BajaNomad

driving from Mex 1 to Bahia Gonzaga

kenrball - 3-8-2014 at 04:45 PM

We are thinking of driving to Yuma next week and are interested in going through San Felipe. How is the road from Mex 1 to Bahia Gonzaga? Easy drive with a Dodge Durango?

chuckie - 3-8-2014 at 04:50 PM

Use the search function, and you will find LOTS of recent comments on this question...Enjoy

bonanza bucko - 3-8-2014 at 05:04 PM

We have a house at Alfonsina's and drive there through Mexicali a lot.....about twice a month lately. As Mula, above, says the route through Mexicali is not confusing anymore; they have rebuilt many streets and the road signs are accurate.

The road from Mexicali to San Felipe is also recently rebuilt in most places but there is one five mile construction stretch at la Ventana just about in the middle of the 126 mile trip to San Felipe. South of San Felipe the road is paved but narrow until you reach Puertecitos (47 miles). Between Puertecitos and Gonzaga Bay you have a new and well built road of about 51 miles. There is construction between Papa Fernandez and the Alfonsina's/Rancho Grande turn off (3.5 miles) but the road that is available is a construction road.....generally much better than the old road ever was. Then you have 31 miles or construction road past Coco's Corners to Mex I at Lake Chapala.

But Mexico is not PC and there is no OSHA or DMV to place approved signs telling stupid Gringos not to drive their sedans into a 20 foot ditch....so you gotta stay awake and see what is happening because the construction crews are focussed on the job and not saving your sorry burro. I find this delightful and one of the best benefits of being in Baja. :-)

The times of the trip are as follows: Mexicali to San Felipe 2 hours; San Felipe to Puertecitos 1 hour; Puertecitos to Alfonsina's 1 hour....maybe a little longer if you stop to take pictures and enjoy the view turn offs. The Islas Encantadas are spectacular from the Tres Marias

The Tres Marias are the three mountains along the coast where we used to stop at a shrine at the bottom of each one to pray we made it thought them on THAT ROAD:-) Now the speed limit is 110 KM (70 MPH) through them. Even the old wooden cross with the hat on it memorializing Ray Grove who went over the cliff at the top of the middle Tres Maria is gone....his ghost is down at the bottom where they found his skeleton with an empty bottle of Jim Beam in his hands.

I am sharing this info with you because I am senile and I have become too nice in my old age---we have spent the last 40 years at Alfonsina's in delightful seclusion because we could only get there by airplane (runway under water at high tide) or by a 12 hour plus drive through the Tres Marias.

We have spent years telling Gringos that the drive was through barrancas full of Bandidos polishing their pistolas and stroking their mustachios as they waited for a fat Gringo in a Cadillac to stop to take a leak. We have also advertised the Chupacabras awaiting Gringos in 2X4 Chevy trucks and other such rigs which were not ready for the trip. But, sadly, now we have been found out and I must confess that the trip via truck/car is delightful and we don't need to fly anymore; you could even get there in a SMART car, for heaven sakes!

Papa Fernandez has a super cantina with good food which they make after you arrive....bring your own beer because they haven't paid the *&;)*%$ bureaucracy the $20K to get a beer license. Alfonsina has another very, very good cantina. Antonio runs the place and they even have a menu and a waiter; sad to say the place is "modern" now. Rancho Grande has a super market and Alfonsina's PEMEX has food and supplies---it is run by Trino and Adella who are very nice people.

But please treat this place with the reverence it deserves. If you don't the Chupacbras with find you and suck the blood out of your goat and the Bandidos, who are good friends of ours, will stick you up and steal all your cookies.
BB:-)

redhilltown - 3-9-2014 at 11:49 PM

Bucko failed to tell you that the Chupacabras only target Chevrolets and Fords...you should be just fine!

Air down and keep yours eyes open (especially if it has rained recently) and no problem. You can air back up at Rancho Grande if you don't have a compressor and from there on you fly to San Felipe.

David K - 3-10-2014 at 01:01 AM

While airing down for just 35 miles (them pumping them back for pavement) may seem like work that could be avoided, it will really reduce the odds of you getting a rock puncture... and soften the ride a little.

I am stubborn, and in a rush sometime (or just like to drive my Toyota fast off road)... and every time I don't air down, I put a rock through my tire tread! My last 4 flats, all from sharp rocks... and not deflated.

Last time south of Gonzaga (near Coco's) in 2012...
Going to Arroyo Grande from La Ventana (Baja Angel was driving! 2012)...
Going to Las Pintas from Km. 80 out of El Rosario (2010)...
Between Coco's and Laguna Chapala (2011)...

If I dropped the 32-35 psi tires to 21-23 psi... no flats.

basautter - 3-10-2014 at 05:30 AM

You should not have a problem. I drove it recently, and it's in good shape. Some chatter bumps and loose rocks, but very passable. Air down the tires to ~20 PSI for a smoother ride.

micah202 - 3-10-2014 at 08:10 AM

.
.....still need to watch for those dips between Fellipe & Peurtecitos??

....nasty inverse speed-bumps if they're still there!!

