philodog
Nomad
Posts: 163
Registered: 10-9-2010
Member Is Offline
|
|
Quickest way to from Mexicali to Laguna Chapala revisited
We were looking for an alternate way southbound rather than the normal TJ or Tecate route and tried Mex 5 thru San Felipe-Puertocitos. We last drove
the route in the 80s when it was definitely not a shortcut. Overall we decided it is a little quicker and a whole lot easier. It was about 8 hours
versus 8-9 for Hwy 1 leaving from Calexico. We drove a 4wd Tundra towing a 10' Wells Cargo. Mexicali to San Felipe was a breeze with an easy uncrowded
road. San Felipe to Puertocitos had decent road but DO NOT go on autopilot as vados from hell pop up unexpectedly once in a while with serious
potential for airtime and spine compression. And where did all those houses come from? The new pavement near Puertocitos is ridiculously nice. I
couldn't even find the Terrible Three to see if they were as bad as I remembered. Once the pavement ended we aired down all the tires to 18psi for
comfort and took about 3 1/2 hours to finish the 50 some miles of graded dirt to Hwy 1. The negative of 3 1/2 hours of slow dirt road was well worth
it considering we got to skip the madness of TJ, the tolls, traffic in Ensenada, the endlessness of the San Quentin valley and it`s buses and the
hills south of El Rosario with semis passing you on downhill blind curves only to get stuck in front of you on the next uphill. I don`t know if the
gulfside is always this quiet this time of year but all the towns seemed like ghost towns and the road was pretty much empty.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64855
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
That's the ticket... Thanks for your report!
|
|
|
TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
Member Is Offline
|
|
Did you stop by Coco's? If so how is he doing?
|
|
|
Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by philodog
I don`t know if the gulfside is always this quiet this time of year but all the towns seemed like ghost towns and the road was pretty much empty.
|
Enjoy it while you can.
Because when the last stretch gets paved the road will get busy in a hurry.
|
|
|
grizzlyfsh95
Nomad
Posts: 226
Registered: 1-8-2010
Location: East Cape
Member Is Offline
|
|
Is there a shortcut to BOLA from that road, or is it necessary to go to Hwy 1 and then take the BOLA cut off?
The harder I work, the luckier I get
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64855
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by grizzlyfsh95
Is there a shortcut to BOLA from that road, or is it necessary to go to Hwy 1 and then take the BOLA cut off? |
The only roads between Gonzaga Bay and L.A. Bay, are the graded road to Laguna Chapala from Cocos' Corner, then the paved roads to L.A. Bay OR the
older road through Calamajue Canyon, to El Crucero on Hwy. 1... then you could get on the old L.A. Bay road of Hwy. 1 that goes past Desengaņo, but
soon bumps into the paved L.A. Bay road.
The second map is one with the roads not on the AAA map added (and highlighted).
[Edited on 1-20-2012 by David K]
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
