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preston
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Gonzaga - BOLA Loop Trip Report
Here is a quick trip report on my 5 day “loop trip” through upper Baja beginning June 19th with my 14-year-old son and my dog (Golden). I will try to
post photos in a few minutes.
Day 1: San Diego to San Felipe through Mexicali. Total drive time was 5 hours. Road was in great shape all the way. Stayed at the Baja Mar hotel
(behind the Baja Mar Restaurant): $50 with excellent security and good air conditioning. Strolled the Malecon at sunset to recover form the drive. I
had a GREAT fish taco dinner at the restaurant just south of the Baja Mar restaurant. Atmosphere not as good as the Baja Mar, but food was better.
Sorry, I don’t recall the name … but price was about $5 for 3 tacos, fixins and rice and beans.
Day 2: San Felipe to Gonzaga. Road to Puertocitos was in great shape all the way. No potholes … just the usual dips to be careful about. Puertocitos
to Gonzaga: this was my 3rd time on this leg. Each time I say it will be my last … and then 6 months later I forget how bad it was. IT’S TERRIBLE!!!.
My dog was hyperventilating the whole trip and my son had a miserable time. Total trip time (SF to Gonzaga) was about 5 hours with minimal stops.
My car started squealing about 3 miles out of Gonzaga but mysteriously stopped when I got into Gonzaga … go figure … a self healing car. Oh. My car is
a ’97 Ford Explorer with 114K miles. Has never failed me yet! It will be my Baja car until it dies in Baja (where I will leave it to some local who
will probably get another 50K miles out of it).
Arrived in Gonzaga and went right to Rancho Grande camping ($13/night … too much for what they have, but I’ve camped their 2 times before and no one
collected so I figure we are about even), went for a “decompression swim”, and set up my porta-bote. Set-up time approximately 20 minutes with minimal
help from my son … but mounted the 6 HP motor. MOTOR STARTED ON THE 1ST OR 2ND PULL (YAH!!). Since the motor is a 1969 Johnson 6 HP this was no small
feat. Went for a quick spin around the bay, then picked up my son and we drove the boat to Alfonsinas for dinner. Meal was so-so but better than
cooking ourselves or eating granola bars. Then back to the camp to start a fire and settle in for the night. Weather was GREAT for camping (cooled
down to the mid-70’s by my take).
Water temp: mid to high 70’s in my opinion.
NOTE: this was my 1st real trip to Baja with the porta-bote so I was “testing” it … and it passed with flying colors. My guess is the boat was doing
15 MPH with me alone … and more like 10MPH with me and my son.
Day 3: Got up 5:30AM with the sun … started my boat (1st or 2nd pull again!) and was off for some fishing (my son was not up to it). Only caught some
needle and trigger fish (released them all) but had a great time. Sun was not fully up so the island in the bay was gorgeous with the shadows still
bouncing around. Just a great time exploring for a couple of hours.
There was no one else in the bay … just the birds, the fish and me!
BTW: I have all my licenses and the boat and fishing. Discover Baja made getting these painless.
After returning to camp, we went swimming, as it was not getting hotter. Fooled around for a couple of hours then broke camp (takes about 30 to 45
minutes with the porta-bote.). and we were on our way. Made the Gonzaga to HW 1 trip in less than 90 minutes with no stop at Cocos (my son wanted to
keep moving). We did stop at the restaurant at Chalapa/HW1 intersection … GREAT FOOD. This was my 1st stop there ever and we split a quesadilla …
fresh lechuga, tomatoes and avocado .. DELICIOSO! This will no go into my book as a preferred stop.
Another 90 minutes and we entered BOLA. I was there 9 months ago and what a change. The “town” (I will upgrade it from a village) was very active with
lots of tourist and what seemed like 3 or 4 new restaurants. We just stopped at a tienda to pick up some supplies .. but I had to parallel park!! WOW!
Then we went to stay at Larry and Raquels ($60/night). Ruth was running the place and the cleanliness was about the same as the last time I was there.
3 small beefs and 1 big positive: the air conditioner was only working for 6-8 hours per day, the air conditioner is not big enough (actually I think
it heats up the room), and the fan needs to be balanced or replaced (makes a terrible noise). However, the food was GREAT!!!! No need to bring food
for cooking here. The cook that Ruth has does a great job … really the best of BOLA in my opinion. Dinner was around $10 (I had my own cervezas) and
breakfast around $6.
Again, I dropped in my porta-bote … again it started on 1st try! Went for a spin and a swim. Wind was probably 5 to 10 MPH … very pleasant! Fooled
around then crashed for the night.
Water temp: mid to high 70’s in my opinion.
There was only 1 other room occupied during our stay … dagget’s looked almost full for camping.
Day 4: Up at dawn for some fishing (alone as my son was a non-starter again…. Who wants to fish with his dad!). No wind at all so I followed the
pangas out to the islands. I was a little nervous (I did have a marine radio and made sure I could talk to Ruth in case I had a problem) as I had
never been this far out. But the boat behaved perfectly and my confidant built by the minute as I went past the islands, around the backs and enjoyed
the sun rising.
