BajaNomad

Trip report- Hating towns and cities

Allwaters - 2-19-2021 at 05:58 AM

Ahhh, but this is somewhat normal for me, as I am one country boy. Just got out of a semi remote backpack trip south of Agua Verde and drove south thru La Paz to San Jose del Cabo for a quick jaunt out to Huatulco... City shock for me negotiating the heavy urban spread, as mentioned I hate cities or any crowded places worldwide. If you're doing similar a gps and/or a co pilot of some kind would be helpful if you end up looking for some exact store or place, maybe I am just technologically challenged as many can do this on their phones. There doesn't appear to be street signs of numbers on buildings anywhere so finding some exact business makes you ask directions from a lot of folks. I spent an entire morning in frustration looking for a business listed on google that was not there nor where it should have been. Go figure for this old guy., but just a rant I reckon and so I'll soon head back into the sticks and dusty roads where I belong on my way back northward. So many fish so little time...

JZ - 2-19-2021 at 07:56 AM

Normally Google Maps is very accurate in Baja.

I just talk to the phone and don't even type.

Say, "Hey Google, navigate to Costa Baja hotel" and it gives you turn by turn directions through your truck's radio.




[Edited on 2-19-2021 by JZ]

mtgoat666 - 2-19-2021 at 08:03 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Allwaters  
Ahhh, but this is somewhat normal for me, as I am one country boy. Just got out of a semi remote backpack trip south of Agua Verde and drove south thru La Paz to San Jose del Cabo for a quick jaunt out to Huatulco... City shock for me negotiating the heavy urban spread, as mentioned I hate cities or any crowded places worldwide. If you're doing similar a gps and/or a co pilot of some kind would be helpful if you end up looking for some exact store or place, maybe I am just technologically challenged as many can do this on their phones. There doesn't appear to be street signs of numbers on buildings anywhere so finding some exact business makes you ask directions from a lot of folks. I spent an entire morning in frustration looking for a business listed on google that was not there nor where it should have been. Go figure for this old guy., but just a rant I reckon and so I'll soon head back into the sticks and dusty roads where I belong on my way back northward. So many fish so little time...


Use it or lose it, as you age. You will avoid mental fogginess of age if you engage your mind in things like learning how to use your smart phone, and stepping out of your comfort zone (e.g. venturing into urban environment).

Being old is not an excuse for being afraid of urban areas and avoiding technology!
Technology can be a friend for old people, learn how to use technology to navigate and you will be able to find a shuffleboard game in any town you visit! :light:

HeyMulegeScott - 2-19-2021 at 08:10 AM

Google is always trying to kill you in Baja. It's mostly accurate except when it isn't. I try to preview the route and check it against the Sat view when we are driving our motorhomes and towing the Jeep. Some of the shortcuts Google suggests are scary.

Thank God, I'm a country boy!

AKgringo - 2-19-2021 at 08:35 AM

It is not an age related thing, I have always preferred back roads to urban sprawl. My Baja adventures don't start at the border. Using maps (Google and paper) and a GPS, I search for secondary routes that avoid some of the most developed traffic corridors!

I don't mind spending an extra day or so on the road, especially if I get to check out a road I am not familiar with.

Even with the latest updates, Google and Garmin will have you going the wrong way from time to time!

motoged - 2-19-2021 at 10:09 AM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
It is not an age related thing, I have always preferred back roads to urban sprawl. My Baja adventures don't start at the border. Using maps (Google and paper) and a GPS, I search for secondary routes that avoid some of the most developed traffic corridors!

I don't mind spending an extra day or so on the road, especially if I get to check out a road I am not familiar with.

Even with the latest updates, Google and Garmin will have you going the wrong way from time to time!



X2 :light: Yo tambien !!!

David K - 2-19-2021 at 10:22 AM

I go to Baja to get away from civilization! It is my "happy place"!

BajaBlanca - 2-19-2021 at 12:23 PM

Google is great but sometimes really sends you in the wrong direction.

