BajaNomad - Our drive to Mulege Nov-18th... Mex1 to Mex5

Our drive to Mulege Nov-18th... Mex1 to Mex5

carlosg - 12-5-2016 at 04:34 PM

Hi BajaNomads,

Durng Thanksgiving we took off to Bahía Concepcion as we mentioned on our post http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=84402&got...

Quote: Originally posted by carlosg

Hi BajaNomads,

We're planning on traveling to Mulege on November the 18th but I just learned that the Baja 1000 is in full gear that day so I'm thinking that getting thru Ensenada to El Rosario is going to be more than crazy, we plan to leave Chula Vista around 1:00pm and stay overnight in El Rosario (already have reservation) but with the 1000 going on we just might drive down Mex 5 to Chapala and on to Mex 1, my biggest concern is that I'm towing a 16' boat with a Long Bed '06 2WD, 4dr Tacoma, the trailer has new springs and bearings (last year) and good tires:

I don't know how long the unpaved section of the road (Mex 5) is and what the conditions may be, on the other hand we can just wait until the 19th and start traveling in the wee hours (3-4am) of the morning when the 1000 dust is settled (?) but then again the 1000 return may be on full blast by the time we get thru or past Ensenada... PLEASE HELP any input is greatly appreciated...

Muchas Gracias Amigos...

[Edited on 10-29-2016 by carlosg]

So having mentioned that heres a graphic report on Mex5 from the begining to Mex1:

20161119_121401.jpg - 106kB

[Edited on 12-5-2016 by carlosg]

carlosg - 12-5-2016 at 04:36 PM

20161119_122659.jpg - 95kB

carlosg - 12-5-2016 at 04:38 PM

20161119_125543.jpg - 90kB

carlosg - 12-5-2016 at 04:44 PM

20161119_132539.jpg - 82kB

After two very Tecate enjoyable hours we finally made it to the "llantera" in Chapala... everyone happy... the motorcycles in the back are of the group that was passing us on Mex5

Quote: Originally posted by carlosg

Just arrived in Guerrero Negro, drove Hwy 5 hauling boat (16') and took a couple of Tecates and 2hrs from pavement to pavement, we drove around 20 mph (most the time under 20) but everyone was passing us except semi trucks, but cars, pickups w/campers and motorcycles were doing a lot above our speed.

Road from beginning to end has continuous washboard but nothing to be alarmed of, some but not many ugly tire cutting rocks on road.

Staying overnight in GN since we started our trip at 4:00am in Chula Vista.

[Edited on 12-5-2016 by carlosg]

David K - 12-5-2016 at 04:56 PM

Great photo job CarlosG!
Looks like things are progressing along, pavement still ends where it did over two years ago, still going past Coco's Corner, and lots of material being dumped on the roadbed... hopefully so it will last. Nothing worse than a bad paved road full of pot holes!

rts551 - 12-5-2016 at 06:33 PM

Excellent. As you saw, one of these days they are going to start paving.

Ron in BC - 12-8-2016 at 09:11 PM

Thanks for posting. A photo is worth.....

The photo's have given me a much better idea of what I'll see when I do it North bound at the end of Jan.

Ron

Hook - 12-9-2016 at 12:09 PM

Where's the "bad" section? All of that seems fine........or is there washboard hiding in all that overcast?

Nothing seemed rocky at all.

carlosg - 12-9-2016 at 12:50 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Hook

Where's the "bad" section? All of that seems fine........or is there washboard hiding in all that overcast?

Nothing seemed rocky at all.

No really BAD spots just a good graded dirt road but YES a lot of washboard (specially driving under 20mph) and lots of hand size rocks to look out for.... don't let that beatiful smiling face kid you....

David K - 12-9-2016 at 02:30 PM

It was said they covered the rocks with fill dirt...?
The bad section was the four miles just southbound from Coco's Corner. So that would be Mile 10 from the end of Pavement southbound or Mile 9 from Hwy. 1/Chapala northbound.

rts551 - 12-9-2016 at 02:34 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

It was said they covered the rocks with fill dirt...?
The bad section was the four miles just southbound from Coco's Corner. So that would be Mile 10 from the end of Pavement southbound or Mile 9 from Hwy. 1/Chapala northbound.

The real bad granite rocky part was cleaned up by the work crews.

David K - 12-9-2016 at 04:05 PM

Nice... that sure helps those with trailers!

bkbend - 12-9-2016 at 06:29 PM

The "filled in" segments vary depending on how long it's been since a grader passed over it and the new roadbed sections available for use seem to change depending on what they're working on at the time. I drove it south then north two weeks apart in October and the northbound trip was much better than the trip south. The condition of the road is going to be a moving target until it's finally paved. I'd take any good road reports with a grain of salt unless I'm hitting it within a couple of days of the reporter's trip. But at it's worst it's is still nicer than just a year ago.

David K - 12-9-2016 at 06:37 PM

Keep in mind, the section that I found rough last summer is not along the new highway alignment, but on the current road near Coco's Corner. That they are putting in improvements on it is surprising.

rts551 - 12-9-2016 at 06:57 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Keep in mind, the section that I found rough last summer is not along the new highway alignment, but on the current road near Coco's Corner. That they are putting in improvements on it is surprising.

For the worst part, the granite, rock laden area, any dirt was an improvement.