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area51captive
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Kudos to each and every one of you for detailing and expanding on the thread.
David K you are 100% correct about the building on a big slab of cement. You must also have great (!?) memories of the road between Puertocitos and
points south during the '60's, '70's, etc. Remember that big climb up to a small shrine? That building you referred to is still there but is a
private home. It's still thought of lovingly as "The Cantina". Right in front is the cement boat ramp and channel constructed through the dedicated
efforts of one, Col Bill (USAF). He traded for dynamite when the first new road construction was attempted. He pulled the bigger rocks with a 4X4
and blew up the really ones with the dynamite. But mostly, he hand carried or wheel barrowed most of them. We all used to gather around when an
explosion was scheduled. That's where we learned that you shouldn't be looking after the blast--what goes up, comes down! If you ever get nearby,
stop and look at the ramp and channel, especially at low tide.
Treuboff, congratulations on retirement. I tried about 1½ years and quickly found out that there wasn't enough $ coming in. The bills were all paid,
but there simply wasn't any thing left over. So, back to work at least part-time.
I have dreamed of having a place in San Felipe ever since back when small aircraft used to taxi up and tie off right behind Arnold's Hotel (which is
now the Malecon)
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David K
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Location: San Diego County
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| Quote: | Originally posted by area51captive
Kudos to each and every one of you for detailing and expanding on the thread.
David K you are 100% correct about the building on a big slab of cement. You must also have great (!?) memories of the road between Puertocitos and
points south during the '60's, '70's, etc. Remember that big climb up to a small shrine? That building you referred to is still there but is a
private home. It's still thought of lovingly as "The Cantina". Right in front is the cement boat ramp and channel constructed through the dedicated
efforts of one, Col Bill (USAF). He traded for dynamite when the first new road construction was attempted. He pulled the bigger rocks with a 4X4
and blew up the really ones with the dynamite. But mostly, he hand carried or wheel barrowed most of them. We all used to gather around when an
explosion was scheduled. That's where we learned that you shouldn't be looking after the blast--what goes up, comes down! If you ever get nearby,
stop and look at the ramp and channel, especially at low tide.
Treuboff, congratulations on retirement. I tried about 1½ years and quickly found out that there wasn't enough $ coming in. The bills were all paid,
but there simply wasn't any thing left over. So, back to work at least part-time.
I have dreamed of having a place in San Felipe ever since back when small aircraft used to taxi up and tie off right behind Arnold's Hotel (which is
now the Malecon) |
Great that Baja triggered a 'record button' in my brain when I was less than 10 years old! I seriously don't know why it had such an affect on me and
my entire life, but Baja has.
The 'Gonzaga Grades' (my parents called them) were key to my desire to always have a 4WD. We drove over them 4 times between 1965 and 1968. I drove
the grades between Puertecitos and El Huerfanito when I was 16 (Easter Vacation, 1974) and again two more times ('75, '79) before the '85-'86 grading
made it a 2WD road.
The 1979 run over the grades... almost didn't make it, lost the muffler along the way!
Here is the El Huerfanito Boat Ramp in March, 2010 (photo by bbbait):
[Edited on 12-10-2013 by David K]
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StuckSucks
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Here's Google Maps of said location.
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PaulW
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Whoops. I completely miss read my charts. I should have used GE.
David is right on.
PW
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David K
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I hope we all can get together and do some 4 wheeling in that great country!
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area51captive
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David K, Aren't you the resourceful one! Two great pictures. The Road. I don't know how many countless hours have been spent talking about it. We used
to have the El Huerfanito Olympics and some of the events were Road Watching, North and South Divisions (3 cars a month was about average) and Tide
Watching High and Low Divisions along with the annual parade whereby we roped our vehicles one to another and let one guys's power wagon pull them all
without drivers. It had to be that in order to have any fans at all on the sidelines cheering. About the same, we had our annual elections for Mayor
who, after being elected, was immediately impeached for immoral conduct.
I also read your post over on TalkBaja about the connection between area51 and "the bomb". You meet the most creative people on the web! So here's an
invite. My best friend and I will be in camp about the 7th of Jan '14 trying to sell the house. I predict we'll last about 4 days unless someone shows
up and buys sooner (I've got a list of 3 interested parties, so far). You're welcome to stop by and sleep on the floor. The new highway will astound
you. It accommodates 50-60 mph all the while providing views of the old road and its climbs.
I sure do appreciate all the info and help. "till the next post.
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David K
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Posts: 64844
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Location: San Diego County
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| Quote: | Originally posted by area51captive
David K, Aren't you the resourceful one! Two great pictures. The Road. I don't know how many countless hours have been spent talking about it. We used
to have the El Huerfanito Olympics and some of the events were Road Watching, North and South Divisions (3 cars a month was about average) and Tide
Watching High and Low Divisions along with the annual parade whereby we roped our vehicles one to another and let one guys's power wagon pull them all
without drivers. It had to be that in order to have any fans at all on the sidelines cheering. About the same, we had our annual elections for Mayor
who, after being elected, was immediately impeached for immoral conduct.
I also read your post over on TalkBaja about the connection between area51 and "the bomb". You meet the most creative people on the web! So here's an
invite. My best friend and I will be in camp about the 7th of Jan '14 trying to sell the house. I predict we'll last about 4 days unless someone shows
up and buys sooner (I've got a list of 3 interested parties, so far). You're welcome to stop by and sleep on the floor. The new highway will astound
you. It accommodates 50-60 mph all the while providing views of the old road and its climbs.
I sure do appreciate all the info and help. "till the next post. |
I zipped by your home a year and a half ago, and the pavement went to Campo Delfines (10 miles from Gonzaga)... and we drove on to Bahía Concepcion
that day (I have a Toyota Tacoma), so I know the highway is great.
Your activities sound very 'Old Time Baja' campo stuff! 
I am glad to have driven between Puertecitos and Gonzaga when it took 5 hours to go the 50 miles! When it was reduced to 3 hours, it wasn't the same
adventure... Now, it take an hour, or less (if you don't stop for lunch at the island view pullout). Nice road... but a lot of that Baja Special
Feeling about being one with the land and knowing where you go, you will find nobody else there or only the highest quality people.
I have no plans of doing any traveling, but would love to once the economy can be returned to the people of this country! Thank you for the invite, I
hope you have great success with the sale and any future endeavors!
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willardguy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
| Quote: | Originally posted by area51captive
David K, Aren't you the resourceful one! Two great pictures. The Road. I don't know how many countless hours have been spent talking about it. We used
to have the El Huerfanito Olympics and some of the events were Road Watching, North and South Divisions (3 cars a month was about average) and Tide
Watching High and Low Divisions along with the annual parade whereby we roped our vehicles one to another and let one guys's power wagon pull them all
without drivers. It had to be that in order to have any fans at all on the sidelines cheering. About the same, we had our annual elections for Mayor
who, after being elected, was immediately impeached for immoral conduct.
I also read your post over on TalkBaja about the connection between area51 and "the bomb". You meet the most creative people on the web! So here's an
invite. My best friend and I will be in camp about the 7th of Jan '14 trying to sell the house. I predict we'll last about 4 days unless someone shows
up and buys sooner (I've got a list of 3 interested parties, so far). You're welcome to stop by and sleep on the floor. The new highway will astound
you. It accommodates 50-60 mph all the while providing views of the old road and its climbs.
I sure do appreciate all the info and help. "till the next post. |
I zipped by your home a year and a half ago, and the pavement went to Campo Delfines (10 miles from Gonzaga)... and we drove on to Bahía Concepcion
that day (I have a Toyota Tacoma), so I know the highway is great.
Your activities sound very 'Old Time Baja' campo stuff!