Fishing was not so good … I basically got skunked. The real fishing was going on another 3 or 4 miles toward Guarda and I was chicken to venture out
that far on my “ship”. I tried fishing iron and trolling rapalas … no luck at all. There we a few boats around me and they were getting no where as
well. I did get one bottom fish but that’s all. However, I did have a great time just circling the islands on my boat … complete freedom! After a
couple of hours I decided to head back in and did some bottom fishing near shore but release them all.
With the food so good at Larry and Raquels I did not feel the pressure to catch my dinner as I usually do.
The afternoon was swimming and siesta time … then dinner and a bonfire … nice day overall.
Day 5: Again woke up early to morning fog (never had this before … see the photos) and took the boat out (1st pull again!) and some shore fishing
(from the town to la gringa) for a couple of hours. Again, nothing of note … only some bottom fish.
After a couple of hours it was back to the hotel for a swim and breaking of camp … and heading north.
The trip north was uneventful (about 6 to 7 hours to the border … with 1 stop for tacos in San Quintin … white shack on the HW 1 with only pescado and
camarone tacos … best in all of Mexico … mandatory stop for me on ALL my trips in both directions. The quality has never degraded). Only question at
the border was “is your dog a US citizen?”
Overall a successful trip. My criteria are (not necessarily in order of importance):
1) No car problems
2) Get on the water
3) Enjoy the scenery
4) Eat good food
5) Change of pace
6) Change of environment
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preston
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Help!
How do I post photos? I have about 20 I want to post.
Thanks,
Preston
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David K
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Great report... Thank you!!!
PS, the Chapala restuarant: was it the one across from the Gonzaga road, or the one a half mile south?
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David K
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| Quote: | Originally posted by preston
Help!
How do I post photos? I have about 20 I want to post.
Thanks,
Preston |
Here you go (this is on the Baja Photo Gallery Forum):
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=24603
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preston
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Chapala restaurant was right across the road from the Gonzaga road intersection. We just stopped for a soda, but the lady was so nice ... we decided
to eat.
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preston
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Photos tomorrow ... I'm out of time tonight.
Preston
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Packoderm
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Thank you for the trip report. I'm looking forward to the photos.
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vacaenbaja
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Hey did you happen to see about three guys with a pickup
cartopping a kayak and towing an aluminum gregor boat
while at Raquel and Larrys?
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Baja_Girl
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Hey, Preston, I'm heading in that direction soon...it took 5 hours from SF to Gonzaga? Just slow because of the road, or did the doggie and son need
time out of the car?
Hmmm, anyone know how long it would take on a Sunday to go from SF to Guerrero Negro via Gonzaga? Can I do it in 10 hours, mas o menos?
gracias.
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Roberto
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What vehicle. What's experience level "in the dirt"? What's the tolerance for getting bounced around? How good of a spare will you have?
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honda tom
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baja girl.... the road from san felipe to gonzaga is...... 2 hours on a desert motorcycle with no stops..... 3 hours in a very well built big tired
vehicle that you dont mind abusing..... 4 hours in a well built truck safely..... and 5 hours in most anything safely. add another 1-1.5 hours to
hwy 1. then add 1.5 hours to Guerrero Negro.
My opinion... 7 hours if you really gotta make it. 8 hours means you stopped for lunch.
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capt. mike
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what's the time penalty to go to Gonzaga via HW 1 and cocos corner instead of from SF?
just curious.
and assumes starting point is SD area, crossing at TJ.
i can't imaging 4-5 hours to go, what? 75 miles or so? and get beat up all the way?
i think i'd go on the pavement around cocos each time.
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Cypress
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preston, Thanks for the report, looking foreward to the pictures.
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Baja_Girl
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I bought a 4WD 4Runner - solid but older car that can be beat up, but still must get me to Loreto...I am safety-minded, but adventurous, and I will
have a spare, a satillite phone, tools, oil, spare parts, etc.
And the fun will be taking it slow...so, 8 - 9 hours sounds perfect!
thanks guys...all suggestions, comments, welcome - and Preston, can't wait for the photos!!!
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surfer jim
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Take some spare shock absorbers and you will do fine.....
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preston
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Let me see if I can handle the questions:
1) Yes, I met 3 guys with Gregor boat and kayak. When I left they were headed to Guarda for scuba diving. They hired a panga driver to take them for
an overnight trip. Names were Duane, Cesar and ???
2) I would add 1 hour truck driving time to Honda Tom's estimates IN MY OPINION. The dog and son did not slow me down ... just made it less pleasant.
I was taking the side roads as much as possible to find "clean tracks". I was getting bounced around pretty bad. I will not take this route aain until
I get a new/bigger truck (or until 6 months from now when I will forget how bad the trip was).
3) My explorer had plenty of clearance ... the road is just terrible. Remember, my car was pretty full (you will see in the coming photos).
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preston
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stopping on sf-gonz
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preston
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dog break
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preston
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dog break - again
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preston
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dog break - again II
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