Baja Summit - Location and Experiences

[Goofy Footer 539]

I'm looking for information on the Baja "Summit". I always hear references to it and I know it drops you north of Laguna Salada but I don't know where exactly it is located. Does anybody have experiences riding the Summit which they could share?

I'm looking for maps, coordinates, routes etc. I'm mainly curious but hope to ride it possibly next fall when San Felipe cools in temperature again.

[HotRod82 2]

I'm looking for information on the Baja "Summit". I always hear references to it and I know it drops you north of Laguna Salada but I don't know where exactly it is located. Does anybody have experiences riding the Summit which they could share?

I'm looking for maps, coordinates, routes etc. I'm mainly curious but hope to ride it possibly next fall when San Felipe cools in temperature again.

Here ya go.....lol

http://dualsport-sd.com/forums/index.php?/topic/17666-16-hours-to-san-felipe/

I'm not sure if I saved the track or not, I will take a look. The last 250 was supposed to go over the summit so if you can find the gps map of the race course it will be on there. The trail wasn't easy in the dark, probably a little easier in the daylight. The worst part of the ride was actually the sandy section leading up to the summit, (we were traveling opposite direction of race course) there was a huge 2 track groove with a tall hump in the middle. What made it so tough were the trees and cactus that had overgrown the tracks, so you had to constantly zig zag across the big center hump to avoid the cactus.....tough riding, but fun! I want to go back during the day and run it again......well sort of. lol.

[Goofy Footer 539]

HotRod82, thanks for linking me to your thread - talk about an adventure! I'm glad you guys made it out.

I've been doing some more research on ADVrider about "the Summit". It's called The Summit by racers and that is the common name in Baja. It's often called El Mano or El Mano Pass on maps and goes over/near Cerro Grande peak. South of Ojos along Hwy 3 going towards Independencia, the trail for the Summit begins east of the freeway and heads over the hill. It's rough and often beat up because it is run in many Baja races as a way to get competitors from the Ensenada Coast down to the desert, Mexicali and San Felipe areas. The Summit drops you onto Laguna Salada. The Eastern junction for the Summit trail from Laguna Salada is called "Calabozo Junction". Apparently the ride is more enjoyable West to East. I did find a GPS route specifically for "El Mano" and found the Norra 500 race course tracks which head over the Summit.

A loop I'm interested in doing (probably next fall when it cools back off) would be Tecate to Sawmill, down towards the Caselli Monument, over the Summit, onto Laguna Salada then North to Guadalupe Canyon, continuing north and taking the La Rumorosa Grade (jeep trail) back up the hill towards La Rumorosa. If anybody has experience with the Rumorosa Grade and/or Guadalupe Canyon I'd love to hear it. [[97xr400r and Kato - check out this loop!]]

This pic shows more than one route over "the Summit" and I believe there may be multiple trails. It does list KM108 as a turn off point from Hwy 3. Some more info http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=70872&page=2

[kato 53]

lez pack a tent and do this, tim

[HotRod82 2]

On the ride I linked above, we staged at Rancho Ponderosa and took the Rumarosa trail down to the desert floor heading east. Very fun trail with great views, not too difficult. The loop you want to do (I'm totally in by the way) would be a great loop, but you would need serious fuel range. I think your last fuel would be Ojos, so Ojos to La Rumarosa would be 150 ish miles? As far as traveling west to east being more enjoyable, I say probably but the back side decent is steep, rocky, and very loose...you don't want any noobs with you. Probably the worst part of that trail was the DEEP two track groove in the sandy section at the bottom of the summit. The two track would be easy but the trees and CACTUS have grown over the tracks like a tunnel. Trying to avoid the cactus required lofting the front end over the tall center hump while keeping your momentum in the sand.....good times!

Oh, and Kato don't camp out there. According to the Army this entire area is extremely dangerous at night with the narco traffic.

[Goofy Footer 539]

Great advice HotRod82! We could possibly gas in Indepencia to load up on fuel and head east from there but yes, I'd have to nail down mileage and prepare for fuel range before hand. Catcus is no fun - maybe we should do this loop when it's a tad cooler and we can wear proper riding pants for cactus protection (if there is a such thing as cactus protection).

I don't want to speak for Kato but I was referring to camping here and I'd bet he's thinking the same thing!

[Goofy Footer 539]

This is a very good thread on the history of the Summit / El Mano Pass from the Baja Nomad forum. It also includes Google Earth shots of other trails leading from from the Sierra de Juarez to the desert floor

This quoted passage is taken from the first post in the above thread:

"Anyway, the history of the road goes like this, As you may know, most of the land facing east in Sierra de Juarez is called "Cordillera Molina", the Molina family owned most part of the mountain facing the canyon side, they arrived in the area in the early 40's, to everybody surprise, they weren’t the first ones on the area, there was an old gold miner that called himself "El Mano", he lived around the canyon area that later adopted his name; he then died in a mysterious way (?).

During many years of growing cattle in these rocky sections, the Molina family got surrounded by other people and then formed the "Ejido Cordillera Molina" as a set of ranchers in the same area.

Loreto Molina and his sons built some small houses on the foot of the mountain "El Mano" canyon range, in a small oasis filled with Palms, then a couple more the top of the "Cerro Negro" mountain, a black and flat hill; they used to call them "Molina de Abajo" and "Molina de Arriba". (Up & Down)

In the mid 70's a "Compadre" of Molina, was the head of the National Commission for Arid Zones, and he agreed on a request of building a road that connected both upper and lower houses, only connected back then by a primitive horse trail; that meant a significant deal of work thru the Sierra de Juarez, nevertheless, the machinery and workforce was capable to perform the task; at first, the Molina family placed a chain in order to prevent traffic going thru that road, and afterword’s it was left open for normal traffic.
This was the third access road thru the Juarez mountains, first came San Matias Pass, then, La Rumorosa, formerly called "Alducin" Grade; and then last this "Mano" pass...

Its very amazing to learn that that little road, that meant a great deal of investment and labor was built just to help a Compadre back in the day."

Here is a great screen shot of the route and my proposed ride idea (take the highlighter North once you've descended onto Laguna Salada)

[HotRod82 2]

Nice find. The little off shoot to Hwy 5 is what we were looking for on our last trip but we got fooled. We found a wide well traveled road that we were sure would take us to Hwy 5 but it dead ended. The spot labeled "not locked gate" is where we ran into the Army at 11PM.....fun trail but steep, rocky, and no joke. Any idea when you might be doing this ride?

[Goofy Footer 539]

I'm busy the next two weekends (Dana's Memorial Baja Ride is next June 14-15). I'm open to a day trip scouting the Summit trail sometime after that. I imagine that it would be pretty hot to make a trip to Guadalupe this time of year. I saw a MeetUp group of fun SD/LA people who drove down for Memorial Day weekend to party - I imagine it was pretty toasty then.

Maybe sometime in fall for a loop ride/overnight?

[Vacman 0]

Tim depending on timing I'd go witcha. I am looking forward to learning more about baja and doing some riding down there.

[HotRod82 2]

I'm busy the next two weekends (Dana's Memorial Baja Ride is next June 14-15). I'm open to a day trip scouting the Summit trail sometime after that. I imagine that it would be pretty hot to make a trip to Guadalupe this time of year. I saw a MeetUp group of fun SD/LA people who drove down for Memorial Day weekend to party - I imagine it was pretty toasty then.

Maybe sometime in fall for a loop ride/overnight?

Fall sounds good for the big loop, I'd be up for a day run to scout also. My bike is in a thousand pieces and will not be ready until July sometime.

[Guest Crusty]

The best time to ride it might be in November, when it is part of the Baja 1000 race coarse,

and open for Pr running.

You can check the Score website for coarse map GPS. tracks and when it is officially open for Pre running.http://score-international.com/

This week at the Baja 500, it was such fun riding a well marked coarse with gates left open.

Permission to pass and at the 2 closed gates of the 100 miles I rode,

there were people to open and close them.

FYI.If you can bring some stickers, because they ask for them before opening their gates.

Nice thing about riding at this time is the locals expect traffic and

if you have a problem you are more likely to get help from someone else Pre running.

[Bubbagums 42]

Highly doubtful the 1000 is going over the summit in November. The November race is a La Paz run.

[HotRod82 2]

The best time to ride it might be in November, when it is part of the Baja 1000 race coarse,

and open for Pr running.

You can check the Score website for coarse map GPS. tracks and when it is officially open for Pre running.http://score-international.com/

This week at the Baja 500, it was such fun riding a well marked coarse with gates left open.

Permission to pass and at the 2 closed gates of the 100 miles I rode,

there were people to open and close them.

FYI.If you can bring some stickers, because they ask for them before opening their gates.

Nice thing about riding at this time is the locals expect traffic and

if you have a problem you are more likely to get help from someone else Pre running.

Agreed, as much as I have wandered around Baja I've never been comfortable going through the private ranchos without permission. I've personally never had trouble but know of many who have. Last summer a couple of my friends actually had the police called on them, worked out ok but the rancher had had enough motorcycles through his property.

[Guest Crusty]

Highly doubtful the 1000 is going over the summit in November. The November race is a La Paz run.

You never know what the new owner of score "Roger Norman will do.

It might be part of the next 250 if we don't have the same storm as this years 250.

[Guest Crusty]

The best time to ride it might be in November, when it is part of the Baja 1000 race coarse,

and open for Pr running.

You can check the Score website for coarse map GPS. tracks and when it is officially open for Pre running.http://score-international.com/

This week at the Baja 500, it was such fun riding a well marked coarse with gates left open.

Permission to pass and at the 2 closed gates of the 100 miles I rode,

there were people to open and close them.

FYI.If you can bring some stickers, because they ask for them before opening their gates.

Nice thing about riding at this time is the locals expect traffic and

if you have a problem you are more likely to get help from someone else Pre running.

Agreed, as much as I have wandered around Baja I've never been comfortable going through the private ranchos without permission. I've personally never had trouble but know of many who have. Last summer a couple of my friends actually had the police called on them, worked out ok but the rancher had had enough motorcycles through his property.

Riders have also hit wire, head high, between two posts.

FWI. slow down for two posts with no gate, to look for wire.

[Goofy Footer 539]

More info from a recent report off Baja Nomad. They went from Guadalupe Hot Springs up and over towards Indepencia. Looks like incredible, desolate country to ride. It would be fun to combine this with the La Rumorosa Grade in a fun loop

[jawhitmoyer 0]

I'd be down with that, but it may be getting too hot in the desert. I am only good up to 100 degrees.