I am glad to have driven between Puertecitos and Gonzaga when it took 5 hours to go the 50 miles! When it was reduced to 3 hours, it wasn't the same
adventure... Now, it take an hour, or less (if you don't stop for lunch at the island view pullout). Nice road... but a lot of that Baja Special
Feeling about being one with the land and knowing where you go, you will find nobody else there or only the highest quality people.
I have no plans of doing any traveling, but would love to once the economy can be returned to the people of this country! Thank you for the invite, I
hope you have great success with the sale and any future endeavors! |
tell us more about these "highest
quality people" back in the day. are these the same folks that were the con men and scam artists that were selling lots they didnt own in gonzaga bay
and punta final in the late 50's??? 
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David K
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I never met them, sorry!
I don't know who squatted on Josefina's beach (Punta Final) back in the late 60's (not 50's)... but their 'VILLA MAR Y SOL' didn't last long! You can
see it on a couple of maps from the period:
Two from 1970:
In 1962, Punta Final was un-populated:
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willardguy
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actually by the time josefina arrived the american scam artists had already set up shop in punta final and had built homes, an air strip and a
restaurant. the con men over in gonzaga were selling lots before alfonsina ever arrived.
with the exception of the fernandez family, all there was there were crooks. but only the highest quality crooks.
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David K
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Maybe you could write the history of it all out? I was curious about who Crowe (Crowes Camp) was that became Alfonsina's, also?
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willardguy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Maybe you could write the history of it all out? I was curious about who Crowe (Crowes Camp) was that became Alfonsina's, also?
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ralph crow would fly down and load up on turquoise to take back home and sell. he and his cohorts
proclaimed what is now alfonsina's as their own and began selling stocks in their company (lots). the road didnt bring bad people, airplanes did.
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David K
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LOL... well, I was using Mama Espinoza's words... and Good Roads bring ALL kinds of people (not just bad apples).
Here is how I learned of 'Crowe's Camp'... on a 1960 map by Howard Gulick:
[Edited on 12-13-2013 by David K]
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area51captive
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Wow! David K and Willardguy, what a wealth of information. I feel like I've opened Encyclopedia Britannia and Wikipedia at the same time. There is
so much I don't know (to quote my wife). I'm fascinated. If I can, I'd like to ask about the area in question. I was told that Home Depot
contracted for beach pebbles out of Campo El Faro. Is that true? And I see a well noted at El Faro which I have seen myself. Is that well the Pozo
de Los Frailes on the hand drawn map? Likewise I believe that Alfonsina, Josefina and the woman who owns Punta Bufeo, known as "La Chuca" are all
sisters and daughters of Papa Fernandez. I think one or another of La Chuca's sons is always President of Ejido Matomi. I have flown from El
Huerfanito with a pilot who bought avgas regularly at Santa Ines and the woman we paid there was named Josefina, a distinguished woman with combs in
her hair. Is that the same Josefina from Punta Final?
I couldn't agree more with David K when he talks about walking up an arroyo and felling with every step as though he is the first person to ever be in
that spot. Although, in my case, I usually round a bend and find a spire of 5 or 6 flat stones piled up. I did walk a day with surveyors for the
Mexican Fed Government as they were taking measurements. If you can believe it, they were a team of 3 and they were "measuring" with a compass and a
10 meter chain, end-to-end, like you see the refs using at a football game. Sometimes along the old road you can see a splash of lime green paint on
a rock (or orange). If you stop and walk in a ways from the road, you'll see a metal ID tag in a rock with hand stamped numbers. Those tags were
left by the surveyors. Another walk I made was to accompany Federal Wildlife agents as they hiked up Miramar Canyon for a borrego census. We never
saw a one but their report said we saw several (job security, I believe).
