3 days of adventure in Baja!

[husky4me 0]

My friend Joaquin called me on Tuesday night with an invitation too tempting to refuse... Joaquin, Tona, and I, with the ongoing support of Joaquin's wife Dana on her chase pick up, embarked in another great Baja Adventure.

Day One: Left Santo Domingo at noon, rode 119 miles of great trails, with lots of water crossings, rocks, extreme muddy conditions and ruts, and ended up at Mama Espinoza's in el Rosario at 10:00 p.m. with just fumes of gas left on our tanks. There are excellent views, vegetation, and great riding. It took as longer than expected due to the difficulty of the terrain due to the recent rains. It was very challenging, and just a lot of fun!

Here we are leaving Ensenada on Friday from Tona's home.

Start of ride, Arrollo Santo Domingo.

In the first two miles of the ride, I got stuck on this deep mudpuddle, had to step into the mud, my friend Joaquin helped me, and made it through without falling.

Beautiful views on the way to El Rosario. Lots of green and vegetation due to the recent rains.

Lots of fun water crossings. Here's Joaquin on his DRZ400S.

Someone said rocks??? Here's Joaquin going up.

Someone said BMW G650X can't climb rocks???

Oh no, are we lost?

Is there a gas station around here at 9 p.m. 20 miles of technical muddy terrain left... Heck, we were in good spirits!

We made it to Mama Espinoza's Hotel in El Rosario at 10:00 p.m. Some fuel fumes left on our gas tanks, and very, very hungry.

Second day, El Rosario to Coco's corner (my picture did not come up), to Punta Bufeo (close to Alfonsina's). It was nice to meet Coco and have a beer at Coco's Corner, then kept on going to Alfonsina's turn off.

Arriving at Punta Burfeo. Beautiful place!

On the way to Puertesitos and San Felipe. Beautiful riding along the coast!

Finally in San Felipe!

Here's Tona, Dana, and Joaquin having some fish tacos!

The end of another great Baja Adventure!

[2Wheels 0]

Looks like you had a great ride. I wish I could have gone.

[husky4me 0]

We found some riders from Canada that custom built this school bus in order to transport their bikes and equipment. I think they are dualsport riders from British Columbia.

[stefano 0]

Nice ride Martin im really jelous to not be there ! beautifull place and beautifull road !

Stefano

[Ron 0]

Curious?

I have always thought about riding from San Felipe South along the coast.

How far is it to Gonzaga? If Gonzaga is too far is there something in between?

Ron

[Vinny 0]

Curious?

I have always thought about riding from San Felipe South along the coast.

How far is it to Gonzaga? If Gonzaga is too far is there something in between?

Ron

San Felipe to Gonzaga is 100 miles. Mex 5 is now paved from SF all the way to Puertecitos. If you are on a dirt bike, I would suggest starting from behind the south Pemex in SF, take score course through sand whoops, and rocky two track to Mex 5 just north of Puertecitos, a short run on slab to the graded (albeit poorly graded) dirt road that runs along the coast into Gonzaga. The 2006 Baja 1000 gps track will show you the way.

The first 50 miles will take roughly 2 hours, the rest of the way will be about 1.5 hours. Throw in an extra hour for stops and pics, and you can be in Gonzaga easily in 4.5 hours. Make sure you have gas to go the whole way as trying to scrounge gas in Puertecitos can be time consuming and expensive.

[Ron 0]

Curious?

I have always thought about riding from San Felipe South along the coast.

How far is it to Gonzaga? If Gonzaga is too far is there something in between?

Ron

San Felipe to Gonzaga is 100 miles. Mex 5 is now paved from SF all the way to Puertecitos. If you are on a dirt bike, I would suggest starting from behind the south Pemex in SF, take score course through sand whoops, and rocky two track to Mex 5 just north of Puertecitos, a short run on slab to the graded (albeit poorly graded) dirt road that runs along the coast into Gonzaga. The 2006 Baja 1000 gps track will show you the way.

The first 50 miles will take roughly 2 hours, the rest of the way will be about 1.5 hours. Throw in an extra hour for stops and pics, and you can be in Gonzaga easily in 4.5 hours. Make sure you have gas to go the whole way as trying to scrounge gas in Puertecitos can be time consuming and expensive.

Thanks Vinny,

so who wants to GO????

[Vinny 0]

Sure thing Ron. Also, if you dont have a GPS you can do it also. When you leave from behind the south Pemex in SF you want to take a turn south asap. you will have to kind of feel your way south making some various turns but its wide open and easy to see where you are going. Dont go too far inland as that will take you up into the mountains on the SF 250 course. After you feel your way south, eventually, you will come upon a long straight road headed south that has a powerline running along it. Once you find that road you will follow it as it becomes deep sand whoops for many miles, then turns into a bone jarring rocky two track that meanders a little ways inland until it spits you out onto Mex 5 just north of Puertecitos.

At pretty much anytime you should be able to bail off the route, bushwhack to the east and you will hit the highway after only a few miles.

After Puertecitos, just continue to follow the rocky road all the way to the Pemex at Gonzaga. Use caution on that road as thereis quite a bit of traffic and many blind curves.

Hope that helps, have a great ride.

[Ron 0]

Sure thing Ron. Also, if you dont have a GPS you can do it also. When you leave from behind the south Pemex in SF you want to take a turn south asap. you will have to kind of feel your way south making some various turns but its wide open and easy to see where you are going. Dont go too far inland as that will take you up into the mountains on the SF 250 course. After you feel your way south, eventually, you will come upon a long straight road headed south that has a powerline running along it. Once you find that road you will follow it as it becomes deep sand whoops for many miles, then turns into a bone jarring rocky two track that meanders a little ways inland until it spits you out onto Mex 5 just north of Puertecitos.

At pretty much anytime you should be able to bail off the route, bushwhack to the east and you will hit the highway after only a few miles.

After Puertecitos, just continue to follow the rocky road all the way to the Pemex at Gonzaga. Use caution on that road as thereis quite a bit of traffic and many blind curves.

Hope that helps, have a great ride.

Guess I did not make myself clear!

Its a ride that I would like to do with others and with someone who has done this before! In NO way am I comfortable going to Mex without someone who knows exactly where to go!

Mangler where are you? Any interest?

Ron

[husky4me 0]

Hey Ron,

I don't advise traveling alone over there, but our experience was that that seccion was well travelled and patrolled. It was very scenic, and just a blast. As stated, after Puertecitos there is a paved road, but you can still go dirt and have fun!

I was not the leader on this ride, so I was not paying so much attention to the spects, but I'm willing to return with a group over there. This ride was not posted because of the fact taht it came so sudden (usually my friend Joaquin will call me a day before to invite). Hey, Joaquin, come up and chat about this ride, where are you?

If I remember right, I think we did about 367 total miles for the three days, from Arroyo Santo Domingo, El Rosario, Laguna Chapala, Coco's, Punta Bufeo, Puertecitos, and then San Felipe. The harderst part for me was from Santo Domingo to El Rosario due to the dirt road conditions due to the recent rains, and riding at night (119 miles in 10 hours). But it was also the most fun!

Martin

[Ron 0]

Hey Ron,

I don't advise traveling alone over there, but our experience was that that seccion was well travelled and patrolled. It was very scenic, and just a blast. As stated, after Puertecitos there is a paved road, but you can still go dirt and have fun!

I was not the leader on this ride, so I was not paying so much attention to the spects, but I'm willing to return with a group over there. This ride was not posted because of the fact taht it came so sudden (usually my friend Joaquin will call me a day before to invite). Hey, Joaquin, come up and chat about this ride, where are you?

If I remember right, I think we did about 367 total miles for the three days, from Arroyo Santo Domingo, El Rosario, Laguna Chapala, Coco's, Punta Bufeo, Puertecitos, and then San Felipe. The harderst part for me was from Santo Domingo to El Rosario due to the dirt road conditions due to the recent rains, and riding at night (119 miles in 10 hours). But it was also the most fun!

Martin

Thanks Martin,

If the timing is right, I would go in a heartbeat!

Ron

[husky4me 0]

Ron, I'll make sure I P.M. you or call you if another Baja ride comes up... I like going with my friend Joaquin because he is very experienced in Baja, but due to his work schedule, sometimes makes rides without much notice... Tona is also very experienced as he has raced Baja many times (cars), and has also done work with wideopen. Great folks!

Martin

[Strega 0]

I'm just too paranoid now to go down to Mexico, especially with my bikes. I think after all the bad news lately, my riding career is going to stay north of the border for as far as I can foresee.

[Ron 0]

I'm just too paranoid now to go down to Mexico, especially with my bikes. I think after all the bad news lately, my riding career is going to stay north of the border for as far as I can foresee.

Roger,

have you heard of any problems down by San Felipe, or just a little further south along the gulf side?

The problems I heard of have been on the Pacific side! Not saying there have not been any problems, I just have not heard of any!

I do understand where you coming from though and it concerns me as well. I just love Mexico and really want to go back down at some point!

Ron

[2Wheels 0]

I posted a lot of the info about the incidents in Northern Baja in the TJ Carjacking thread. Recently, I went back and edited post #1 to put in a timeline. There were three carjackings and two attempted carjackings. I don't know whether there were more; those are the only ones I've read about or heard about.

Well, mostly they occurred after 9:00 PM which is when the Mexican Federal Highway Patrol clocks out for the night. With two of the incidents, the targets didn't stop for the flashing blue lights, but continued on to the first toll booth and the would-be carjackers went away empty-handed. No bikejackings that I know of.

