DjDrewDigital
Observer
I just got back from my first trip to Mexico!
The adventurers: My dad and I
I had been prepping the van for a while getting it ready for expedition travel. First I installed a dual battery system, then built a kitchen box and lastly fitted 33" tires hoping they would provide enough floatation for my 2wd van to drive on the beach.
We had 5 days and I wanted to do this trip before I started a new job with an aerospace firm. I wanted to go to San Felipe and my dad wanted to surf. I've always wanted to drive across a dry lake bed so when I saw the Laguna Salada on Google Maps I knew we had to start there.
On December 7th, we drove from LA to the border and into Mexicali. We headed for the Laguna Salada, but all the stops we made on the way getting food and money and a Mexican sim card set us back so by the time we got to the Laguna Salada, the sun was setting. We aired down and headed south onto the lake bed and into the darkness. We drove in the dark following the GPS to Guadalupe Canyon which is about half way down the lake and up a canyon. There were several sets of tracks going across the lake. At one point I got on the wrong track and needed to turn around. When I attempted a u-turn onto what looked like dry crusted mud flakes, it was slick underneath and I could feel the van sliding around narrowly avoiding a bog-down.
After about an hour and a half, we made our way up the rocky trail to the Guadalupe Canyon campsite. The host greeted us and wanted to know what campsite we booked and if we paid. I had paid their contact via PayPal earlier that day and showed them the PayPal email confirmation on my Droid but they didn't seem to understand. Anyway they put us in the El Indio campsite which turns out to be their best spot, going for $200 a night on weekends.
Guadalupe Canyon was awesome. Each campsite had it's own natural hot tub. They were fed by a hot water hose and if the tub gets too hot, you just put the hose downstream.
I asked the camp host about the road south through the lake bed and he said 4wd was need. I was in a 2wd van. The Salada is about 70 miles long and I wanted to drive all the way south. He said we might be able to make it if we followed the little green arrows.
It was a real treat driving on the lake bed. I just set the cruise control at 40 mph. But the mud was soft and there were a couple places were I would have gotten stuck if I stopped. It was a little nerve-wracking because we were 30 miles from the nearest road so it's pretty remote.
We finally made it to Mex 5 highway on the south end of the Salada where we aired up and headed for a beachfront campsite in San Felipe.
San Felipe was pretty much dead. There were row after row of bars and nightclubs all empty. The last time I was in San Felipe was on a college spring break trip. The bus from our school had 7 guys and 43 girls. I partied all week with the girls' Lacrosse team. There were foam parties and beer flowed like water. So seeing San Felipe as a "sleepy fishing village" wasn't quite what I had expected. But the beaches were nice!
The next day we headed to the west coast. It was getting late and we needed to find a hotel to stay at asap so we turned off Mex 1 and headed for the beach.
The road ended at Puerto Santo Tomas. We asked one of the locals about a hotel. He said there were some cabanas but they were closed for the season but we could camp "over there." We woke up in the morning to an incredible campsite:
The surf was blown out at Santo Tomas so we headed south to the next surf spot. I needed a shower so we found a hostel to stay at - Coyote Cals near Erendira. What a treat! Rick, the owner, had backpacked through Australia learning about hostels and how to set them up and applied that knowledge to Coyote Cals. The place even had wheelchair ramps so it was easy to get around.
Then we headed up the coast looking for a place for dad to surf.
We found a spot to get onto the beach but it involved going down a sand dune. No problem going down, but coming up could be. I was worried because my van didn't have 4wd and if I got stuck the tide would have swallowed the van. So I tested the sand with my chair. If my chair could make it the van would. My chair got stuck, but it wasn't too soft. So we went for it.
It was awesome being able to put the lift down right on the sand!
Getting off the beach we hit the sand dune at 30 mph to make sure we didn't get stuck. No problems!
Back at the hostel, Rick was so impressed with me and my travels that he invited us to dinner in his house. His wife cooked Thai curry and it was delicious.
The next day the surf was still blown out so we headed home. Drove to TJ but we couldn't get in line for the border because there was so much traffic. The police were closing off the roads because traffic was backing up into downtown TJ. We gave up and went to the Otay Mesa crossing. We had to wait 2 hours to go the last 1/4 mile to the border.
It was a great 5 days. We will definitely be coming back with more people next time.
