Hola everyone, checking in to ask a few questions about the trip to the top, to the Observatirio, 9200'. Planning on a bicycle ride from Highway
1...about 65 miles total, around mid May.
Wondering how the present road condition is?
And is there tent camping not at the top, but lower down?
Trying to get a few of my friends to ride and support the trip up to the top. Nights look to be cold, around 40 degrees at the top in May. Maybe
around 5000-6000' camping would be much warmer.
The 13,000' elevation is the total of all uphill segments, not the above sea level height (which is indeed 9,280'). Tent camping at Vallecitos, about
8,000 feet, the big meadow below/ before the observatory. Road is all paved, 62 miles from Hwy. 1, but may have washouts and land slides to dodge.
Hola everyone, checking in to ask a few questions about the trip to the top, to the Observatirio, 9200'. Planning on a bicycle ride from Highway
1...about 65 miles total, around mid May.
Wondering how the present road condition is?
And is there tent camping not at the top, but lower down?
Trying to get a few of my friends to ride and support the trip up to the top. Nights look to be cold, around 40 degrees at the top in May. Maybe
around 5000-6000' camping would be much warmer.
Thanks for any help, Ron
We've had 18 degrees and snow flurries up there in June, dress warm if you camp up high!
Hola everyone, checking in to ask a few questions about the trip to the top, to the Observatirio, 9200'. Planning on a bicycle ride from Highway
1...about 65 miles total, around mid May.
Wondering how the present road condition is?
And is there tent camping not at the top, but lower down?
Trying to get a few of my friends to ride and support the trip up to the top. Nights look to be cold, around 40 degrees at the top in May. Maybe
around 5000-6000' camping would be much warmer.
Thanks for any help, Ron
Road is in good shape. Campground is not where davidk said. Campground is at park entrance gate. Take mtn bikes too, for the unpaved roads. May is
good time.
goat---is that a new campground by the entrance? Camping's always been where David K said---at the meadow before the last hill to the observatory.
Haven't been there in a few years though...
Many years (9?) ago they eliminated car camping at vallecitos and now only permit car camping at the campgrounds near entrance. They are pretty nice
campgrounds, much space between camp areas, so lots of privacy,... Except holiday weekends where it gets a bit crowded and noisy. Why do people bring
boom boxes to campgrounds?
There is more than one tent camping area (he didn't ask for a 'campground', and I didn't call Vallecitos a campground). You should read Graham's third
book...
There is more than one tent camping area (he didn't ask for a 'campground', and I didn't call Vallecitos a campground). You should read Graham's third
book...
I have read it. I liked it.
Re car camping, why don't you visit the park before opening your yap? Based on your posts it Doesn't seem like you have been there in the past
decade... If you had been there in this century, you would have posted a pic of your Toyota in the pines, eh?
There is more than one tent camping area (he didn't ask for a 'campground', and I didn't call Vallecitos a campground). You should read Graham's third
book...
I have read it. I liked it.
Re car camping, why don't you visit the park before opening your yap? Based on your posts it Doesn't seem like you have been there in the past
decade... If you had been there in this century, you would have posted a pic of your Toyota in the pines, eh?
How about you posting some photos to prove you where ANYWHERE in Baja?
Many years (9?) ago they eliminated car camping at vallecitos and now only permit car camping at the campgrounds near entrance. They are pretty nice
campgrounds, much space between camp areas, so lots of privacy,... Except holiday weekends where it gets a bit crowded and noisy. Why do people bring
boom boxes to campgrounds?
I know, the silence is too deafening for some.
So now you park and walk in to Vallecitos---that's a pretty long walk to the south end, as I recall. It has been too long since I've been up there
for sure---the last time was when Vallecitos was a new campground. LOL. Actually that's why we stopped going---we'd had the run of the whole
mountain for years on the old roads and camped anywhere we wanted. Was awesome, but glad much of the park is preserved now---it can't handle the
increased travel on those old roads....in fact the 1993/97 el ninos turned the road ruts into arroyos in some of the meadows.
Many years (9?) ago they eliminated car camping at vallecitos and now only permit car camping at the campgrounds near entrance. They are pretty nice
campgrounds, much space between camp areas, so lots of privacy,... Except holiday weekends where it gets a bit crowded and noisy. Why do people bring
boom boxes to campgrounds?
I know, the silence is too deafening for some.
So now you park and walk in to Vallecitos---that's a pretty long walk to the south end, as I recall. It has been too long since I've been up there
for sure---the last time was when Vallecitos was a new campground. LOL. Actually that's why we stopped going---we'd had the run of the whole
mountain for years on the old roads and camped anywhere we wanted. Was awesome, but glad much of the park is preserved now---it can't handle the
increased travel on those old roads....in fact the 1993/97 el ninos turned the road ruts into arroyos in some of the meadows.
You can still drive the dirt roads thru vallecitos meadow. They prohibit camping, but area still open for day use. Off the main road, you can travel
across most meadows in vehicles, and generally only encounter gates as you get further into the woods. Take a mountain bike, throw it over the gates
and you can travel many of the old road with little effort. Pretty gentle topography on the plateau, so bike travel easy.
Sad is when the public cannot enjoy a public park. Parks were created so people can enjoy the outdoors and Nature. Now parks are created or changed to
keep people out... and without a 'relief valve' the pressures of city life can explode!
People are a natural part of this planet, stop treating us like we are alien invaders... it's our planet, too!
dk:
re SPM, plenty of park is accessible by car, way more than enough for people that cant walk or bike. the park is being managed to keep much of it in
natural state. i dont know why they closed roads, but i suspect the reasons were to make policing easier, keep offroad vehicles from tearing up the
roads and meadows, keep people from venturing far down unmaintained roads and getting stuck and requiring tow/rescue, etc.
anyhow, the park is very welcoming, you can go plenty of places by car, and people that want to experience wilderness will find solitude. the park
satisfies needs of all users. quit whining!
Sad is when the public cannot enjoy a public park. Parks were created so people can enjoy the outdoors and Nature. Now parks are created or changed to
keep people out... and without a 'relief valve' the pressures of city life can explode!
People are a natural part of this planet, stop treating us like we are alien invaders... it's our planet, too!
Maybe you should try walking once in awhile Or riding a bike
"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen.
The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back
if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt
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"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others
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