baconjr - 6-28-2017 at 07:34 PM
I have heard that the government is to paved the dirt road from Santo Tomas to La Bocana. Has anyone else heard of this?
David K - 6-28-2017 at 09:55 PM
Not yet... maybe some other Nomad has? Nomad 'DanO' is big on that region, maybe he has?
redhilltown - 6-29-2017 at 12:25 AM
There has been talk of this for many years...the cement plant at Punta China has often been cited as to the "why".
I hope not. I love that road.
DanO - 6-29-2017 at 09:57 AM
Baconjr, what's your source? I haven't heard any recent rumors of this, but there is much more large truck traffic on that road now because of the
expansion of the farming operations in the Valle Santo Tomas, so maybe that's where the idea is coming from. I likewise would not like to see that
road paved, notwithstanding the hurt it has put on my vehicles over the years. As Sergio Gomez very succinctly put it years ago after I complained
about it, "think of the road as a filter. It filters out the bad people." I've come to accept this as true, although a few bad apples do manage to
get through now and then.
redhilltown - 7-2-2017 at 11:54 PM
I went fishing at Puerto Santo Tomas a few weeks ago at Sam's place (with the amazing Captain Marcos) and there are a few rumblings of things
happening in that area. Supposedly the local Ejido is trying to get land from Sam and Mr. Gomez...there are new trailers parked in the area. Maybe
some of the paving gossip comes from this.
gsbotanico - 7-4-2017 at 09:06 AM
I drove the dirt road to La Bocana for the Memorial Day weekend. It had been graded with washouts repaired after the heavy winter rains. Still it
was washboard surface most of the way. It seems unlikely that the road will be paved in the near future. There's not enough economic activity along
the length to justify the government to step in and do it. It would cost too much for private financing by the growers and the owners of the cement
plant. I remember driving the back way into the Guadalupe Valley from El Tigre to El Porvenir for many years. It wasn't paved as part of La Ruta del
Vino until traffic and business made is necessary.
Anyone who has read Jack Smith's "God and Mr. Gomez" will know that questionable land title was always part of the story of La Bocana. I was unable
to talk with Prócoro, the man who watches things for the Gómez family, because he was in Ensenada. I wasn't able to get any new information about
the "pleito" between La Bocana and Puerto Santo Tomás. Last year Prócoro had minimized the problem.
Who knows? These land title disputes, especially with ejidos, tend to be won by the side with the most time and money. They can go on for a very
long time.
I didn't hear anything about paving the road, but then I didn't know there was gossip and didn't bother to ask any local people.
redhilltown - 7-4-2017 at 04:27 PM
Nice insight and update. Many thanks!