BajaNomad

Los Frailes to Mexicali 4-7-20

azucena - 4-12-2020 at 08:44 AM

Roads in amazing shape, making for a quick journey.

In La Ribera there was a police presence preventing people from going south to the beaches. La Ribera is in lockdown. Little traffic in La Paz.

Coming out of La Paz, our temeratures were taken and we were asked the usual questions, along with information concerning Covid 19 and the importance of handwashing.

All roads betweeen La Paz and Constitution going to the coast and/or small communities were blocked off.
Entering Constitution, our temps were again taken. The municipio of Comundu has no known cases and they want to keep it that way. Constitution is also in lockdown with only grocery and gas open.
Continued north passing through Insurgentes, with all businesses also closed, except gas and grocery. Took the road past San Juanico to San Ignacio sleeping in the desert with beautiful stars.
No entrance to San Juanico. Not sure if road to San Jose Comundu is open; no visable sign. Saw virtually no one. We had decided to take this route before hearing about the potential road block for travellers passing through Bay of Conception, so have no info what is happening there.
San Ignacio in lockdown.
We were waved through the infamous San Ignacio check point, not even a question.
There was a line of cars trying to head south at Guerrero Negro, with poice and military presence. We were waved through heading north. All small communties prohibiting entrance between San Ignacio and Guerrero Negro and in the Vizcaino.
Due to recent rains the wildflowers , cactus and succulents are all in bloom, just spectacular.

Hiway 5 from Chapala north in excellent shape. San Felipe was not in lockdown, people out everywhere. However, the gasolinero informed us beginning Monday they were instituting a curfew with a large multa for being out.

Waited less then 5 minutes at the border in Mexicali. East was closed at that time.

A few general notes:
No open motels.
It was interesting that some Military Checkpoints the officers were outfitted in masks and gloves or were cleaning hands after touching peoples items in their cars.
At others, no masks, no soap, no sanitizer. We refused to allow the guy to touch our stuff in the back of the pick up as he had no gloves or sanitizer and he agreed saying they had no been given any of those things.
Some gas station attendants are wearing masks, others not. We wore masks when purchasing gas, and at Military stops.

Some cafes and roadside eateries open, most closed. Good to carry your own. My observation is that Social distancing does not seem to be widely practiced.

There was almost zero traffic on 1 the entire way, and while there was some traffic in San Felipe and Mexicali, much, much less than normal.

I can't stress enough: DO NOT GO TO BAJA now. They do not have the medical resources to handle injuries much less ill people. The interior has few hospitals or clinics and would be overwhelmed in a very short time. There is a SEVERE shortage of personal protective equipment everywhere, which is what led to the outbreak at the IMSS hospital in Cabo San Lucas.
The medical personnel are doing a stellar job at highway stops to pass out info and educate people. Don't be part of the problem.




David K - 4-12-2020 at 09:40 AM

Yes, excellent report! :light:

bill erhardt - 4-12-2020 at 09:58 AM

Great report, and timely. Hope I don't have to follow you north, but if so it's nice to have reports like this and not just the wild speculation and hysteria that seems to dominate many of the threads on here.

[Edited on 4-12-2020 by bill erhardt]

AKgringo - 4-12-2020 at 10:52 AM

Quote: Originally posted by azucena  
Roads in amazing shape, making for a quick journey.

Hiway 5 from Chapala north in excellent shape. San Felipe was not in lockdown, people out everywhere. However, the gasolinero informed us beginning Monday they were instituting a curfew with a large multa for being out.


Thank you for the report! Did you see any evidence of ongoing road construction on the south end of 5?

The reason I ask, is because the construction site at km 179.5 still had some activity when I passed through at the end of February.

That is a turn-off to Coco's Corner, and I know some of the construction workers would get a cold beer at his camp after work. I am hoping that they, or some of the locals that travel that road would check up on him, but he may slip through the cracks if no one drives by.

azucena - 4-12-2020 at 11:50 AM

Ak
I did not, but with many things shut down/ on hiatus, and I passed through there on Good Friday, hard to say whether any more work is to be done.


Grenadiers - 4-12-2020 at 12:47 PM

We’re heading out Tuesday morning from Mulege. Taking both the overland vehicle, which allows us to protect ourselves, plenty of food, water, and beer, and a 4x4 diesel truck. Most worried about fuel stops in the US on our way to northern Wisconsin.

bajabuddha - 4-12-2020 at 01:14 PM

:light: Those fluttery grocery bags we see hanging from cacti make excellent hand-covers for handling gas nozzles and pushing the pin #s on the pumps, and simply discard in the trash can when finished.

mtgoat666 - 4-12-2020 at 01:49 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Grenadiers  
Most worried about fuel stops in the US on our way to northern Wisconsin.


