BajaNomad

hows the PEURTECITOS highway these days?

micah202 - 12-24-2011 at 11:59 PM

...last time I went down through SanFelipe,,Peurtecitos was ~25years ago,,,it was better described as sand-track,,washboard MAX,,,sand-trap,,,,,arroyo exploration,,,and single lane dirt track mountain pass IIRC....
..now that I've got a 4x4,you're going to tell me it's completely paved,,,or is it still an adventure??

,,,what's the km it meets the Hwy1 again??

...what are the 'must-see's of the route???

[Edited on 12-25-2011 by micah202]

[Edited on 12-25-2011 by micah202]

100% paved

mcfez - 12-25-2011 at 08:01 AM

and further another 15 more or less miles. The road is being re engineered...and properly paved.

bonanza bucko - 12-25-2011 at 09:29 AM

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

But here's the truth about THAT ROAD.....the rumors that it has been paved and/or graded are lies, lies lies!:

From San Felipe to Puertecitos you have a road that was paved in about 1923 with a used oii can. It has pot holes about every two feet and more vados than Japan after the tsunami.

After paying the toll/tribute to that mean old broad who runs Puertecitos behind the locked gate there you have to climb a stair step hill with sharp rocks awaiting your side walls and boulders where the stair step rocks end. Then you got about ten miles of four inch deep washboard with occasional boulders and razor rocks until you get to the Tres Marias.

There's a shrine at the bottom of each one where you make your peace with your maker and ask to be allowed up and down the next one without getting killed. At the top of the middle one is an old cross made out of ocotillo spikes and pine boards with a hat on top of it...a sign scrawled there says "RIP Ray Grove." If you stop and look over the cliff you'll see his rig at the bottom down there about 1000 feet. They found his bones in it one spring morning in about 1973. In his skeletal hands was an empty bottle of Jim Beam and he had a smile on his face.

Then, after surviving the Tres Marias and starting at el Huerfanito, you will pass through draws and slides covered with rocks that prevent easy passage even by 4X4. Sometimes there will be washouts which require you to build your own bridge with local rocks. There is a scarecrow in one of the middle draws that is intended to warn you of things to come.

Next there's a stretch to Oakie's Landing where you can drive about 15 MPH...speeding....and after that the road gets really bad past Snob Hill (Las Encantadas) and Punta Bufeo. If you think you have seen the worst you will find you're wrong when you get to the draw at el Faro and up the hill to Papa Fernandez and the down it again to the last stretch before Alfonsina's and Rancho Grande. There are some Mexican soldiers at a check point there who have almost nothing to do because not even pot smugglers ever try this trip....the soldiers have their own volleyball and soccer fields to pass the time. Most are 18 year old kids from someplace in the Yucatan but their automatic weapons are generally safe.

There are chupacabras hiding in all the canyons along the route that have not seen a goat from which to suck the blood for years and years so they have evolved a horrendous thirst for beer/cerveza. Any Gringo who stops to take a leak will almost always be attacked and all his cerveza stolen. There are also unemployed Bandidos keeping the chupacabras company. Up in those draws they are waxing their mustachios and polishing their pistolas and dreaming of the day when a Cadillac full of drunk Gringos stops anywhere in sight so they can stick them up. They spend a lot of time stealing cerveza from the chupacabras and singing Coo coo coo coo ru la paloma in the moonlight....very nice.

The entire trip...if you make it...from San Felipe to Alfonsina's turn off will take you north of a day and a half. You will have to sleep in your rig at about Snob Hill with the doors locked as a defense against the Bandidos and chupacabras and I wouldn't even get up to take a leak against a rock during the night.

If you make it to Alfonsina's you will find the place infested with old expat Gringo Bush Pilots (sometimes known as "Zopilote Mojados") and pescaderos who haven't had a bath nor seen a decent human female in about ten years. They are, however, generally harmless unless misunderstood; they will not rob you or harm you if you ignore their obvious carbuncles.

I am an expert of this dismal place having lived here for about 35 years. I am among only a few who try to read and write in either Spanish or Spanglish and I attempt to take a salt water bath after two or three fishing trips. I also have the best warm cerveza supply on the beach which I will share with anyone who can carry on a lucid and sober conversation of more than 30 seconds....nobody else here can do that.

Happy New Year.

BB :-)

micah202 - 12-25-2011 at 09:43 AM

....heh,Bucko,,,sounds like you're describing my 'trip' 24 years ago:O

...or discourage ANYONE from taking the route

....so whut's the truth?????:fire:

bonanza bucko - 12-25-2011 at 09:46 AM

Micah:
That's the way it was the last time I drove it. Honest!
BB

Pescador - 12-25-2011 at 10:04 AM

I think that must have been you Bucko that I saw on my last trip through there.

I had a friend from Colorado who had heard all the stories about paving the whole stretch so he came through there with a new slide in camper in the back of his pickup. He did make it out with the pickup and I am sure there are some RV parts back in there somewhere.

