BajaNomad

Do you know where is the end of the pavemented in "Puertecitos-Chapala"? road

albertoosuna - 6-24-2010 at 06:55 AM

I need to know because my wife and me are planning a trip from mexicali to La paz in my truck

David K - 6-24-2010 at 07:34 AM

EL HUERFANITO (just a bit south of it).

New graded roadbed goes for about 5 more miles, then the remaining 20 miles to Gonzaga are on the rough older roadbed.



Photo by Wayno (bbbait) from last March.



Photo by steekers from last April... that's El Huerfanito island.

Perhaps in the following 2 months, more was added?



[Edited on 6-24-2010 by David K]

Curt63 - 6-24-2010 at 11:49 AM

June 2009





Nice Steekers

SEPT. 2008

David K - 6-24-2010 at 06:58 PM





The oldest visible road south is on the left (1960-ish), the next graded road is on the right (1986), and the new paved road is headed even closer to the mountains... further to the right. The first auto road was built by Arturo Grosso around 1957 to win a contest by the governor of Baja California. Grosso (owner of Rancho Laguna Chapala) was the older brother of Mama Espinoza of El Rosario.





[Edited on 6-25-2010 by David K]

bonanza bucko - 6-24-2010 at 07:33 PM

We drove up to San Diego from Gonzaga Bay last Sunday. As David has said the pavement ends at Huerfanito. Then there are about 7 miles of nicely graded construction road and then 21 miles of That Old Road left.

But....That Road is WORSE than it has been in years. Somebody said there was a Baja 1000 style race on it last month. I don't know. But I do know that it's lot worse than it was when we drove out of there in mid April. The stretch from about Las Encantadas, 5 miles North of Punta Bufeo, was a decent washboard. Now it's got gullies in it that prevent you from getting "on top" of the washboard.....not a nice ride. You can get off to the side on "God's Road" that is in the sand and which hasn't been screwed up by the hand of man...and the Mexican road grader once upon a time. But that sand road prevents any speed that its smoothness would allow by ending in cliffs and big rocks here and there that will kill you if you don't see them in time.

There are still about five places in draws and on hills where you will need to go under 5 MPH to keep from wrecking your truck....sharp rocks, boulders and stair steps to climb. Until recently I would have said that you could take a well hung sedan through them but that isn't so any more. I don't think there is a car....non truck...that would make it. I also think that there isn't a trailer made that would get through those 21 miles without the need for about five stops for spare parts.

I am old and crusty enough to think, however, to think that we will sorely miss That Old Road when it's gone. We will sit and talk around a fire and/or over a cerveza about how bad and delightful it was/is. I already look for the spot where the Ray Grove memorial cross made of sticks sat at the top of the Tres Marias.....Ole Ray is still there but his ghost is down in the canyon and up above the road about 50 feet where the new road has cut through the mountain.

BTW....the paved road ain't all that safe....lotsa fallen rocks..some of which are pretty big. It was bad enough on Sunday for there to be road guy in a car parked in front of one spot with his flashers on......but if you came around a curve too fast you would have hit him..and the rocks. Be Awake!

BB :-)+:-(

redhilltown - 7-3-2010 at 11:14 PM

I'm with Bonanza on this one: I'm gonna miss that road! The only reassuring thought is that (soon?) a hurricane is going to come up the Cortez coast and chew up the road between San Felipe and Puertecitos again as it has before...the new road they are building is top notch but the other stretch is not. It will be SO Baja to have a potholed, ripped up road for 90 minutes and then suddenly a beautiful stretch of pavement in the (relative) middle of nowhere!

Desertbull - 7-6-2010 at 11:49 AM

The SF to Puertecitos current road is NOT going to connect to the new Puertecitos-Gonzaga highway, it's gonna be a new road from before the Arches in SF where it turns towards town and the new road will go straight into the desert instead of turning into town. It will be a new road similar to the P to G road, raised 25 feet, road base, etc...the old SF-P road will always be there for us to drive on, potholed and all.

when it's all done, whenever that will be, Mexicali to Chapala Hwy 1 intersection will be 3.5 hours...goodbye to the Pacific side.

yes, optimal question is WHEN?

the later the better...
Quote:
Originally posted by redhilltown
I'm with Bonanza on this one: I'm gonna miss that road! The only reassuring thought is that (soon?) a hurricane is going to come up the Cortez coast and chew up the road between San Felipe and Puertecitos again as it has before...the new road they are building is top notch but the other stretch is not. It will be SO Baja to have a potholed, ripped up road for 90 minutes and then suddenly a beautiful stretch of pavement in the (relative) middle of nowhere!

