mooose29
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Posts: 201
Registered: 10-1-2008
Location: Encinitas/Punta Chivato, Rancho Partera
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Punta Chivato, Cave Paintings, Mulege, Paddle bording (more pictures added)
So we left on Sat May 2nd for a week long trip to our home in Punta Chivato/Shell Beach. There were 6 of us and our dog Sampson on this trip. My
Parents Jim and Vicki, Our best friends from our college days that fly out from Michigan every year for this trip, Scott and Tammie and myself and my
wife LeAnn.
We left Encinitas at 6 am and headed for Mexicali. Given all the drama around SQ lately and the fact that so many Nomads have said great things about
going this way we decided to give it a try. I have been driving trough TJ and down 1 for 20 plus years and I am not sure I will choose to go that way
again. The highway from Mexicali all the way to 12 miles south of Gonzaga Bay is in great shape. There was almost no traffic, we only passed 1 semi
and other than the dirt road section there is not much down side when heading down to southern Baja to using this route. I think because of the less
congestion it was faster, even though it looked to be about 40-50 total miles longer for us door to door
Crossed the border and got our visas stamped, we had pre-bought them at Discover Baja. I know you have to pay for the convenience of having them done
by them but for our group it is worth the few extra bucks. The INM office is literally immediately on the left when crossing. Cross as far left as
you can and then park immediately the office is right there. There was one spot and the security guard opened up another one for us by moving some
cones. 5 minutes at the office and we are on the road with our visa stamped.
Mexicali was easy just follow the signs to San Felipe and the road to San Felipe is nice straight and wide, the road gets a little rougher after SF
for a little while and you definitely want to watch out for the many Vado's on the road between SF and Puertocitios. You can tell some of them have
been hit at a high rate of speed as evidenced by the gouges in the road.
We got to Alphonsina's in Gonzaga Bay at about 1. There is a gate and guard that checks to make sure you have a reservation or are going to eat at
the restaurant. We were not staying there just eating so he took down our info gave us a visitor pass and a couple minutes later we were on the beach
eating shrimp tacos and enjoying a cold cerveza. This was a fantastic pit stop for our group and I can't recommend it enough. We tried for 2 weeks
to get a room reservation but they were completely booked so off to LA Bay we went.
First picture is my Dad at Alphonsina's
Got gas at the Pemex and headed south about 12 miles south is where the new pavement ends and the dirt road starts. Much has been discussed about
this road. High clearance is a must but 4WD is not I thought the road was roughest in the beginning and end and the middle section was the lease
rough. In the middle section there are a lot of parallel roads as is often the case on Baja dirt roads I would say they were only better some of the
time. One semi passed us going south not a big deal we just went by each other slowly. Coming north we passed 3 head to head all carrying loads of
rebar and all were passed in the mountain area so the road was a bit narrower so we had to stop in a wide spot and let them by. Again it was not a
big deal to find a spot and pass each other.
2nd picture dirt road connecting Mex hwy 5 to 1
3rd picture is Coco's corner
Got to Laguna Chapala in 1 hour in 5 minutes doing south on the way home we did it in an hour and both times we were not killing ourselves in the
suburban's.
Since we couldn't get rooms at Alphonsina's we decided to go to LA Bay. I was also having trouble getting rooms in LA Bay. The weekend was a long
Mexican holiday weekend and also in LA Bay there was a mountain bike race going on from The pacific side over so the town was pretty full. We decided
to go any way and hope that we would find a place.
We stopped first at Costa Del Sol Based on the recommendation of many Nomads and spoke with Victoria, they had 2 rooms and we were set. Went for a
walk around town and watched the mountain bikers finish up. My buddy and I are thinking that next year we might do the race. Had a great diner on
the patio and after diner watched the Mayweather fight in the bar with a lot of people.
4th picture, patio at Costa Del Sol
5th picture, bar at Costa Del Sol
Got up the next morning and had a nice breakfast that they prepared for us, eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, it hit the spot and got our day started off
great.
got on the road and made it down to Santa Rosalia for lunch at our favorite chicken place, it is on the right side after you turn right into town. We
got groceries and also later in the trip we went into town and went to the new Super Ley, it looked like going into a Target or something like that
they had everything. Not sure what impact it will have on all the mom and pops in town but I am sure the people love the convenience.
6th picture, Chicken mashed potato's and gravy lunch
First couple days at the house were spent working, playing and enjoying the climate. Temperature was in the low 80's and it would cool off in the
afternoon and evening to the point where you wanted a sweatshirt I would say water was in the 70's on May 5th we went to the community center at
Punta Chivato and enjoyed carnitas tacos and had a few drinks.
7th picture our group in the community center
On the 6th this was the day my buddy and I had decided we would paddle our stand up paddle boards to Mulege. We left at just before sunrise and
stayed pretty close to the beach stopping once for a break. It took us just under 4 hours to get to the mouth of the river which ended up being 13.3
miles and we averaged 3.6 mph. We paddled up the river and got out at the bridge where we met the girls with the Suburban. We then had a great
hamburger at El Candil and a few beers.
8th picture on the far south end of Playa Santa Ines looking back at Punta Chivato.
Thoughts about this paddle, make sure you leave early enough that the wind is not a factor. It came up a bit the last hour or so and definitely made
things tougher. Bring lots of water and something to eat, we had a VHF radio and our cell phones in water proof housings. If you would like more
info about this u2u me and I will share my thoughts. It is a long paddle but well worth it.
Next day we went to the cave paintings west of Palo Verde, San Borjita. It was a great trip about 25 miles of pretty rough dirt track to get back
there, we did it in a Suburban. You go to a rancho pay the 100 pesos per person, they then drive you another few kilometers back to a locked gate and
then you drive a few more KM to the trail head. The hike was about 1.5 km over fairly tough trail and the guide goes with you. We drove through
rivers with running water to get there and hiked through streams that our guide said ran all year. On the drive out we stopped next to the river for
lunch and there was enough water to swim in the spot we were at including a 6 foot deep part that we could jump off a rock into. It was one of those
unexpected Baja days that will stay with me for a long time.
Looks like I have hit my attachment limit so I will attached the cave painting pictures later.
This was an all day trip left the house at 9 and got back at 3, I will post a more detailed trip report on just the caves for those that are
interested.
We left the house on Sat and drove home in one shot. We left at 5:20 am and were at the border in Mexicali at 4:35, the crossing was 1:15 and there
were no issues.
One thing of note is south of Mexicali there were a ton of Policia federales I think we saw 6 different cars 3 of them had Mexicans pulled over and
looked to be giving tickets, we drove the speed limit and had no issues. I also seemed to think that the drivers in Mexicali were behaving a bit more
than most local drivers. Maybe the enforcement is an attempt to reign in some of the crazy drivers.
All in all another great trip.
       
[Edited on 5-11-2015 by BajaNomad]
[Edited on 5-12-2015 by mooose29]
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BornFisher
Super Nomad
Posts: 2107
Registered: 1-11-2005
Location: K-38 Santa Martha/Encinitas
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Awesome report and pics, thanks!
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Von
Senior Nomad
Posts: 961
Registered: 10-1-2006
Location: Poway-Rosarito
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Mood: getting ready!
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Really Nice! What an awesome time!
READY SET.....................
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Maron
Nomad
Posts: 458
Registered: 4-14-2014
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Super, thanks for the pics and reportl
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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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Excellent, fun for everyone. Thanks
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4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4289
Registered: 4-24-2009
Location: La Paz, BCS
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Mood: happy - always
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you must live in a parallel universe - your pictures look so different
Harald Pietschmann
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13196
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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great trip report!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64852
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Thank you Doug for fixing the photos!
Thanks Moose for sharing them.
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mooose29
Nomad
Posts: 201
Registered: 10-1-2008
Location: Encinitas/Punta Chivato, Rancho Partera
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Mood: All Smiles
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Yes thanks for fixing the pictures, when I loaded them up they were the correct orientation but then got rotated and I was at work and didn't have
time to fix them.
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mooose29
Nomad
Posts: 201
Registered: 10-1-2008
Location: Encinitas/Punta Chivato, Rancho Partera
Member Is Offline
Mood: All Smiles
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Here are a few more pictures
Sorry about the rotation I will try to fix or maybe Doug can help again :-)
 
[Edited on 5-12-2015 by mooose29]
[Edited on 5-12-2015 by BajaNomad]
   
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64852
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Thank you Moose! When we went to see the Magdalena ruins driving out from Palo Verde to just past Rancho El Perdido, then left the signed road to San
Borjitas... I wondered how the cave site looked.
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