I found these videos on YouTube. The first one ends at the bottom of the hill leading down into the wash. That hill is the one the Squarcircle had to
make several attempts at before getting up in his SUV. The second video picks up where the first left off and ends at the pools east of the mine. The
video is pretty shakey at times indicating the roughness of the trail.
Cool to see the old mine road all the way to the bottom... I hiked down to about minute 1:50 in the video, so it is neat to see the rest of the road.
I will watch the other part later...
Here are the photos of when we drove to the top (and walked down a ways): http://vivabaja.com/207 that inspired The Squarecircle to get his Land Rover all the way through (with help from you and others)!
I especially liked the part where the MC was just in front of you------gave us a good idea of the instant decisions being made as you tear along, and
the condition of the 2-track.
----and David K. thanks for the link back to the 2008 thread---I reviewed it in it's entirety (again) and was vicariously super-thrilled (again).
Hi Guys
I have some facts of the video for everyone. The videographer is 19 year old Dist 38 standout and Baja racer Cameron Corfman. This was done on a DP
Racing fun ride in Jan 2010.
Also seen in the video are Craig Smith, David Wilson and Jimmy Lopez.
Originally posted by David K
that inspired The Squarecircle to get his Land Rover all the way through (with help from you and others)!
[Edited on 2-28-2011 by David K]
David,
is there a link or a report of this LR trip?
Other than the one I posted above???
In Feb. (Prez Day weekend) of 2007, I took the road from Hwy. 1 to the top of the La Turquesa Grade for some phots and a first hand look. I had read
about it in Kacey Smith's Baja GPS Guidebook "All About Your Whereabouts" where she calls it the "XR Ride" and made it sound like a single track down
(or up) a cliff.
I was surprised to see what I would call a Jeep Trail or abandoned mine road... a bulldozed grade down the mountain... but with only motorcycle tracks
on it.
Not sure if I could get through to Hwy 5 (between Gonzaga and Coco's Corner) or even turn around if there was a washout, out-of-sight... I walked
about half way down... and decided I better have a second vehicle along.
The Squarecircle (Roy) checked out the bottom end by the turquoise mine soon after, and Ken Cooke and some of his Jeep gang tried to push through the
following summer...
Roy returned again and with help from TW and other friends made way to the bottom of the grade... and then drove his LR3 to the top and on to Hwy. 1!
See the photos in the link above.
I think Ken and his Jeep friends should try it again this year.
There are at least three bad spots that take some work to get by. One is an S curve with big boulders to get around and another is a sand trap with
boulders to get over. The last really bad spot is the hill at the end of the wash. The motorcycles have a worn path to use that's solid. The east side
is a lot of loose rocks and if you start sliding that way you take a chance of rolling over. The Squarecircle's Land Rover did not have locking
differentials and when he attemped to climb up the hill a wheel would come off the ground and spin, either front or rear. He did have a traction
control system that applied a brake to the spinning wheel if it's turned on but then you loose momemtum and have to back down. The large cactus at the
bottom prevented a fast run up the hill to carry speed. With lockers the hill would not be a problem provided the loose rocks are stable. Now it's
been a couple of years since we were there and the rains could have added many more rocks especially to the road coming down from hwy 1. Roy said
there were a lot of rocks when he was coming up after getting out of the wash.
Originally posted by TW
I think Ken and his Jeep friends should try it again this year.
There are at least three bad spots that take some work to get by. One is an S curve with big boulders to get around and another is a sand trap with
boulders to get over. The last really bad spot is the hill at the end of the wash. The motorcycles have a worn path to use that's solid. The east side
is a lot of loose rocks and if you start sliding that way you take a chance of rolling over. The Squarecircle's Land Rover did not have locking
differentials and when he attemped to climb up the hill a wheel would come off the ground and spin, either front or rear. He did have a traction
control system that applied a brake to the spinning wheel if it's turned on but then you loose momemtum and have to back down. The large cactus at the
bottom prevented a fast run up the hill to carry speed. With lockers the hill would not be a problem provided the loose rocks are stable. Now it's
been a couple of years since we were there and the rains could have added many more rocks especially to the road coming down from hwy 1. Roy said
there were a lot of rocks when he was coming up after getting out of the wash.
Who knows there may be an easier path there now.
I'll see what the group wants to do, and if we can get through to Hwy 5. Probably not with the description given. We will be there the last week of
April...
Anytime...I don't think this would be too difficult.
From the pages of Kacey Smith's book, it doesn't look like a 4 wheeled vehicle can make it through on the trail to Hwy 5, though. But, it does sound
like a fun route.
Originally posted by Ken Cooke
Anytime...I don't think this would be too difficult.
From the pages of Kacey Smith's book, it doesn't look like a 4 wheeled vehicle can make it through on the trail to Hwy 5, though. But, it does sound
like a fun route.
Roy already did it Ken... TW, and others were with him helping scout a route from the turquoise mine to the bottom of the grade. Photos in the link
above...
Yea Ken do it. I think there might be a Bronco getting ready to try it before long. If you go down the end of April I may be able to join you and help
but I'll be helping with pits etc for the NORRA 1000 race the 4th of May. I've got 4 big pry bars hardly used waiting on a Jeep. Roy had rock sliders
on the SUV but I don't think they ever were needed, that's how careful we were.
Originally posted by TW
Yea Ken do it. I think there might be a Bronco getting ready to try it before long. If you go down the end of April I may be able to join you and help
but I'll be helping with pits etc for the NORRA 1000 race the 4th of May. I've got 4 big pry bars hardly used waiting on a Jeep. Roy had rock sliders
on the SUV but I don't think they ever were needed, that's how careful we were.
Show us where to go, and we're there. The group should enjoy a day of rock-crawling in the bush. I sure enjoy it every chance I can get,
and this looks like my kind of trail.
I think I'll stop by the top section and go down and see what the hill at the wash looks like when I come down next week for the SF250 race. The route
Roy took was to the north side of the wash basically all the way. Needs to be walked and marked before trying it just to be on the safe side. With all
the rain the past 3 years maybe there is a better route. Plan on a full days work in getting thru. If enough Jeeps get thru maybe we can have a full
time route for David K's Tacoma to get thru.
DK if Ken tries the route you and Roy should come down too. I don't think a Tacoma can get thru on the route we took because of the wheelbase but we
can help Ken get thru and Roy too if he wants to try it again. Richard has Roy's old 4 Runner and I think it can do it too. Maybe XRPhil can come with
his XR600 too. The more the merrier. I'll see if BJ can come.
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