1. Looking out from the palapa we rented at the Cantina at Scorpion Bay. It was very windy so I wound up sleeping in the truck. Ray slept in the palapa.
2. A look at the palapa in the morning light.
3. The wonderful paved road we unexpected found when we arrived in San Juanico just as unexpected ended about 20 km from town.
4. The road leaving Scorpion Bay is not finished.
5. Thanks to the GPS, we were able to connect to the main road.
6. This canyon presented an unexpected challenge aswe tried to reach the paved road to Ciudad Insurgentes.
7. The canyon walls are steep ...
8 . ... and there is a river (La Purisimo) at the bottom. A Sudden Realization: You need extra gas not to get to NEXT gas station, you need extra gas to get back to the LAST gas station. We put our extra 5 gallons in the truck that morning. We only have enough gas to go forward.
9. It looks like a lot of water. The fact that we have not seen anynorth bound traffic the last two days makes us wonder.
10. Fording the river on foot gives us confidence. If there were any rain, we would be camping on the west bank of the Purisimo.
11. Ray handles crossing the Purisimo
12. One final look at our only real river crossing and we are on our way to La Paz.
13. Finding the Casabuena B&B was somewhat of a challenge. Through this door ...
14. ... we found a much needed oasis.
15. The veranda in front of our room at the Casabuena B&B.
16. The fountain in the garden at the Casabuena B&B,
17. Another look at the garden at the Casabuena.
18. Seven blocks north on Belisario Dominguez is the Ranch Viejowhere the menu is painted on the wall.
OK, we woke up today with the wind still blowing. This makes the 5th day of rather strong north winds. Ray and I made a strategic decision to move back to the east side of the peninsula and return to the Pacific side when we get a favorable weather forecast. For now, we will skip Puerto San Carlos and head directly for La Paz and hopefully sunnier days.
The new paved road we unexpected found allowed us to exit San Junico at 60 MPH. I am talking light-speed after the last 120 miles. We rolled along the beach and thought we were getting pretty close to BCS 53 (the paved road to Ciudad Insurgentes) when the road unexpectedly ended. There were some tracks that continued on after the pavement but we were unsure. The map and the GPS were no help. We back tracked to the cut-off to La Bocana, drove 3 miles north on this track which showed on the GPS, and then rejoined the old road. Our hopes of pavement quickly melted away to reliving yesterday.
We ran into an anxious moment as we neared BCS 53. We came to a rather large canyon with steep walls. When we reached the bottom, we saw that there was a rather large river. At this moment, I understood why we carry extra gas. It is not to get you to the NEXT gas station; it is to get you back to the LAST gas station. We had put the extra 5 gallons we were carrying since San Ignacio into the truck that morning and we were below ½ full. We did not have enough gas to go back the 170 miles to San Ignacio. We forded the river (La Purisimo) on foot. We decided it was doable and that this was not the reason we had not seen any north bound traffic for the last two days. Ray picked his way across the river. Shortly, we were on pavement. He had reached BCS 53.
BCS (Baja California Sur) 53 is a straight road to Ciudad Insurgentes. As you get close to Insurgentes, there are irrigated fields. The homesteader ejidos give way to a continuous patchwork of fields. Ciudad Insurgentes is a real town. It is neat and tidy. It was the first town since Guerrero Negro. We did not spend any time here other than to buy gasoline at the Pemex station. Mexico Hwy 1 joins BCS53 at Insurgentes. We drove south out of town, merged onto Hwy 1 and continued south.
The agricultural areas continues to Ciudad Constitucion which is 40 kM south of Insurgentes. I think I read that Constitucion is about 60,000 people. We made a quick stop at the Super Ley grocery store on the south side of Constitucion.
The agriculture ends pretty quickly south of Constitution and you are back in the dessert. The population drops to almost nil as little settlements occasionally dot Hwy 1. There is no other population center of consequence until you reach La Paz some 200 km later.
When we arrived in La Paz, we tried to locate the Casabuena B&B which was recommended to us by Carlos, of the Baja Expedition team in San Ignacio. From the map Carlos had drawn for us. We drove a mixed use street several times and did not see the B&B. We drove by the Baja Expeditions office and Ray Asked them for directions. The drew us the same map and assured us it was there. We drove the street one more time with no luck. I stopped into a tienda on the corner. He pointed directed me across the street and pointed me to a wall with a door on it. For the first time, I saw the sign “Casabuena” above the door. HINT: It is directly across the street from the laundry.
