Puertecitos to Bahia de Los Angeles- Baja-

[LexusAllTerrain]

It was the right time to do this trip, and I knew we may encounter some pre-runners.

We decided to take a long drive from El Paso Texas to Yuma Az. however in the hotel Hacienda at Yuma they do not accept pets any longer, so I decided to drive to San Felipe and spend the night in a small hotel one street behind the Malecon.
We arrive at 10:00 pm and I was very hungry so we downloaded the kiddos, gave them some water and we were on our way to get some tacos, after we ate we went back to the hotel and went to sleep, we had a great day ahead of us!

We woke up early in the morning and the first thing I wanted to get was some coffee, I went for a small walk to the hotels restaurant and got my addiction taken care off! I met some people that were living or co-owners of http://papafernandez.com we talked about their website and how they have and up dated picture on the bay so we may see the weather! This is great for all of us thet want to go and see how the weather looks like! They also invited us to the restaurant and to have some cold beer on them, they also mention that they would be departing in 30 more minutes and we could drive together if we were interested.
I needed to get some swimming done and mention that we would be departing at 11:00 am, he also mention it would probably take me 3.5 to 4 hourst to get there because the road was bad; I knew that but I thought I could drive just a little faster that them.Plus i like to take pictures and make stops in the coves and bay areas! i also knew the road from San Felipe to Puertecitos was an easy road just with a few vados to worry!

Well the road from Puertecitos to El Huerfanito is a ROCK & ROLL trailvery scenic but slow, lot's of rocks and rough, I airdown to about 19psi in front and 17psi on rear and still I could not drive over 35mph! No worries we had enought time to enjoy the road and the views!

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

Military Check Point Ahead!

We finaly made it to El Huerfanito, the island was great, the area has so much to offer wow!
We are now on a long strech of trailroad and between El Huerfanito and Punta Bufeo they have a military check point, we passed and they just look at us.
We see a sandy trail next to the rocky trail and decide to try it out, wow it is washboard at is best however we can go faster toping in some areas at 45 to 50mph.However it is very twisty and has a lot of small hills, but better overall then the rocky main trail; now we are making time and we wanted to get to Gonzaga Bay soon to enjoy the sunset! As we arrive into papafernandez or Willard Bay we notice it was very quit, no people but very clean and organized. The homes were nice and very clean this is an area they like to keep clean. the bay area was nice and we made a stop to take some pictures of the ramp and the Gonzaga bay from far away!

This is a place to stay if you want to be alone and enjoy the sunset and stars at night, compared to Alfonsinas area or Gonzaga Bay!

We made and exit to the main trail and on to Gonzaga bay, as we found the turn to Gonzaga we saw a new Pemex gas station and a mini-market we made a stop to purchase ice before we stoped at the Gas Station to get additional gas, however when we made the stop for gas they were out of gas and they did not expect to get any untill late the following they.
We decided to go to Alfonsinas and get some of the best shrimp tacos you could have and they were deliciosos, we saw some people that were having a good time apparently they had arrive and were getting they rooms ready for the night, this group of people were from some racing team and were doing their pre-running at this point, they mention they were racing class c which I do not understand, however their vehicles were nice and had great suspensions they said they average 65mph on the trail i just did from puertecitos to gonzaga Bay!

We ask to see if they had any rooms available but were told they were all booked in advance, so we had our dinner and were getting ready to look for a place to camp, we were on our way out when the waitress called us and ask us if we were looking for a room I said yes, but that we were ready to camp if we needed! She ask us if we wanted to see the room and I said yes let's take a look, the room was just a bed and a restroom with a window i ask my wife if it was ok. and she agreed.
We brought our kiddos down' chairs and we took a small walk on the bay it was a great view, two bays divided by a small amount of sand wow!
This was fun... however as the sun started to come down the music got loud, they even had some fireworks so I guess the party was alive!

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

meet an Icon in Baja!

It was early in the morning when i woke up to a great sunrise it was almost the perfect view, the sun coming out in between the mountains, we had plan to visit Coco's Corner and wanted to spend some time with him, I wanted to know his story and ask some questions on his leaving conditions in the desert specially when you have 125 degree temperatures.
It was 10:00 am. when we departed Alfonsinas, we made a stop at the pemex station to check on gasoline, no luck yet.
I knew I had enough gasoline for my trip to Bahai De Los Angeles however I was also interested in exploring Calamuje, sfter our visit with Coco's.
We bought more ice and we were on our way thru the side sandy road a much easier and faster road! we were making good time, however i need to stop and take my snap shots... This area was great we passed by an area with some great looking boulders fantastic! We encounter two more vehicles coming in, one was a Silver Tacoma towing a small panga and another one was a white Tahoe; both were driving on the rocky road and wonder why would they drive on this terrible road when you could drive faster and easier on the sandy trail, well after a couple of miles I knew why, I encounter a small fun area in the sandy trail that had some deep sand with some holes on them, a small hill and it seem to be difficult to clim, I have done this before so i took this little challenge and I love it!
Soon we were in Coco's Land, we talked about his life, story and the surpreses he gets in the desert, we also talked about the 40th aniversary of the Baja 1000,it was a great conversation in the spanish language, this is a great man, he is also a great observer he notice my wifes lack of eye sight right away, wow!