I used to have a thousand photos, mostly polaroid's, which dates me, but they were lost in a fire. Otherwise, I would share them. I'd certainly
like to meet up with you guys sometime if for nothing more than to say "thanks" in person for keeping the facts straight. That's all for now, hasta
luego
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willardguy
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francisca "la chuca" is a fernandez, alfonsina was treated as a daughter, josefina who owned punta final wasnt connected to anyone, though its said
had presidential ties ( she had the mexican navy come in and bulldoze the town that tom and margarita had built). when papa arrived the old goat well
had been buried for centuries, its said that one day papa and friends spotted their donkeys huddled around the spot, started digging and there it was!
yes, josefina bought santa ines in 1958
[Edited on 12-14-2013 by willardguy]
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David K
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'willardguy' impresses the heck out of me, too! To find another Nomad who bothers to remember or learn the history of the land we all love is
refreshing... Getting drunk, catching fish, and keeping surfing spots secret seems to be the mainstay here!
Josefina Zunigo, owned both Santa Ynez and Punta Final. Here 'nephew' and ranch foreman was Fred Hampe and they built the road to Mission Santa María
and 2 miles beyond, hoping to get it through to Punta Final. This was from about 1958 to 1973.
The effort was abandoned when Fred came to the edge of the great canyon 2 miles downstream from the mission, and the new Baja highway finished in late
1973 would cut hours out of the drive time. It was still a long way around (via Calamajue Canyon first, then via Chapala when that road was graded in
'83).
The 'presidential connection' I know of was that Presidential candidate Echeverria slept at the Santa Ynez bunk house... and Josefina tried to
convince him to have a side highway built to Gonzaga Bay via the mission.
Apparently, the engineers took a look at the route and said no way... they put the connection across from Laguna Chapala. Josefina did get a paved
driveway (3/4 mile long) and a paved runway, however.
Josefina of Santa Ynez from Marvin Patchen's book 'Baja Adventures by Land-Air-Sea (1981).
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area51captive
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Greetings to Nomad readers. Well, the wife finally gave me permission to go to Mexico--or did she just make me believe that I had convinced her and
is really happy to get me out of the house? Either way, I'll be in camp starting 1/7/14 and anybody interested to see the house I have for sale can
stop by. Or, if anybody wants photographic clarification of some part of the house, just ask and I'll do my best. I don't have phone or internet at
El Huerfanito so I'll be catching up with BajaNomad sometime after my trip.
It's really been rewarding to be on the receiving end of so much great information and photos/maps. Thanks one and all.
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David K
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Have a great time and we look forward to your post trip report... and hope you will have a fist full of cash from selling your vacation home!
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willardguy
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hey 51, i gots a question. that shrine that you spoke of half way up the steep hill, the new road now bypasses it, I remember many years ago stopped
at it to leave a few pesos (and a few tecates)we met some hombres (changing candles) and they told us it was a young man who had stopped there (flat
tire im assuming) because his car ended up running him over. I remember the young men in the truck had a big gunnysack full of rattlers in the back.
anyway, I think la chuca lost a son on that road, do you know, was that him??
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area51captive
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Hi there, Willardguy, I did hear the same story. I think I was told the "pobre jose" was under the vehicle when it came down unexpectedly and killed
him. I keep in contact with 2 of la chuca's sons and know of a 3rd but I don't remember any of them recounting the loss of a brother. I'll ask this
trip.
Along the same lines of the old road and old days, did you ever meet Mateo? He used to walk up and down the old road from Nacho's Camp to La Costilla
repairing the road with an old wheelbarrow and some broken shovels and passersby would give water, food, tools and money. When he died, a friend of
his took over but only just long enough to find most of Mateo's "rest areas" where he found, for those times, a small fortune of the same water,
food, tools, and money. Whether it's true or not, it's still a great story for anyone who traveled over that road in those days. One of my most
enduring lessons of being in Baja is how quickly stories move through such remote areas that typically have no telegraph, telephone, mail, and few
travelers, etc.
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