The
dirt road to Gonzaga Bay from Mex 1 was punishing. But, the road
from Gonzaga to Puertocitos was worse. We had no choice as there
were no alternate routes; in for a penny, in for a pound. So, we
went slow, but the wash board produced damaging vibrations on the
trucks.
The photos below are what we saw.
We
stopped at both Pemex stations, but neither had diesel. We were
fine, but Matt has a small tank and some motor issues so he gets really
poor mileage. At the second station, we encountered a set of
"rent-a-racer" folks who were on some kind of paid tour. As part
of their package, they get to use the red four-wheelers and they get
catered camping.
The
road does not look rough, but trust me it is. Above, the local
vulture crew clean up some road kill.
The
road takes its toll. The vibrations from the washboard broke the
mounting bracket for Kai's air tank, tearing one of the lines in the
process.
Getting
the tank apart was hard as the fittings were rusted and very tight.
Each
of us contributed components for a trail-side fix.
The
solution was to just connect the tank supply line to the consumer lines
without the tank in the middle. The fix got Kai back to San Diego
without other issues. I can say for certain if this failure had
happened on my 1300, we would be still sitting there. The 1300s
use air for a number of sub-systems and without air, you are going
nowhere. Kai's 416 was more tolerant of this kind of failure.
Meanwhile,
Matt was addressing a coolant leak on his 416.
We
had some nice views of the water from our low speed run along the coast.
The
fellow in front of us was going faster than he should and also suffered
a failure further down the road. Whatever happened, he was dead
in the water in the middle of the road. Note the obstacle marker
in the photo above. There is a huge washout there that goes down
about 6 feet. Yet another reason not to 'wheel at night in Mexico.
Most
of the small islands were covered in bird droppings. Note that
the amount of vegetation now is down to almost nothing. Ocotillos
can live almost anywhere, so they were expected. But other than
that, nothing.
South
of Puertocitos the dirt road turned into new, smooth pavement.
After we hit the pavement, we passed several really nice places.
Note the white caps; the wind is blowing strong again.
The
road into San Filipe was in good repair and we made good time.
Note the green color of the water here in the northern reaches of the
Sea of Cortez.
San
Filipe used to be a small, sleepy fishing village. Not anymore.
But
despite its growth, San Filipe is not immune from the "abandoned
construction project syndrome". Many places had a slab with
rebar, but no walls.
I
generally like Mexican architecture, but the Kermit green is somewhat
over the top.
We
got diesel, ice and some seafood for dinner in San Filipe and then
headed north on Mex 5 to the turnoff for Guadalupe Canyon. Along
the way, we passed the delta for the Colorado River which is a huge
expanse of mud flats and semi-dry salt lakes. It also provides
the sand for the Altar dunes. The smoke on the horizon is not
smoke, but rather steam from the geo-thermal plants at Guadalupe
Victoria. GV is the epicenter of some big recent earthquakes, the
largest just a few months ago at 7.2 on the Richter scale.
We
took the turnoff and aired down for the trail. Close to the trail
were these dunes on the side of the volcanic hills.
Our
trail took us across the south end of Laguna Salada (salty lake).
Above you can see the dust trails of one of the group who where far
ahead of us.
Laguna
Salad is usually dry. But, with the recent rains, there were many
wet spots. This fellow cut some deep groves in the lake bed
surface. If you get stuck, you have a whole bunch of work waiting
for you. Having a winch will not help since there is nothing to
winch against.
This
spot produced some interesting sensations for the driver.
Truth
be told, we got lost. We did several hours of wandering around
until we got our bearings and were back on the correct track. We
all had GPS, but without a valid map, all the GPS says is "you are
here". The correct track, however, was part of the Baja 1000 race
course and was very rutted and super-slow going. We did not
arrive at the camp ground until 9pm, well after dark. During our
transit of the palm grove at Guadalupe Canyon, I tagged the awning on
the side of the camper. The palm left some small nicks, but I
think it is usable as is. Once we hit camp, Matt and Nancy
cooked, we ate and hit the hot tubs. All in all, it was a 13 hour
drive across some pretty nasty roads. I think this was a new
record. Next morning was a pretty late start.
The
winds were calm in the canyon and it was quite pleasant. Above, a
view of Pico Guadalupe.
Kai
made chicken fried steaks, hash browns and eggs for breakfast.
As
we were leaving camp, we got a nice view down the canyon to Laguna
Salada.
There
was a small bit of water in Arroyo Guadalupe but nothing to indicate
the previous rains.
Since
our return path took us right past some cave paintings, we did a brief
stop before attacking Laguna Salada.
The
paintings are somewhat faded, but it is remarkable that they are there
at all.
Laguna
Salada was generally dry and provided a reasonable travel speed of
about 30 mph. We might have been able to go faster had we not had
low tire pressure. High speed with low pressure will damage your
tires and generate a blowout. Ask me how I know.
Once
you get into the center of the Salada, you are in for the
duration. Unless the surface has been disturbed, it is mirror
flat.
Once
we hit Mex 2, we aired up and headed west into Tecate.
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Photos
and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2011, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.