After a couple of hours we had to go!

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

Getting windy at Bahia de Los Angeles!

After we got to know Coco, we were ready to depart and continue on to Bahia de Los Angeles, I ask him what he thought of the road to pavment and he mention it should be a easy one, so we were on our way, it was very rocky and not too many sand trail, on the last part of the trail thru Lago Chapala we found it again and in no time we were on pavment!
No wanting to air up at this point and knowing it was only 14 miles to the crossing I drove at 40 mph, upon arrivel to the y or crossing to bahia de los angeles there was this gentlemen selling gas off some containers, so I decide it would be a good time to stop next to him and talk about the area while I was airing up; we talk about the need for gasoline station in this spot and he mentioned bad managment from the ejidos, which to him it was a blessing!

After talking for a while we decided it was time to go to Bahia de los Angeles, we drove for about and easy 41 miles on a new road narrow, but very good road. Upon arrible to bahia we notice the high winds, we wanted and had schedule to camp at or neer La Gringa, however due to the high winds we went in search of a small hotel next to the beach, we were also hungry and needed to cook some burgers that we had, so after driving around for a while and checking around ( remember we have dogs)
we found this hotel http://www.villabahia.com this hotel was perfect for our needs it had some grills was in front of the beach and best of all they will accept my kiddos. We took a room in the second floor with a great view of the islands in BA, we cooked and had a great time watching videos in a small tv with vcr. What a great view wow!

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

Another sunrise!

We had a long day ahead of us and it was still windy, we had plan to go to the mission, however we needed to get to Catavina and Ensenada, i had plan to visit with my dad the following day so we were now pressed for time.
We opted to by pass the mission and go to Catavina followed by dinner at Ensenada.We were inpressed by Catavilla and made a stop at the La Pinta Hotel a great stop, we got to meet a couple in a moto BMW, they were coming from Cabo and were on their way to San Fransisco Ca. We talked about the high winds and how difficult it was making it for them to drive, he also recommended making a stop at the Old Mills which we were looking forward to do, however as we approched the area we decided it was better we continue on to Ensenada, the drive from Catavina to ensenada is on a very narrow hwy and their are alot of hills and twists followed by a great landscape!
We made it to Ensenada by 7:00pm and went directly to our favorite shrimp cocktail stand next to the fish market.We order our regular shrimp cocktails were we have our choises of diffrent hot sauces to add, it was as usual great!

We then left to get our regular hotel, swim a few laps and had a great night sleep! I woke up early morning and went down to get my coffee and did a small drive around the blvd. to find a carwash for the vehicle, found one however I had to go back at 9:00 am because they were still closed!

After I got the vehicle clean it was time to do our regular shopping and make the wife happy! we purchase some items made a small walk in downtown Ensenada got some excellent quesadillas with meat and we were on our way to meet my dad.

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall this trip to Baja was great, the hwy in baja is very narrow and the speeds are slow followed by the best vistas you can find.

Are we going to Baja again?




Most definitely!

...and we should be going to Mulege/Loretto and maybe La Paz if we time ourselfs enough!


Things i need to get!

I need a fridge--it is a pain to be looking for ice!
I need some night lighting- maybe ARB
I need a tire repair kit-ARB
I need more time to travel.

 

[Ursidae69]

I should not have looked at this thread! I have the itch to go back to Baja. Hmmmm, winter break is coming... :costumed-smiley-007

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

Chuck you had me hooked on Baja ever since I saw your first trip report you did Solo on Baja in your Chevy!:wings:

 

[Ursidae69]

Bajataco started me there, it's his fault! :shakin:

 

[SOAZ]

Nice trip and report!!!!!
Can't wait to get back down there!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall this trip to Baja was great, the hwy in baja is very narrow and the speeds are slow followed by the best vistas you can find.

Are we going to Baja again?




Most definitely!

...and we should be going to Mulege/Loretto and maybe La Paz if we time ourselfs enough!


Things i need to get!

I need a fridge--it is a pain to be looking for ice!
I need some night lighting- maybe ARB
I need a tire repair kit-ARB
I need more time to travel.