David K - 3-10-2014 at 09:34 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by micah202
.
.....still need to watch for those dips between Fellipe & Puertecitos??

....nasty inverse speed-bumps if they're still there!!


They have fixed some, like the real bad first one near Punta Estrella called the Oh S*&% Dip.

[Edited on 3-10-2014 by David K]

motoged - 3-10-2014 at 10:10 AM

Yes, there are still some deep vados (dips) between San Felipe and Puertecitos....I... got some air (unintentionally) when going 60 mph on a moto last month...keep your eyes open....otherwise, a beautiful drive/ride.

Stop for a beverage at Coco's and leave a tip....it will be interesting to see where the road will really go at his location...Coco said that it will go right by his place....before, he was thinking it would be a few km's west of his spot...

The road bed is raised at least 10 feet above desert floor in most of the work done south of Gonzaga....Coco thinks it will be like that at his location....so he has his own version of access options .

It certainly will create all sorts of changes now that it is so much easier to get into serious chupacabra territory :o

redhilltown - 3-10-2014 at 11:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by motoged
Yes, there are still some deep vados (dips) between San Felipe and Puertecitos....I... got some air (unintentionally) when going 60 mph on a moto last month...keep your eyes open....otherwise, a beautiful drive/ride.

Stop for a beverage at Coco's and leave a tip....it will be interesting to see where the road will really go at his location...Coco said that it will go right by his place....before, he was thinking it would be a few km's west of his spot...

The road bed is raised at least 10 feet above desert floor in most of the work done south of Gonzaga....Coco thinks it will be like that at his location....so he has his own version of access options .

It certainly will create all sorts of changes now that it is so much easier to get into serious chupacabra territory :o



I know things change but it is so bizarre to think of Coco and the term "paved road"!!!!!!!

Cliffy - 3-11-2014 at 07:43 AM

bonanza bucko- 40 years? You were probably there when I last went to Papa's 35+ years ago. Used to fly down in a 182 and then I came down in a Cherokee retract 1 time to bring a wheel down for a friend in a 182 that hit a rock at Papa's strip. The Cherokee used every inch of Papa's strip after landing past the big dip where the road went across and I mean used every inch.

Had dinner 1 night with Papa and family and gave balloons to the kids. They loved them. Let's see, it was fried turtle that night :-) Stayed at Alfonsina's once or twice back then also. Actually drove in once from Laguna C at night and there was a gov't stop in the mountains. Kinda surprised us but no issues.
Even back then there was talk of paving from up north but that was only laughed at.

Hard to grasp that the paving really happened. What will happen now is anyone's guess. I may drag my trailer down later this year lust to see the place again. I have looked at it from 35,000 feet many times in the last decade as I flew people down to the tip.

JZ - 3-11-2014 at 09:39 AM

What's a good brand of portable compressor?

My back tires are rated for 70psi and front ones 60. Will airing down to 20 be too low?

David K - 3-11-2014 at 09:47 AM

The kind that clips onto your battery and not plugs into the cigarette lighter.
I have a Tsunami 50, and a Harbor Freight one too. The Tsunami is a tiny bit slower, but takes up less space and the fuse holder doesn't melt (as it does with the Harbor Freight pump, bottom pic).



David K - 3-11-2014 at 09:52 AM

For sand driving, the air needs to be 1/2 to 1/3 of normal. For rock puncture protection, about 2/3 of normal. My truck tires normal run is 34 psi, so 22 psi is my dirt road level and 16 psi is my sand driving level.

BajaDanD - 3-11-2014 at 10:55 AM

drove it two weeks ago in a Honda SRV no problems road was paved all the way to Gonzaga aired down tires for a softer ride

JZ - 3-11-2014 at 11:08 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
The kind that clips onto your battery and not plugs into the cigarette lighter.
I have a Tsunami 50, and a Harbor Freight one too. The Tsunami is a tiny bit slower, but takes up less space and the fuse holder doesn't melt (as it does with the Harbor Freight pump, bottom pic).






Looks like Walmat has the Tsunami for $84 bucks. How's the cord length on it? Will it be long enough for a full size truck to reach the back tires?

bonanza bucko - 3-11-2014 at 11:52 AM

For Cliffy:
Well it's only been 35 years. We came here first in 1979 when a buddy, Woody, asked me to fly him in here from San Diego in my old C182 Straight Tail. His 182 was in the shop. I had never flown in Baja. We hopped over the TJ for the paper work and gas at 35Cents/gallon for 80 avgas. Then Woody said "fly over that mountain...the Diablo...and then he went to sleep. On top of Diablo at about 12000 I woke him up and he said to glide "down there" to Alfonsina's beach. That was a first too....I had never landed on a beach before and for sure not one that was under water at the full moon last night:-).

