The trucks coming north on the Puertecitous Road
Are from a mine
Where is the mine?
What are they mining?
Puertocitos Mine
mcgyver - 12-15-2005 at 03:12 PM
It is a vermiculite/Pumice material that is used as a cement addtive. The company Santos/Santos ?. Has 13 trucks that run in pairs from there to the
cement plant in TJ. It takes 18 hours loaded and 12 empty to make the trips, some of them carry co-drivers, some family. I have seen 10 on board. This
brown or gray rock can be found all along the northern Gulf beaches, it floats. It is soft and used by the local craftsmen to carve items for the
tourist market. The Mountain at 12.2 miles S of puertocitos, 1/2 mile off the highway is solidly made of this material. The trucks are carrying about
60,000 LBs and have destroyed the road and caved in the culverts all the way to KM 54 S. The new thin sheet of pavement from KM 8S to KM 54 S will not
last a year before the potholes are back, some people are cheering!Oso - 12-15-2005 at 04:15 PM
Congratulations Max! You've finally found someone who spells Puertecitos even worse than you!ArvadaGeorge - 12-15-2005 at 04:59 PM
sorry about the uOso - 12-15-2005 at 05:05 PM
Pas de problem... that must be the French spelling. David K - 12-15-2005 at 07:32 PM
I nominate Oso to be the new Baja Spell Checker!ArvadaGeorge - 12-15-2005 at 07:37 PM
I know why i'm still a junior nomad
You guys are to critical of my typing and spelling
I need a Baja Spell checkDavid K - 12-15-2005 at 07:42 PM
Naw, you just need a Baja Fix! Get packed George...!! We may see you there... Viva Baja!!!woody with a view - 12-15-2005 at 07:44 PM
don't worry george. if we get confused we can always ask bruce to decode your message....ArvadaGeorge - 12-15-2005 at 07:48 PM
Your right there.
I'm laying out gps rt's to night.
and I want to ride them now! now! now!!!!!!!!!
We pack bikes Tuesday night
Leave Colorado Wednesday after workDavid K - 12-15-2005 at 07:52 PM
If you haven't ridden out to Valle Chico via Canada el Parral (Azufre Wash), then I recommenr that! Go to Berrendo canyon... Parral and Agua Caliente
too... oh, don't forget Matomi! Who could forget Matomi!!!
Here's the view as you enter Valle Chico coming from the sulfur mine... at the end of this long straight fence line road is the N-S Valle Chico road.
Left for Matomi, right for all the other canyons...
ArvadaGeorge - 12-15-2005 at 08:22 PM
I have ridden most of those washes.
On this trip I hope to link some together.
Like Hidden Valley to Rams head
sand canyon west to Parral
canyons west of Apache mine north to pumpkin
some stuff south of Matomi east to the coast
More than I'll get done
But I do like the advice
ThanksDavid K - 12-15-2005 at 08:26 PM
Baja Lou has a cool place to see, just south of Arroyo Matomi, about halfway to/from Hwy. 5... It is a natural arch in the rock face... Lou?ArvadaGeorge - 12-15-2005 at 08:44 PM
I think I may have Lou's wps for the stuff south of Matomi
--Las Blancas--I think?
I?m also looking for lost mission treasure ?I have a theory.
I?ll tell you if you make Lou?s Party. After a few Tequilas You?ll believe mebajalou - 12-15-2005 at 08:55 PM
Yes, David, George has most of my waypoints and tracks for this area. Las Blancas area is where the natural arch is - and you'll se George Washington
(as on a nickle) on one of the mountains while heading west it that area.
And here's the arch.
[Edited on 12-16-2005 by bajalou]David K - 12-15-2005 at 08:57 PM
Lost missions may be real, but there is no treasure! You will get academicanarchist all worked up with lost mission treasure talk! So many of Baja's
missions have been damaged by treasure hunters in the past. The padres had a hard enough time just trying to grow food and keep from getting killed by
the angry natives!