We rang the door and were greeted by Milton, who welcomed us into what I will call a travel oasis. See the pictures above. Casabuena B&B is a very chill place in a very chill town. After nearly 3 weeks of living in the back of the truck or plywood casitas, we were ready to sit in the sunlight in the garden after a hot (yes-they are hot) shower. I would recommend Casabuena to friends, relatives, and/or strangers. It is reasonably priced, within easy walking distance of downtown, and has a nice charm in to its architecture and gardens. If you are coming to or are passing through La Paz, here is some helpful information:
Casabuena B&B
Owners: Milton and Susu Sanders
3065 Belisario Dominguez (Between Sonora and Sinaloa)
La Paz, BCS, Mexico 23060
phone: 52-612-122-5538 – English works here.
cell: 044-612-137-5767 - English works here.
e-mail: miltuna@hotmail.com
website: http://www.cblapaz.com
Note: Belisario Dominguez is one street back from Abasolo (Hwy 1 Entering from the north)
Milton recommended the Ranch Viejo seven blocks up Belisario Dominguez toward the city center. As Milton said “You will smell it when you get there”. Tacos carne arrachera – very good.
Wednesday, 10 March – Laguna San Ingnacio to San Juanico (Scorpion Bay)
1. The "high" road south of Laguna San Ignacio turned to single track. As we approached the base of the mesa, the vegetation turned to waist-high grassland with some trees.
2. We lost the grasslands as we began to climb.
3. We encountered one ranch on our ride at El Bulewhere we had to let ourselves through the gate.
4. Although not difficult, this stretch was the most desolate part of our entire trip.Baja is vast. In Baja California Sur, the Pacific side it is sparsely populated.
5. Road signs are updated by the highway users.
6. The terrain is flat on top of the mesa.
7. San Juanico sits on a beautiful bay known as "Scorpion Bay" by the surfers.A shout out to our surfer friends Sam from Mill Valley, CA and Tom Mills of Raleigh, NC. The waves enter at the point and break evenly toward San Juanico (kind of shown here). Jesse, the manager of the Cantina says during south swells (May - August), you can ride a wave from 3rd point (the light-house) into San Juanico - Ray and I figure this to be about 1 mile.
OK, this next part is going to be a rather dry and boring account of our journey along a very desolate stretch of road. Unless you are planning to drive this stretch, then you will want all the detail in this account.
On the Laguna San Ignacio, the Baja Expedition / Antonio camp is at La Frieda. There are two roads that go south: the “high” road, which follows the base of the Mesa and the “low” road, which crosses the coastal mud flats and mangrove areas. We decided to take the low road but wound up on the high road almost immediately.
There is a settlement about a mile from camp referred to as Escuelita (there is a school) by the residents. From the camp, we headed straight to Escuelita, kept to the right of the settlement as we passed, and then turned left at the end of the settlement as instructed by Carlos, one of the Baja Expeditions team. After turning left around the settlement, the road forked (which Carlos made no mention). We took the right hand fork which I am guessing is a short-cut to the high road for south going traffic. I think if we had taken the left fork, we would have wound up on the high road and seen the sign for the low road. Looking back, I think we crossed the low road (there was no sign on this track). We located our position immediately on the GPS and we knew we were on the high road since this appears on the Baja maps Ray downloaded. We came to a signed, cut-off for Delgadito, the only settlement on the low road, that was on none of our maps. We tried this road but it had extreme wash-board and we quickly decided that we were meant to take the high road. So here is the story of the high road ….
As we got closer to the Mesa, we broke into waist-high grassland dotted with some unknown tree. The vegetation was a welcome change. The road narrowed to single track through this grassy area which lasted until we crossed a drive riverbed at El Cuarenta, turned north-east, and started climbing between a break in the mesas. We passed a ranch at El Bule where we had to let ourselves through the gate. We heard some sheep or goats but did not see anyone.
Once on the east side of the mesa, the road was wider, had fewer rocks, but had some dust pits. We hit one of these dust pans and now everything we have is covered with a fine coating of dust. I told Ray that he will have dust in his truck as long as he owns it.
The was a cut off to San Jose de Gracia. Someone had taken the effort to keep the sign readable (thank you) otherwise, we would have taken the wrong turn. From here, the road was fairly obvious through La Ballena (the whale) and Ejido Cadeje where we actually had to cross a small river. We saw where the low road rejoined the high road before La Ballena. There was no sign at this intersection but it is your only choice and fits with the maps in the Baja California Almanac.
When we arrived in San Juanico, we were surprised to encounter pavement. The road running south-east out of town is newly paved as is the main street through San Juanico. The town appeared tidy with its curbed streets and street lights. It was also interesting to see the wind farm north of town that was working overtime since the north winds we had our entire time at Laguna San Ignacio continued at San Juanico.
