BajaNomad

Chapala to Gonzaga conditions since the storm?

1bobo - 2-16-2015 at 05:08 PM

I don't know if the Valentine thunderstorm reached that far north...

mtnpop - 2-16-2015 at 09:45 PM

came through today,,, dry, dry, dry,,, although the first few miles from mex 1 has been muddy,,, pretty torn up and rough going.
there is standing water in places along mex 1 from Chapala south but not a lot..
also some wash outs in other areas but not miuddy.... just the usual rocks....
10+ miles from Coco's to the pavement... new Pemix there but no diesel....yet...
we made it the 23+ miles in 1 hour 50 min. in a 3/4 ton carrying an overhead camper... not too much damage,, mostly just dissaray...
and that happened in the vados south of San Felipe..
pretty quiet out there
good luck and may the force be with you

Ateo - 2-16-2015 at 09:57 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mtnpop  
came through today,,, dry, dry, dry,,, although the first few miles from mex 1 has been muddy,,, pretty torn up and rough going.
there is standing water in places along mex 1 from Chapala south but not a lot..
also some wash outs in other areas but not miuddy.... just the usual rocks....
10+ miles from Coco's to the pavement... new Pemix there but no diesel....yet...
we made it the 23+ miles in 1 hour 50 min. in a 3/4 ton carrying an overhead camper... not too much damage,, mostly just dissaray...
and that happened in the vados south of San Felipe..
pretty quiet out there
good luck and may the force be with you


Perfect report. Thread closed. :LOL::LOL: Seriously though, doesn't get fresher than that.

PaulW - 2-17-2015 at 07:26 AM

Mtnpop, Where is the new PMEX?

mjs - 2-17-2015 at 08:04 AM

No diesel at the Pemex. Diesel can be had at the Rancho Grande market. Had to buy a few liters on Sunday as both stations at BoLA were out due to a large RV caravan having just come thru.

David K - 2-17-2015 at 08:32 AM

Quote: Originally posted by PaulW  
Mtnpop, Where is the new PMEX?


I am going to guess the Alfonsina's owned Gonzaga Pemex is new to him. It was built by 1999, but didn't open for a few more years.

AKgringo - 2-17-2015 at 08:43 AM

I have stopped at the Gonzaga Pemex going north and south for the last couple of years. I don't use diesel, but the pump appeared to be out of service every time I stopped there.
Maybe it was bad timing, but if I was driving a diesel, I would plan around that track record!

chavycha - 3-20-2015 at 10:30 PM

The Los Pinos graders tried to clear up some of the holes and ruts in the first couple miles north from Chapala. The big semis that have been hitting that road the past couple days haven't done it much good. Lots of sharps from the grader, too.

Very rocky in the canyon sections. Flat and sandy in the section north of Coco's.

Travel time from Chapala turn to the pavement, 0:54, distance 21 miles-ish (didn't look at the odometer for a minute at the start).

No sections that require 4wd, though we aired tires down to 26psi for comfort.

Tomas Tierra - 3-20-2015 at 10:32 PM

Thanks for the report!

TT

MICK - 3-21-2015 at 06:53 AM

Take all the side roads you can. Way better than the studded bumpers on the main road. Drove the van down a few weeks ago and took 1 1/2 hours. Pavement to pavement

David K - 3-21-2015 at 08:51 AM

Coco's to Chapala is pretty close to 13 miles (12.9 I recall)... so if you think it was 21 total dirt, that puts the new highway 8 miles north of Coco's or ~ 14-15 miles south of Gonzaga Pemex.

Please zero your odometers at Hwy. 1 northbound or at the Gonzaga Pemex southbound and note the mileage at the start/end of pavement and post the unpaved mileage. Thanks! Wayno and Mando have been good at providing these details in the past. Thank you!

It will also be interesting to see if the highway stays on the current graded roadbed or bypasses Coco's to the west along the original road/ El Camino Real route.

rts551 - 3-21-2015 at 12:12 PM

Glad you could provide some current help David. :biggrin: 1 week ago. By my odometer (I zeroed it out as instructed) it was 22.8 miles. Took me 2 hours but I go slow and had to stop or back-up for 4 semi's.

Justbozo - 3-21-2015 at 08:51 PM

Went thru yesterday (Saturday).
Odometer from Mex 1 to new blacktop was 23 miles even. This confirms the 22.8 listing since it took me 2 hrs 15 min. Probably drove farther getting around the sharps. It was 1hr 45 min drive in January for me.

A grader had been thru the hills very recently but there wasn't anything to grade! Maybe gained a little width in a few places. They had worked in the lake and it must have been wet when they did. Now it is a lumpy mess.

David K - 3-22-2015 at 08:09 AM

Please share any observation if you see construction away from the current roadbed. Thank you!

rts551 - 3-22-2015 at 01:13 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Justbozo  
Went thru yesterday (Saturday).
Odometer from Mex 1 to new blacktop was 23 miles even. This confirms the 22.8 listing since it took me 2 hrs 15 min. Probably drove farther getting around the sharps. It was 1hr 45 min drive in January for me.

A grader had been thru the hills very recently but there wasn't anything to grade! Maybe gained a little width in a few places. They had worked in the lake and it must have been wet when they did. Now it is a lumpy mess.



Glad to see someone else drives as slow as I do and takes care of their vehicle.

chavycha - 3-23-2015 at 12:22 AM

Quote: Originally posted by rts551  
Glad to see someone else drives as slow as I do and takes care of their vehicle.



rainman-im-an-excellent-driver (2).jpg - 42kB

mtnpop - 3-24-2015 at 08:40 AM


just received an email from folks going north this last weekend. they had 7 big rigs to get around going north from Chapala to Gonzaga.
guess they may be trying that way to bypass the problems in San Quiintin???? gotta be some crazy dudes driving those rigs..

lotsa luck

Bajaboy - 3-25-2015 at 07:38 AM

Traveled south on Sunday from Papa's. I ran the first 10 miles and then my family caught up to me and we drove the rest. The dirt road is the worst I've ever seen it with lots of rough and rocky sections. With that said, we passed a number of vehicles, all trucks and suvs. I would not recommend travelling this way in a passenger vehicle. There was evidence of recent grading work but it was only to widen sections not smooth out the road.

[Edited on 3-26-2015 by Bajaboy]

redhilltown - 3-25-2015 at 11:55 PM

Almost seems like that last stretch of road is making its last stand!

Justbozo - 3-26-2015 at 08:01 PM

I saw no signs of further road work. No stakes, no flags only some workers doing detail work on the completed section.

Three Los Pinos semis pulled out of Rancho Grande in the morning heading south.

Justbozo - 3-26-2015 at 08:06 PM

Thank you chavycha, I am an "excellent driver" !...and K-Mart sucks!

Beware of the phone booth!

rts551 - 3-27-2015 at 06:57 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Justbozo  
Thank you chavycha, I am an "excellent driver" !...and K-Mart sucks!

Beware of the phone booth!


1 hour or less?
including the phone booth.