't be far off.

I believe the mixture of coastal mts, desert (Sonoran and sub-Sonoran), and plains makes for a grand drive. It is certainly rugged country while not being as remote as it was when we first drove it in 1967.

We've traveled by dirt all over N. America, S. Africa, and Namibia and this drive along the Sea of Cortez still ranks high in our estimation. We sometimes take it for granted, especially when we're running out of daylight and I push our avg. speed a bit higher, but often we stop along the way to "smell the flowers".

rts551 - 12-6-2006 at 01:37 PM

We make the trip every winter. Summer, we cross at Tecate because of the heat on the gulf. We find that using the gulf road cuts off almost 200 miles from our trip but travel time is about the same. Hope you take it, the views are breath taking and if you don't go too fast we find it relaxing.

David K - 12-6-2006 at 06:27 PM

San Felipe to Puertecitos all well paved except for 2 miles of the 55... 1.5 hours.

Puertecitos to Gonzaga Bay rough, graded road for 40 of the 50 miles, first 10 being smoother graded road... 2-2.5 hours with rest and photo stops.

Gonzaga Bay to Hwy. 1 at Laguna Chapala is a fair graded road, 36 miles... 1.0 hour plus time to visit with Coco of Coco's Corner (30 min.).

[Edited on 12-7-2006 by David K]

jgreinke - 12-7-2006 at 09:12 AM

Thanks everyone for the information and suggestions. It helps a lot. Sounds about what I expected, though good to get confirmation that it's doable. I was hoping to be able to reach Guerrero Negro by the end of the day (from Calexico), whichever route we decide to take. That might be pushing it but will need a place to stay once we get back on Hwy 1 and thinking that might be our first opportunity. Any wisdom here would be most appreciated.
Our plan is to hit Mulege first to see some cave paintings, relax on the beach, and do some kayaking, then work our way back north (more slowly) primarily to explore the Vizcaino Desert and the Catavina area. We've been interested in seeing Baja for quite a while. Now that we live close by, we're very excited to be finally making the trip to this beautiful part of the world.

bajalou - 12-7-2006 at 09:18 AM

I have driven a desert rail from Guerro Negro to San Felipe in a day with a few stops. I probably drive faster than you though. But with a early start from Calexico it probably is doable. East Port of Entry doesn't open till 6am so if you want a real early start, you'll have to use the downtown one.