Woody was trying to find Alfy to rent a spot on the beach and also to find Juan Pablo from Punta Bufeo who he heard would bring a barge around Willard Island and pour a salt water cement patio and build a palm thatched palapa for him. Alfy wasn't here and neither was Juan Pablo so we hopped over to Punta Bufeo and landed in the dry lake bed a half click to the South and walked over the dunes. Juan Pablo was there and Woody gave him $400 for the job. We didn't know that Juan Pablo spoke English so we embarrassed ourselves trying pidgin Spanish on him until he said, "hey man, that's OK I went to San Jose State!" After Huevos Rancheros at Juan's cantina we hopped back over to Alfies to look for her...not there. Woody then said we should go home....gonna get dark because it was November. I said we ain't got the gas.....my old C182 had short legs and we were not gonna make it to TJ and Woody was almost sure there was no gas at San Felipe. So we took off for Mexicali. I landed and put 52 gallons into 55 gallon tanks with 52 useable advertised! We got back to San Diego in the dark.

Then we flew here to Alfies every weekend for almost a year as we built Woody's house here. We had three secretaries in our offices who told us they were really! anxious to learn about our Baja beach so we trained them to drive and change tires on a big Chevy Van and my old 1962 Chevy pickup truck. They put on bikinis until they were through the border at TJ so the guards never looked in the back and waved them through with all the stuff we had to smuggle for the house. It was built on Juan Pablo's salt water cement pad with smuggled lumber from Chula Vista (thanks to the girls). Juan Pablo gave Woody $100 change from the job.....only $300 for it...and it's still holding up on the beach here just fine. The trip down Mex 1 was about 12 hours so we had the girls drive to Catavinia at Rancho Santa Ynez where we met them at the paved airstrip there and flew them down to the beach while a guy drove the rest of the way in here though Lake Chapala (talcum powder causing en route carburetor repairs etc.) and though Calamuay (?sp) Canyon driving in the wet river bed....another five hours. We did that just about every weekend for almost a year until Woody's house was done.

We had no fresh water here then except for Papa Fernandez's goat well that he had dug by hand in the 1940s so we flew over to Rancho Santa Ynez with five gallon jugs; we limited fresh water showers!!.....found out that salt water baths work just fine if you cover yourself with hair conditioner before washing off....no salt left. Wow!

We found Concha Fernandez (wife of Tito who was Papa's grandson) cooking at Alfies cantina with her two kids. None of them had ever tasted ice cream. So the next trip we bought an ice cream maker, salt, ice, cream and etc and made it for them; they ate so much they got sick....but good sick! :-)

The old C182 got replaced with the Bonanza in 1986 and Woody's house got replaced with another one we built next door in 1993. His is still there but he isn't...sadly died about five years ago and the house sold to good new neighbors.

We have many very good friends here; we have enjoyed them and our magnificent exclusion all these years. We are old now and the Bonanza is for sale. But I will continue to fly an RV12 SLSA on into the bright future but not to Baja......with the new road we don't need to fly anymore and, besides, The Boss, (la Jefa y Kay Pasa y "yes ma'am") has a propensity to demand stuff for the house here that won't fit in a Bonanza....or a C 130 for that matter! :-). So we drive a big Ford pickup truck.

So don't delay. This place makes the duck pond at Waikiki look like a....well...duck pond....and besides it's still almost beyond the weekend reach of camper shells on Chevy's from Buena Park full of spoiled rotten little buggers who belong in reform school. Right now it's 75 F, no wind, Fin Back Whales and Whale Sharks cavorting in the surf line and life is good!

But, be warned: We are very good friends with professional Mexican Bandidos who camp in the barnacas waxing their mustachios and polishing their pistolas waiting for a fat Gringo stopping to take a leak so they can stick him up; they have assured us that they will use their arcane talents on all Gringos who don't show full respect for this place. We also have trained Chupacabras here who sneak out of the barancas after dark to suck the blood outa the goats of all Gringos who come in here and throw candy wrappers on the beach. Our friendly coyotes are also very fond of domesticated house cats:-)



BB :-)

redhilltown - 3-12-2014 at 11:31 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JZ
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
The kind that clips onto your battery and not plugs into the cigarette lighter.
I have a Tsunami 50, and a Harbor Freight one too. The Tsunami is a tiny bit slower, but takes up less space and the fuse holder doesn't melt (as it does with the Harbor Freight pump, bottom pic).






Looks like Walmat has the Tsunami for $84 bucks. How's the cord length on it? Will it be long enough for a full size truck to reach the back tires?



This is a good question. I have a stock Tacoma with the same compressor and it reaches the back tires but not with a hell of a lot of room to spare...maybe you can measure the distance and see if they will reach?

Cliffy - 3-13-2014 at 12:25 AM

BB
Interestingly, I too am thinking of selling the Mooney. Maybe a year or two. I have found that now with every day Saturday (retired) and that we bought an old trailer and spent 9 weeks in it last year, I enjoy the drive as much as the destination. Never thought that would happen. So the need for the plane has waned.
My upcoming trip will be to BOLA and Mulege but the next one will be to Gonzaga as I want to see it again after so many years.
It's back to doing the annual inspection on the Mooney in the morning.

David K - 3-13-2014 at 08:42 AM

Great story Bonanza... Calamajué Canyon was really wet some years, indeed!

The Tsunami cord and air tube length combined make filling the tires on my Tacoma easy, but the passenger side (opposite battery side) back tire is too far to have the pump next to the tire, but the coil hose reaches it okay... a larger vehicle could be an issue. Just add a section of power cable.