David K - 12-25-2011 at 10:32 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by micah202
...last time I went down through SanFelipe,,Peurtecitos was ~25years ago,,,it was better described as sand-track,,washboard MAX,,,sand-trap,,,,,arroyo exploration,,,and single lane dirt track mountain pass IIRC....
..now that I've got a 4x4,you're going to tell me it's completely paved,,,or is it still an adventure??

,,,what's the km it meets the Hwy1 again??*

...what are the 'must-see's of the route???



*Km. 233 (Laguna Chapala)

Lots of sites.. here's a couple...

On the old road south of San Felipe: The sulfur mine (23 miles south).

Off the new road: Shell Island (Km. 26), unless it's a lunar high tide... then you will see why I call it an island!

Hot Spring in the sand during extreme low tide, El Coloradito (Km. 49).

Hot springs at Puertecitos, Km. 74 side road.

Many sites inland along the Sierra San Pedro Martir... canyons, hot springs, cool streams, palms, petroglyphs...

Here is a road log from almost 6 months ago:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HWY. 5: San Felipe to Chapala (Hwy. 1), July 2011



The following road log was made on the July 4th weekend, 2011.

MILE / KM. Marker

0.0 San Felipe (Traffic Circle by Pemex stations, south turn)

0.8 Pemex station and market on south side of town

6.0 Left Turn off Airport Road, Km. 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(add 6.0 miles to following for distance from traffic circle)

The next 45 miles are well paved, but many short, steep and unmarked dips will require reduced speed to avoid damage.

0.0 / Km. 0 Airport Road/ Puertecitos Road Jcn.

12.5 / Km. 20-21 Rancho Percebu Road

15.7 / Km. 26+ Shell Island Road

18.6 / Km. 31 Bahia Santa Maria Road

19.3 / Km. 32+ Nuevo Mazatlan Road

21.5 / Km. 35.5 Colonia Delicias (markets/ restaurants)

29.6 / Km. 49 El Coloradito Road

32.8 / Km. 54 Campo Cristina Road

35.4 / Km. 58.5 Los Olivos Road

36.1 / Km. 60 Arroyo Matomi

36.3 Rancho San Rafael (well)

43.4 / Km. 72 Playa Destiny

44.9 / Km. 74+ PUERTECITOS (paved) Road
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The newest paved additions to Hwy. 5 are well engineered, wide and are designed and signed for high speed. However, frequent rock slides onto pavement require caution.

0.0 / Km. 74+ Puertecitos Road

5.0 / Km. 83 Bahia Cristina

6.1 / Km. 84.5 La Costilla

7.2 mine road

16.4 El Huerfanito Road

18.9 Bridge at previous end of pavement (July 2010)

20.1 / Km. 311 Change of Km. markers, distance from Mexicali

23.6 / Km. 317

24.1 / Km. 318 END OF PAVED DRIVE, detour onto older road, regraded smooth. Pavement ends just ahead on new roadbed.

25.5 Okie Landing site.

32.0 END OF NEW ROAD CONSTRUCTION and end of smooth dirt detour on older road.

32.4 Campo Delfines Road

35.6 Las Encantadas Road

37.7 Punta Bufeo Road

42.4 Papa Fernandez' Road, roadbed south of here is better/ faster.

43.6 Miltary Checkpoint

45.0 GONZAGA BAY PEMEX/ ALFONSINA'S ROAD/ RANCHO GRANDE MARKET (Pemex closed from 2-4 pm for siesta)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

0.0 Gonzaga Bay Pemex

1.2 Campo Beluga (2.0 mi.) and El Sacrificio (4.2 mi.) Road

7.1 Las Palmitas Oasis (4.7 mi.) and Santa Maria Canyon (4.0 mi.) Road, right.

14.4 First Boojum Trees on Hwy. 5.

14.6 La Turquesa Canyon Road, right.

18.4 Las Arrastras (site) Road, right.

22.1 Coco's Corner (Puerto Calamajue and Mision Calamajue road left).

34.8 Hwy. 1, Laguna Chapala (Cataviņa is 33 miles north).

(photos in trip report ('Freaky Fourth') of July, 2011)

micah202 - 12-25-2011 at 10:49 AM

..that's useful,,thanks.

...sounds like some aspects HAVE improved over the decades,,,
,,,still a decent adventure.

...might have to 'take my time',,but isn't that why we go to Baja?!?!?

...any further description of highlights,anyone??


[Edited on 12-25-2011 by micah202]

[Edited on 12-25-2011 by micah202]

David K - 12-25-2011 at 10:52 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by micah202
..that's useful,,thanks.

...sounds like some aspects HAVE improved over the decades,,,
,,,still a decent adventure.

...might have to 'take my time',,but isn't that why we go to Baja?!?!?

...any further description of highlights??


Yup... just search Nomad (search button top of each page)... or see many in my web site: http://VivaBaja.com

micah202 - 12-25-2011 at 11:07 AM

......looked at your blog,,,seems like a good way to extend coastal-time compared to hwy1,,,glad to see they've got Pemex on that route now!!