More pictures and photo map: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/albu...04251344529&authkey=Gv1sRgCJ3Po6_n1_6l8AE#map
The adventurers: My dad and I
I had been prepping the van for a while getting it ready for expedition travel. First I installed a dual battery system, then built a kitchen box and lastly fitted 33" tires hoping they would provide enough floatation for my 2wd van to drive on the beach.
We had 5 days and I wanted to do this trip before I started a new job with an aerospace firm. I wanted to go to San Felipe and my dad wanted to surf. I've always wanted to drive across a dry lake bed so when I saw the Laguna Salada on Google Maps I knew we had to start there.
On December 7th, we drove from LA to the border and into Mexicali. We headed for the Laguna Salada, but all the stops we made on the way getting food and money and a Mexican sim card set us back so by the time we got to the Laguna Salada, the sun was setting. We aired down and headed south onto the lake bed and into the darkness. We drove in the dark following the GPS to Guadalupe Canyon which is about half way down the lake and up a canyon. There were several sets of tracks going across the lake. At one point I got on the wrong track and needed to turn around. When I attempted a u-turn onto what looked like dry crusted mud flakes, it was slick underneath and I could feel the van sliding around narrowly avoiding a bog-down.
After about an hour and a half, we made our way up the rocky trail to the Guadalupe Canyon campsite. The host greeted us and wanted to know what campsite we booked and if we paid. I had paid their contact via PayPal earlier that day and showed them the PayPal email confirmation on my Droid but they didn't seem to understand. Anyway they put us in the El Indio campsite which turns out to be their best spot, going for $200 a night on weekends.
Guadalupe Canyon was awesome. Each campsite had it's own natural hot tub. They were fed by a hot water hose and if the tub gets too hot, you just put the hose downstream.
I asked the camp host about the road south through the lake bed and he said 4wd was need. I was in a 2wd van. The Salada is about 70 miles long and I wanted to drive all the way south. He said we might be able to make it if we followed the little green arrows.
It was a real treat driving on the lake bed. I just set the cruise control at 40 mph. But the mud was soft and there were a couple places were I would have gotten stuck if I stopped. It was a little nerve-wracking because we were 30 miles from the nearest road so it's pretty remote.
We finally made it to Mex 5 highway on the south end of the Salada where we aired up and headed for a beachfront campsite in San Felipe.
San Felipe was pretty much dead. There were row after row of bars and nightclubs all empty. The last time I was in San Felipe was on a college spring break trip. The bus from our school had 7 guys and 43 girls. I partied all week with the girls' Lacrosse team. There were foam parties and beer flowed like water. So seeing San Felipe as a "sleepy fishing village" wasn't quite what I had expected. But the beaches were nice!
The next day we headed to the west coast. It was getting late and we needed to find a hotel to stay at asap so we turned off Mex 1 and headed for the beach.
The road ended at Puerto Santo Tomas. We asked one of the locals about a hotel. He said there were some cabanas but they were closed for the season but we could camp "over there." We woke up in the morning to an incredible campsite:
The surf was blown out at Santo Tomas so we headed south to the next surf spot. I needed a shower so we found a hostel to stay at - Coyote Cals near Erendira. What a treat! Rick, the owner, had backpacked through Australia learning about hostels and how to set them up and applied that knowledge to Coyote Cals. The place even had wheelchair ramps so it was easy to get around.
Then we headed up the coast looking for a place for dad to surf.
We found a spot to get onto the beach but it involved going down a sand dune. No problem going down, but coming up could be. I was worried because my van didn't have 4wd and if I got stuck the tide would have swallowed the van. So I tested the sand with my chair. If my chair could make it the van would. My chair got stuck, but it wasn't too soft. So we went for it.
It was awesome being able to put the lift down right on the sand!
Getting off the beach we hit the sand dune at 30 mph to make sure we didn't get stuck. No problems!
Back at the hostel, Rick was so impressed with me and my travels that he invited us to dinner in his house. His wife cooked Thai curry and it was delicious.
The next day the surf was still blown out so we headed home. Drove to TJ but we couldn't get in line for the border because there was so much traffic. The police were closing off the roads because traffic was backing up into downtown TJ. We gave up and went to the Otay Mesa crossing. We had to wait 2 hours to go the last 1/4 mile to the border.
It was a great 5 days. We will definitely be coming back with more people next time.
More pictures and photo map: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/albu...04251344529&authkey=Gv1sRgCJ3Po6_n1_6l8AE#map
Last edited:
