BajaNomad

North road to scorpion bay (San Juanico)

tecatero - 2-23-2017 at 06:49 AM

Hey nomads , we are going to scorpion bay next week, heard reports the north road may be flooded very bad, any info would be great. Thanks

DaliDali - 2-23-2017 at 07:59 AM

And likewise please....

Any road condition reports on the south road, north from Insurgentes.
24' travel trailer good to go?

David K - 2-23-2017 at 10:15 AM

I just did the east road from La Purisima to Hwy. 1. Not in good shape, 3.5 hours in a Tacoma OFF ROAD TRD. See my trip report.

Tomas Tierra - 2-23-2017 at 10:26 AM

Was through there in early January.. It was a mess then but doable. The middle (sandy) road is in play for most of the ride from La Laguna to el Datil..back to salt flats at the block house/telephone pole farm.. Salt flats from La Laguna all flooded from tide/rain.. I know there has been quite a bit of rain since then........so, not sure.. Stop at Pachicos whale camp and ask "Rana" what the scoop is.. Speaks perfect English and is in touch via 2 meter radio with el Datil daily.. He will have info

TT

motoged - 2-23-2017 at 11:32 AM

I spoke with a moto rider last night in Bahia Asuncion and she just came up the high road from San Juanico to San Ignacio....and said there was some mud and "quicksand" (wet silt?) along that route, and that she was told the low road was too wet after last weekend's rain.

Gulliver - 2-23-2017 at 10:04 PM

I'd like to know if they ever finished the road work from Insurgentes north. A year ago there was a several mile bypass parallel to the new construction that was two feet deep fine silt. Even big trucks were getting bogged down.

I get questions from people passing through about getting up to Isidro and San Juanico in sedans.

Beagle - 2-24-2017 at 05:07 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Gulliver  
I'd like to know if they ever finished the road work from Insurgentes north. A year ago there was a several mile bypass parallel to the new construction that was two feet deep fine silt. Even big trucks were getting bogged down.

I get questions from people passing through about getting up to Isidro and San Juanico in sedans.


We were last there in Late Aug and to my memory, that part was cleared up now. Could be wrong but I'm pretty sure.

However, the construction has moved to North of La Paz. Bot sure of the current location around there. Will be there in a week so will know more.

Gulliver - 2-24-2017 at 07:40 AM

I went through the work north of LaPaz about three weeks ago and it was in a limited area and was not that rough.

MMc - 2-24-2017 at 01:22 PM

Any report that is before the last storm is not reliable.

Gulliver - 2-24-2017 at 01:56 PM

There's been a storm in the last three weeks? Not down here!

MMc - 2-24-2017 at 06:17 PM

GN got hit pretty good last week.

Gulliver - 2-24-2017 at 07:11 PM

Yeah, they got nailed.

We had a couple of hours of hard rain in Mulege but the worst that happened was a bunch of muddy water running around in the square.

I've been riding in the hills quite a bit since then and other than plenty of water in the usual washes I can't see any rock or soil movement.

A hundred miles north or south makes a lot of difference.

Now the storm this last Summer really moved stuff around on a few back country routes. Info from a year ago is probably out of date in many cases.

AKgringo - 2-24-2017 at 08:06 PM

For lack of a more current report on the south road, I will share my opinion of the conditions I recall from the third week of December.

Overall, the pavement is pretty good, but there is still un-repaired damage from the storms of 2014. Don't drive it at night, and stay away from the shoulders as much as possible.

There were potholes on some stretches of pavement, but nothing like Catavina can be like, and there are long stretches of better quality paving.

I remember a couple of detours around bridge repairs, but I was driving a small SUV and did not have to worry about pulling a trailer. There was nothing as bad as the ones you already drove through between La Paz and Constitution!

Old info, and as MMc said, a localized storm could change the lay of the land overnight. I know that it is in WAY BETTER shape than the east road from Mex1 through San Isidro and La Purisma!

DaliDali - 2-25-2017 at 07:12 AM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
For lack of a more current report on the south road, I will share my opinion of the conditions I recall from the third week of December.

Overall, the pavement is pretty good, but there is still un-repaired damage from the storms of 2014. Don't drive it at night, and stay away from the shoulders as much as possible.

There were potholes on some stretches of pavement, but nothing like Catavina can be like, and there are long stretches of better quality paving.

I remember a couple of detours around bridge repairs, but I was driving a small SUV and did not have to worry about pulling a trailer. There was nothing as bad as the ones you already drove through between La Paz and Constitution!

Old info, and as MMc said, a localized storm could change the lay of the land overnight. I know that it is in WAY BETTER shape than the east road from Mex1 through San Isidro and La Purisma!


Did you see any signs of ongoing work to repair the bad portions?
Is the dirt road surface in detour sections that real soft fluffy stuff?

Would a 4x4 pickup make it ok pulling a 6000# 24' dual axle travel trailer?

[Edited on 2-25-2017 by DaliDali]

AKgringo - 2-25-2017 at 10:16 AM

DaliDali, I had been driving arroyos and washed out back roads, so it all seemed pretty good to me! It looked like there had been recent construction, but it was just before Christmas, and nothing was happening when I went through.

The detours themselves should cause you no difficulty, but I don't recall if the transitions from the elevated roadway to and from the detours would be a problem.

I really think you would be OK, they haul freight over that road, and 4x4 was not necessary.

If anyone has recent info that contradicts this, please sound off!

Edit; FYI, when I drove south on that road in late November there was a military check point north of Insurgentes. They were only checking northbound traffic, and it was not there three weeks later.

[Edited on 2-25-2017 by AKgringo]

DaliDali - 2-25-2017 at 10:29 AM

Thank you AK......

sledneck - 2-26-2017 at 05:09 PM

Drove the north road through El Datil fish camp on Monday. A few mud/water spots, only one section just North of the fish camp we had to detour around to the west for a bit. Tundra with 295/85/16s