Anyone know the conditions of the road from San Felipe to Gonzaga (how far is the road paved?), and then across the lake bed at Laguna Chapalla as a
route to go south to LA Bay and beyond? Might be a good alternative route for those who want to head down pretty quick!David K - 1-23-2010 at 06:14 AM
The road is paved to about 14 miles from Puertecitos... then some new roadbed... then the same really rough stuff to Gonzaga Bay where the ramaining
37 miles to Chapala is a better graded road.motoged - 1-23-2010 at 10:11 AM
Recent rain had reportedly left the Chapala junction inder 3 feet of water....likely passable by now....but rain and run-off has likely altered "road
surface " conditions somewhat.... cuidadoDianaT - 1-23-2010 at 12:24 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by motoged
Recent rain had reportedly left the Chapala junction inder 3 feet of water....likely passable by now....but rain and run-off has likely altered "road
surface " conditions somewhat.... cuidado
Look forward to if someone goes that way. Even before the storm, we were considering heading out that way again---look forward to a current road
report.
Also, did it rain on the Cortez side and if so, what about the road From Gonzaga north?
San Felipe-Laguna Chapala Detour (1-23-10)
David K - 1-23-2010 at 11:26 PM
THIS IS OFF THE BAJA NEWS FORUM on Nomad, for anyone who missed it there, and is wondering about using Hwy. 5 to go south or north while the bridges
are washed out between Ensenada and El Rosario:
Just did the detour route off 1 to San Felipe today. Started off in Loreto heading north this morning and just made it to San Felipe tonight.
Approaching Guerrero Negro there were some vados with running water over them. Nothing major. Then close to Vizcaino a long, deep wash. Looks like the
whole town turned out to watch the brave (or stupid) made the crossing. We made it ok, but that was just the beginning. Had to cross 2 more raging
washes. Finally I had to take care of some "business" and I happened to be at the turn off for San Felipe. Just then a pick-up was coming south from
Cataviņa. He was headed back to Guerrero Negro, but I told him the washes were running hard and getting deeper. He said he watched the last one we
crossed for 3 hours the day before and decided to head back to Cataviņa for the night. As we were talking a police truck was heading towards us from
San Felipe direction. We asked how the road was and they said it should be good except for a real ugly part just down the road from us. So we chanced
it.
Just 5 mins down the road a good 30' of road was gone, washed out. Some guys were trying to make it work throwing tires and filling them in to make
the transition from road to washed out section and back up easier to do. I was the last of about 5 trucks to make it through. It was pretty hairy.
The good news is that it was pretty straight forward from there, except for a wash or two (or three) filled with rutted and loose sand. 4X4 wasn't a
requirement because I followed a Ford F-150 4X2 that made it and he followed a Toyota Tacoma lowboy 4X2!! I had to congratulate that guy after he made
that big jump. Not so sure he's in alignment now, though. But at least he's moving in the direction he needed to go. I have a Toyota Tundra 4X4.
3-4 days in Cataviņa with the possibility of another storm moving in within a few days was not something I wanted to do. Thankfully it worked out. An
added bonus was that the new pavement south of Puertecitos started WAY earlier that I expected! It was a beautiful sight to see! Fresh new blacktop
around 8-12 miles south of Puertecitos. Can't wait til they make it all the way to 1!
However, since it was my first trip on 5 I didn't understand how serious they were when they said "ZONA DE VADOS". I bottomed out pretty good on the
first one going about 60. Then the second one surprised me, too. By the third one I was almost sliding sideways into it trying to slow down. Lesson
learned.
Our hearts go out to all those stuck or otherwise inconvenienced. Be careful out there.
