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Pappy Jon
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Registered: 8-27-2003
Location: Wrong side of the Continental divide.
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I was there in October. Two pics. First is the blowout as you climb up and over. Somebody had managed to take a route on the left side. I didn't hike
all the way to the top to see how possible it was. With a pair of loaded rigs we were not about to try. The second is the Google Earth track. The red
line is as far as we got. The blue line is what I did a few years ago.
"The association of flowers and warm-blooded love is more than a romantic convention; it is based upon one of the great advances in the evolution
of life." Ed Abbey
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TMW
Select Nomad
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Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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I believe the people at Rancho Santa Barbara repaired the road to their ranch. John M walked the hill before we drove up and you could see the road
repairs. There was a small dozer at Rancho La Ilusion when we were there so they may have used it.
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Pappy Jon
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Quote: Originally posted by TMW  | | I believe the people at Rancho Santa Barbara repaired the road to their ranch. John M walked the hill before we drove up and you could see the road
repairs. There was a small dozer at Rancho La Ilusion when we were there so they may have used it. |
Interesting. I'm going back down in April and just might need to check it out. They were grading the lower end when we were there.
[Edited on 3-2-2015 by Pappy Jon]
"The association of flowers and warm-blooded love is more than a romantic convention; it is based upon one of the great advances in the evolution
of life." Ed Abbey
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4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
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Location: La Paz, BCS
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we made the entire trip from El Barril to Santa Marta
three 4x4 - 4 tough days
incredible destruction in arroyo Santa Barbara towards San Miguel
same in arroyo La Trinidad
no visible trail for miles
tracks of 4 motorcycles on the ground
ran out of gas, broke a fuel pump
more later
Harald Pietschmann
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TMW
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OMG that certainly was a wild adventure, thanks. I look forward to a full report.
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John M
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Posts: 1921
Registered: 9-3-2003
Location: California High Desert
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way to go!
I'm so happy to hear of your success! How many gallons of gasoline did each vehicle have when/where you last filled up?
Like Tom said, I'd sure like a trip report.
John M
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4x4abc
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still working on the report - here a teaser to keep you focussed
Harald Pietschmann
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4x4abc
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OK guys, haven't sorted all my images yet (pool and cerveza require more attention - did I mention the girls?), so this will only be a brief outline.
anyway, the No Wimps Trail (it used to be a very easy drive) is now certified hard core for 4x4.
download some GE stuff first, so you have an overview:
No Wimps trail tracks and points
the grade at the Santa Barbara road has been fixed - that ranch can be reached. The road to San Miguel, however is wiped out for miles. We picked a
side canyon that I wanted to explore for years. It connected us to a usable portion of the road. (blue line - previous track, white line - our new way
in)
easy start of the new way in to San Miguel
but it gets rough soon:
one of the drivers wasn't very talented, so he got hung up on the rocks on occasion:
nonetheless, we had to do quite a bit of trail building to get through:
once we had connected to the road, things got easier - but not easy:
the switch over to the other side of the valley at La Junta - there is no trace of the road in the arroyo any longer:
how it looked like through the windshield:
on the opposite side we had first locate the road and then build a suitable ramp up a 6 ft cliff"
once back on the road, driving got easier. Actually, the entire drive along the coast was pleasant and without any major road building. The coastline
is absolutely stunning the entire length:
we had a wonderful camp right at the beach:
I am happy to report that the eagle's nest that had burned down a couple of years ago, has been rebuilt on a different Cardon.
We saw some motorcycle tracks on occasion, but no other signs of humans.
Entering Arroyo El Gato we got lost for a while. No trace of the old road (and I didn't bring my old tracks on GPS - so I had to find everything by
memory). Once full with big Palo Blancos, the Arroyo is now almost barren:
we saw more rattlers on this trip than I have seen in the last 10 years (and I live in Baja):
and the number of downed Cardones was absolutely amazing:
we got lost many many times in Arroyo El Gato, but eventually hooked up to the straight road (Camino Real) leading towards Santa Teresa. That's when
it happened - one guy rammed a boulder so hard under his gas tank, that it broke the fuel pump inside.
Low on gas anyway, we sent one vehicle out to get gas while the rest of us contemplated how to fix the fuel pump. Took us 2 days but we managed thanks
to JB Weld.
our work camp wasn't bad at all - right next to Cerro Piojo:
Harald Pietschmann
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ehall
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Location: Buckeye, Az
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Mood: It's 5 o'clock somewhere
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Looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for the pictures and gps track.
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bajatrailrider
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Location: Mexico
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Yes thanks for pictures,Ed you ready to do it on Bikes.We will need 2 extra gal gas Im told.
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Location: San Diego County
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Wow Harald, that is a great trip and so much true 4WD trail running too! Thank you!
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Fernweh
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Location: Centenario, BCS
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Thank you Harald,
it certainly looks quite different from our last trip, we almost could have it done blindfolded by then....
Did you look into the Fortuna arroyo trail? It must have gotten blown away pretty bad this time around.
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4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
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Location: La Paz, BCS
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Karl,
didn't check Arr La Fortuna - however GE has images of 12-23-2014 and they show the tremendous destruction in Arroyo La Fortuna. Toggle between 2006
and 2014 and you'll see
Harald Pietschmann
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TMW
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Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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Excellent, thanks for the report and pictures.
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motoged
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6481
Registered: 7-31-2006
Location: Kamloops, BC
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Mood: Gettin' Better
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Harald......EPIC !!!!!
Don't believe everything you think....
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wessongroup
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21152
Registered: 8-9-2009
Location: Mission Viejo
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Mood: Suicide Hot line ... please hold
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4x4abc .. thank so much for taking me on your trip .. really enjoyed getting out and in a Mercedes to boot ... 
Glad to see you guys getting out and doing stuff ...
Plus the breakdown was priceless ... have been stuck for a couple of days ... trying to make something "work" ... with limited resources .. Great job
[Edited on 3-26-2015 by wessongroup]
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4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
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Location: La Paz, BCS
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a long, long time ago I was a Camel Trophy finalist (no, I wasn't good enough to make it into the team) - the motto back then was: "Do what others
only talk about." Have adopted that for my entire life
Harald Pietschmann
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motoged
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"That" explains it, Harald......
I was always intrigued by the Camel rallies....and was Googling them a few weeks ago .
Don't believe everything you think....
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64852
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Karl and Harald, are you both coming with us on the Pole Line Road (and Melchior Diaz Grave hike)?
I have no worries about blocked roads with your skills along!
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gueribo
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Registered: 10-16-2014
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Love the trip report and photos. Why so many rattlers this time, do you think?
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