TLBaja79
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San Javier road conditions??
Headed to Loreto this weekend and want to go check out Mision San Javier. We are flying into Loreto so will be in a rental car.
How far is the drive from Loreto to San Javier?
How is the road? Is it good enough to do in a rental car?
I'll write up a trip report next week after we get home.
Thanks
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MikeYounghusband
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Went yesterday. Some work in progress but you will have no problems in any car. Its about 20 miles, but well worth it
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TLBaja79
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Great thank you! Been wanting to get out there for a long time
About 30-45min each way?
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MikeYounghusband
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Yeah about that
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tiotomasbcs
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Beautiful drive but not for the squeamish! Single lane in many places so go slow. Nice, little cafes for a bite to eat. Church is pretty awesome
and brings to question... how did they build this place in 186something??? Enjoy. Tio
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TMW
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It was built with Indian labor. The stone church was started in 1744 and it took 14 years to complete.
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David K
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| Quote: | Originally posted by tiotomasbcs
Beautiful drive but not for the squeamish! Single lane in many places so go slow. Nice, little cafes for a bite to eat. Church is pretty awesome
and brings to question... how did they build this place in 186something??? Enjoy. Tio |
Here are some more details, from my article in Discover Baja:
Having heard of an Indian settlement called ‘La Vigge’ hidden away amid a circle of virtually impassable mountains, Padre Francisco María
Piccolo forced his way from Loreto up through rocky arroyos and precipitous passes until he reached the site. The trek was arduous indeed. Thinking
the settlement’s name was “La Vigge,” which to the Indians meant “mountain,” each time he came upon a new group of Indians and inquired of the way to
La Vigge, they would send him off to a new series of mountain peaks. Having arrived at last, he founded Mission San Francisco Javier de Biaundo on
May 11, 1699, about five miles north of the present mission, developed later by Padre Ugarte.
During the drought that occurred around the year 1710, the original mission headquarters was obliged to move to a nearby visiting station and farm of
‘San Pablo‘, a location that turned out to be so promising that when Padre Ugarte came to replace Padre Piccolo, he moved the mission there. Costing
over a million pesos — gained from profits of pearl fisheries supposedly discouraged by the Jesuits — the ambitious new mission was endowed with a
belfry, spires, and altars that required many years of construction. The church was built from 1744 to 1758, and remains as the finest preserved
stone mission in Baja California. Cut in stone above the lintels of the door is the date 1751. Today it is the most architecturally impressive
mission on the Peninsula, and remains in good condition.
Spectacular black lava cliffs rise hundreds of feet behind it, casting the mission’s white Moorish domes and bell tower into stark relief. To the
north, east, and west, great double doorways open into the mission. Within its vaulted interior, light filters through the peninsula’s first stained
glass windows, falling upon three gold-leaf altars shipped from Mexico and reassembled. Dominating the main altar is a statue of San Francisco
Javier, surrounded by eight life-size valuable oil paintings. A spiral staircase reaches the choir loft. There presently are three bells in the
tower, two dated 1761 and a third 1803. It is interesting that an early Jesuit description of this mission endowed it with eight bells, more than
other missions.
Thus, Mission San Francisco Javier reached a high degree of prosperity. Padre Ugarte ruled harshly, but he built well. Of all the peninsula missions,
this one is the most rewarding. To read about the founding of the other California missions, see ‘The Old Missions of Baja & Alta California,
1697-1834’ by Max Kurillo, Erline Tuttle and David Kier.
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liknbaja127
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It is a easy drive up there, take your time and check out the canyons on your
way. It is a fantastic place to see. Take a good camera, you get some great
picts. Have a great trip 
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David K
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Some photos from 2009
The mission as it sat since the padres left, and so remote that automobiles (Jeeps) couldn't get there until a road was built in the mid 1950's.
Before that, just mules and burros on the Camino Real!
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liknbaja127
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David, That's like opening up your Christmas present early! those picks. are
great! I have been up there 6,7 times. gust really love it!
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David K
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San Javier really is the jewel of the missions! I first went there in 1973. Our next visit was in 1976, and my girlfriend, my mom and I were allowed
to go onto the roof. That was great. I tried to get the caretaker to let me go up in 2009, but no dice.
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chuckie
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Don't miss the HUGE olive tree behind the mission, ask someone to point the way. Supposedly planted about the time the mission was being built....
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TLBaja79
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Great trip. Thanks for the tips on San Javier road and Mission.
Took about 45min each way. Quite a bit of construction along the way, a few spots that get down to one lane dirt road with good drop-offs on either
side. Nothing crazy but def don't wanna do it at night after a couple cold beers.
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