BornFisher - 12-25-2011 at 11:08 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bonanza bucko
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

But here's the truth about THAT ROAD.....the rumors that it has been paved and/or graded are lies, lies lies!:

There are chupacabras hiding in all the canyons along the route that have not seen a goat from which to suck the blood for years and years so they have evolved a horrendous thirst for beer/cerveza. Any Gringo who stops to take a leak will almost always be attacked and all his cerveza stolen. There are also unemployed Bandidos keeping the chupacabras company. Up in those draws they are waxing their mustachios and polishing their pistolas and dreaming of the day when a Cadillac full of drunk Gringos stops anywhere in sight so they can stick them up. They spend a lot of time stealing cerveza from the chupacabras and singing Coo coo coo coo ru la paloma in the moonlight....very nice.


Happy New Year.

BB :-)


Classic--- but you forgot to mention all the chupacabras got iphones for Christmas and are now on Facebook to co-ordinate their cerveza raids!

David K - 12-25-2011 at 12:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by micah202
......looked at your blog,,,seems like a good way to extend coastal-time compared to hwy1,,,glad to see they've got Pemex on that route now!!


The Pemex at Gonzaga has been there for many years... It was built in 1998/9 and finally opened a few years later... but closed for siesta (2-4 pm)... or when they run out.

The blog page is new, made to how the most recent photos (2011)... other trips ar listed further down the home page http://vivabaja.com below several links to sites that may be of interest.

micah202 - 12-25-2011 at 01:02 PM

here's a link to the hotsprings thread....some VERY detailed information on the ones down the route...........can't wait!!:bounce:

http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=50517&pag...

David K - 12-25-2011 at 06:03 PM

That's a thread you started almost one year ago! Have you been to any of them since asking?

micah202 - 12-25-2011 at 06:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
That's a thread you started almost one year ago! Have you been to any of them since asking?


....got to the one up golfcourse road near ensenada last febuary,,plan to make it my first night in mexico this trip,,a great place to unwind,,,prolly the only paid campsite I'll stay at.

...this'll be my first trip with a 4x4,and no sailboat on the roof,so plan to get to a few more H'springs this time.

..thanks for all the detailed notes on that thread!!!

[Edited on 12-26-2011 by micah202]

David K - 12-26-2011 at 10:23 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by micah202
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
That's a thread you started almost one year ago! Have you been to any of them since asking?


....got to the one up golfcourse road near ensenada last febuary,,plan to make it my first night in mexico this trip,,a great place to unwind,,,prolly the only paid campsite I'll stay at.

...this'll be my first trip with a 4x4,and no sailboat on the roof,so plan to get to a few more H'springs this time.

..thanks for all the detailed notes on that thread!!!

[Edited on 12-26-2011 by micah202]


I would very much like to see your trip report when you return... Please take photos of any hot springs you can get to!

Dangers Lurking

MrBillM - 12-26-2011 at 11:03 AM

Unless I missed it, Bonanza Bucko's assessement left out the increasingly frequent ambush activities by the Mexican Al Qaeda and the numerous IEDs being planted.

micah202 - 12-26-2011 at 11:41 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Quote:
Originally posted by micah202
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
That's a thread you started almost one year ago! Have you been to any of them since asking?


....got to the one up golfcourse road near ensenada last febuary,,plan to make it my first night in mexico this trip,,a great place to unwind,,,prolly the only paid campsite I'll stay at.

...this'll be my first trip with a 4x4,and no sailboat on the roof,so plan to get to a few more H'springs this time.

..thanks for all the detailed notes on that thread!!!

[Edited on 12-26-2011 by micah202]


I would very much like to see your trip report when you return... Please take photos of any hot springs you can get to!


...shall do!

bonanza bucko - 12-26-2011 at 11:45 AM

MRBILLM:
The chupacabras y Bandidos have a union which produces all the benefits they need....don't have to join Al Queda or any other fraternal organization. Their union is a lot like a good ole Boston chowder and marching society...it exists for the fun of it.

All chupacabras y Bandidos who populate that route from Puertecitos to Gonzaga Bay are very good friends of mine. The ONLY people they ever intend to harm are Gringos who mispronounce Spanish words and make fun of Mexican food. Then they only slightly maim them...never kill them. But most of the time they just scare the %$#@ out of them.
BB :-)

micah202 - 12-26-2011 at 11:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bonanza bucko
MRBILLM:
The chupacabras y Bandidos have a union which produces all the benefits they need....don't have to join Al Queda or any other fraternal organization. Their union is a lot like a good ole Boston chowder and marching society...it exists for the fun of it.

All chupacabras y Bandidos who populate that route from Puertecitos to Gonzaga Bay are very good friends of mine. The ONLY people they ever intend to harm are Gringos who mispronounce Spanish words and make fun of Mexican food. Then they only slightly maim them...never kill them. But most of the time they just scare the %$#@ out of them.
BB :-)


..well,I'll certainly report on these,and whatever else I find:O