The mountains south of Matomi Wash are called Santa Isabel (as was a water hole near the coast this way on the 1757 Jesuit map)... Choral Pepper
theorized this region was the logical place of the secret 'lost mission' of Santa Isabel. Choral, Erle Stanley Gardner and many others have searched
for it... it is still 'lost'!
A better search would be for the lost Santa Clara mission, which actually is shown on the 1757 map, north of Punta Abreojos and west of San Ignacio as
a mission 'started' called San Juan Bautista in the Sierra Santa Clara.
My searches are for Santa Maria Magdalena, south of L.A. Bay... or whatever the ruins are of that Gardner and others found in 1966.
[Edited on 12-16-2005 by David K]bugdude - 12-15-2005 at 08:57 PM
David K:
Really enjoyed your 'Exotic Canyons of Baja' link above. Awesome habitat and ecology.
Any chance you have photos/GPS for any sand dunes?
Gracias. Saludos al Baja Angel.David K - 12-15-2005 at 09:00 PM
Some beautiful sand dunes are just north of the Eagle Monument , and just west of the highway, north of the airport road (Guerrero Negro).David K - 12-15-2005 at 09:05 PM
Thanks Lou for posting!
That arch looks like the time portal on an old episode of Star Trek!
David K:
bugdude - 12-15-2005 at 09:07 PM
Yes, I am familiar with those, Dunas de Soledad I think they are called, just north of Guerrero Negro.
I study sand dune ecology, and have found a few spots in the Baja Almanac, but I'm sure there must be a few "hidden" dune fields I am unaware of. You
guys get around pretty extensively and thought you might have run across something.
Thanks again.
[Edited on 11/12/2005 by bugdude]ArvadaGeorge - 12-15-2005 at 09:12 PM
There is treasure.It's in the looking.
Your real treasue in life is the love of the looking-not in the findingArvadaGeorge - 12-15-2005 at 09:17 PM
There are some sand dunes North of San Felipe by Laguna Saladabugdude - 12-15-2005 at 09:38 PM
Thanks.
"My sense of God is my sense of wonder about the Universe. "
Albert Einstein
[Edited on 11/12/2005 by bugdude]David K - 12-15-2005 at 11:22 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by ArvadaGeorge
There is treasure.It's in the looking.
Your real treasue in life is the love of the looking-not in the finding
YES, YES!! That is my feelings exactly! Take only photographs!
Can you tell me where these mission visita tombs are located? They are really 'out there' in bushwacking, 4WD country... Quite a find! (photo from
bajataco, I went there in '03).
[Edited on 12-16-2005 by David K]bajalou - 12-16-2005 at 07:37 PM
I have seen them hauling (I guess the same stuff) from a mine about a mile or so north of Zoo road at about 10 miles west of Hghy 5. When Tuaneater
was prerunning for the 1000, saw several 10 wheelers and a couple 18 wheelers going up and down the road. Later I saw one of the 18 wheelers at the
local ready mix plant. If it's the same stuff, it's a lot closer than Puertecitos to TJ. Might not be a large enough deposit to make it worthwhile.
Mines
mcgyver - 12-16-2005 at 09:13 PM
Lou, From my Mexican gold mining experince I beleive you have to have a mining claim on that kind of material, there are claim markers near the area
so your area could be a claim too. Mexican mining claim markers are required to be 4' X 3' X 3 solid concrete with name of mine,size, serial # and map
emblossed on them. No mistaking them! All minerals belong to the goverment but you can "Claim" them, they call it a "Denounanceation" (sp)bajalou - 12-17-2005 at 08:43 AM
Don't remember any claim markers in that area - altho there could be some. This material had been mined at some time in the past and it apears a
limited renewal of the operation. Maybe go look tomorrow.
Mine
mcgyver - 12-17-2005 at 08:59 AM
Lou, Don't breath the dust, it contains asbestos, a lot, the short particiles, the ones that give you asbestois and COPD, I know I have COPD (BAD).
Less than 1 hour exposure to fine dust can disable you !
