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David K
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Heading north, one passes this landmark building with a triangle window. On some maps, it is called La Bachata, Km. 24.5 south of Punta Prieta.
The abandoned Pemex station at Parador Punta Prieta (Km. 0), the L.A. Bay Hwy. junction.
View of the L.A. Bay highway from the parador building.
2017
1974 Just paved, and that ended in only a mile or two, just over the hill and out-of-sight of Hwy. 1.
Fun to compare similar locations many years apart. I took this photo when I was 17!
Parador Punta Prieta Trailer Park (closed)
View south nearing the L.A. Bay junction and former Parador Punta Prieta.
Highway One, Carretera Transpeninsular Benito Juarez, just north of Parador Punta Prieta, northbound.
[Edited on 4-27-2021 by David K]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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The next installment is where it gets really interesting... finding the husband and wife (hired to operate a ranch for a Tijuana businessman) marooned
in one of the most remote spots in Baja... and I was the first vehicle they have seen in four months! Their truck broke down, 6 months ago, several
miles east of the ranch.
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mtgoat666
Select Nomad
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Quote: Originally posted by David K  | | This guide (not a book) is just to the roads and what one may find along them. What you like to do from those roads is open and no book needs to tell
anyone where to fish or surf. The spectrum is very broad, almost unlimited. |
If not a book, and will be map, then why aren't you doing it by gps and a gps graphics program? Road logs are so last-century!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666 | | Quote: Originally posted by David K | | This guide (not a book) is just to the roads and what one may find along them. What you like to do from those roads is open and no book needs to tell
anyone where to fish or surf. The spectrum is very broad, almost unlimited. |
If not a book, and will be map, then why aren't you doing it by gps and a gps graphics program? Road logs are so last-century!
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Doing it as both, but for the average Baja camper, it is far easier to read the kilometer posts to know where to turn than a longitude and latitude
mathematical point in space-time. Not everyone has a GPS or can use it. Part of this will be to suggest an app that turns your phone into a GPS map
without needing cell signals. It's all about discovering what's out there.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by fishbuck | | Quote: Originally posted by David K | | This guide (not a book) is just to the roads and what one may find along them. What you like to do from those roads is open and no book needs to tell
anyone where to fish or surf. The spectrum is very broad, almost unlimited. |
Aw shucks! I was waiting for your new book to be published so I could buy it and support one of my baja amigos who does really cool baja stuff. |
Have you read 'Baja California Land of Missions' yet? It may change how you think of Baja??? 
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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DAY 5 AFTERNOON Highway 1 west to the Pacific, almost!
Of the several roads across Baja from Highway 1 down the center to the Pacific coast, the Rancho San Antonio road may be the scariest to do solo!
I was glad I had an inReach communicator so I could contact my friends who offered to come help or coordinate help if needed. I can send or receive
short text or email messages which help the day go by. My evening chats with Baja Angel (my wife Elizabeth) are comforting and make my being away so
far not so bad.
The difference between the inReach and the Spot device is the 2-way communicating. Right now, I am getting Spot locations for TW, I can't ask him what
he is up to or where he wants to go. I only see where he is and an I'm OK message.
I leave the highway at Km. 270.5, I drop the air pressure in my tires to 24 psi. It is 3:15pm. I will just go to where I find a camp spot or do a
night drive in order to give my new LED lamps a workout!
A welcoming boojum tree!
Fresh green coat on this tall one.
It is 9.3 slow miles on this short cut road to the one that is on most maps, 11 miles south of Chapala to San Antonio and Bahía Blanco.
From a high point, looking back at the road I was just on.
It's like Dr. Seuss must have visited Baja this far south?
Some neat cardón trees in here, too!
Semi-abandoned ranch down on the left, 1.2 miles west of the junction with the two choices to Hwy. 1. The one I used from Km. 270.5 or the mapped one
from Km. 252.
I am seeing fewer tire tracks and more animal tracs.
An oasis is a mile past the ranch. Soon a dam and reservoir are in the gully below. Another oasis is in the distance, but the road I am on turns away
from it before I am motivated to drive to it on a very unused track I saw. That would be the true Rancho San Antonio (Formerly 'Los Codornices'). It
was 4:18pm.
Some have called it a mission because of the old adobe building and graves. Alas, this site was both far removed from the mission road system (El
Camino Real) and void of any farmland to grow enough food upon. It was strictly a cattle ranch.
The big grade!
A dozer was obviously employed to improve the old ranch road, but all the road has eaten away at the fill dirt and base leaving gullies and
landslides. I didn't stop to photo the worst.
Going down, down, down. My big concern was what if I came to an impassable gully or boulder?
Ther was one boulder in the road, but I could get around it. Near the bottom was this huge one. Just one more grade ahead and it had the most
interesting blockage... a Ford Ranger. I just got by it by an inch between the mirrors.It was 5:18pm and I was 9 miles from San Antonio and just 3/4
mile from the bottom of this big bad set of grades.
Nice drive through a cardónal before reaching the roadblock and help sign!
Details in the next installment... This Sunday will be a long night!
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Russ
Elite Nomad
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Location: Punta Chivato
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I'm Having fun too. Thanks for the extended report! The next part, The Rescue" should be good!
Bahia Concepcion where life starts...given a chance!
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
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Looks like a fun trip. I have been to most of those spots, many 20 or more years ago...Nice to see what they look like now..I used Gullicks book as
well as Baja Overland (Belden & Wheelock) and Offbeat Baja (Jim Hunter).....GPS points are a must, IMHO, seldom am I lost where I can find a
milepost. My boys and I have seven different GPS's none of which require cell phone service...Thanks for the ride!
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BajaMama
Super Nomad
Posts: 1106
Registered: 10-4-2015
Location: Pleasanton/Punta Chivato
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Mood: Got Baja fever!!
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I don't think a book will destroy Baja - but for people like me and my husband who off-road a lot in the states, we would love a guide book, we really
want to do this kind of back country travel in Baja (retirement is only a few years off) with our 4 x 4 club (don't worry we are very respectful of
where we go, always to road/trail repair when needed, and help those who need help on the road).
Keep up the great research and I will buy the book!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by chuckie | | Looks like a fun trip. I have been to most of those spots, many 20 or more years ago...Nice to see what they look like now..I used Gullicks book as
well as Baja Overland (Belden & Wheelock) and Offbeat Baja (Jim Hunter).....GPS points are a must, IMHO, seldom am I lost where I can find a
milepost. My boys and I have seven different GPS's none of which require cell phone service...Thanks for the ride! |
Thanks Chuckie. They are all fun trips even if there is drama, as those make good stories!
This road I am on was in Gulick's book, in the 1962 and 1967 editions, except for the new shortcut road for the first 9.3 miles:
Here is a close up of the road as drawn by Gulick with arrows along my route and a red arrow pointing to Rancho La Miseria. Los Codornices is San
Antonio and there is no longer a Las Palomas.
I have GPS points of all my travels this year. I may include them for any hard to find points. In my 2016 book, Baja California Land of Missions, I
provide GPS for them all and a few related sites, as well.
[Edited on 4-30-2017 by David K]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by BajaMama | I don't think a book will destroy Baja - but for people like me and my husband who off-road a lot in the states, we would love a guide book, we really
want to do this kind of back country travel in Baja (retirement is only a few years off) with our 4 x 4 club (don't worry we are very respectful of
where we go, always to road/trail repair when needed, and help those who need help on the road).
Keep up the great research and I will buy the book! |
Thank you for your interest! I think a book is a 'maybe', it all depends on what my sponsor (Baja Bound) wants to do with it. It may be free or
available to their clients, but what is free are my trip reports here. A book will make having all the road logs and location details handy, but you
can always print parts of my trip reports you find valuable. In the meantime, just read the trip reports here on Nomad... not just mine, but
everyone's! Trip reports are the most valuable resource for the latest news and information about conditions in Baja. I appreciate those of you who
wish to support my efforts! Please continue to use Baja Bound for your insurance needs as they sponsor Baja Nomad, this place where you get all this
great data and conversation!
[Edited on 4-30-2017 by David K]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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La Miseria, did Stephen King come to Baja?
The abandoned Ford truck on the grade, trying to go uphill, with the window down and some items on the seat and in the bed was a hint of weirdness.
Coming to a barricade in the road a few miles later, including an orange construction cone and a handwritten note with the words AYUDA (HELP) and
COMIDA (FOOD) included.
The barricade forced anyone to a side road that dropped down to the wide arroyo plain and soon a good looking ranch came into view. This ranch has
solar panels, a swimming pool, and a hot tub!
Two people (a man and a woman) appeared and waved their arms as in distress. My mind is absorbing these fresh sensations and making quick decisions to
escape while I can or ...
I drive up to the front of the ranch which is on the right side of the road and lower my passenger window. A flood of sad stories begins to flow to my
ears: "We have no food", "My husband is out of his heart medicine", "You are the first vehicle we have seen in four months", "We have been stranded
here for 6 months". I learn that the Ford Ranger is her husband's truck and six months ago he was going for supplies when the distributor failed.
They are Leo and Lorena Durazo. They were hired in Tijuana to manage this ranch, La Miseria, for its owner, a man in Tijuana or thereabouts who owns a
taxi business in Rosarito Beach.
I let them know I can send emails or text messages anywhere in the world. They do not have a phone or email for their boss, just a Facebook address,
which I cannot do more than post on my own page with the inReach device.
I contact Antonio ('BajaCactus') via email and he responds!
Here is the exchange, in part, beginning with:
Apr 23, 2017 6:02 PM
Hola Antonio tengo emergencia with the couple at Rancho Miseria de Candelario. Their truck broke miles away. They need heart meds and food 2 months.
... Señor Candelario Aguire Arce is the owner. He has taxis in Rosarito. ... They have no food or medicine. ... Can you get ahold of him to bring
help to his employees stuck here? On the San Antonio road, east of Bahia Blanco. ... Leo y Lorena Durazo.
Antonio asks if they have a phone number for him.
Apr 23, 2017 6:25 PM No. They were hired 6 mos. ago and have not heard from him since. They have seen no one here in 4 months.
(I may not have heard the details correctly, they may have been there longer)
As it turns out, this couple knows of Antonio in El Rosario and know that Antonio's brother knows someone else who works for this Candelario guy.
Antonio (who is in Tijuana) cannot find any of the names Leo has provided, yet the connection between Antonio's brother and another is valid.
We are getting nowhere with getting the ranch owner to make an emergency visit to his ranch and hired help. So, as the sun is about to set, rather
than find a place to camp near the coast and drive out via the Chapala road (which Leo said is worse than the one I just arrived on, and it was pretty
bad), I volunteer my services as emergency evacuation. I make room in my truck for them both. They attend to their animals, including a little dog,
which Lorena says will be okay, and I tell them I will drive them to Santa Rosalillita (where they know people). It is only about 15 miles to the good
dirt highway at Punta Cono, then pretty fast driving the near 35 miles on to Santa Rosalillita.
I send this message to Antonio and also notify my wife and Nomad friends who are following me on the Internet.
Apr 23, 2017 6:44 PM I am taking them 50 dirt miles to Sta. ROSALILLITA. TONIGHT. THEY NEED FOOD AND HEART MEDS. Sorry about the caps, accident.
Apr 23, 2017 7:07 PM Ok, we 3 are leaving in my truck for Sta. Rosalillita now. I will stop to answer you.
Apr 23, 2017 10:07 PM At Sta Rosalillita now. They are trying to find someone that knows them.
The people they knew were not there.
The town was pretty dark on a Sunday night. They talked to someone by the church. They said they know people in Nuevo Rosarito. I was willing to drive
them to another place, but not south... I would even take them to El Rosario if necessary. They said Punta Prieta would work!
Apr 23, 2017 11:09 PM In Punta Prieta now, 11:09.
The south Punta Prieta restaurant (busses stop there) knew Leo and Lorena and they assured me they were in good hands. Lorena called me their angel.
It was her birthday tomorrow! While we were driving those hours, she requested 80s music (I have XM Satellite Radio) and she was a good singer,
Madonna, etc.
My need now was for gasoline... I could make Cataviña but probably not El Rosario. Would I have any luck at 11 pm in Punta Prieta?
YES! At the north store, on the west side of the highway at the Punta Prieta sign, they sell gasoline out of cans, similar to Santa Rosalillita. I was
lucky they were still up. I bought 5 gallons for 380 pesos (US$4.29/gal), very fair and again only 80 some cents profit per gallon for having gas
where it is needed.
Now, what is odd, is that I told the man pouring gas in my truck what I just did, and he knew them! Is it really that small a world or are these
people famous for getting rides? He even knew that Lorena speaks English pretty well (she told me she self-taught from watching Sesame Street).
Well, I was in good shape and Antonio said I had a room waiting for me at Baja Cactus, 3 hours away! What a day (and night)!
It wasn't over!!!
Apr 24, 2017 1:21 AM Was doing great and got a flat tire about km. 128. Just fyi.
It looks to be a puncture. I will plug it and fill it. No worries!
It wasn't as easy as I had hoped... it took two plugs, and a couple times refilling as it went flat again on me in the dangerous curve area around Km.
90.
I arrived at Baja Cactus at 3:40 am! SAFE at HOME, my home in Baja, anyway!
Monday, I sleep in... for a while!
Stay tuned... more to come!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Here is a look down from the Bing Satellite, as Google Earth is not as new in the area. You can see the pair of blue pools in the front. Heated with
solar and the hot tub jets are powered by solar electric batteries...
Link to the map: https://www.bing.com/maps?osid=12dc411a-0e12-48df-8188-c1b88...
[Edited on 5-1-2017 by David K]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by shari | thanks for the tip David about the little restaurant casa in Rosalillita...never knew about it and been there in the hotelito many times....looking
forward to halibut on our next visit then.
....some real beauty breaks out there |
Glad to help my Baja sister who does so much to show us great things!
I just asked after buying the gas from the young lady for a restaurant or taco place. She just pointed to the yellow house. I saw the two tables
inside met Ramona, and sat down. The two items mentioned were tortas (Hot meat sandwich on a bun) con carne sabrosa (tasty meat), and the lenguado
(halibut).
[Edited on 5-1-2017 by David K]
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elgatoloco
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4323
Registered: 11-19-2002
Location: Yes
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T O R T A
Tee
Ooh
Are
Tee
Eh
| Quote: Originally posted by David K | | Quote: Originally posted by shari | thanks for the tip David about the little restaurant casa in Rosalillita...never knew about it and been there in the hotelito many times....looking
forward to halibut on our next visit then.
....some real beauty breaks out there |
Glad to help my Baja sister who does so much to show us great things!
I just asked after buying the gas from the young lady for a restaurant or taco place. She just pointed to the yellow house. I saw the two tables
inside met Ramona, and sat down. The two items mentioned were totras (Hot meat sandwich on a bun) con carne sabrosa (tasty meat), and the lenguado
(halibut). |
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
Member Is Offline
Mood: Weary
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Fascinating! That book is the same one I use(d)...Mice ate the spine out of mine so it has added character...Keep on trukin...
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by elgatoloco | T O R T A
Tee
Ooh
Are
Tee
Eh
| Quote: Originally posted by David K | | Quote: Originally posted by shari | thanks for the tip David about the little restaurant casa in Rosalillita...never knew about it and been there in the hotelito many times....looking
forward to halibut on our next visit then.
....some real beauty breaks out there |
Glad to help my Baja sister who does so much to show us great things!
I just asked after buying the gas from the young lady for a restaurant or taco place. She just pointed to the yellow house. I saw the two tables
inside met Ramona, and sat down. The two items mentioned were tortas (Hot meat sandwich on a bun) con carne sabrosa (tasty meat), and the lenguado
(halibut). |
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T
Y
P
O
Thank you.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by chuckie | | Fascinating! That book is the same one I use(d)...Mice ate the spine out of mine so it has added character...Keep on trukin... |
The author, Howard Gulick, had a traveling companion on some of his trips (Andy Anderson) who was a patient of my father's (his dentist). It was Andy
who told my dad about the great fishing in Baja that required a Jeep to get to, back in 1965. The first two places we would use te Jeep to get to
where Gonzaga Bay and Agua de Chale (Nuevo Mazatlan, now). I met Howard in 1966, at Andy's home (in Rancho Santa Fe) and he autographed our Lower
California Guidebook. I attribute my love of drawing maps and making road logs to Howard Gulick... and my dad, for having me read from the guidebook
when they were driving down the dirt roads of Baja in the 1960s. We did the entire 1,000+ mile Tijuana to Cabo drive in 1966, with over 800 dirt
miles, and most were not graded.
