BajaNomad - REALLY STUCK IN THE LA BOCANA SALTFLATS

REALLY STUCK IN THE LA BOCANA SALTFLATS

BajaBlanca - 5-15-2011 at 05:13 PM

We had some fantastic guests a couple of weeks ago, and this is the terrible misadventure they had as they were leaving our village...

so beware of the tricky optical illusion that salt gives of being solid...it is NOT .... therefore, it is fundamental to keep way away from the lagoon between punta abreojos and la bocana. itis imperative to follow the well trodden paths only ... the ones that are closest to the power lines.

I gotta tell ya all - I panicked when I saw this .... I did not think we would ever get the camper out, but we did.

It took a bunch of people to do it - including a whole group of military guys. 4 Mexicans who came, at the end, with their cars and charged beaucoup bucks for their expertise. Les. Valentin and son. Russ and his amigo as observers. M and Blanca as cheerleaders - photographers - cooks. A day I hope will never repeat itself and that is why I post these pics:

woody with a view - 5-15-2011 at 05:22 PM

WOW! that's some sticky crud! luckily, they were near civilization. i've seen wheel tracks like that "out there" that went on for 100 yards. not my idea of an E ticket ride.....

Curt63 - 5-15-2011 at 06:36 PM

Did they get off the main road? Was this avoidable?

Ive been through the salt flats south of Campo Rene and had plenty of trouble on a 4x4 quad.

My friend is a very capable motorcycle rider and barely made throwing a 15' rooster most of the way.

Salt flats are tricky business. Good post!

wiltonh - 5-15-2011 at 07:30 PM

Last fall on our way south, we stopped at Punta Abreojos for a few days. We then drove the salt flats to La Bocana. It is a wide salt flat at low tide and there are a number of roads. People drive 50+ on the salt flat where as the raised road will shake your teeth out.

At La Bocana the big salt flat ends and there are roads that go north to Asuncion. We parked our RV at La Bocana and headed north on a motorcycle.

We ate lunch in Asuncion and then headed back south. They had just finished the new paved road from highway one and I got confused and ended up on that road instead of the road south. There was a cut across road as is normal in Baja so I took it.

We were about 100 feet from the road south when we hit mud that was covered by about 1/4 inch of dry dirt. The bike went side ways and we ended up in that salty mud. I lost skin on my arm and knee. My wife ended up with a deep bruise on the back of her leg. There was mud everywhere.

Two Mexicans saw us and stopped. It was so slick that I could not pick up the bike it just slid away from me. One of them helped me get it upright and the other got some water and washed off the mud. They offered to take us to a hospital but we declined.

We were in the track going about 10 mph when this happened. Apparently there had been a thunderstorm a few weeks back and it had left the mud. Since the sun dries the top layer, it is almost impossible to tell that there is mud underneath.

I can easily see how someone driving a camper would think that they were driving on dry ground and end up stuck.

dtbushpilot - 5-15-2011 at 08:29 PM

I was going just south of triple digit speeds through there on my excellent baja adventure with motoged. Two thoughts come to mind......"I'm glad I didn't go where they did" and "no wonder it took ged (with a broken leg) so long to catch up with me at Abreojos. :lol:

Skipjack Joe - 5-15-2011 at 09:23 PM

I went through the same experience there about 20 years ago. Walked to town to get help and got some people from abreojos with a 4wd jeep to help pull us out. We were in a VW camper. The jeep got stuck and we spent a full day trying to get them out. Evening came and our rescuers left on foot back to Abreojos. The high tide rolled in the following morning and the water came up to our transmission.

Finally a road grader from La Bocana appeared but would not venture onto the flats. By tying long ropes, end to end, they finally managed to get us out of the mud and on to dry land.

