Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8921
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
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Baja Pole Line Road w/Neal & Marian Johns - In Gear Magazine
The following article ran in the February issue of InGear Magazine - a newsletter for Cal4Wheel Magazine. This trip was sponsored by The Rubicon
Owners of CA and took place Dec. 18, 2004 and lasted 4 days. Read on...
-Ken Cooke
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Day One:
After three straight days of prep work on the Rubi,
and three hours of sleep the night before, my friend
Michael (in his '94 Wrangler YJ) and I traveled from
the 4WP parking lot in Riverside to our meeting place
in Calexico, CA. Arriving at 10:30 a.m., we came upon
several well-built 4x4s in the Pep Boys parking lot.
Resembling a 4WD Car Show rather than a Baja Trail
run, this looked as exciting as ever!
Our Trail Guide #1 - Neal Johns split the group into
half in order to guide 5 (out of the 9) vehicles
across the border into Mexicali and towards Hwy 2 and
our meeting place at the Laguna Salada turnoff. My
group consisted of 4 vehicles, and we traveled the
route the BFGoodrich Radio Crew travels during the
SCORE Baja 250 events - through Lane 4 at the border
to Calle Militar, and down to Hwy 2 - avoiding the
quagmire of traffic further downtown caused by road
construction in downtown Mexicali.
Once inside of town, we found it an easy trip to our
fuel stop at the El Progreso PEMEX station. Gasoline
prices were approximately $1.95/gallon which made
things easy on the wallet. As our group reached the
turnoff to Guadalupe Canyon, we could see the muddy
tire prints crisscrossing the Laguna Salada as
lesser-equipped vehicles tried to exit the muddy
dry-lake bottom that has probably claimed a vehicle or
two this winter.
On the graded road to Guadalupe Canyon, Neal and our
two groups traveled together, enroute to our first
day's sidetrip - THE LODGE.
The Lodge is an extensive compound built against the
Paredones hills in Canyon Isabel - approximately 20
miles south of Guadalupe Canyon. This complex
features a large pool, multiple dwellings, a mess
hall, and more set on over an acre of land. The rumor
is that this lodge belonged to either a politican or a
drug lord, and if you are out visiting this complex,
you will be stopped by Fish and Game from entering -
if they are patroling the area. Neal and our group
looked everything over from a distance - using
binoculars and digital photography equipment before
heading to our campsite for the evening in the
Cohabuzo Junction.
The Cohabuzo Junction is an intersection of sorts that
takes the traveler from Hwy 2 (north) to Hwy 3
(south), as well as east to Hwy 5. It served as our
meeting point for anyone intending on meeting us
inside of Mexico. Although we did not meet with any
additional gringos at this location, a desperate pair
from a local Rancho descended upon us for both food
and parts when their 4WD Ford Aerostar van approached
from a distance.
Imagine nightfall in the middle of nowhere, and from a
distance, a pair of lights heading your way from out
in the darkness. One white, the other amber -
introducing a noisy, thrashing metal animal appearing
on its last leg. As this vehicle made its way into
our camp, we noticed that its passenger-side front
tire was shredded while its driver - Gilberto claimed
that he did not have a spare tire to get him and his
occupant Julio Caesar safely to Mexicali and up to the
San Fernado Valley for work.
Neal Johns had a Satellite Phone reserved for
emergencies, and this situation presented itself as
the kind of emergency we were glad to have prepared
for. So, with spare jugs of drinking water, a spare
blanket, food, and telephone calls to relatives in the
U.S., help was sent via relatives in Mexicali for the
two who made their way across the Laguna Salada east
towards Hwy 5 in the morning. Neal and Brad Greene -
a Colorado 'wheeler who made the trek with his wife
Rhoda from their vacation home in La Jolla, were able
to see the pair down the sandy road before our travels
were to begin towards the Pole Line Road.
Getting a late start created the kind of momentum we
hoped against, but planned into our schedule. Our
group first traveled to the corral and Native American
site located near Rancho El Viejo (Old Ranch). There
resided two Native American men who were acquaintences
of Gilberto and Julio Caesar and were concerned for
them once I had explained what had happened to their
vehicle. I explained that we wanted to eat lunch in
the area adjacent to their rancho, and they agreed,
but watched us from the hilltop to the south. During
Lunch, Neal and his wife Marion collected Native
American pottery shards and we marveled at the
grinding mesas. Just before leaving, Neal scattered
the pottery shards so that future visitors could
collect these and view them just as we had.
Leaving the Rancho, we headed near the Summit, meeting
a pair of young men - one on mountain bike, the other
driving a Volkswagon Bug slowly down the the lower
section of the summit. As they spoke to me, their
eyes grew wide as they told me how the summit road
was, "Dangerous" and urged us not to take it unless
everyone in our party had a Jeep like mine. We said
our goodbyes and almost immediately, a call went over
the CB that a Jeep was stuck in a ditch.
