Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8923
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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Laguna Salada/Baja Pole Line Road
The Baja Pole Line Road did not disappoint. Roughly 180 miles of broken-down telephone access road that has been reduced in many places to rubble.
What was once hand-laid cobblestone in many places has become off-camber sections of road where flexible suspensions and a good off-road tire are what
will get you through.
Our group of 4 vehicles met at the Pep Boys on Imperial Blvd. just a few blocks north of the Internation Border. Our Pole Line #7 group consisted of:
Ken Cooke - '03 Tomb Raider Rubicon
Victor Chacon & friend Sean - '05 Rubicon Unlimited
Tom Wimberly - '93 Toyota 4WD pickup
Dan and Glenda Goulet - '83 Toyota FJ40
After a brief drivers meeting, our group crossed the border and traveled to Progreso - west of Mexicali on Hwy 2 where we gassed up our vehicles and
immediately stopped for tacos de carne asada and old-style Coca Cola out of the bottle. Yummy!
After our quick lunch break, it was off to the Laguna Salada where we met up with full-time San Felipe resident and Laguna Salada aficionado Jorge
Jimenez. Jorge showed up to let us know that he had wanted to attend this trip, but because of time-constraints, I was not able to write him back, so
he sadly just showed up to see if our trip was still a go. For his efforts, I rewarded him with a new 2007 BAJA GRANDE event t-shirt and a smile.
This really made Jorge's day, but he warned us: "Be careful venturing out into the Laguna Salada...it rained 2 weeks ago, and the ground is muddy in
some places." Looking out into the vast salt flats, you could see patches of water, and muddy tire-tracks where vehicles obviously had become stuck.
We took our chances, said, "Adios" to Jorge and to his ride-along buddy, and hoped for the best.
Most years, the Laguna Salada is typically a smooth-surfaced desert playa where dust kicks up, and the driving is smooth at 40 miles per hour and
above. There is no washboard to think of, and before you know it, you have passed Canyon Tajo, the olive plantation and the world-famous Guadalupe
Canyon hot springs, and you are just a few miles north of Cohabuzo Junction. Well, this wasn't most years.
Being that there were 2 Toyotas and 2 Rubicons on this trip, there was already a sense of competition between the two sets of vehicles. Victor and I
ventured into the salt flats first, both wearing brand-spanking new tires. Victor runs the 35" Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ tires on his all-black LJ
Rubicon. My 33" TrXus MTs are known to pack in the mud, but with reliable sidewalls and tread that safely goes for 40,000 miles, I was happy to be
running my 3rd set. The Toyota boys were running the more conservative BFG All-Terrain KO tires. Tom ran the 31's on his Toyota pickup while Dan
runs the 33"x10.5's on his FJ 40.
Within minutes, Victor and I were sliding uncontrollably in 2WD through what felt like greased ball bearings. Absolutely no control from behind the
wheel of our swaybar-disconnected, aired down rigs. After sliding diagonally into darker mud, I was able to spin the Jeep around and take it back to
firm pack dirt. Further up the road, Jorge was watching in his rear view mirror and he returned to offer us assistance it traveling west to the
graded road which runs high above the mud bogs along a washboarded, but newly graded dirt road along the aluvial fan, below the snow-capped Sierra
Juarez mountain range.
Before we knew it, we were traveling past the Cohabuzo Junction and we made it to the base of "The Summit Road" where we set up camp, had ourselves a
nice bonfire, and called it a night. The next morning, our destination was the Canyon Jaquegel oasis. Complete with Native American ruins, flowing
cold water from an active spring, sand and rock-lined beaches, and carved deep into the ground to avoid the ubiquitous night winds that are a bane to
Baja campers, Canyon Jaquegel has it all - almost. Reaching Canyon Jaquegel is another story.
Our group reached Basketball hill in record time - just 3 hours past the Summit wash. But, we had a major problem - a boulder had blocked entrance to
Basketball Hill, and my 9K# winch didn't even make the rock budge. A go-around had been constructed which takes vehicles high above the blockage and
around the trouble. With locking differentials, the piles of rocks and boulders can be effectively negotiated, allowing vehicles to make it to the
top of Basketball Hill for a view of the Sierra Juarez peaks to the west, and the Sierra Tinajas to the northeast. After making record time to the
top of Basketball Hill, our group stopped for a group photo atop this challenging obstacle, and we set up camp in the majestic Jaquegel with 2 spare
hours of sunlight on our side.
The next morning, Dan, Tom, and myself went hiking up the canyon in search of the Native American hunting shelters which can be found upstream. After
walking up the stream, where two streams diverge into one, a steep mogul with carved out hideaways allowed for Native American hunters to wait for
their prey. After shooing the animals up the hill, they would run straight into the path of hunters who would spear their kill, and the food would be
prepared on the assortment of flat-faced stones which literally blanket the area. At first, we could not locate this historic site, but after
stopping to reorient myself, the moguls and the fork in the river provided clues as to where the hunting grounds could be found. Tom and I easily
hiked down to this area, and after a brief walkthrough, we hiked back to camp, packed up our vehicles, and traveled back towards Highway 5.
The condition of the trail has deteriorated slightly from last year. Washouts have become more prevalent, but regardless, our vehicles were able to
complete this rocky trail on the last day in just 3 hours. Tom led our group past the very last visible telephone pole to the La Ventana exit since
this would avoid our going near the southern reaches of the Laguna Salada which would have meant "Stucks-ville" had we attempted it.
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Taco de Baja
Super Nomad
Posts: 1913
Registered: 4-14-2004
Location: Behind the Orange Curtain, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Dreamin' of Baja
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Nice trip report.
Any pictures of the hairy sections? Action shots?
Truth generally lies in the coordination of antagonistic opinions
-Herbert Spencer
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8923
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Taco de Baja
Nice trip report.
Any pictures of the hairy sections? Action shots? |
I have tons. Maybe tonight I will have them online...
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surfer jim
Super Nomad
Posts: 1891
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: high desert
Member Is Offline
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...and I thought the TECATE police said NOT to come back......
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8923
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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| Quote: | Originally posted by surfer jim
...and I thought the TECATE police said NOT to come back......
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At the border, the Border Patrol asked me why I was traveling so much. He heard all about all of us Jeepers
getting kicked out of Tecate, but the Border Patrol guy didn't think it was funny. It had me cracking up though! 
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HotSchott
Nomad
Posts: 156
Registered: 9-4-2003
Location: Sandy Eggo
Member Is Offline
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So you were not able to cross the laguna? It sounds like you just took the graded road to La Ventana or did I miss something. Let me know.
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8923
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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| Quote: | Originally posted by HotSchott
So you were not able to cross the laguna? It sounds like you just took the graded road to La Ventana or did I miss something. Let me know.
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We opted out of the dry lake bed (which was wet), and we drove instead on the graded road. It was safer,
and who wants salty mud covering up a nice vehicle?
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