So just by looking at the reports, you can see there are things you can do to protect yourself like don't stop unless you're in place where people are around and don't travel at night or in the wee hours of the morning. Ride a bike.

I'm not saying anyone's wrong to play it safe especially when there are plenty of things to do here in the States. I'm just saying I don't think it's so bad if you travel during the day on a bike. I've been willing to go to Northern Baja. I've been there twice in the last month.

These threads about crime in Baja have all turned into flame wars in other forums. I meant the info about the crime affecting tourists as a heads up. If anyone else reads or hears about anything, I'd appreciate it if you'd post it and I'm sure there are other people who'd be interested in knowing as well.

[husky4me 0]

I usually go to Baja only with people who really know the area, security etc... When we rode from Santo Domingo to El Rosario, we did not realize it would take us that long to finish the ride. However, we had someone in El Rosario with our route in order to get assistance if needed. There are certain areas that are more prone to crime, and drug trafic. We try to stay away... To me part of the adventure is having a bit of a risk involved, and I'm willing to take it in order to live a full life... If any body does not feel safe, then why do it. There are plenty of nice riding places on this side of the border...

The road from San Felipe, Puertecitos, and Gonzaga appeared well travelled, with much patrol. The other roads where isolated. We heard a Yatch was stolen from Alfonsinas in the past month. But, then again, I heard of a murder taking place in the Corral Canyon camp ground some years ago... Well, lets not make this thread into another hijacking in Baja thread please... Going into a third world contry where there is poverty, lack of government control on crime, is always risky... but then, riding motorcycles and adventure riding is also a risky past time...

[Ron 0]

I usually go to Baja only with people who really know the area, security etc... When we rode from Santo Domingo to El Rosario, we did not realize it would take us that long to finish the ride. However, we had someone in El Rosario with our route in order to get assistance if needed. There are certain areas that are more prone to crime, and drug trafic. We try to stay away... To me part of the adventure is having a bit of a risk involved, and I'm willing to take it in order to live a full life... If any body does not feel safe, then why do it. There are plenty of nice riding places on this side of the border...

The road from San Felipe, Puertecitos, and Gonzaga appeared well travelled, with much patrol. The other roads where isolated. We heard a Yatch was stolen from Alfonsinas in the past month. But, then again, I heard of a murder taking place in the Corral Canyon camp ground some years ago... Well, lets not make this thread into another hijacking in Baja thread please... Going into a third world contry where there is poverty, lack of government control on crime, is always risky... but then, riding motorcycles and adventure riding is also a risky past time...

Well said Martin and I also am willing to take some risk to live a full life. That being said I will not at the moment take my Wife and Son to Mexico! I also will not go to Mexico unless I go with more than 1 rider and someone experienced in where we are going , staying, ect!

I have heard of the incidents in and around TJ, the toll road and Cuatro C. Again in 2 of these incidents these are personal friends. I have not heard of anything in and around San Felipe. This is why I would strongly consider riding in that area!

Ron

[Vinny 0]

Ron, I have not heard of any recent problems around the SF - Gonzaga area. I think most of the issues are along the northern west coast, for obvious reasons.

Also you may consider crossing at Tecate, heading east to El Hongo, and doing a ride from either Rancho Ojai, or Rancho Santa Veronica to Languna Hanson. At the north end of the laguna hanson park there is a hotel called Rancho Rodeo del Rey, 50 bucks a night. Email them ahead of time so they know you are coming. Once I pulled up at Rodeo Rey needing a room but they were all closed up. So not wanting to spend a cold night on the ground sleeping in my gear, I rode back home in the dark. The ride is doable at night, and actually quite fun, just a little slow.

You can safely park your vehicle either at Rancho Ojai or Santa Veronica for 5 bucks a day. Or if you are dual sported, just ride from home. From Santa Veronica its about 60 miles to Laguna Hanson (about 2.5 hours), where you can buy gas either at Rodeo Rey, or at Ramonas at the old saw mill a little further down the road. navigation on this ride is more complex than the SF to Gonzaga run so you for sure want to go with someone that knows the way.

If you have only limited time for a ride you can cross the border at around noon and be at Rodeo Rey well before dark. Have some breakfast in the morning, ride back and be home around noonish the next day.

Also, you can do the SF-Gonzaga ride even if none of you know the way. Just leave SF on the highway and you can ride some dirt tracks right next to the highway most of the way to Puertecitos. When the road turns to dirt at Puertecitos just follow it for 50 miles and it takes you right to Gonzaga. You know you are at Gonzaga when you see a Pemex on your left, and a store on your right (rancho grande) you cant miss it! At Gonzaga you have two choices. You can camp on the beach at some palapas, or get a room at Alphonsinas on the north end of the settlement. Done this way its a very easy cruiser with zero navigation required, and will give you a little taste of the cortez side. So if you find a partner that has not been before it will not be a problem.