We are camped at the “Cantina”. There are two other campers here. Jesse, the manager, is friendly and helpful. However, the Cantina, along with the rest of town, is closed for business. As Jesse explains, surf season is from May through August at which time we would be lucky to get a site. Ray and I trolled though town looking for a taco stand Jesse told us would be open after 5 p.m. but we didn’t connect. We returned to camp to eat out of our camp box.
The beach at San Juanico is spectacular and lives up to the hype in the travel books. We are camped in the “surf” camp in the bluffs west of the bay. The beaches east of town stretch for a good 15 miles with very little access. I think that the only way up the beach is - well, to drive/walk up the beach. If you want to be alone on the beach, here (and about 90% of the rest of Baja) is your spot. The bay that fronts the town is known by the surfing crowd as Scorpion Bay. The proper name is Bahia San Juanico. The waves entering the bay at high tide broke evenly west to east across the bay. Jesse explained that when south swells enter the Bahia San Juanico, a surfer can catch a wave a 3rd point (the lighthouse) and ride all the way into town. Ray and I figured this is about 1 mile.
The wind is blowing hard enough that I do not want to sleep in the Palapa. Ray helped me set up the truck. Inside, it does a nice job of stopping the wind.
On the Laguna San Ignacio, the Baja Expedition / Antonio camp is at La Frieda. There are two roads that go south: the “high” road, which follows the base of the Mesa and the “low” road, which crosses the coastal mud flats and mangrove areas. We decided to take the low road but wound up on the high road almost immediately.
There is a settlement about a mile from camp referred to as Escuelita (there is a school) by the residents. From the camp, we headed straight to Escuelita, kept to the right of the settlement as we passed, and then turned left at the end of the settlement as instructed by Carlos, one of the Baja Expeditions team. After turning left around the settlement, the road forked (which Carlos made no mention). We took the right hand fork which I am guessing is a short-cut to the high road for south going traffic. I think if we had taken the left fork, we would have wound up on the high road and seen the sign for the low road. Looking back, I think we crossed the low road (there was no sign on this track). We located our position immediately on the GPS and we knew we were on the high road since this appears on the Baja maps Ray downloaded. We came to a signed, cut-off for Delgadito, the only settlement on the low road, that was on none of our maps. We tried this road but it had extreme wash-board and we quickly decided that we were meant to take the high road. So here is the story of the high road ….
As we got closer to the Mesa, we broke into waist-high grassland dotted with some unknown tree. The vegetation was a welcome change. The road narrowed to single track through this grassy area which lasted until we crossed a drive riverbed at El Cuarenta, turned north-east, and started climbing between a break in the mesas. We passed a ranch at El Bule where we had to let ourselves through the gate. We heard some sheep or goats but did not see anyone.
Once on the east side of the mesa, the road was wider, had fewer rocks, but had some dust pits. We hit one of these dust pans and now everything we have is covered with a fine coating of dust. I told Ray that he will have dust in his truck as long as he owns it.
The was a cut off to San Jose de Gracia. Someone had taken the effort to keep the sign readable (thank you) otherwise, we would have taken the wrong turn. From here, the road was fairly obvious through La Ballena (the whale) and Ejido Cadeje where we actually had to cross a small river. We saw where the low road rejoined the high road before La Ballena. There was no sign at this intersection but it is your only choice and fits with the maps in the Baja California Almanac.
When we arrived in San Juanico, we were surprised to encounter pavement. The road running south-east out of town is newly paved as is the main street through San Juanico. The town appeared tidy with its curbed streets and street lights. It was also interesting to see the wind farm north of town that was working overtime since the north winds we had our entire time at Laguna San Ignacio continued at San Juanico.
We are camped at the “Cantina”. There are two other campers here. Jesse, the manager, is friendly and helpful. However, the Cantina, along with the rest of town, is closed for business. As Jesse explains, surf season is from May through August at which time we would be lucky to get a site. Ray and I trolled though town looking for a taco stand Jesse told us would be open after 5 p.m. but we didn’t connect. We returned to camp to eat out of our camp box.
The beach at San Juanico is spectacular and lives up to the hype in the travel books. We are camped in the “surf” camp in the bluffs west of the bay. The beaches east of town stretch for a good 15 miles with very little access. I think that the only way up the beach is - well, to drive/walk up the beach. If you want to be alone on the beach, here (and about 90% of the rest of Baja) is your spot. The bay that fronts the town is known by the surfing crowd as Scorpion Bay. The proper name is Bahia San Juanico. The waves entering the bay at high tide broke evenly west to east across the bay. Jesse explained that when south swells enter the Bahia San Juanico, a surfer can catch a wave a 3rd point (the lighthouse) and ride all the way into town. Ray and I figured this is about 1 mile.
The wind is blowing hard enough that I do not want to sleep in the Palapa. Ray helped me set up the truck. Inside, it does a nice job of stopping the wind.
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