Taco de Baja
Super Nomad
Posts: 1913
Registered: 4-14-2004
Location: Behind the Orange Curtain, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Dreamin' of Baja
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An encounter with hurricane John
Here is a trip report from a Toyota off road forum I visit. It was such an adventure I thought I would share it here.
TTORA Link
| Quote: | My Hurricane John Story (BAJA) 9-1-06 thru 9-6-06
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Hi all, i just returned today from surviving the hurricane. This was a truely humbling experience for me, my wife and brother & sister in law.
This is my account (Jerrod) of what we experienced in Hurricane John from Friday September 1, 2006 thru Wednesday (my birthday) September 6, 2006.
I will be posting Pictures soon.
My wife and I (Jerrod) and our dog Daisy (in my white 4x4 toyota tundra dbl cab) and my brother in law & sister in law and their dog Naya in a
grey 4x4 ford expedition arrived in scorpion bay on Friday september 1, 2006 at 5pm. We came in on the north road where it was in okay shape, same as
it had been for the last couple years. The Ford popped a tire at the middle of the north road, had to use the spare. After putting the spare on, we
were scared that we didnt have another tire incase another popped, so vinay drove at a snails pace and took about 4.5 hours overall to get in on the
north road. We surfed that night, small surf, but extremely warm water - 75 degrees at least. We were camped out right at the driveway to second. We
went to bed at 10pm - weather extremely hot and humid - it felt as if we all had yellow fever or something. We were awakened at 3 am by pounding rain,
nasty winds of 40-50 mph. We tried best we could to pack up camp and stay in our cars. At 5am, i called my friend Sam in San Diego(via my satellite
phone) and had him check the storm path. He confirmed it was over La Paz and heading directly to scorpion bay. We decided at that point to get out
while we could.
We left Scorpion Bay at 5:30 am and headed out the south road towards La Purisima. We passed a grey toyota 4runner, and a white ford f350 crew cab
with a motor bike in the back with some long boards strapped down. I confirmed with them what the weather was doing and we all drove like bandits to
get off the road. We reached the town of Ciudad Insurgentes, gassed up, and procedded to get on mex 1 north to loreto. By this time, it was raining
extremely heavy, with gusty winds of 50 mph - at least. We drove 25 miles up the road and were stopped by a local family driving southbound. They said
the road was gone up ahead and we had to turn back. Meanwhile, the guyes in the 4runner and ford decided to continue north. We followed them a couple
miles but the rain was coming down soo hard we couldnt see 100 feet in front of us. So we stopped, turned around and made it back to Ciudad
Insurgentes, then on to Ciudad Constitution, where we found shelter at the hotel "EL TESORO". The owner, Marcelo, is truely a great man and helped us
out alot. We stayed there all day saturday, saturday night, thru sunday mid day. After pulling into the hotel on saturday tho, we noticed that the
Ford had another flat tire. Now stranded without another spare, we had to go searching for a tire shop. Marcelo put vinay and I into his Chevy Tahoe
and drove us around during the hurricane for a tire shop. The town was pretty much locked up for the day, except for the one big Goodyear tire shop in
the middle of town. We went inside and they were already closed, although the door was open, and told them of our situation. We looked through thier
entire tire selection hoping they had the 17" rim size the ford needed. To my surprise and complete delight, they had a brand new set of BFG All
Terrains in a 265-70-17. I pointed at those and he gave us a price of $780 for all four, and he had an extra one for the spare rim for a price of $90.
That price was exactly in line for what i just paid for my BFG's for my Tundra i had put on just before we came down to baja for this trip. So price
being good and us being up Shiat creek needing tires, we told em to put em on. Only thing was, he was closed and had to find a tire installer. Within
10 minutes, we brought the Ford back to the tire shop and the installers wiere there right after us. Within 30 minutes, they were mounted balanced,
and on the Ford. Talk about quick service. We tipped the installers and were on our way with a great sense of security knowing that we had some good
meats under the ford now. We went back to the hotel where we hunkered down for the night.
Having a feeling that we could all be stranded in Baja for many days or weeks to come, we decided to try and make it to either Loreto Airport or La
Paz airport where the girls could get a flight out, and maybe vinay and i as well.
After repacking our stuff sunday morning, the bulk of the hurricane had passed and the rain had stopped and sun came out, we decided to leave the
hotel. We tried to get out of ciudad constitution via the north, but the arroyos had taken out the road in 3 sections and the bridge towards
Insurgentes. The arroyo was 30 ft deep at the bridge, and took out the road on either sides of the bridge leaving it standing by itself. (I will post
pics soon). Other spots between there, and Constition we had to forge thru mud/water in to get thru.