Looks so innocent out there ... until it gets wet.

dtbushpilot - 5-15-2011 at 09:40 PM

We stuck a Cessna 185 in that stuff once. Seems like the whole town showed up. We had a polaroid camera and we put kids in the seats and on the wings and took pictures of them. We gave them the pictures, what a hoot, they loved it. Anyway, the townsfolk helped us get the plane back on semi-solid ground and we were able to get back in the air......dt

shari - 5-16-2011 at 07:59 AM

great heads up Blanca! I dunno though...the plates look like they are from BC canada and those canucks will use any old excuse for a party!!! :bounce:

Another little baja tidbit...the beaches around here at low tide are vast and very inviting to drive on...hard packed...till ya hit a soft spot! It seems like you can drive 80 mph and so people do....but there are invisible soft spots and what happens is that your front tires all of a sudden dig in and if you turn the wheel even a smidgen...which people automatically do to try to avoid the soft spot...well...ya flip over...then the tide comes in and you are ....underwater....ewwww. So beware of THAT hard packed sand too and drive slow.

Mexitron - 5-16-2011 at 10:33 AM

That looks painful!

We were surfing at San jacinto years ago and a guy came to the bluff waving his arms frantically...so we paddled in and he took us to his truck---stuck in the middle of the salt flat behind the point up, mud well over the axle. After spending an hour digging around the truck we hooked up our F-150 to it---wouldn't budge...so we attached a tow strap from the F-150 to my Ford Ranger and pulled---still not moving! We had one tow strap left so we brought in the Isuzu Trooper and attached it to the Ranger---with all three trucks pulling we finally got him out of the muck, but the force tweaked his truck so much the windshield fell out.

surfdoc - 5-16-2011 at 10:37 AM

WOW.................

Met this couple... very very nice folks! Glad the Marines and you all were there to help out!!

I love the group shot on the porch!!

BTW...........what Shari said..... I now drive no faster then 30... no haven't flipped. and don't plan to! :smug:

BajaBlanca - 5-16-2011 at 10:53 AM

@curt63 = it is AVOIDABLE - the hard packed salt roads closest to the power poles and FARTHEST from the lagoon are totally safe. The problem is, all the roads look OK, but they are in fact wet, most of the time. Only the locals venture on the lagoon road - after 5 years of living here - I stay as far away as I can ....

@ shari - I laughed at loud at the "any excuse for a party !!" by canucks...he was Canadian and my heart went out to his struggle. we were there all day long - I think we got home just in time to have daylight for dinner and then the military went on their way - quite happy. Les had offered them beer but they declined.

My sister got stuck in the sand on the beach in Rosallillita 3 years ago, on the way to our wedding here in la bocana, while hunting for waves for my surfer brother. They were so stuck and it was so late that they were forced to leave the car on the beach overnight. I was not with her, but she cried all night thinking the surf was going to ruin her husband's car (it didn't). Some very kind residents put my mom, sister and brother up for the night and fed them (Mexico is pretty amazing that way). And 2 guys who had been drunk the previous night and had promised to come the next morning and pull out the truck REALLY SHOWED UP and saved the day.

None of them would accept cash.

Like I said, Mexico is pretty amazing.

[Edited on 5-18-2011 by BajaBlanca]

bajajurel - 5-18-2011 at 10:45 AM

One time when we were visiting you Blanca we almost did the same thing at night. Another time I carried 100 pounds of mud back to San Diego on the undercarriage of my Pathfinder that took two days & a pressure washer to clean off.

Beware & always carry a shovel and beer as a reward!

BajaBlanca - 5-18-2011 at 11:54 AM

@baja jurel - isn't the mud muck just thick thick thick ??!! Liek aI said - it is important to drive as far away from the lagoon as possible and you will not have much nor get stuck ...

BAJACAT - 5-18-2011 at 02:00 PM

Blanca, you are killing me, why did you post pictures of a stuck DODGE RAM, now my truck crediability is going down the drain, if you look closer at the pix , you can tell is a FORD with Dodge badges... :yes:

Thanks for the pix anyways...

Udo - 5-18-2011 at 04:24 PM

Couldn't they just have let some of the air out of the tires

Marc - 5-21-2011 at 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BAJACAT
Blanca, you are killing me, why did you post pictures of a stuck DODGE RAM, now my truck crediability is going down the drain, if you look closer at the pix , you can tell is a FORD with Dodge badges... :yes:

Thanks for the pix anyways...

