Just spoke to David K. - this afternoon he tried to go through Matomi Wash from the top but got stopped by rocks at the top narrows. He said only dirt
bike tracks were thru there and a 4x4 will not make it.
Mi esposa went to a remote Auto Club office, so I asked her to check on left-over Baja maps. The is what they hand out now (I cannot wait to hear the
reaction to this). The reverse side is blank.
Just spoke to David K. - this afternoon he tried to go through Matomi Wash from the top but got stopped by rocks at the top narrows. He said only dirt
bike tracks were thru there and a 4x4 will not make it.
========,
Hmmm, last month we had a bunch of rigs that drove thru Matomi from the west. The group included a pretty stock Baja bug, 4Runner, Jeep Cherokee,
several built Jeeps, and several sand rails. No need for 4x4. It was obvious where the line was to drive thru. Several rigs used a spotter since they
had small tires. Matomi is pretty much the same as it was before and after the last race. No evidence of any recent flooding, and for sure no rain
since we drove it.
After the narrows the track thru the sand was solid with evidence of heavy use and no soft spots.
Just spoke to David K. - this afternoon he tried to go through Matomi Wash from the top but got stopped by rocks at the top narrows. He said only dirt
bike tracks were thru there and a 4x4 will not make it.
David K was also traveling alone w/no HiLift, P-rated tires, limited time, so it would have been a very bad decision on his part to try and chance it.
Just spoke to David K. - this afternoon he tried to go through Matomi Wash from the top but got stopped by rocks at the top narrows. He said only dirt
bike tracks were thru there and a 4x4 will not make it.
David K was also traveling alone w/no HiLift, P-rated tires, limited time, so it would have been a very bad decision on his part to try and chance it.
Maybe he was hoping for a NOMAD rescue. You should never travel off-road alone.
Just spoke to David K. - this afternoon he tried to go through Matomi Wash from the top but got stopped by rocks at the top narrows. He said only dirt
bike tracks were thru there and a 4x4 will not make it.
David K was also traveling alone w/no HiLift, P-rated tires, limited time, so it would have been a very bad decision on his part to try and chance it.
Maybe he was hoping for a NOMAD rescue. You should never travel off-road alone.
Traveling off-road alone is fine. Many people are out there every day doing solo travel off-road, on foot, bicycle, horse, motorcycle and truck. Be
prepared and solo travel is about as safe as traveling with others.
Silly to say off-roading "requires" LT tires or hilift jack.
Just spoke to David K. - this afternoon he tried to go through Matomi Wash from the top but got stopped by rocks at the top narrows. He said only dirt
bike tracks were thru there and a 4x4 will not make it.
David K was also traveling alone w/no HiLift, P-rated tires, limited time, so it would have been a very bad decision on his part to try and chance it.
Maybe he was hoping for a NOMAD rescue. You should never travel off-road alone.
Traveling off-road alone is fine. Many people are out there every day doing solo travel off-road, on foot, bicycle, horse, motorcycle and truck. Be
prepared and solo travel is about as safe as traveling with others.
Silly to say off-roading "requires" LT tires or hilift jack.
Bet you don't recommend a tracker either. Just because you can not find a friend to go with you doesn't mean the "buddy" system is not a good idea.
Most experienced off-roaders know this to be true.
I am in El Rosario now, needed a comfortable rest. Matomi narrows only has m/c tracks. The gap floor is lower than before and too narrow for full size
trucks. However, the exposed boulders before the squeeze is what stopped me and any other 4×4 except maybe rock crawlers with 37" tires?
I got to the ranch house before trying to drive east, and nobody has been up there in ages. Floods have really done a number on Baja roads lately.
Anyway, I don't expect or have ever needed help nor would intentionally do something stupid that would require help.
If I need help, I know the Nomads who would, as I would for them.
I have photos, so you can see what stopped me yesterday.
Today, a dead tree was in the road with no way around, Azufre Wash, about 4 miles from the old Puertecitos road. That road is now open! Photos coming!
Anyway, thanks to StuckSucks for relaying my message. I can get my truck more places than most... Driving in Baja since I was 16 helps with skill and
4 wheels driving thanks to Toyota's A-TRAC makes the difficult easy for me!
Please all disregard anything Mt666 says as this marooon knows zero about off road.Let alone a tourist without basic off road knowledge in baja. Its
just as safe alone then with back up rider.You Mt666 marooon of the year.
David we did get a rig like yours thru Matomi using a spotter. No damage occurred. We had plenty of observers to pick the line. And yes we stacked
some rock to ease the passage. 31" tires on that rig.
Must have been a new flood since as there were only moto tracks, as the new boulders won't allow anthing wider... I really wanted to get through.
Being solo it would be foolish to try or damage my truck more than I did just to get that far. Not any vehicle tracks in the sand, so there was water
since your last trip.
I did go up to the ranch and waterfall. Nobody been there in awhile! I have been driving Matomi since 1978, it is epic!
The arch will have to wait.
Azufre wash was blocked by a tree on the east end... not any more!
Wise move to skip Matomi solo.
In spite of the difficulty we see the track improving each year since the big flood.
Azufre gets very little traffic in the last 2 years.
It was bad in 1978, Score had just used it for the very first time. It got better in the 80s, easy in the 2000s... elgatoloco got his huge camper
through in 2001. My next times were 2004 (with other Nomads) and just Baja Angel and I in 2006... then the big flood.
Pappy Jon shared his videos on Facebook yesterday of the boulder blockage at the Matomi Narrows... He got through in his 4Runner because of his 4"
lift, 16" ground clearance, and oversized tires + granny low gears. No way any stock 4x4 is getting through, unaided or without damage. Full-size rigs
will also not get through until the sand returns to fill in about 4 feet of what was washed away last flash floods.
Pappy Jon actually has something like 6-8" of ground clearance No where near 16" A trophy truck with 40" tires has less than 16" of ground clearance.
David's view of Matomi is just that - a picture from afar.
Locals drive thru all the time with just minor slowing to go around the big rocks.
Last time thru a VW bug made it, but it dragged on a couple of rocks. Ground clearance around 4-6"
Good morning boys. I only report what is or is told to me. In my exchange with Jon (while he was at Pete's Camp the next day) I asked if he had maybe
10.5" of GC.
[My Tacoma with 32" tires has 9.5", measured from the differentials and transfer case].
His reply is that he had 16" at the transfer case. While that is far more than I would imagine for a 4" lift and oversize tires, that is what he
typed.
Wait... here is our March 20 exchange on Facebook:
David K: So, about 10" to 10.5 of ground clearance then? Very gutsy to risk going in there solo, but congrats on passing through.
March 20 at 12:54pm
Jon S: Way more than 10". The 4Ruuner is also duel transfer cased and makes this stuff easy.
March 20 at 1:01pm
Jon S: Clearance at the transfer case skid is about 16".
March 20 at 1:20pm
Paul, not from afar. I walked the 1/4 mile from where rocks halted my Tacoma to the squeeze, and through the squeeze to see if it got better... it did
not. Pappy Jon's two videos showed that I made the smart choice for my truck, which is nearly stock with 1" taller than stock tires, 5100 shocks all 4
corners with fronts lifted .85", Ride Rite air suspension in back to lift 2" if needed.
Pappy Jon actually has something like 6-8" of ground clearance No where near 16" A trophy truck with 40" tires has less than 16" of ground clearance.
David's view of Matomi is just that - a picture from afar.
Locals drive thru all the time with just minor slowing to go around the big rocks.
Last time thru a VW bug made it, but it dragged on a couple of rocks. Ground clearance around 4-6"
Huh??? I just went outside, crawled under my Nissan X-Terra "Off road" model and measured the ground clearance---------a hair under 10" at the rear
differential, the lowest part of the undercarriage. The rest of the clearance was 12" min. at the tranny skid-plate, and all else is much higher
from the ground, etc..... I have a 2"+ CALMINI lift, but stock BFG KO tires (265x75x16) . "6 to 8 inches clearance" is not realistic for any
aggressive 4x4 that I am familiar with.
"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen.
The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back
if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt
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