TWs Bajalou Memorial and Trip Report

TWs Bajalou Memorial and Trip South:

The Bajalou Memorial was an event I did not want to miss. I had been to Baja for the 1000 race and just got back when I repacked and made for El Centro on Friday Nov. 23. Up early Saturday I stopped at a Vons store for a few items then passed thru the Mexicali border and on my way to San Felipe. It was a beautiful day, warm and full of sunshine, a day Lou would truly enjoy.

I pull up to the El Dorado Ranch entrance and give them my name then down to Lou and Teina’s place. Many vehicles and most of all people were there. They were giving testimonials and folksy stories about Lou. It was a fun event like Lou would want. I met several members of the past turkey feast events that Lou and Teina had put on. After the Turkeys were done we all settle in for a great meal. Thanks go to Teina and all the volunteers who made this possible. I can’t help but believe Lou was looking down with a big smile.









After things wind down I go into San Felipe and check into my hotel and then head down to the Miramar to get ready for the big game. Notre Dame vs USC. There were two groups there each rooting for their team. I wanted ND to win and meet Alabama for the BCS title. ND did their job and this past weekend Bama did theirs, so the big game is set.

Sunday morning I head south to Coco’s then planned to run over to the coast and do a little fishing. About 5 miles from Coco’s I come upon an RV trailer pulled by a Toyota Tacoma. The man is unhooking it. I stop and ask if everything is OK and he says no. Looking at his truck the bed has been bent down leaving a V shape between the bed and cab. The frame rails have cracked and bent. I offer to tow the trailer to Coco’s and see what can be done. He says OK.



At Coco’s we look the truck over and Coco says a welder is coming in the morning and thinks he can weld the frame. Dale the truck owner thinks that the dips south of San Felipe did the damage and then the rough road did the rest. From the way my GMC sagged with the trailer hooked up I think his front end was too heavy. The next morning the welder had not shown up so Coco rides back to his neighbors’ house to see if he was there. No he’s not there. Coco, Dale and I discuss the options. Coco says the tire shop owner at Chapala and hwy 1 has a stick welder. I agree to pull the trailer there and off we go.





At the tire shop the owner says he can’t weld it because his generator is out. He also brings up the question on whether the insurance will cover a full repair if the frame rails are just patched. We need a phone and are told the restaurant down the hwy has a satellite phone so off we go. Dale calls his wife in La Paz. Dale is from Utah and is relocating to La Paz with his Mexican wife who is already there staying with her mother. He tells his wife to contact the insurance co. and see what their options are. We then decide to head for the impound/junk yard at the LA Bay turn off. There one of the men is a welder and can patch it. He also has a satellite phone and again Dale calls his wife but she has not heard from the insurance people. Again Dale and I discuss what to do and agree to move on to Guerrero Negro where he would have cell phone service, RV parks and welding options.

On the road again I notice the trailer is not level with my camper shell rear window. It’s low on the driver’s side. I pull over thinking maybe a tire problem but everything looks OK. Back down the road we go but its bugging me so at the Santa Rosalillita jct. I pull over, Dale and I check it out. It’s a tandem axle trailer and the rear spring mount is broken. Nothing is rubbing so we move on. I think it broke loose when I was turning the trailer at the impound yard. The sideways movement was all it needed.

At Guerrero Negro we stop at the Michelin tire place and they have a welder to weld the trailer spring mount and do so. Dale calls his wife again and still no word but at this point he can call the insurance place for answers. We go to the Malarrimo hotel and he gets a trailer spot for the night and an option on leaving the trailer in case he needs to go on to La Paz and return with a different truck to haul the trailer down. At this point my services are no longer needed and after goodbyes I head north.

I was planning on going to the coast to fish but the clouds were dark and being in the rain on the coastal road did not appeal to me. So up hwy 1 I go and stop for the night at Catavina and the Mission Catavina hotel or Catabina hotel depending on which sign you look at. Well I had a bit of sticker shock at the price, $97 for the room. I did get a 10% discount for my Discover Baja membership. Still pretty pricey. Room was very nice. Dinner was good and I went to bed early. The next morning I clean out my cooler and add fresh ice. Not only is the room pricey but so is the ice, 35 pesos per bag. San Felipe it was 19. But what the heck I’m in the middle of nowhere. Since I’m going off road a ways up I have two 5 gallon cans of gas dumped in truck at one of the gas trucks by the hwy. That cost $42. Gotta peso guys shows up with his endless chatter about Indians or some such stuff.



I move on to hwy 1 at KM103 and take the trail north. Lots of rock work going on at the place by the hwy. Large earth mover type trucks bringing rock from about 5 miles to the north. I’m using David K’s road log and make my way up to the El Socorro/La Suerte road. I go left and at about 3 miles I drop into a wash. The over-growth gets thicker and the road is getting harder to follow. At about 4 miles I’m into large rocks. This is not looking good and I’m thinking maybe I should have turned and didn’t. I get turned around and head back. I read David’s log several times to make sure I was not missing anything. My GPS readings match his. I can only assume the rains have damaged the road to the west. I did think that the road south looked to have had a lot of traffic on it. I didn’t want to go toward La Suerte since I wasn’t sure there was an easy route around and west to hwy 1 plus it was getting late in the day and I didn’t want to spend the night out there.





I turn around and travel back the way I came. About 8 miles from the hwy at a cross road I stop for lunch. I had a kilo of scrimp I bought in San Felipe and decide to cook it. While doing so a truck with several Mexican Army soldiers pull up coming from the north. They ask the usual questions about guns and drugs then the leader ask if I have any beer, his words, and I say I’ve got some Hurricane muy malo and Sam Adams latitude 48 and show them to him. He says no Pacifico, I say no and he orders his troops back into the truck and off they go. I continue to El Rosario and fill up and drive on to San Quintin for the night.


Wednesday morning I leave the hotel about 7am and make good time up to Ensenada and on to Tecate. The border crossing was fast. I arrived in line near the bottom of the hill at 12:08pm and crossed at 12:20pm. I usually take what I call the back way to Bakersfield. Up 15 to the 215 thru Riverside and San Bernardino and off at the 138 to Palmdale to the 14 then the 58 at Mojave to Bakersfield. Often when I get to the 138 I stop in an area where the large rocks are slanted and there are a couple of railroad overpasses. I usually pull in for a short rest and walk around. This time I pull in and a man and woman and two small children are walking up from the wash below and the man says his truck is stuck and would I help. Of course and they walk back to the truck and I follow in my truck. I pull him backwards and out. He turns around to leave on the hard pack so I leave and go back to where I was. He comes down the wash and misses the turn and gets stuck again. So I go back down and pull him out again, the sand is much softer but no big problem and they are on their way. I’m home at about 8:30pm.

Whenever I take a trip I always hope that it is fun and interesting and most of the trips I take especially to Baja usually are both. This trip was fun and very interesting.

[Edited on 12-3-2012 by TW]

great report! when you come to a fork in the road, take it!!!

Another way to San Quintin: The Sierra San Miguel Road

Since we drove the loop road around El Rosario, I am no surprised of the washouts... It was barely driveable in some 6 years ago in my Toyota...

Here is the road TW was trying to use and my road log:




Trip Road Log (in miles) and 21 GPS waypoints (Map Datum NAD27)

0.0 Leave Hwy. 1 (28.5 mi. from El Rosario Pemex) at cafe just past Km. 103, head north. 30°03.81', 115°20.87'

2.5 Fork, go left

3.6 El Sauzalito ruins on left at 30°05.89', 115°21.76'

4.9 Cross San Juan de Dios river 30°06.83', 115°21.28'

5.2 Fork, go right (left goes back to El Rosario via La Vibora grade) 30°07.04', 115°21.33'

5.4 Fork, go left (right goes to San Juan de Dios) 30°07.22', 115°21.42'

11.7 Fork, go right (left goes to Rancho Los Martires)

13.5 Cross Arroyo Los Matires/ Arroyo Grande 30°12.37', 115°26.33'

13.7 Road in from left to Rancho Los Martires. Rancho San Antonio is passed about five miles ahead

21.3 Fork just north of Arroyo El Portezuelo crossing, go left (right goes to San Miguel and La Suerte) 30°18.42', 115°42.28'

26.1 Fork, go left (right goes to ranch). Only 4WD beyond here.

27.8 Bulldozed switchback grade to ridge top 30°22.26', 115°29.21'

31.9 Fork, go left (right for La Suerte) 30°24.79', 115°29.21'

32.6 Jcn. with old El Socorro to La Suerte road, turn left 30°25.18', 115°29.72'

33.2 Jcn. with road north to El Agua Escondida 30°24.97', 115°30.27'. A second road north is at 30°24.28', 115°31.51'

37.0 'Petroglyph Park' 30°24.19', 115°33.38'

39.2 Fork, go left (right goes 0.9 mi. to blue palms and beyond) 30°23.58', 115°35.01'

41.2 Jcn. road south to El Canuto 30°22.51', 115°36.24'

43.4 El Cipres (abandoned ranch) 30°22.10', 115°37.98'

49.4 Fork, go left (right to Nuevo Odisea) 30°21.56', 115°42.80'

54.8 Jcn., road in from left to Tres Palmas 30°19.96', 115°46.82'

54.9 Old road to north (to Nuevo Odisea) 30°19.94', 115°46.85'

55.5 Join road along south side of river valley, turn right 30°19.66', 115°47.25'

57.1 Hwy. 1 near El Socorro (Km. 24-25). El Rosario is 20.0 mi. south. 30°19.25', 115°48.77'



THERE IS A NEW ROAD to San Quintin via Rancho Nueva York that you can follow on Google Earth along the Sierra San Miguel and avoid the washed out road via El Cipres (and wonderful 'Petroglyph Park')... see arrows nr-1 to nr-8:







It is drawn in on the new Almanac, above.

I made a post about this new road on Nomad in 2009, and had the satellite images with it, too: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=37433