David K - 11-28-2004 at 11:50 PM
Hola Amigos and Nomads,
I have returned tonight from 4 days vacation in El Rosario. There was no need to go further with all that can be seen and done just in that corner of
Baja! I will give you a detailed trip report starting tomorrow, with nausiating details and GPS!
In a nutshell: 'BajaCactus' (Antonio) traveled with me which was a great time to talk with him about his past and his future plans. His goal for the
motel was installing 27" color TVs in all the new rooms and installing a water pressure system to provide guests with powerful 50psi showers (compared
to the gravity pila system of 8psi).
We went out to the Diamante del Mar golf resort and villa project to see the area before the bulldozers change the landscape forever. Also, went to La
Bocana beach (just west of Rosario) and helped a stuck British young lady.
We dined on 'Baja Turkey' (LOBSTER) for Thanksgiving, at Mama Espinoza's.
We visited a beautiful cardonal and seldom seen high country between Rosario and San Juan de Dios.
While Antonio worked yesterday, I took the old road out of Rosario toward San Carlos, back on the newer road almost to Hwy. 1, and hiked until I found
El Camino Real (as it goes between San Fernando and El Rosario).
Coming home today, we found PITAYAS (from La Paz) for sale along the road in San Quintin!!! What a treat!! Also, met Sammi Diaz from Bahia de los
Angeles at the San Telmo Pemex station, who recognized me and asked Antonio. Sammi was wearing dark glasses, so I didn't recognize him, at first.
OK, I have a lot to do... But, wanted to let you all know I was back. I have a lot of photos to share. Here is one of our Thanksgiving at
Espinoza's... that is BajaCactus/ Antonio, Anthony Miranda of the Diamante del Mar project, and yours truly enjoying our lobster dinner!
4baja - 11-29-2004 at 07:43 AM
used to take the road between punta baja and punta fernando to get to san carlos, lots of silt and a few caves along the way. 
Satellite Man - 11-29-2004 at 09:41 AM
Those ?Baja Turkeys? sure look good!
The gigantic El Rosario wash
Hook - 11-29-2004 at 12:24 PM
As I was approaching the El Rosario area, I again wondered about the fantastic offroading that simply MUST exist if you head east up the arroyo. It
may require quads as the sand you'd encounter is likely to be deep in places. But the number of side canyons as well as the main stems must be a trove
of opportunity.
What trips have you done into this area, David? How far up Arroyo Grande can one go by vehicle?
Mexitron - 11-29-2004 at 03:59 PM
Hook--lots of farming up that El Rosario Arroyo east of the main hwy. We came back through it last year after exploring the Mesa Matomi area via a
road that dumped into it about 7 miles up from the main hwy 1. Farther up than that I don't know, but it narrows past the conjunction of San Juan Del
Dios, Los Martires, El Portrero and Los Manzanos drainages. By the way, the road we were on is called La Cuesta la Vibora(Rattlesnake Cuesta). It
heads out of the Rosario wash into the high country around Rancho Los Martires. Its a shortcut to that ranch but its rather steep, narrow and
off-camber in places, but doable in 4WD.
We tried to access Arroyo Grande from an old road that used to cross it north of R. El Sauce de Carter coming north from R. El Metate. At that point
it was deep sand and large boulders, no tracks; better with a motorcycle, or in our case, next time we explore there, we'll hike in.
David K - 11-29-2004 at 11:31 PM
Hook, in my Part 3 Report, I am taking you up the Rosario valley and Cuesta la Vibora as mentioned by Mexitron. I did find the cuesta very easy to
drive (of course I was in a Toyota Tacoma :biggrin
Here is El Castillo 'The Castle' cliff from the road as it passes onion fields heading to a cardonal (cardon cactus forest).