We decided to head southbound to La Paz to get our wives Ronelle & Tanya to the airport so they could fly out to get to work by Tuesday. This is
where the real adventure began. We drove about 50-60 miles south where we came upon a bridge that is about 400 feet long which goes over an arroyo
normally completley dry. The arroyo was full of water - 15' deep and took out the north side slope (onramp) to the bridge. We waited (2nd vehicle in
line) 3-4 hours while the tractors dumped sand/dirt/rocks to fill up the missing roadway to get up onto the bridge. (again, pics soon) Once on the
bridge, we continued south another 10 miles where we came upon another arroyo that was full of water. There was a federale (mexican cop) that didnt
want people to cross. This time the road was gone, but few trucks decided to tempt their fate and cross. A couple vehicles crossed but ended up
hydrolocked (sucking water in the engine) and were seized. Others continued and made it. At this point, we decided to go for it being we had more
capable and higher vehicles than most. I dipped into the rio first, water up to the headlights, 4wd locked low 2nd gear and plowed right through. The
bottom was silty mud and sand. My truck made it and up onto the other side. We watched my brother/sister inlaw go for it and it was the same for them.
They made it and up onto our side.
After a quick visual check of the vehicles to make sure we were okay, we continued south another 4 miles or so to the next arroyo. This one was 300 ft
across and was filled with mud. Some locals already carved a path thru for vehiles, but was by no means good. With our truck in 4low agian, we
procedded thru slipping and slidding to the other side. The mud thick, with water still running down the arroyo. We conitued another few miles where
there was another Arroyo. This was the same as the last 2 and made it thru this one as well. We continued south passing some more arroyos but at this
point, there were soo many they all just seem to blend together. We were past the worst ones, but not out of danger.
We arrived at La Paz around 8pm. IT took us 8 hours to drive 130 miles. Usually that distance is done in 2 hours max. We arrived at the airport tired,
pretty stressed out, hungry, but with a sense of relief. We checked for flights, but didnt find anything less than $700 without 3 stops. At this point
we decided to drive to cabo airport because there were plenty of non stop flights to LAX from there for $200.
We got back on the road and headed south. The roads were in pretty good shape, but you could see where the mud had filled the road and tractors had
cleared a path. We arrived in Todos Santos where the streets were full of mud - Full of Mud! It was pretty packed down alredy from people driving on
it. We continued to Cabo. By this time it was about midnight, roads were in pretty good shape except for the washouts on the roads where we drove thru
slowly. We arrived in cabo, at 12:30am at the burger king because thats all that was open, ate some burgers, and drove to the community of Cabo Bello
where we own a couple lots of land and crashed for the night.
Monday morning we woke up to a beautiful day, warm, sunny, humid, just like paradise should be. Took the dogs down to the beach and let them run
around cause they too had been cooped up in the cars the whole time we were. Got the wives off to the airport, and then Vinay and i went to the beach
for a surf. We went surfing at Old Mans in San Jose Del Cabo, and chilled for a while, and ate some food before heading north again.
We stopped at Costco and Soriana for supplies like meat, water, essentials like donuts and beer, etc... and were on our way north at 5pm. Passed thru
Todos Santos fine, La Paz fine, and continued north. We came upon the arroyo crossings that i mentioned above, and the tractors had cleared paths thru
the mud, the water had recedded for the most part except for a few areas, and made our way back to the hotel in Constitution at 11:30pm where Marcelo
didnt have any rooms available, but was kind enough to open his garage area to let us park and sleep there.
Tuesday morning came, ate breakfast and were on our way. Said our thanks to marcelo and family and continued north to Insurgentes. The arroyos that
were impassable on Sunday, had recedded enough to allow tractors to clear a path. The main bridge had managed to survive, but the road on either side
of it had washed away. Tractors had dumped dirt to allow passage of vehicles north/south bound.
We got to Insurgentes, and made a right turn on Mex 1 towards Loreto. This is when the real aftermath of the hurricane came apparent. We drove 10
miles and came upon a bridge that is approx 70 feet off the ground, and the north side had the road completley washed away. Imagine driving over the
bridge and not having a road on the other side - whew, scary. The tractors had managed to fill enough dirt so that vehicles could pass over it. We
continued another 5 miles where the road had washed away again - in 4 different sections in maybe 1000 feet long road section. People had made a
bypass on the side where you drove in the dirt/mud to get around it. We continued on untill we got to the section of road near Jusus Maria. This is
where we had turned around on Saturday because the brunt of the Hurricane was coming down. Just past this area, the cliff faces crumbled onto the hwy
complely covering it. This was the scenario for the next 15 miles or so. the tractors, or maybe people, had moved enough rocks/debris to make way.