Not Baja but when we were driving from NE Poland to SW Poland, google had us on a marvelous road until the road simply ENDED.

New road made with EU money and it just ended.

In the end, we drove about 8 hours on what was to be a 5 hour trip. Not fun, no no not fun!

David K - 2-19-2021 at 12:28 PM

Google Earth, CalTopo, and Bing satellite images allows you to see roads before you drive them... not all areas have recent imagery, however. Explore your routes before your trip if you are going 'off the beaten track,' in Baja!

motoged - 2-19-2021 at 12:41 PM

Just remember....GPS isn't always accurate or correct....or up to date.

TMW - 2-19-2021 at 02:41 PM

A few years ago a lady and her son left Las Vegas to visit Death Valley. The GPS device she was using in her car took them from a paved road to a sand road and after a while she was stuck. Story ended with her dying and maybe the boy too, I don't remember, before the rangers found her. Why she didn't turn around when she got to the sand road is anyone guess.

I also heard a story where a guy was following his GPS in his car right off the pier into the water.

I guess the bottom line is a little common sense goes a long way.

David K - 2-19-2021 at 02:47 PM

Darwin awards!

mtgoat666 - 2-19-2021 at 04:17 PM

Quote: Originally posted by TMW  
A few years ago a lady and her son left Las Vegas to visit Death Valley. The GPS device she was using in her car took them from a paved road to a sand road and after a while she was stuck. Story ended with her dying and maybe the boy too, I don't remember, before the rangers found her. Why she didn't turn around when she got to the sand road is anyone guess.

I also heard a story where a guy was following his GPS in his car right off the pier into the water.

I guess the bottom line is a little common sense goes a long way.


People also made same mistakes following maps, in the olden times

PaulW - 2-19-2021 at 04:18 PM

In Colorado they found an 18 wheeler (long trailer as well) stuck on Engineers pass. Took a helicopter to get the thing back to real roads. The driver said he was following the GPS.
Pass was closed for days.

Barry A. - 2-19-2021 at 04:21 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  
Darwin awards!


Up north, in the areas west of Redding, CA, and S. Oregon west of Medford, we have had several drivers follow roads indicated on their Navigators as real-roads only to find them barely passable, and in winter not passible at all, and they died in their vehicles when stuck in a snow-drift many miles from anybody!

That is a real bummer for them!

Barry A. - 2-19-2021 at 04:23 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  
I go to Baja to get away from civilization! It is my "happy place"!



David----------I have camped in that exact place--------fabulous area!! (-:

LancairDriver - 2-19-2021 at 04:55 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Barry A.  
Quote: Originally posted by David K  
Darwin awards!


Up north, in the areas west of Redding, CA, and S. Oregon west of Medford, we have had several drivers follow roads indicated on their Navigators as real-roads only to find them barely passable, and in winter not passible at all, and they died in their vehicles when stuck in a snow-drift many miles from anybody!

That is a real bummer for them!


I was very familiar with one of these incidents here in S Oregon a few years ago. A tech guy that had a TV show in San Francisco took his wife and very young son on a trip to Seattle. On their way back to SF they disappeared. For a few days it was unclear whether foul play was involved. A search was started that went on for several days with no results. Then it eventually came out in the Paper they were scheduled to stay at a resort on the Rogue River near Gold Beach. It was in the early winter and the snow had already hit the mountains. I immediately thought they could have had trouble on either of two possible mountain routes through the mountains to Gold Beach after leaving I5 that could be risky. I and a friend got my airplane out and flew the most likely route I thought they might have taken with no luck. We connected with the other possible route and decided that was where the main search was going on so abandoned that idea. As it turned out, they were found close to the spot we had quit and the father had given up hope after many days of being stuck in the snow and set off walking for help. He didn’t make it and fell to hypothermia and died. His wife and child were found shortly after by a private helicopter pilot flying to his house on the Rogue River the next day. I have always regretted not taking the short run of a few minutes up towards I5, and would have found them before he gave up on waiting. A friend from CA had previously sent me a gps route he was going to take to visit me almost identical to the one they had taken. I told him immediately to forget that route. There were other incidents in the same area that ended badly in years before. Lots of similar story’s stranded in the Deserts.

John Harper - 2-19-2021 at 05:59 PM

Quote: Originally posted by LancairDriver  
Quote: Originally posted by Barry A.  
Quote: Originally posted by David K  
Darwin awards!


Up north, in the areas west of Redding, CA, and S. Oregon west of Medford, we have had several drivers follow roads indicated on their Navigators as real-roads only to find them barely passable, and in winter not passible at all, and they died in their vehicles when stuck in a snow-drift many miles from anybody!

That is a real bummer for them!


I was very familiar with one of these incidents here in S Oregon a few years ago. A tech guy that had a TV show in San Francisco took his wife and very young son on a trip to Seattle. On their way back to SF they disappeared. For a few days it was unclear whether foul play was involved. A search was started that went on for several days with no results. Then it eventually came out in the Paper they were scheduled to stay at a resort on the Rogue River near Gold Beach. It was in the early winter and the snow had already hit the mountains. I immediately thought they could have had trouble on either of two possible mountain routes through the mountains to Gold Beach after leaving I5 that could be risky. I and a friend got my airplane out and flew the most likely route I thought they might have taken with no luck. We connected with the other possible route and decided that was where the main search was going on so abandoned that idea. As it turned out, they were found close to the spot we had quit and the father had given up hope after many days of being stuck in the snow and set off walking for help. He didn’t make it and fell to hypothermia and died. His wife and child were found shortly after by a private helicopter pilot flying to his house on the Rogue River the next day. I have always regretted not taking the short run of a few minutes up towards I5, and would have found them before he gave up on waiting. A friend from CA had previously sent me a gps route he was going to take to visit me almost identical to the one they had taken. I told him immediately to forget that route. There were other incidents in the same area that ended badly in years before. Lots of similar story’s stranded in the Deserts.


Wow, how tragic.

John

pacificobob - 2-20-2021 at 01:29 PM

that's a great motorbike ride. an excellent way to reach the coast from grants pass.

RFClark - 2-22-2021 at 10:06 AM

Finding one’s way around in the parts of the world settled from Spain and Spain itself can be a challenge! There are often no numbers, street signs or even street names painted on the sides of buildings! Google, even in the States often gets business locations wrong. Then there’s what you get when you’re out of cellular range, I also use “Maps.me” which works where there’s no service! Getting through La Paz to and from the south can be a challenge because of local street “improvements” as can getting to the new West crossing in Mexicali! “The map is not the territory” can definitely be the case!

When you travel you are often on your own! If you travel back roads you definitely are on your own! Flatlanders don’t always understand this and fail to carry even the minimum of items required for survival! They also assume that phone service is universal! Well, it’s not! A few years ago I invested in a Spot Emergency Satellite Transmitter. It also will automatically transmit my location every 10 minutes so it’s possible to find me or what’s left after the whatever!

Traveling in Baja and the outback US it’s generally prudent to carry a couple days food, water and shelter, plus a healthy medical kit. The emergency locator and offline maps go too! Tire repair stuff as well! In the States “S and W” goes along, in Mexico “Osos” are a problem, so Oso Spray! Never had a military checkpoint even ask what it was! Imagine that!

The older I get the more contingency gear I carry and install extra lights on the rig!

wilderone - 2-22-2021 at 11:41 AM

David - Is that in the Sierra Juarez, south of Guadalupe Cyn - called La Mora?

David K - 2-23-2021 at 08:01 AM

Quote: Originally posted by wilderone  
David - Is that in the Sierra Juarez, south of Guadalupe Cyn - called La Mora?


My photo?
That is in Cañon El Berrendo, Valle Chico, Sierra San Pedro Mártir...

In the lower left corner of the map: