The Road South

After 3 days of relaxing at Guadalupe Canyon Hot Spring, we could have easily stayed a week here, we were forced to move on if we were to make it to the house in Cabo Pulmo by the 15th. We loaded the Jeep and slowly maneuvered the boulder strewn road out of the canyon. On the way out we opted for the dry lake bed route to avoid the 27 miles of washboard that we had driven in on. It hadn't rained since before we arrived and the workers at the camp assured us that the route should be passable. In truth it was the not so dry, dry lake bed route. All we can say is thank God for 4-wheel drive and off road tires. The most interesting thing of note on this route is that it is so frequently traveled that there are actually road signs in the middle of the dry lake.

Back on the highway we passed through the outskirts of Mexicali and made it to San Felipe in a few hours. Not much to say about most of this section of highway except flat, straight and flat, straight and flat. The last 20 miles or so winds through some low hills and then you finally get the first glimpse of the Sea of Cortez. That night we camped just north of town at Pete's Camp. There is nice area to park right on the beach with palapas and we had to share the beach only with a couple from Alberta (Leif & Susan Erickson) and an old school bus converted to an RV. Leif and Susan, thank you for sharing your campfire, stories and the great little drink table.

The next day's challenge was how to get from San Felipe which is on the East coast of Baja to Highway 1 which at this point is running down the West coast. We had already ruled out the route running south down the east coast through Puertecitos which we heard has a particularly nasty 75 mile stretch of severe washboard. The most sensible route would be to head NW 120 miles up to Ensenada and then turn back south on Highway 1. We of course chose option 3. This was to take a secondary road off Highway 3 at Lazaro Cardenas that heads southwest through an area knows as Valle La Trinidad and a small community called San Isidro. On the map this is a fairly straight 30 miles which should save us the 120 miles to Ensenada plus another 60 miles back south on Highway 1.

Not finding any highway signs in Lazaro Cardenas we stopped at the only Pemex (gas station) in town and asked directions. Wow, I really wish we had taken some more Spanish lessons this year. The attendant patiently explained the route and we were on our way. After leaving the small town, still following the attendant's directions, we made the right off of the hard packed dirt road we were on to another track running between farm fields and were faced with several large mud holes that again had us in 4-wheel drive. As this road wasn't looking promising we turned around in the driveway of a small farm house to the amused waves of the children in the yard. At this point we had the GPS on and of course the road we were following wasn't in its map file so it only gave us a general sense of where we were by comparing it to the road atlas. We figured we must have gotten the directions wrong (boy those Spanish lessons sure would have been a good idea.) We went back through the mud to the hard packed road and flagged down the first pickup and asked directions to San Isidro. The men in the first truck didn't appear to know the way to San Insidro and neither did the driver of the 2nd truck we stopped, but he did know the way when we said were trying to get to La Paz. He again directed down the road with the large mud holes. We turned back again passing the children in the front on the small farm and we eventually intersected the road we had been looking for and turned west.

This road was much better but in the states would have only rated a class c fire road. It was a one lane washboard track running through the desert scrub, but we were able to manage 20 mph so we figured in 1.5 hours we would be back on the highway and we hoped the road would improve once we reached San Isidro. The GPS showed we were heading in a generally westward direction so we pushed on passing through beautiful green desert foothills which were of course a precursor to the mountains we would also be passing through. As the road climbed it deteriorated and soon were were grinding along at 5-10 mph skirting washouts, boulders and sheer drops. We never did find the town of San Isidro. All we could figure was that it was a collection of a few small shacks and a herd of goats that we passed through before entering the mountains. It really wasn't even enough to consider a farm. After 2.5 hours and passing one car and a man on a horse we reached Highway 1.

We stopped for supplies in San Quintin and while Dana was in shopping I met a Gringo in the parking lot named Russ who lives in La Ribera, the town just north of the house we are renting. He of course knew the house, its owners and told us our biggest problem was we weren't going to want to leave. His wife Kim works at the Coldwell Banker office in the area and he told us to stop and see her if we need advice on finding anything in town.

One of the unique things about driving in Mexico is that when you meet others from North of the border (USA or Canada) whether on the street, in a parking lot, or gas station they always stop and strike up a conversation. They are always willing to share advice or help with whatever you need. This is quite a change from the States where we rarely talk with strangers and this sort of behavior would probably be perceived as just plain weird. I am not sure if has to do with the type of people who are willing to undertake a road trip through Mexico or just the fact that we are all sharing in the same grand adventure.


We stopped for the night in San Quintin as it was getting dark and camped at an RV park that was little more than a gravel parking lot. The only up side is there was a propane dealer next to the park and in the morning we were able to fill our tank. The attendant was a cheerful older Mexican man that had lived for several years in Yakima, small world.

From San Quitin south to Guerrero Negro is a stretch of highway know as the gas gap. It is 200 miles of road with no gas stations. There are several spots where people are selling gas from the back of pickup trucks, at I am sure greatly inflated prices, to those that are unprepared. This is a beautiful stretch of road that passes through miles of cactus forests and fields of boulders the size of houses. We camped for the night in Guerrero Negro at the Malarrimo RV park. This is a small RV park behind a restaurant. We had a peaceful night and were up early the next morning heading for Bahia Concepcion on the Sea of Cortez where we hoped we would be camping on the beach again.





We Reached Bahia Conception about 2pm and found a spot on a beach between Richard and Marny, a spunky retired couple in a 5th wheel trailer from Canada, and Gailene a massage therapist from New Zealand who was sleeping in a tent and trying to earn enough money by doing massages to get the engine in her truck rebuilt. We also met Gary, a quirky artist from the Bay area, who was camping in an older minivan and Dustin, the outgoing son of a father and son team leading a caravan of RVs, who seemed glad to meet a couple of people his own age. The bay was beautiful and we were camped only a few yards from the shore. There was a stiff wind blowing which made setting up the tent a group effort, thanks Dustin. We had a pleasant evening visiting with everyone and went to bed early because the next day we had a long day of driving to make La Paz. Unfortunately at about 2:30am the wind came back with a vengeance and we had to get up and pack the tent up for fear it might end up in the middle of the bay. Then we retreated to the safety of the Pod for the rest of the night.

The next morning we were up at 7 and on the road by 8, having already packed the tent, for the anticipated 8 hour drive to La Paz. This section of road is one that gives you the sense that the Baja is huge and very sparsely populated. After leaving a small range of mountains the road heads down a gentle slope and is arrow straight until it disappears over the horizon, with nothing visible but desert scrub brush and cactus. Along this stretch there are a few small roadside restaurant/rest stops and little else. We were passed by four guys on motorcycles who we later passed at one of these stops. They were all waving at us, which with the pod is not uncommon. The weird part was they passed us again just as we reached La Paz and one of them shouted something to us as they passed. Because of his helmet his voice was muffled but we both swore he said "Hi John & Dana." We puzzled at who this might be all the way to the campground, presumably someone we spoke with at one of the stops along the way.

LaPaz is one of the largest cities on the Baja and the last large one we would pass through before reaching the house in Cabo Pulmo so we stocked up on supplies. We camped at the Casa Blanca RV park. Nothing special but it was well run and clean. We met Dave & Beverly who were driving a Sportsmobile which is what we hope to be driving our adventures in the near future. That's right you heard it here first...we will be buying a real RV, sort of. It is really a conversion van with a beefy 4x4 suspension. Thanks guys for the tour of your van and all the great information. Beverly we hope the winds are blowing for you in La Ventana and that you guys have a great trip.

We also met Uto and Kimberly a German couple who were traveling in an RV fit for an Ogre, Jerome we could so see you stepping out of this.
They had it shipped over from Germany and are on an 8 month trip that will take them from Alaska to Central America. Good luck guys!








From La Paz we made a short 2 hour drive to the house at Cabo Pulmo. We will post more on the house later.


P.S. Dale, Karla and Laurie, Cayenne would like to thank you for her new toy.