Wouldn't have happened in A Toyota. Because we are smarter!! :lol:

woody with a view - 5-21-2011 at 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Udo
Couldn't they just have let some of the air out of the tires

nope. they were stuck good. this is well lubricated snot!

BajaBlanca - 5-21-2011 at 10:50 AM

trust me - a lot of air was let out and every method tried ... in the end it was an inch by inch move with raising with jacks, putting wood underneath and raising again after inches and inches at a time .....

so glad it ended perfectly with a LOT of help - some of the La Bocana helpers (who got paid some good bucks 'cause it was getting late and we needed the extra boost) are not in the photos !!

the secret is to stay as far east as possible. to not stray onto any path that is not well trod. even tho' it LOOKS like it is solid - it ain't !!

You can safely travel really fast on the east track - we call it the la bocana freeway.

see ya soon BajaJurel !!

wessongroup - 5-21-2011 at 11:04 AM

Just curious ... what is the "metal structure" on the back ? Storage ?

BajaBlanca - 5-22-2011 at 02:11 PM

storage. and it apparetnly weighed A LOT. and would have been too difficult to remove - which was one of my first suggestions.

BajaBlanca - 5-22-2011 at 02:13 PM

@ BajaCat - just be careful with you truck and this will NOT happen - be it Ford or Dodge or ??? Simple secret is to follow east of the aguas de la laguna.

David K - 5-22-2011 at 03:51 PM

Yes, there is a graded dirt road... on the 'dirt' above the high tide line... just use it! :light:

BajaBlanca - 5-23-2011 at 02:53 PM

:yes:

DianaT - 5-23-2011 at 03:28 PM

However, that graded road can be a washboard nightmare! Think that unless it has just rained, we will stick to the flats---the UPPER part of the flats that Blanca recommends ---- where we follow the current tire tracks.

comitan - 5-23-2011 at 03:38 PM

David you use it.!!! :lol:

[Edited on 5-23-2011 by comitan]

David K - 5-23-2011 at 04:56 PM

?? See Blanca's reply to BajaCat... that is what I was responding to...

comitan - 5-23-2011 at 05:13 PM

David

Yes I understand now you were right, but you better not take your Taco on that road until the last of the lease. Or your planning to go to the Dentist.

:rolleyes:

BajaBlanca - 5-24-2011 at 05:26 PM

comitan, do you know that when Les used to come to Bocana, before the road was paved, he said his eyeballs continued shaking after he arrived, 3 plus hours after leaving highway 1 and traveling on the washboard....I still get a laugh at that image....

pappy - 5-30-2011 at 08:53 AM

i remember that day mexitron. guy had just bought the truck and blew into camp looking for his pals. (who had headed north along the coast there. ) he -for some reason i'll never understand- got off the main road and headed out across the flats. a couple hours later-as you described- we set him free, popped-out windshield and all. we duct taped his windshield in place, he thanked us and off he went. to our surprise he did not go to meet his friends like we thought he would. instead, he said something like " f..k this place 'i'm never coming back"

poor guy. it was his first trip to baja in a truck he just purchased no less. hopefully he ended up having a better baja experience later on.

BajaBlanca - 5-30-2011 at 10:26 AM

pappy and mexitron - that is a sad story ... but I can understand his frustration especially if it was his FIRST and maybe last ( do you know ???) in Baja.

pappy - 6-4-2011 at 06:51 AM

Blanca- no idea if he ever returned to baja or not. i hope he eventually did and had better luck, but my guess is he never stepped a foot south of the border again.

Skipjack Joe - 6-4-2011 at 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by pappy
i remember that day mexitron. guy had just bought the truck and blew into camp looking for his pals. (who had headed north along the coast there. ) he -for some reason i'll never understand- got off the main road and headed out across the flats. a couple hours later-as you described- we set him free, popped-out windshield and all. we duct taped his windshield in place, he thanked us and off he went. to our surprise he did not go to meet his friends like we thought he would. instead, he said something like " f..k this place 'i'm never coming back"

poor guy. it was his first trip to baja in a truck he just purchased no less. hopefully he ended up having a better baja experience later on.

Experiences such as this are the essence of baja travel. If you don't enjoy them you really shouldn't go to baja.

Mulegena - 6-4-2011 at 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

Quote:

Experiences such as this are the essence of baja travel. If you don't enjoy them you really shouldn't go to baja.

Some of the maxims I live by down here:

"Baja - not for the faint of heart."
Gotta have a good sense of adventure here and willingness to meet life in the raw.

"Don't wear your party dress to Baja"
(you can wear your party hat, however, including the tin-foil variety-- there's room for that here,
but leave the high heel shoes at home)

"Pay your dues"
Those little shrines along the highway, the little Maria Houses I call 'em that are at alot of roadside rests, well I figure they're there for a reason, so acknowledge 'em at the very least and if you're so inclined leave a little offering of some kind, a peso or two or at the very least a nod of the head and kind thought to The Lady-- hey, the philosophy runs deep here in this country. Wouldn't hurt.

really REALLY stuck in the saltflats

rob - 6-4-2011 at 09:05 AM

Bajablanca - had to dust this off and post it again. This is me taking the short cut at San Evaristo. Took just about every Toyota in that part of Baja to pull out my 1-ton 7.3l supercharged Ford diesel with locking differentials . . .

The shame of it!

Avoid-short-cuts.jpg - 40kB

Sunman - 6-4-2011 at 10:37 AM

Sweet Jesus Rob!

BajaBlanca - 6-4-2011 at 12:01 PM

whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

oh my goshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

thanks for sharing ........... any others have shame shots to share ???

Skipjack Joe - 6-4-2011 at 12:58 PM

Now that guy gets a medal.

We should have rankings for baja travelers. Much like nomads. Senior. Elite. Ultra.

There should be an award ceremony with people like this being decorated. Held every 5 years.

BTW, why wasn't the trailer disengaged after he started sinking?

BajaBlanca - 6-4-2011 at 01:13 PM

well, everyone of us gets an award because we are not faint at heart and we know that no vacations here are real vacations, they are definitely ADVENTURES ....

rob - 6-5-2011 at 08:25 AM

Skipjack (re trailer disengagement) - a short answer would be - optimism!

However, after several beers, we decided that forwards was NOT an option and the trailer WAS disengaged . . . to pull Tessie out (backwards) took 4 hours and 4 Toyota trucks.

The people of San Evaristo are amazing and I drive very carefully now.

woody with a view - 6-5-2011 at 08:33 AM

pretty hairy Rob. you get the award....

Quote:

"Pay your dues"
Those little shrines along the highway, the little Maria Houses I call 'em that are at alot of roadside rests, well I figure they're there for a reason, so acknowledge 'em at the very least and if you're so inclined leave a little offering of some kind, a peso or two or at the very least a nod of the head and kind thought to The Lady-- hey, the philosophy runs deep here in this country. Wouldn't hurt.

i learned the same thing long ago! every time we pass this shrine i leave a token to the Gods......

rsz_2dsc_0009.jpg - 47kB

Mexitron - 6-5-2011 at 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view
pretty hairy Rob. you get the award....

Quote:

i learned the same thing long ago! every time we pass this shrine i leave a token to the Gods......

We do too Woody.... :cool:

BajaBlanca - 6-6-2011 at 03:22 PM

this morning there was a report on television about santa muerte or saint death.

we drove by one when we were on the mainlnad and they are scary. we were on a roll (for Les there is only one direction in a car and that is forward) so I could not go back to photograph.

at any rate, the church is not happy with this at all and condemns the whole deal. the report said that mostly drug dealers/criminals are praying to santa muerte.

msteve1014 - 6-6-2011 at 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rob
Bajablanca - had to dust this off and post it again. This is me taking the short cut at San Evaristo. Took just about every Toyota in that part of Baja to pull out my 1-ton 7.3l supercharged Ford diesel with locking differentials . . .

The shame of it!

Just like the pictures that started this thread.
When you get a big truck stuck, you are really stuck.
4000 pounds on the front axle is bad news in sand and mud. :no: