BajaNomad - Some know how to make it through the Matomi wash.

Some know how to make it through the Matomi wash.

rts551 - 3-29-2017 at 08:12 AM

http://video.off-road-tube.com/post/158951893785/matomi-wash...

chuckie - 3-29-2017 at 08:37 AM

EASY PEASY, eh?

David K - 3-29-2017 at 09:05 AM

Yep, that was a year ago. They are staying away from it this year... as it only got worse.

chuckie - 3-29-2017 at 10:31 AM

WOW!

willardguy - 3-29-2017 at 10:51 AM

HOLY SMOKES

Bajavan - 3-29-2017 at 11:30 AM

Love matomi wash..such a rush to run through there especially 2wd.

Never been stuck but just like that video towards the end I got hung up on a rock one year prerunning and destroyed my driveshaft without a spare. Next year I had a spare driveshaft strapped on my prerunner just in case.

mtgoat666 - 3-29-2017 at 11:43 AM

Good video examples of how offroaders cause damage to land. In this case periodic storms might wipe away the destruction. But if not in bottom of arroyo, destruction will be semi-permanent scar on land :mad:

chuckie - 3-29-2017 at 12:07 PM

Goatley rides a VERY tall horse...

rts551 - 3-29-2017 at 12:17 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666

Good video examples of how offroaders cause damage to land. In this case periodic storms might wipe away the destruction. But if not in bottom of arroyo, destruction will be semi-permanent scar on land :mad:

Maybe you can help David find his tracks from 1978.

bajatrailrider - 4-1-2017 at 05:33 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666

The only permanent scar is between your ears pee brain.Get help sick one,don't hide under your computer.Jump on a dirt bike enjoy the sites. Oh sorry I forgot your scared sorry.

Ken Cooke - 4-1-2017 at 06:34 PM

This route looks like a lot of fun! I am running a new rear driveshaft - I have away my original, but a universal spare for the Jeeps and one for Tacomas would be a great idea to bring along.

Perceburzr - 4-25-2017 at 08:48 PM

Went through in December with two RZR's , no problem

David K - 4-25-2017 at 09:19 PM

It wouldn't be a problem in a Razor, the concern was a STOCK 4WD street legal vehicle.

Lifted with 33"+ tires, no problem... Pappy Jon posted a video of crawling over the rocks a week or two after I was there in his highly modifies 4Runner. Being solo, and only 9.5" of minimum ground clearance, I was not going to do something as foolish as breaking or getting into an impossible situation and ask for help from 50-450 miles away!

I have been down and up Matomi dozen or more times since 1978, so I was not unaware of what the place has looked like when it was easy and when it required jacking up to get over boulders. Just not this time... cannot recommend anyone solo take a stock vehicle through the narrows until the sand has once again covered most of the boulders.

ehall - 4-26-2017 at 07:26 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K

It wouldn't be a problem in a Razor, the concern was a STOCK 4WD street legal vehicle.

Lifted with 33"+ tires, no problem... Pappy Jon posted a video of crawling over the rocks a week or two after I was there in his highly modifies 4Runner. Being solo, and only 9.5" of minimum ground clearance, I was not going to do something as foolish as breaking or getting into an impossible situation and ask for help from 50-450 miles away!

I have been down and up Matomi dozen or more times since 1978, so I was not unaware of what the place has looked like when it was easy and when it required jacking up to get over boulders. Just not this time... cannot recommend anyone solo take a stock vehicle through the narrows until the sand has once again covered most of the boulders.

Self preservation. That's a really long walk to anywhere for help.

PaulW - 4-27-2017 at 08:19 AM

Two trips in winter of 2017. Each with a group of various SUVs including Jeeps. No issues to report. Just go slow and pick the track between and around the big rocks. Tires varied from 35s to 31s, except for the VW which sure had smaller ones. The VW needed a strap in one place due to choice of a bad line.

David K - 4-27-2017 at 12:11 PM

You weren't solo. If I had spotters and possible extraction vehicles, then fine.
I stand by my recommendation until the sand returns as it has before.

PaulW - 4-27-2017 at 01:52 PM

David, like I said before you made the correct decision.
My days of solo driving in such places are very rare these days.
I have spent many hours jacking and stacking doing these dumb solo deals. Back in the day I did the first drive for SCORE when making the GPS race track. On the really marginal trips I had a co-driver. Both of us are mechanical engineers and always found a way to getting unstuck and thru the various washes. Once we buried the rig in the bottomless sand 5 miles from Hwy5 in Matomi. Spend the night and all the next day. For that disaster we had to go get help from a guy with a tractor.
My travels have had some hard times and they are many.
My desert rig had 45k miles doing these things in Baja before I replaced it last year.
The most difficult trips and the ones with the most jacking an stacking are Huatamote, Mini Summit and Matomi each one after major summer flooding. And yes multiple challenging trips in Matomi and Huatamote. I have never returned to the Mini summit. Hardest of all.

Ken Cooke - 4-28-2017 at 09:38 PM

Paul,

Is the mini Summit the shelf road with the crazy-steep stairsteps? And the burned-up Suburban at the top of the hill??

PaulW - 4-29-2017 at 09:33 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Ken Cooke

Paul,

Is the mini Summit the shelf road with the crazy-steep stairsteps? And the burned-up Suburban at the top of the hill??

===
Here is my story for the Mini Summit.
That road was built for access to build the power line that went over the mountain from San Matias heading easterly to San Felipe. I guess it could be called a shelf, but that shelf portion from the summit heading east lasts only a short distance. No stair steps wher I drove. Yes the rusty hulk is still there and is located at the top (just west) of the big drop-off. I was unable to identify what kind of wreckage it is. It is off to the side which means the 3 Jeeps were able to winch themselves up the drop-off. I did the approach from the east last Feb and found difficult areas just to get to the bottom of the steep section. Turned around because it was no fun and I knew it was a dead end for my rig. Some hard places noted. Going down from the summit is was easy , but going back up I was driving over some basketball rocks and I slid off the bank in two places which required stacking rocks and the use of a bottle jack to get the rig back onto stable ground. Not too scary, but the drop off was several feet and the track had to be stabilized in order to continue up. The spool rear diff sure did not help the situation.
If you look at the GE picture you will see the road and many side spurs. Those spurs lead to Power line towers. The approach from the Diablo lake bed area along the power line from the west is a reasonable 2wd road, and a wide place at the summit allows for a U turn.

Some cords
SMT = 31 10.68186, -115 08.54650
Difficult places = 31 10.63282, -115 08.33937
31 10.60506, -115 08.20201
Where I did my numerous 3pt turns = 31 10.56244, -115 08.11157
Drop-off and wreck = 31 10.54074, 115 08.07492

Perceburzr - 5-1-2017 at 08:29 PM

David, I agree the smart thing to do was to turn the truck around. Why are you traveling solo ? It is a long a walk out for help. I know you are in a "Mighty Toyota" , But even the best of rigs break. Don't get me wrong I have walked out of a few places myself , but that was when I was young and dumb and full of :smug:

,well you know the rest .

[Edited on 5-2-2017 by Perceburzr]

David K - 5-1-2017 at 08:49 PM

90%+ of my Baja trips are solo, as in no other vehicles. It has been that way since my first trip driving at 16. I am careful where I drive but I also don't avoid challenges. Last week going down the mountain from San Antonio was one such road. I have over 40 years of four wheeling experience and drive the most incredible, quality built truck. If there was a problem, I can contact friends with the inReach device. There just isn't anyone who can go or wants to do what I am doing this year, when I am doing it.

Thank you for your thoughts!
The first time I was at Percebu was around 1966 when it was a commercial fisherman's camp.