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Gonzaga Road

Edguero - 3-26-2010 at 12:39 PM

I just got word that construction on the new road has started again, they have grated about 10 miles from Huerfenitos (sp?). I was informed that it is only about an hours worth of the old "bad" road to Rancho Grande. The desert is in full bloom from all the rain, hope it still is in a couple of weeks!

David K - 3-26-2010 at 02:40 PM

Bummer! :barf:

Thanks for the news...

(EL HUERFANITO)

capt. mike - 3-26-2010 at 03:01 PM

what??!!!!
come on...bring on the CONDOS man!!

:lol:

i'd go to Gonzaga more often if they had a blockbuster outlet.

tripledigitken - 3-26-2010 at 03:06 PM

What is the rumor as to plans for continuing the pavement on to Mex 1/Chapala?

Ken

woody with a view - 3-26-2010 at 03:06 PM

or an Applebee's!

David K - 3-26-2010 at 04:13 PM

Oh boy, Applebees at Gonzaga Bay! :lol:

Ken, according to what Coco was told, the new highway will NOT pass his place

It will take a slighly more west route to cut the distance a tiny bit (and hurt Coco's business)... It will follow the much older road that was built by Arturo Grosso (Mama Espinoza's brother) of Laguna Chapala in the 1950's... and also happens to be where the El Camino Real is... about a mile west of Coco's.

Coco was so looking forward to the paving of the road in front of his Corner, naturally! Hopefully, we Baja enthusiasts will detour off the new highway there, and visit Coco.

tripledigitken - 3-26-2010 at 04:17 PM

DK,

You have watched the new road being constructed, at the same rate when would you estimate it would be complete to Mex 1?

Ken

David K - 3-26-2010 at 04:29 PM

Ken, I am surprised they got to Huerfanito so fast! They took a year and a half + to go 18 miles over tough terrain... It is easier the rest of the way to Gonzaga with just one ridge at Okie's Landing to deal with... and the hill between Papa's road and Rancho Grande.

Pavement ended 2 miles south of the Puertecitos jcn. in Sept. 2008... It was about 4 miles south on Jan. 1, 2009... (my last time over it) and Nomads like bbbait (Wayno) have been providing photos and reports since then.

Puertecitos to Gonzaga is about 45 miles, with Huerfanito about 20 miles from Puertecitos. At their rate, with easier terrain than the volcanic ridges north of Huerfanito, Gonzaga could be reached in one year... ???

Gonzaga to Laguna Chapala is 36 miles +/- with a lot of mountain work between Coco's area and Hwy. 1... Maybe 2 years for that part?

It's all a guess... but seems the bliss of a peaceful Gonzaga Bay is coming to an end. :wow:

Bajahowodd - 3-26-2010 at 04:31 PM

Grated road? Seems to go more with Olive Garden than Applebee's. :lol:

capt. mike - 3-27-2010 at 06:35 AM

i think it would be good if the Mexican equivalent of 7-11 or circle K, OXXO began springing up along those new improved highway areas.

cj5orion - 3-27-2010 at 07:00 AM

Just a word of 'caution' here about the 'new' construction.
When they stopped work a few months ago,,,it was because of contract problems.As per said contract,the road is to be built 5 more miles from where it currently stops,by contractor "a".contractor "b" was/is supposed to be coming from the south.
Now,,,as we all know,,,contractor "b" never started !
So,,,contractor "a" is POSSIBLY just finishing their initial contract ?
ooooorrrrr,,,,they've picked up "b's" contract ?
So,,,,,before everybody gets their skirts aflyin ! Its possible "a" is just finishing their final few miles ?
David K is correct about the" proposed" route though.

Pacifico - 3-27-2010 at 08:11 AM

Bummer for Coco if the road doesn't go past his place.....However, I think that is part of what makes Coco's place special is that it is all dirt to get there. It wouldn't be such a special stop (other than to see Coco) if it was sitting on a paved road. Just my opinion......

capt. mike - 3-27-2010 at 08:40 AM

or....he could open up an OXXO... :biggrin:

TMW - 3-27-2010 at 09:15 AM

You're all wrong there will be a McDonalds first. I think I'll call them for the franchise rights Monday. Big Macs for all, at a price. Maybe a KFC too.

ArvadaGeorge - 3-27-2010 at 11:03 AM

I like KFC especially the ones linked with A&W-- KFC with a frosty mug of A&W would be nice

bonanza bucko - 3-27-2010 at 12:11 PM

We're at Alfonsina's now..drove the road last Sunday. There are 19.5 miles of pavement and then about 7 miles of graded dirt south of Puertecitos. Then about 21 miles of That Road from the good ole days. I'll take you about 1 + 15 from Puertecitos to GB if you know how to drive washboard. Longer if you don't.

Still no word or work on the 37 miles to Mex One from here.

Hope it takes forever.
BB

desertcpl - 3-27-2010 at 06:52 PM

bonanza bucko

after all these years,, tell how you travel the wash board road,, I have always heard some thing like 5 or 30 or something like that,,

bonanza bucko - 3-27-2010 at 07:33 PM

That's true....you can go 10 MPH and be "down in it" and shake your rig and your butt apart or you can be "on top" at about 30-40 MPH and save both of those important things.

Problema is that you gotta know the road so you don't hit a bunch of big rocks or a berm where there has been a washout below an old cement fill or the like at those speeds. You REALLY need to go through them at about 5-10 MPH.

On That Road now there are about ten places where you gotta go slow....up some really bad draws and over some really sharp rocks....used to be about twenty of them.

You also gotta know where you need to slow down to prevent sliding to the side and off the road in sand or loose gravel if you're going too fast around a curve.

Bottom line, you pretty much have to know the road and then you need to really pay attention. Driving that road means NEVER looking at the scenery and seeing EVERY big rock and bad spot long before you get to it. If you wanna see the sights get a burro or travel at burro speeds...that's fun too.

You also need good tires....BFG TAs or equivalent with three ply side walls. The side walls are what get shredded by the sharp rocks. You also need to let the air outa your tires to absorb some of the shock to save your rig...don't expect the shocks and coil over springs to do it all......I use about 29 pounds depending on my load. Other guys use more or less than that....experiment.

If you are towing a trailer with a boat or camper on it expect everything towed to fall apart before you get to where you're going.....trailers don't ever make it unless you take all day and then stop to fix stuff that shakes apart.

We also are gonna have to get used the the fancy pavement. It goes through the old Tres Marias where the road is built on and under some very unstable cinder mountains. That road was covered with fallen rocks...some of them pretty big...last week. If you drive it anytime you are gonna have to be awake...you ain't on Interstate 5. I also think that the next moderate earth quake is gonna take part of the new paved road down into the sea where God probably thinks it belongs.

Hope that helps.

BB

capt. mike - 3-28-2010 at 06:50 AM

wow...no wonder you prefer to go in your bo Bruce!!

what a pain in the arse...unless you are in a trophy truck w/ 3' of wheel travel!

wilderone - 3-28-2010 at 07:49 AM

Keep in mind that after the new paved road is done, it will be subject to deterioration and it will be pot-holed and start breaking apart in a few years. It won't be on the list of roads to be maintained on any priority basis after weather events such as floods washing out parts of the road, roack slides, etc. So there's hope!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As to the skills required for speeding over washboard at 40 mph - I have assisted in a rollover where the truck skittered around a corner going too fast. If you don't know the hazards, don't increase your risks with speed.

DianaT - 3-28-2010 at 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by wilderone
Keep in mind that after the new paved road is done, it will be subject to deterioration and it will be pot-holed and start breaking apart in a few years. It won't be on the list of roads to be maintained on any priority basis after weather events such as floods washing out parts of the road, roack slides, etc. So there's hope!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wonder about this one. I do remember what happened to the pavement south of San Felipe many years ago---a real mess. And they have not completed the paving of the road from Vizcaino to Tortugas and some of it is really a mess---not just pot holes, but torn up badly and side dirt roads are being created.

When they complete this out to Highway 1, it could become a well used commercial road and that might mean more maintenance. Maybe, or maybe not. Does not take long for the "new" roads to fall apart.

David K - 3-28-2010 at 03:59 PM

The quality of the newer paved road jobs in Baja seem greatly improved over the past! Much wider roads and better paving machinery used... hopefully over better road beds... Nothing worse than a pot holed paved road... much better to leave it dirt.

The difference can be seen between the road north of Puertecitos (old style), and the road south of Puertecitos (new style).

DianaT - 3-28-2010 at 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
The quality of the newer paved road jobs in Baja seem greatly improved over the past! Much wider roads and better paving machinery used... hopefully over better road beds... Nothing worse than a pot holed paved road... much better to leave it dirt.

The difference can be seen between the road north of Puertecitos (old style), and the road south of Puertecitos (new style).

That may be true in the area of Baja you frequent, but it seems to be different elsewhere. For instance, parts of the Tortugas road that are older are in better shape than the newer parts. The quality over the salt flats varies from one to the other---some, ok, some pot holed and some disappearing and age seems to not be the deciding factor.

As some of our local friends are complaining about the condition of that road, they tell us that it all depends on who has the contract and how much they can get away with doing to save money for their own pockets. They hate it and just want a decent paved road.

We have observed the same thing on the road out to Abreojos---some older parts are better than newer parts. So it does seem to vary.

Well, since they decided to pave the Gonzaga road and are continuing forward, I do hope they maintain it for the benefit of increased commerce.

[Edited on 3-28-2010 by DianaT]

Cypress - 3-28-2010 at 04:20 PM

When they finish paving the road there'll be one more adventure to scratch off the Baja list.

David K - 3-28-2010 at 04:56 PM

Yah, the new style I have seen Diane is the few sections of Hwy. 1 north and south of El Rosario and at Bahia Concepcion... and then the new road north of San Felipe and the new road south of Puertecitos.

The road west from Vizcaino is OLD style construction, using far too little asphalt or applied on sub-standard road base (soft spots below pavement that break away making pot holes).

Seems that some road work in Baja is a way to get votes ... like their promisses, the road is too thin!

David K - 3-28-2010 at 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cypress
When they finish paving the road there'll be one more adventure to scratch off the Baja list.

Mision Santa Maria should still be prime for an adventure!

Gonzaga kind of lost it when they built the new road in the 1980's... then the Pemex station in 1998, and the hotel at Alfonsina's, and the Rancho Grande mini mart/ liquor store!

I do know that more development will come with the pavement, and that does change things. Of course the economy needs to be prosperous (like before 2008) for any positive activity for the locals... There just aren't very many locals in Gonzaga Bay... They will be coming with growth, however!

Cap - 3-29-2010 at 04:32 PM

Before we get to nostalgic for the bad road...
I would venture a guess that a new road to Gonzaga bay will bring a slightly larger audience to appreciate the area, but not the flood of disneyland tourist that we fear. It is still a pretty remote area with limited convenieces.
Bigger towns up north can't give away hotel rooms right now and the harsh baja sun will likely keep the road an a warning list for the AAA for quite some time.

Who knows maybe the pavement will bring someone to fall in love with the area and Ill get to have a cold beer with someone cool. :cool:

capt. mike - 3-29-2010 at 05:06 PM

ha!! but you're flyin' Cap!

Cap - 3-30-2010 at 09:08 AM

Yeah, even the bad sections dont look that bad from the air :biggrin:

capt. mike - 3-30-2010 at 09:10 AM

depending on your schedule try and meet up with us april for the NORRA party.
if no rooms at BOLA we'll hop to PSFO for a night.

Desertbull - 3-30-2010 at 10:28 AM

you mean underwear city at PSF...

capt. mike - 3-30-2010 at 10:34 AM

yeah....that's what i like about layers.

Natalie Ann - 3-30-2010 at 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cap
Who knows maybe the pavement will bring someone to fall in love with the area and Ill get to have a cold beer with someone cool. :cool:

Perhaps.... but you don't need pavement to have a beer with someone cool, amigo.
I'll buy ya a beer at Alfonsina's any time you want.

nena