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Ribbonslinger
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Posts: 131
Registered: 12-15-2013
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Akgringo / Mulegena
You have got me thinking about doing the loop from La Purisima to San Javier. I doubt there is gas in La Purisima ? Got a friend who could come with
us just in case things go sideways. Thanks again for the report.
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Mula
Super Nomad
Posts: 1656
Registered: 8-16-2011
Location: San Nicolas y Lopez Mateos
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There are Gas signs in La Purisima on the west end of town. Buying gas from cans. No gas stations.
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6125
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Mood: Retireded
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Ribbonslinger, Traveling with a friend is a good idea, I wish I had one! I saw several vehicles on ranches along my route, but encountered none on
the road. One or two more people would have been nice to have when I was trying to get my Kia back on the road after my unfortunate choice of
campsites. Three hours with a shovel and a jack!
Speaking of campers, yours will not be a happy one after all the shaking on the road I took. I don't know if the loop you referred to includes the
pass I drove over, or if you are going further south, but the whole area had major wash outs. The aggregate is gone, nothing but bedrock and cobbles
left on any grades. 10 mph is hard to maintain on that road, and then just for short stretches!
I pulled a small but heavy duty utility trailer with a very light load (still got me stuck in the sand) but I would not recommend pulling or driving
anything like boats or RVs over that road.
(Wahoo! pass didn't get changed to pburro)
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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Ribbonslinger
Nomad
Posts: 131
Registered: 12-15-2013
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Akgringo
Have you got any pictures of some of the worst sections? Were the grades steep?
I have taken my truck and camper on some pretty crappy roads. If you got through with a truck and utility trailer I should make it (I hope). The
worst problem for me is too narrow road width. My camper jacks can get pretty close to a boulder or rock face on the high side and I have to back up
which is not fun.
If I had my little Toyota it would be no problem, but don't want to start another truck war on this thread.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65095
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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The road between Comondu and San Javier has been reported rough for years, some said impassable (at least to non-off road drivers). The other iffy
road was the Comondu to San Isidro/ La Purisima road. It was once washed out (see Motoged & dtbushpilot trip), but new grading was reported the
past year?
I think TW may have the latest news on these routes. The problem is the fall hurricanes wash them out, as it had the Loreto to San Javier highway,
which is reopened quickly, but the lesser used road to Comondu would not get such quick action.
AAA map from 10 years ago... roads have been paved to San Javier from Loreto and to Comondu from Francisco Villa since then...
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6125
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Mood: Retireded
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Ribbonslinger, First of all, thank you for referring to my Kia as a truck! Most people think of it as just a caboose for a motor home, which it was
before I rescued it. Now it gets to play with the Jeeps and Toyotas that other Nomads drive.
I didn't take or post any pictures, I was too busy driving and my dog can't figure that stuff out. Ok, neither can I, but I will work on it for the
next trip!
There is nothing on that road that will give your truck problems, aside from the contents of the camper. I doubt that you will need 4x4, although I
used low range on a few of the grades to stay in the right rpm range. Much of the road is one lane, but nothing you would have to back up for or
crowd a bank. Passing other vehicles could be a problem, but did not happen to me.
Please take pictures and post them so I can show them to folks and say 'See, I was there!'
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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Ribbonslinger
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Registered: 12-15-2013
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Akgringo
I will be in Mulege in early January. Not sure when I will head up there but I will be around for 3 months. I will send you a note when we go incase
you want to beat up your truck a little more.
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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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We did the road from the San Javier hwy thru the Comondus to San Isidro last April so I can't say about the road conditions since the hurricane.
However as to width of the road both in the dirt and thru town is OK for your camper. From Comondu south there are a couple of places you need to
watch for overhead trees. I don't think it's a problem but my shell is under 7 feet.
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6125
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Mood: Retireded
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Ribbonslinger, Since you started this thread,I guess it is ok to hijack it. Shadowing some one else on a Baja wander would be great, and by April I
might head south again. If you are still there, I would appreciate a shout out.
I love the dessert, but my number one activity is skiing which is just getting good now. A spring run to Baja is on the table, depending on how the
snow (and my body) holds up
I will be looking for your trip reports, G.L.
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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Ribbonslinger
Nomad
Posts: 131
Registered: 12-15-2013
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Thanks TMW
I am going on that trip for sure. Going to bring as much wine as I can carry back from Comondu.
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captkw
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3850
Registered: 10-19-2010
Location: el charro b.c.s.
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Mood: new dog/missing the old 1
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LOL !! aint that the truth !!
Quote: Originally posted by David K  | | Tell your wife to relax, there is 1000 times bigger chance of violence in any American city than in the outback of Baja! |
...I get asked daily ?? isn't mex dangerous ??...my reply: "Ya I have to drive thru LA and San Diago to get there !!" ...K&T ...PS..BTW I towed a small livinston boat (14') over that road in a 82 Volvo 240 20 yrs ago !!! never again !! ...What was I Thinking ??
[Edited on 12-19-2014 by captkw]
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Gulliver
Senior Nomad
Posts: 651
Registered: 11-18-2013
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Just to put in my two cents worth, I tried to get through from San Javier to Comondu last Winter on a dual sport bike, a Suzuki DR-350 with no
luggage. And I am an extremely experienced rider.
I found the road doable from leaving the pavement just out of San Javier until I got to an ascent about ten miles in around Monte Alto. At that point
the climb involved vertical steps about a foot high with lots of loose slate. I have a foot of ground clearance and I was banging my skid plate on
every one of the steps.
There were rubber marks on the bare rocks. I believe it is doable with big ground clearance, an automatic transmission and big rubber and a low center
of gravity. A rock crawler type of vehicle.
I visited a rancho nearby and they said that they had not been to Comondu that route in a couple of years.
Now I was trying to go up this grade. Going down slowly might be better. I'm not exited about being in such places with any vehicle that I cannot drag
around by hand.
I'm going back again sometime this Winter to deliver a photo I took of the ranchero family and I'll check it out again. Who knows what Odile has done?
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65095
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by Gulliver | Just to put in my two cents worth, I tried to get through from San Javier to Comondu last Winter on a dual sport bike, a Suzuki DR-350 with no
luggage. And I am an extremely experienced rider.
I found the road doable from leaving the pavement just out of San Javier until I got to an ascent about ten miles in around Monte Alto. At that point
the climb involved vertical steps about a foot high with lots of loose slate. I have a foot of ground clearance and I was banging my skid plate on
every one of the steps.
There were rubber marks on the bare rocks. I believe it is doable with big ground clearance, an automatic transmission and big rubber and a low center
of gravity. A rock crawler type of vehicle.
I visited a rancho nearby and they said that they had not been to Comondu that route in a couple of years.
Now I was trying to go up this grade. Going down slowly might be better. I'm not exited about being in such places with any vehicle that I cannot drag
around by hand.
I'm going back again sometime this Winter to deliver a photo I took of the ranchero family and I'll check it out again. Who knows what Odile has done?
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Thanks for the road report... sounds great for those with 4WDs, lockers, and ground clearance, and terrible for most others. Baja was once hundreds of
miles of such bad roads, and that was the appeal back in the 50's and 60's.
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mcnut
Nomad
Posts: 177
Registered: 12-9-2013
Location: Dammeron Valley, UT
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My experience of the Comondu - San Javier is similar can be a rough, bumpy and long drive.
Also the east/west La Purisima - Hwy 1 route last winter was quite rough on the Hwy 1 end, nothing like in years past or the west half which is a dirt
highway. Not hard but slow and tedious for late in the day when we had expected to average 25 - 35 mph on MCs.