Why? No fuel shortages in USA. Only yeast, TP, hand sanitizer and paper towels (and a few other consumer goods) in short supply

BajaBlanca - 4-12-2020 at 05:10 PM

This is so handy to have! Real time information. Thanks so much for taking the time to give so much detail.

I imagine the worry about the gas stations refers to the danger of getting virus?

azucena - 4-12-2020 at 07:17 PM

I did forget to mention on Friday 4-10 the gas station and OXXO in Las Pocitas were both closed. It appeared just by driving by, some, not all, OXXOS/convenience stores and grocery stores were limiting the number of people allowed in at the same time.

twogringos - 4-13-2020 at 01:42 PM

Quote: Originally posted by azucena  



Took the road past San Juanico to San Ignacio sleeping in the desert with beautiful stars.



How many hours did this stretch of road take?

coconuts - 4-13-2020 at 02:14 PM

azucena THANKS for the report. We are hunkered down south of Todos Santos ready to go. Waiting to pick the right time to go and for those wanting an actual "BAJA" report we will be posting that too. It's really nice to see someone write something about Baja California on Baja Nomad, not a bunch of political BS and off the wall crap that has nothing to do with Baja California Mexico.

azucena - 4-13-2020 at 04:37 PM

2 gringos

I can't give you an exact time of how long the San Juanico to San Ignacio route took since we did it in two stretches, spending the night several hours after leaving the turnoff at San Juanico. However, my guess would be about 5 -6? hours total.
A few things to note if you do take the road, signage is mostly unreadable. You will come to a t with a sign on the ground. The AAA map we had made it look like we should keep going straight, however that takes you to San Jose de la Gracia. When you reach the t with the sign on the ground, bear left!


There are some wash out areas on the road, some rocky areas, all doable with a good 4 wheel drive with decent clearance. After you make the left turn where sign is down shortly after that, the road goes down onto a generally striaght plain and is in good shape. You will need to open a few ranch gates Beautiful scenery. We did not take the lower road which skirts the coast, as it was near full moon, and I have been told that the tides can make it dicey.
Do make sure you are driving a sturdy well maintained vehicle. If you have car problems out there it will not be fun.

David K - 4-13-2020 at 06:01 PM

Quote: Originally posted by azucena  
2 gringos

I can't give you an exact time of how long the San Juanico to San Ignacio route took since we did it in two stretches, spending the night several hours after leaving the turnoff at San Juanico. However, my guess would be about 5 -6? hours total.
A few things to note if you do take the road, signage is mostly unreadable. You will come to a t with a sign on the ground. The AAA map we had made it look like we should keep going straight, however that takes you to San Jose de la Gracia. When you reach the t with the sign on the ground, bear left!

There are some wash out areas on the road, some rocky areas, all doable with a good 4 wheel drive with decent clearance. After you make the left turn where sign is down shortly after that, the road goes down onto a generally striaght plain and is in good shape. You will need to open a few ranch gates Beautiful scenery. We did not take the lower road which skirts the coast, as it was near full moon, and I have been told that the tides can make it dicey.
Do make sure you are driving a sturdy well maintained vehicle. If you have car problems out there it will not be fun.


AKgringo - 4-13-2020 at 06:08 PM

twogringos

Unless you are able to enter San Juanico to buy gasoline from one of the local vendors (no gas station), it is about two hundred miles from Ciudad Insurgentes to San Ignacio.

Most of it is paved, but there is about fifty miles of unpaved in varying conditions. Four wheel drive is good insurance, but I did not need it in late January.

azucena - 4-13-2020 at 06:47 PM

We filled up in Insurrgentes and made it no problem

Cancamo - 4-14-2020 at 04:37 PM



Way less than 100 miles of dirt between San Juanico and San Ignacio. (much is paved on the north end). No more than three hours travel time at daylight with a good vehichle.

If you are not confident on your own, or in your vehicle do not go this way.

David K - 4-14-2020 at 05:24 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Cancamo  


Way less than 100 miles of dirt between San Juanico and San Ignacio. (much is paved on the north end). No more than three hours travel time at daylight with a good vehichle.

If you are not confident on your own, or in your vehicle do not go this way.



The unpaved section is 75 miles. Pavement south of San Ignacio goes 30 miles, 6 miles north from the lagoon shore.