BajaNomad

Road from Hwy 1 Chapala to Puertecitos and San Felipe

jetboy911 - 1-24-2010 at 12:32 PM

2 days ago the road from Chapala to Puertecitos and San Felipe was closed about 2 miles from Hwy 1 in Chapala. Can anyone confirm if it is passable yet?

Estrella - 1-24-2010 at 04:39 PM

We are considering driving through San Felipe on down to Puertecitos and
continuing to Hwy 1 on our way to Mulege. So would also like to know the status of the Chapala area. We have a Toyota T100 that is fairly full of stuff and towing a small ALiner pop up trailer. Is the section between Puertecitos
and Hwy 1 doable for us? Is there gasoline available on that stretch of road? Had not considered that route but since we are sitting here far from home waiting for Hwy1 to open thought we should get educated on that option. Thanks for any advice.

David K - 1-24-2010 at 04:40 PM

San Felipe-Laguna Chapala Detour (1-23-10)



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:


BajaBB&Bugs

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posted on 1-23-2010 at 07:53 PM



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 Cataviña. 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 Cataviña 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 Cataviña 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.

David K - 1-24-2010 at 04:43 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Estrella
We are considering driving through San Felipe on down to Puertecitos and
continuing to Hwy 1 on our way to Mulege. So would also like to know the status of the Chapala area. We have a Toyota T100 that is fairly full of stuff and towing a small ALiner pop up trailer. Is the section between Puertecitos
and Hwy 1 doable for us? Is there gasoline available on that stretch of road? Had not considered that route but since we are sitting here far from home waiting for Hwy1 to open thought we should get educated on that option. Thanks for any advice.



New pavement ends about 14 miles south of Puertecitos with some new road bed after... but then you will have about 25 very rough, slow, rocky miles to Gonzaga... Then, a better graded dirt road 37 miles to Hwy. 1

Not a fun drive if you are loaded or towing... but you can get through... but you could break something or have a flat... It is BAJA, afterall!

surfer jim - 1-24-2010 at 05:37 PM

The pop up trailer is going to be a BIG problem on the unpaved section....high chance of damage even in best of times.

jetboy911 - 1-24-2010 at 09:20 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Estrella
We are considering driving through San Felipe on down to Puertecitos and
continuing to Hwy 1 on our way to Mulege. So would also like to know the status of the Chapala area. We have a Toyota T100 that is fairly full of stuff and towing a small ALiner pop up trailer. Is the section between Puertecitos
and Hwy 1 doable for us? Is there gasoline available on that stretch of road? Had not considered that route but since we are sitting here far from home waiting for Hwy1 to open thought we should get educated on that option. Thanks for any advice.



there is no gas along the route. maybe gas in chapala from the ranch or if the guy is available at the turn off to bahia de los angeles.

GC - 1-24-2010 at 09:29 PM

We had several rigs drive from GN to San Felipe today (24 JAN) via this road. We had phone calls and emails tonight that they all made it. The road was pretty rough in places but non-4wheel drive vehicles did get through. There are four more that are going to try it in the morning. It sounds as though you can get through, but don't try it if you are towing something.

David K - 1-24-2010 at 09:39 PM

Can you make it?:

Gas is at San Felipe...

Gas much of the time at Puertecitos, 55 miles south (take fork into town, off new highway).

'Maybe' gas at Gonzaga from Pemex or Rancho Grande across the road if Pemex is out, 45 miles south of Puertecitos/ 37 miles north of Chapala.

San Felipe to Hwy. 1 at Chapala is 137 miles.

Chapala south to L.A Bay Jcn. (gas from cans) is 31 miles or
Chapala north to Cataviña (gas from cans) is also 31 miles.

Chapala north to El Rosario Pemex is 107 miles or
Chapala south to Villa Jesus Maria Pemex is about 88 miles

So... San Felipe to El Rosario is 244 miles or
San Felipe to Villa Jesus Maria is 225 miles.

If you have at least a 250 to 300 mile range, you are fine with no gas at Puertecitos or Gonzaga or from cans at the usual places named above.

However, if El Rosario or Villa Jesus Maria is out, then another 25 miles to the next Pemex.

Estrella - 1-24-2010 at 10:54 PM

Thanks everyone for the great information. We quickly decided that this would not be the trip to do that drive. Will definetely keep these posts for when we will be doing it sans trailer. So we are going to head to Ensenada in the morning and attempt driving south on Tuesday morning if the road is open.

jetboy911 - 1-24-2010 at 11:02 PM

just met some people who said that it is possible to now pass on the south road from san felipe through puertocitos and gonzaga to chapala - its a tough pass through 2 miles from chapala but several cars have done it. im gonna make a go for it in the morning

There is currently no gas at the pemex or the ranch in gonzaga. you will have no gas between chapala and san felipe.

Gonzaga to San Felipe

desandmarla - 1-25-2010 at 12:00 PM

This is an email I received from someone who left Guerrero Negro yesterday and headed North to San Felipe.

As of yesterday, the road from chapala to Puertocitos was obviously doable. When we turned off hwy 1, about a mile in, there was a long line of various vehicles trying to get across a road washout. Heavy campers on trucks were stuck and requiring a winch to pull them out. Every time a vehicle finally got through, everyone had to fill the tire tracks with rocks, tires, etc to get the next one across. I’m sure it continues to dry and get compacted but its not for the faint of heart. 4x4 really increases your chances of not getting stuck although some narrow wheel base light trucks and campers on trucks made it. The drive is gorgeous but so SLOW. 5-15mph most of the way and never over 25mph. about 60 miles of dirt road (if u could call it that) to get to new pavement 11 miles S of Puertocitas. As someone else mentioned, the vados after you exit the new pavement and are approaching san felipe are very deep and cannot be taken at speed! The road from san felipe to Mexicali is 70mph American style fwy except for about 5 miles of dirt road construction plus military stop. If you cross at Mexicali get in the RIGHT lane no matter how far the backup is. It moves a 100 times faster. I got sucked into the empty left lane and wanted to scream when it never moved. You can post this if u want. let me know when u get home.

Detour Road condition to San Felipe

danm - 1-26-2010 at 11:03 AM

Can someone report on the road condition to SF. We are concerned about any washouts and the detour section along the new road construction. Thanks, Dan

BajaBB&Bugs - 1-26-2010 at 11:09 AM

danm...

Just came from San Felipe to Calexico crossing on Sunday. Road is fine. Just north of San Felipe there is some road construction, 5-10 miles of it or so. But there is an ok dirt road on the east side of main highway. No washouts. Just take it easy and you'll be fine. On the southside after that is a sweet 4 lane highway all the way into S.F.

danm - 1-26-2010 at 11:15 AM

Thanks for the info. We are coming form the San Deigo AP and thought abought crossing at Tecate. But rethinking that after hearing abought all the winter storms that are going on recently.

David K - 1-26-2010 at 01:01 PM

Go to El Centro on I-8 then south on 111 to Mexicali... lots of good signs point the route to San Felipe... the first part is to follow the street with the train tracks in the center once you cross the border... This is the fastest and cheapest way to San Felipe from San Diego, as well.