2017 Baja Expeditions: Project Outline

To bring everyone up-to-speed:

In 2017, I have begun to retravel roads from my past and travel roads I have not yet been on. Here are the regions of info gathering done to date:

Trip 1, New Years 2017: SanFelipe to Punta San Francisquito
Trip 2, Feb. 2017: San Ignacio to Loreto area + San Javier, Comondu, La Purisima, San Borja.
Trip 3, March 2017: Mexicali to San Felipe, San Pedro Martir canyons, Laguna Chapala north to San Quintin.

All this to document the conditions and report on places Baja travelers may enjoy seeing or staying at. The data (which includes location GPS, photos, observed conditions, history, etc.) will be available online via a "living map" as well as printable versions that would be a road log. That is all yet to be determined based on the requests we get.

The Baja Almanac is still the best all-road map, even though it is almost 8 years old. The AAA map was last reprinted in 2010 and the only new data was gathered from the three maps of 2003, 2004, and 2007.

Traveling to and throughout Baja is what we all like. But, so many of us find a spot.... and then keep going to that same spot! Guidebooks and maps give us a hint of what's over that hill or across that salt flat and can open up new areas of fun and potentially provide economic growth to locals. I have many Baja friends and one thing we all share is an interest in exploring. We know a road on a map is just a line, or a photo is just a hint, and words can never fully describe how each of us will react to any one location. Guidebooks and maps do not spoil the thrill or take away the personal discovery one has. If you just don't want any clue about where a road goes, simple... don't read my trip report or get the map-guide!

To travel that line on a map and experience that road is as much fun for some as where the road ends up going. Baja is a land of many roads... and they all go somewhere! Most of the time, they go somewhere interesting and fun.

Trip reports here on Baja Nomad are the greatest, and often a most important feature to all Baja travelers. However, searching for a trip report to the area you want to read about is not easy for many. The same question is asked, that may have been answered a couple days earlier.

My sharing my trips here on Nomad creates feedback if: the road changed, or the restaurant got a new cook, or I missed a nice beach because the tide was too high, and so on! Now, with this new data, we can update the map-guide to everyone's benefit. If you don't need the guide, then don't look at it, but just remember a guide of some sort was how ALL of us learned about Baja or got us to go there. The "guide" may have been a story from a friend, an article in a magazine, or a book... maybe your mom or dad dragged you there as a kid, and you became addicted to this magic peninsula?

Hank and Geoff of Baja Bound Insurance (as well as their staff) have agreed with me about a need for an updated map/guide. Hank and I talked about the idea over 15 years ago. Now, with the technology and Internet expertise available we are creating a map that will have hundreds of waypoints that can be clicked on, and that will open up info about that place. It may include photos and comments. Being online, this "living map" can be updated as conditions change or data needs correcting. All of you can contribute to keeping the information fresh and accurate.

A road log is being created that utilized kilometer markers (where possible) to easily find a turnoff, taco stand, or motel. This way, the doing math with your odometer to find a point is reduced, as well as the issue of odometers not all reading the same, especially when we put on oversize tires!

Before your trip, just print the part of the road log you need or the map area. The possibility of publishing (printing) these, is always an option. Let's see how things progress. I look forward to your positive feedback and constructive criticism to make this a more beneficial project for both travelers who are "Baja Bound" and for the people who live and work in Baja California.

This next report will be of trip #3 for this project. This year, so far, I have travel 4,000 miles for information gathering for the Baja Bound Map-Guide. It won't cover all roads in Baja or all the great places, there are just too many! I do hope to travel all the roads that go to places that sound or are known to be interesting or special.

A few roads will require four-wheel drive, off-road driving skill, or deflating tires for improved traction. They will be listed as 4WD only or 4WD recommended. Naturally, some of us can get into places with 2WD that others wouldn't attempt or don't mind spinning tires or some rock damage. My job is to report and you can decide to go or not. As most of you know, I use a 4 door Tacoma 4WD truck that is almost stock. Just a small lift and 1" taller than stock tires. I travel alone, so I won't take a road that could require a buddy along to spot my tire placement or pull free from a rock high center (hopefully).

A few places included will be for hikers, but not far if you have 4WD. Now, a message for the special group here who like to surf: I personally won't be listing anybody's surf location recommendations or directing people to the surfing breaks. There are already maps and surfing guidebooks that do that.

OKAY AMIGOS?

FOLLOW ME TO BAJA!






Trip 3 photos and notes coming next!

lkn fwd too the trip DK!!