Michael Hendricks had just installed a Detroit Locker
in the rear axle of his Jeep YJ. Without enough
traction from his tires, he was unable to escape the
jaws of this ditch that had partially swallowed his
Jeep, threatening to lay him on his side. Brad
extricated Mike with the use of a towstrap from his
heavily built XJ, and Michael was out in no time.
Night was beginning to fall, and we had just entered
the Pole Line road.
Canyon Enmedio is a land containing red soil, buttes,
and a trail containing several washouts. One in
particular was rutted enough to warrant a spotter to
get the vehicles through quickly and easily. Because
this washout led us downhill, we were not really
challenged, but this was the first (full) day on the
trail and washouts would follow us through to the end
of this trip.
The arroyo leading out of Enmedio (which means
'middle') contains the remnants of the cobblestone
that the Pole Line Road was paved with in the 1940s
when this project was completed. Because the war
ended two years after the route was completed, no
further maintenance was necessary, the the road
quickly fell into disrepair.
Night quickly caught up to our group, and we were
forced to make camp in one of the many canyons
contained in Enmedio. Guide #2 - Roy Hall and his
buddy Richard traveled down to the rocky arroyo which
led to Basketball Hill while the rest of our party
decided to stay closer to where we found suitable
ground for camping for the night. Roy and Richard
drove from San Diego, CA in Roy's '91 Toyota 4 Runner.
He added a 26 gal. fuel cell, and was able to get
about 450 miles off-road with this setup which
included 33" BFG AT/KOs, a 4" lift containing air
bags, a Warn winch, and lots of backcountry
communications gear.
John Marnell traveled from Hesperia, CA in his Jeep
CJ-7, and discovered that his 4WD would not engage due
to a cotter pin which had popped out of place while
traveling the many miles on the washboard roads. He
was assisted by his friend Skip who drove a shiny
black Dodge Raider. With 31" tires and a good limited
slip, Skip questioned me why more "Rubicon Owners
didn't come down to Baja?" I let him know that this
was a difficult time for many of the club members, but
he just shook his head.
I announced at the campfire that we would try to
locate Basketball Hill after dinner, prompting Brad
(driving a Jeep Cherokee XJ with a 6" Long Arm Rusty's
Off Road lift, Front & Rear ARBs, York On-Board Air,
etc.) to tackle the trail after dark with me. Brock
decided to ride along with Brad. Brock Tella drove
out from Cardiff By-The-Sea, CA in his Isuzu Trooper
along with his longtime friend Brenda. Brock
outfitted his Trooper with a pushbar, PIAA lighting,
custom fabbed sliders, and 32" BFG AT/KOs driven by a
tight limited slip unit that worked.
On our night run, we had traveled each and every wash,
arroyo, and hill trying to locate the notorious
Basketball Hill, but with no luck. Brock, Brad and I
returned to camp unfazed, but ready for some serious
hunting for trail the next morning.
The next day begun with our group traveling down to
the arroyo which Roy and Richard camped out in - John
Marnell and I hiked one canyon, while John Page and
his good friend Paul Ferry visiting from Washington
State traveled down an alternate section of trail.
John Page is from the greater L.A. area, and joined us
in his '00 Toyota Tacoma with the TRD package which
includes the electric rear locker, 31" BFG AT/KOs and
Bilstein-enhanced suspension.
After hiking the canyons with Marnell - an experienced
marathon and ultra marathon runner, we decided that
the canyon contained rocks too large for any of our
vehicles. Furthermore, there was no evidence of any
telephone poles to speak of. WAS THIS ROUTE A BUST?
Guide #2 - Roy Hall told our party to "...wait
patiently..." while he traveled down the wash - a
roadless area containing an assorted size of boulders,
rocks, and a few gravel paths. In the meantime,
Marnell, Skip, and Michael all came forward explaining
their anxiety over having to turn back without enough
time and gasoline in reserves to make the entire trip.
Although each vehicle brought 10 gallons of extra
gasoline, some of our vehicles were literally drinking
the stuff making for a possibly dire situation. After
Marnell explained that he needed to return home due to
only "...one more jerry can full of gas", I gave him
and the two other vehicles to "Turn back and retrace
their steps to Hwy 2." Less than 30 minutes later, we
had found the actual trailhead to Basketball Hill.
Trail Guide #1 Neal John's directions indicated that
we must travel 1.4 miles past the "Perfect,
cobblestone Hill" to Basketball Hill, but in reality,
we had to travel nearly 2.4 miles to reach this actual
turnoff. The route down the wash was difficult with
rocks blocking many of the routes downstream.