When i say rocks, i dont mean small. I mean rocks of all sizes, some double the size of my Toyota Tundra. Driving along the cliff, i couldnt help but
think of what could have happened if we got stuck here in the hurricane. The road was undermined on the right side, no dirt holding it up, just
sitting there, waiting to crumble.
South of loreto there is this little beach cove called Playa Santispac where we stopped to let the dogs out. There were boats washed up on the beach,
coral had washed up the beach, and the ground was almost clean, like after you wash your garage driveway down. We talked to the beach keeper and gave
him a ride to loreto where he needed to get gas/food to power generators and feed his family. He said power had been out for a few days.
We made it to loreto where we came upon a giant arroyo that had washed out a section of road about 2000 feet wide. There was a big Semi Truck -
Tractor Trailer - that was washed down the arroyo and buried up to its doors in debris. Everything was smashed out, rocks in the cab, and all the
contents of the trailer were gone. The arroyo still had water running through it, but only axle deep. Picture in your mind a straight road with
nothing around, then picture the same road washed out 10 feet deep, then filled with rocks from the mountains 20 feet high. Thats what the destructive
force of water does. It literally moves mountains. Its hard to put it in words to really get what it looked like in person. I cant imagine what the
volume and force of the water was to move this kind and quanity of rock and debris out of the mountains towards the sea of cortez. We passed atleast
another dozen or so more arroyos that had the same type of destruction as well.
We made it to Mulege where clearly this was the most destroyed part of the baja penninsula. Mulege used to be this little desert oasis filled with
palms, greenery, etc... with houses along the lagoon/river/oasis. The river, or maybe it was more of a lagoon, had swollen 30 feet above its normal
level completley destroying the town. All the houses are just shells now. The Palm trees had a water line that reached all the way up to the palms,
maybe 30 feet high, or higher. Cars got washed into the ocean, along with several americans and several locals who died. IT took the towns power
lines, everything with it. Amazingly enough, Mex 1 has a bridge that is built over it, and the water was up to the bottom of the bridge. This was like
driving through a war zone. You could just feel the vibe of sadness on people as we drove through. The town had been without power since the hurricane
hit, and probably will be without for some time as all the lines are gone / down.
We made our way north to Santa Rosalia where all the water that drained out of the mountains, drianed out of this town in several areas. There was mud
a few feet deep in the main town center area, the arroyos had washed a lot of debris through out the whole town area. A lot of garbage was strewn
everywhere.
From here, Mex 1 turns inland and we continued to San Ignacio, where the north road to Scorpion bay leads from. All was fine from here north. Reports
i have gotten are that the north road is severly damaged, undriveable, washed out in many areas, and full of mud. The east road to LA Purisima is
worse, if not gone. The arroyos have carved a ditch very wide and deep all the way from loreto where it starts, to La Purisima. I imagine the south
road is washed out in many areas as well.
To get back to my story, we drove into Guerrero Negro Tuesday night where we found that there was no gas. Guerrero Negro is part of baja sur, which
gets all of its gas from Mulege or Loreto. Since no semi trucks could get through, they were out of gas. We found one small station on the west side
of town where there was a line of 30 cars waiting for gas - from 1 working pump. We waited and moved slowly to the front. We were about 5 cars from
the front and all the power went out in the whole of Guerrero Negro. Here we were, having gone through all we went through and now stuck in the middle
of baja without gas. The next town that had gas was 220miles north - El Rosario. We almost wanted to cry. We waited an hour or so, and finally the
power came back on and we made it to the pump. The gas man didnt want to pump a full tank because they were rationing, but after telling the manager
our story and pleading with him, they filled our tanks full and we were on our way north 220 miles to the next town of El Rosario.
We made it to El Rosario by 2:30 am and filled up. At this point we were so tired we could barely stay awake. We pounded some red bull and snacks and
continued to Shipwreks - Punta San Jacinto and arrived at 4am. We pulled off at the break and slept 3 hours where we barbequed some steaks for
breakfast.
Now wednesday morning, we were on a mission for home and continued on to the border and made it to Los Angeles at 4:30pm.
I am glad we all made it alive. I am thankful that we made some key decisions that led to our safe return. I have been truly humbled by baja now. I
have been going down for many years, and this trip has taught me a great lesson on soo many levels its hard to begin to explain them. My heart goes
out to the people that lost their lives, lost their houses, belongings, vehicles, etc...
A few things that for me that are essentials i will never travel without in baja: A very reliable 4x4 vehicle with good ground clearance (toyota
preferably) equipped with 32" BFG All terrains, a satellite phone, food, emergency supplies, water and extra fuel.
I am not a person of religion, in fact anyone will tell you that i am the furthest thing from it, but after experiencing this hurricane from inside it
and seeing what it did to the southern baja peninsula, things could have gone terribly wrong for us at many different times and i know that something
was looking over us helping guide our family group safely along the way.
When in baja, expect the unexpected. Be physically, mentally, emotionally, and morally ready for anything. You never know when something adverse will
happen. It will happen eventually and you must take it in stride and know that the people of baja are some of the most wonderful, humble, helpful,
simple, loving people on the planet. Anytime you travel into baja, i suggest taking some things that you no longer want or need and giving it to the
locals somehow. We in the US are spoiled with soo many "things," that it wont cost us anything to bring down something for the people of baja.
Thanks to all for reading, and i can't wait to get back down to baja for my next adventure. This has only strengthened my desire to see more of it
while making sure that i'm as prepared as i can be and knowing that staying up to date on weather is a priority. Thanks. |
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Marie-Rose
Senior Nomad
Posts: 894
Registered: 10-2-2003
Location: Victoria, B.C. and Todos Santos
Member Is Offline
Mood: Worried...
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What a fabulous write up!!!
Remember, when in Mexico, yes may be no and no may be
maybe!
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frizkie
Nomad
Posts: 293
Registered: 9-29-2003
Location: Victoria, BC, Canada & El Chorro, Baja Sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: tranquilo
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Terrific Report
Thanks so much for taking the time to share this with us.
So glad you all made it home safe and sound.
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Mexitron
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3397
Registered: 9-21-2003
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy!
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Thanks Taco--what a wild adventure...but I can't help thinking they would have been better off staying at Pequena rather than driving out into the
middle of the storm.
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JZ
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9312
Registered: 10-3-2003
Member Is Offline
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That boy ain't too bright to go camping where a hurricane is heading. This thing was bound to make his life miserable no matter which model it
followed. I can't believe even a semi-experienced outdoors person wouldn't check the weather ahead of time. What were they thinking...
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Phil S
Super Nomad
Posts: 1205
Registered: 10-28-2003
Member Is Offline
Mood: After 34 years. Still in love w/ my wife
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Thanks Taco for posting the "experience". I've driven that road so many times over the past 16 years, and forded some of those same arroyos, I began
to see myself behind the wheel, and experiencing the same emotions. Egads. Glad I'm here in Oregon & was not down there with them!!! My place
only lost the top to an outdoor patio table, and got a bunch of water inside from too many patio doors throughout the home. I so sorry for the Mulege
folks. Friend from my town in Oregon is on the way down with shovels & cleaning material to clean up their home (if there is one when they get
there) for the second time in I believe three years. People who build or buy on rivers have that risk every winter.
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gnukid
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4410
Registered: 7-2-2006
Member Is Offline
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I am crying as I read this, not sure why I feel so much emotion. Thanks for posting such a vivid story of the storm and aftermath. It helps me to
understand what happened. I am very sad for the losses suffered. I am heading down to join in the clean up and help where I can. Paul
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Skeet/Loreto
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4709
Registered: 9-2-2003
Member Is Offline
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God did indeed Bless you:
He showed you the way to the Great People of Baja!
I first flew into Loreto in 1968 and found my Love of the People and the Sea as you did on your Fantastic Trip!
I have been to all those places, made Friends found Happiness.
You and your Friends will be Better People. I was in Loreto when "Lisa" hit in 1976-It was much worse in Loreto, but this time Mulege suffered as La
Paz suffered in 76.
I know the people you met in Constitution; Great People is Right.
The Doctors at the General Hospital in Constitution saved my Wife's life in 1992!!
We started the "Warm Jackest for Cold Kids' Charity- Just fill up a couple of old Suitcase with Kids Clothes and give them to the People where you
Visit next time.
You and your Friends will"Do to Ride the River With"!
I Salute you.
Skeet/Loreto
Anon The Preacher
Skeeter Peter
Skeet/Texas
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