Howard Gulick photo archives: http://libraries.ucsd.edu/speccoll/baja/gulick/gulick1.html
More: http://library.ucsd.edu/dc/search?f%5Bsubject_topic_sim%5D%5...
Here are a couple of the gems there:
Apr. 26, 1956 south of Puertecitos (pilot road made by Arturo Grosso).
Pole Line Road (first mapped)
Pearl fisherman at San Francisquito, April 1959 (Beto's place today).
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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DAY 6 (MON APR 24, 2017)
Having driven all night and arrived at Baja Cactus Motel, El Rosario, at 3:40 am, I was inclined to sleep in as much as possible. Since I was still
working, I wanted to get in at least one side trip for the guide that I hadn't been to since 2011, Punta Baja.
However, the first thing was to get my tire properly repaired and have some breakfast. I was out of my room after 10 am and saw that my plugged tire
(passenger side, rear) held air since the second repairs I made on it around 2 am! I thought I would need to pump it up again. Great!
The tires shop called 'San Borjas' (Km. 58.5+) is on the left (southbound) just past the town plaza and Pueblo Viejo restaurant, before the Km. 59
marker.
A patch was put in the tire. Then, I tried a new (to me) place, El Faro (The Lighthouse) located just past the Sinahi motel, about Km. 59.5, on the
left.
I had a good breakfast of hotcakes and eggs with some excellent coffee. 100 pesos, incl. tip.
I drive up and down Hwy. 1 making notes of the many restaurants, motels, etc. as to their location along the 4 kms. of town that is along the highway
(just before Km. 57 to Km. 61).
Much more town is to the west of where the highway makes the sharp turn by Mama Espinoza's plus there is El Rosario de Abajo, the older town that is 2
miles west and across the river. Developed around the mission that was moved there is 1802 when the water spring failed at the 1774 mission site,
which is just a block north of the highway at Km. 58.5+ on the concrete street that goes uphill from the highway (only a fumigation sign is next to
that street).
Then, I take a drive out to Punta Baja... the road is wide, smooth, and fast!
The owner is from Faro San José, where I had been to recently, far south.
Another 'new' place to eat (I did not try it) is in front of the Turista Motel at the far end of town, Km. 60.5+. Valentino's.
The road to the "other" El Rosario turns right where Hwy. 1 curves sharp left at Mama Espinoza's.
The second Rosario mission is in Abajo.
The town museum in an old school building, in Rosario de Abajo. It was closed, but in 2005, Antonio showed it to Elizabeth and I: Photos on this page
and the following: http://vivabaja.com/505/page6.html
One mission bell is preserved and hangs at a church near the mission ruins in Rosario de Abajo.
The road passes by the mission ruins, preserved in a park setting with gravel walks and information signs.
Punta Baja lighthouse
After my dusty run to Punta Baja, I have my truck washed at El Popeye (Km. 57) just north of the Pemex. They had up to four guys working on it, and I
do this not just because it was dirty, but because excessive dirt can be a reason to not allow your car back in the United States (bugs live in dirt
being the reason). The charge for an excellent exterior wash was only 120 pesos, which I bumped up to 200 for great service.
Well, that was a good day after quite a night and early morning!
For dinner, I go back to El Faro and have the bacon-wrapped shrimp dinner. It was great... and almost too much to eat!
Had a great sleep at te Baja Cactus Motel, again. Tomorow, I am going home. But, not without doing some research in San Quintin!
Stay tuned for DAY 7!
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
Member Is Offline
Mood: Weary
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I can vouch for Valentinos, we have eaten there several times...AND a nice young lady waitress fixed a glitch in my computer while we were eating....
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