Bruce
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MulegeAL
Nomad
Posts: 299
Registered: 8-25-2009
Location: PDX/Mulege
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| Quote: Originally posted by Gulliver |
I'm going back again sometime this Winter to deliver a photo I took of the ranchero family and I'll check it out again. Who knows what Odile has done?
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Yeah, I am curious to answer the Odile question regarding routes out Mulege's back door and the Comondu area as well. So give me a holler should you
need a riding buddy. I'll have my baja-busting XR600 down there in a few weeks.
Last season, we rode from La Purisima north through Paso Hondo, Buenos Aires and through to Mulege; the high pass sections were very rough, worst I've
seen in 3 or 4 hurricanes!
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Gulliver
Senior Nomad
Posts: 651
Registered: 11-18-2013
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I'm waiting for Ribbonslinger to bring down a new carb slide spring for my DR. Until then I'm riding Barbara's DR-125 which is severely power
challenged.
From what I see in the Almanac of that route, I will need my 13 tooth!
I carry an H.F. ham radio and wire to throw over a cardon when I ride by myself. No bones in the desert for me.
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Ribbonslinger
Nomad
Posts: 131
Registered: 12-15-2013
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After reading these posts I have just put a large pick in the truck in case I have to do a little road reconstruction along the route. Looks like it
will be a good test for the tire sidewalls. This road must get graded every now and then because the road reports have quite a bit of variability.
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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Mood: Optimistic
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I cannot vouch for the current conditions of the roads to the Comandu's, but I can suggest a camping choice and brief summary of our trip. For an
enjoyable overnight campsite, you might try the village square.
Many years ago....in 1975 to be exact.... 8 of us from Coyote Bay made the journey to the villages. We had no trouble at all on the trail...taking a
pickup, an all-terrain homemade buggy, and an El Camino (half-car/half-pickup)
As I recall, the trail was long and rough, but certainly doable if you took your time. We stopped at a few places to walk about and have a
refreshment. I remember a trailside shrine with a pail for peso donations. It was half-full of the old big peso coins and we added ours. Another
stop was at a hand-dug well with wooden windlass and bucket, surrounded by mesquite trees and a herd of goats. Coming upon an old time sight, I took
a favorite photo of an old woman sitting outside her little house and doing her sewing. A real Baja flashback in time.
Coming over a mountaintop ridge and seeing the town spread out below was another magical stop...and worth another photo. I think we were about 1000
feet above the village at this point.
When we drove our little 3 vehicle convoy into the square next to the mission, the padre came out to greet us, and one of us very enthusiastically.
He had recognized our amigo and guide, J.W. Black...better known as Blackjack.. once a ramrod on several Baja outback expeditions led by Earl Stanley
Gardner, who wrote a few books on that subject.
Blackjack had visited this village many times in the past, the last time being 1960 and had befriended the children of the village by gifting them
with bags full of wooden toys he had crafted and brought along. He did the same thing on this trip 15 years later. We were invited to make our camp
in the square and share dinner and tea with the padre and several townspeople who remembered Blackjack. But he was known to them as simply Senor
Black, which a few exclaimed when they saw him. I can still see and hear some nice older folks hurrying over shouting 'Senor Black'!
It was a very nice end to a long trip through the mountains. If ever the chance presents itself again, I'll return. So...I have not much to add to
an up-to-date report, other than to say the trip the Comandus is certainly worhtwhile. You will not regret it.
[Edited on 12-20-2014 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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mcnut
Nomad
Posts: 177
Registered: 12-9-2013
Location: Dammeron Valley, UT
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Repairs to allow passage happen fairly quickly but it can be awhile before hastily repaired sections see a finish grading. This is true throughout
Baja.
For years the east-west route from La Purisima to Hwy 1 was a fast double lane dirt freeway which I think I could have averaged 40 mph on an MC, then
the series of hurricanes hit and cut that average in 1/2.
Bruce
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Ribbonslinger
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Pompano
Thanks for the trip back in time. Camping in the town square sounds good.
I have shot my my mouth off on this thread too much now not to go.
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