Naturally, mine was the first rig up the mountain
which contained an extremely tight canyon that was
well-suited for a Jeep or mid-sized SUV to travel. A
full-sized pickup would never had made it - this was
the stuff that Truckhaven Hills is made of. After
completing the uphill section, I parked my Jeep at the
summit of Basketball Hill and coached the other
drivers to the top of this section. Brock mentioned
that Basketball was, "Too easy!" Eventually, he would
eat his own words since the Pole Line Road actually
was an easy 4WD route - similar to the trails in
Joshua Tree's Old Dale Mining District. Just longer,
punctuated with longer distances between rest stops,
and filled with washouts.
We stopped for lunch in a shaded wash, and our next
stop was the beautiful Canyon Jaquegel. Here, we got
out of our vehicles to explore and soak in the
historical significance that this region is known for.
Like 90% of our trip, there was nobody around for
miles. We were able to hike up to a Native American
hunting blind which overlooked a watering hole that
Native American tribes used to hunt for food.
Now, the time was getting late, and with maybe 1 hour
of sunlight, we decided to try and "Make it to the
main Hwy." We had to first travel down the rocky
Jaquegel Mountain which was badly eroded and contained
scores of rocks which held our group back from making
any sort of quick times out of this region. Now, once
we got off of the mountain, night was quickly
approaching, we tried to make it closer to the hwy,
what followed were numerous washouts, climbs into and
out of arroyos, followed by more washouts.
At the end of the rocky mountain road, our group was
faced with a washout which was split down the middle
with a tall spine. One corner contained a 5' or 6'
dropoff while the other corner simply contained a
dusty chute that the driver had to steer into before
reaching the rocky wash down below. This required
some serious spotting for Neal's pickup - since he had
a cab-over camper that he referred to as "Waddling
Wilma." Wilma made it through this section thanks to
Marion John's excellent driving skills. As a former
member of Inland Empire 4 Wheelr's and an experienced
Baja off road traveler, Marion Johns proved herself on
trails such as these. Being the first one down the
trail meant that I had no choice but to travel
sections like these, climb back up the trail and spot
for everyone else. Brock made it through without
rolling his Trooper, as did Roy in his 4 runner. John
Page got a little tippy going through, and Brad Greene
made it look easy in his red XJ.
Once again, nightfall descended upon us, and we
decided to push on. Gaining speed on the trail, I
encountered a pair of large rocks that someone had
placed in the middle of the trail. Just beyond those
rocks was a 10' ledge that I would have needed to be
lowered by cable if I wanted to attempt the obstacle.
Here, we decided to find a way around the washout and
call it a night. The military constructed a go-around
that was maybe 20 yards back up the trail to the east.
We traveled this steep section of trail, set up camp,
and got some hard-earned sleep.
The next morning presented a new challenge - how would
we continue past Ejido Saldana to Hwy 5 without having
to retrace our steps back on the Pole Line Road? We
simply did not have enough gasoline to travel back the
way we came, and the route south to La Ventana to Hwy
5 was completely washed out - making this our only
route!
The next morning, Roy set out to locate the trail, and
he did locate it - before it ended in the side of an
eroded 20' hillside. John Page's GPS read that the
Pole Line Road was on the other side of the 1/2 mile
wide desert wash, but the wash resembled a rock course
for competition Jeeps - not pickup trucks loaded down
with gear. Neal, Paul, John, and I decided to hike
the 1/2 mile to the other side of the wash. Using the
eroded hillside at one end, and the jagged cinder cone
just opposite as our landmarks, we hiked across - in
hopes that we would not have to send two vehicles out
for help, gasoline, and water.
As luck would happen, Neal and I came upon the trail -
it appeared right against the escarpment of the hills.
Neal radioed the vehicles that we had a winner, so
John and I hiked back to our vehicles.
'Crawling over the many rocky sections, we eventually
reached the trail, and in another 2 hours, we were at
Hwy 5. The Pole Line Road was completed!
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Participants:
Neal/Marian Johns (Desert Explorers) - Toyota Tacoma
TRD
Brock Tella & Brenda (Just Runs) - Isuzu Trooper
Brad and Rhoda Green (Red Rock 4 Wheelers) - Jeep
Cherokee XJ
John Page/Paul Ferry (Desert Explorers) - Toyota
Tacoma TRD
John Marnell (Desert Explorers) - Jeep CJ-7 (w/new
rear ARB!)
Michael Hendricks (Cal 4 Wheel) - Jeep Wrangler YJ
(w/new Detroit!)
Skip (Desert Explorers) - Dodge Raider
Ken Cooke (Rubicon Owners of CA) - Jeep Wrangler TJ -
Rubicon
Roy Hall (Baja Nomad.com) - Toyota 4 Runner
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