Desertbull - 7-6-2010 at 11:52 AM

I saw a guy pulling in to Alfonsina's on Sunday morning that drove his 30 foot motorhome from San Felipe to Gonzaga/Alfonsina's. He arrived at 6:00 am and the kids poured out of the motorhome, he dropped them off and drove back to the Pemex to fill her up! Was the craziest thing I've seen in a while.

I'm talking a Class A 30 foot motorhome! Duals on the back and on...imagine what the cabinets look like after that ride! I'm guessing he drove from SF all night long and arrived at 6am. Better to do it at night when he didn't have to see what he was driving on...lol

Crazy!

Quote:
Originally posted by bonanza bucko
We drove up to San Diego from Gonzaga Bay last Sunday. As David has said the pavement ends at Huerfanito. Then there are about 7 miles of nicely graded construction road and then 21 miles of That Old Road left.

But....That Road is WORSE than it has been in years. Somebody said there was a Baja 1000 style race on it last month. I don't know. But I do know that it's lot worse than it was when we drove out of there in mid April. The stretch from about Las Encantadas, 5 miles North of Punta Bufeo, was a decent washboard. Now it's got gullies in it that prevent you from getting "on top" of the washboard.....not a nice ride. You can get off to the side on "God's Road" that is in the sand and which hasn't been screwed up by the hand of man...and the Mexican road grader once upon a time. But that sand road prevents any speed that its smoothness would allow by ending in cliffs and big rocks here and there that will kill you if you don't see them in time.

There are still about five places in draws and on hills where you will need to go under 5 MPH to keep from wrecking your truck....sharp rocks, boulders and stair steps to climb. Until recently I would have said that you could take a well hung sedan through them but that isn't so any more. I don't think there is a car....non truck...that would make it. I also think that there isn't a trailer made that would get through those 21 miles without the need for about five stops for spare parts.

I am old and crusty enough to think, however, to think that we will sorely miss That Old Road when it's gone. We will sit and talk around a fire and/or over a cerveza about how bad and delightful it was/is. I already look for the spot where the Ray Grove memorial cross made of sticks sat at the top of the Tres Marias.....Ole Ray is still there but his ghost is down in the canyon and up above the road about 50 feet where the new road has cut through the mountain.

BTW....the paved road ain't all that safe....lotsa fallen rocks..some of which are pretty big. It was bad enough on Sunday for there to be road guy in a car parked in front of one spot with his flashers on......but if you came around a curve too fast you would have hit him..and the rocks. Be Awake!

BB :-)+:-(

SFLowTide - 7-6-2010 at 12:04 PM

Does anyybody have an idea where along the Puertecitos-Gonzaga road they (currently) plan to make the connection with Mex. HWY 5? Maybe run by the airport, but then where???

redhilltown - 7-6-2010 at 04:48 PM

wow! that is amazing news desertbull...I had no idea the plans were that grand. ok, forget the hurricane scenario but in its place you can rest assured: they'll run out of money!

Desertbull - 7-6-2010 at 07:04 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by redhilltown
wow! that is amazing news desertbull...I had no idea the plans were that grand. ok, forget the hurricane scenario but in its place you can rest assured: they'll run out of money!


I agree, I'm amazed of the progress they have so far, I figured long ago they couldn't get through the mountains but they did one hell of a great job I'll give them that.

Marc - 7-21-2010 at 08:16 PM

I drove "that road" in an '07 Tundra 4X4. We deflated the tires 30% and took it easy. We rattled the bumper grill until it broke and managed to put a huge dent in the skid plate. This was August 2008. We stopped to help a local in a chevy van with a shattered front suspension. While we were trying to figure out how to make a fix some more locals stopped and affected an amazing jury-rig that got the guy going. You do what you have to do! That's Baja.:cool: