Puerto Penasco to Canon de Guadalupe to San Felipe

Saturday, 27 February – Puerto Penasco to Canon de Guadalupe

1. Crossing the Colorado River (Yes, this cut the Grand Canyon!!)

2. Bienvenidos a Baja California!!! (Leaving Sonora)

3. Rain Clouds gather over Guadalupe Canyon

4. A moment of confusion on the road to the canyon.

5. At the cut off to climb into the canyon. Raining heavy above.

6. We needed the Taco's low-low 4WD gearing to make it the last 6 miles.

Today was a long travel day. We broke camp and started traveling around 9:00 a.m. We took the “new” road (Hwy 3) 234 km from Puerto Penasco to San Luis Rio Colorado (SLRC) on the US border. The drive was only broken by the small town of Golfo de Santa Clara. This was a particularly desolate stretch with blowing sands and occasional views of the Sea of Cortez. The land was beautiful as it was stark.

Before reaching SLRC, we had to negotiate our first checkpoint with the Mexican army. This was staffed by 8-10 teenagers wearing cool uniforms and carrying serious weapons. Ray and I were happy to comply with the requests …. or at least what we thought they where requesting. They poked around in our stuff until they found our cooler full of beer at which the prime investigator made a comment to his comrades to which they all laughed. With our belongings hastily thrown back into the truck, Ray and I were only too happy to comply with their request to move on (sorry, no photo).

When we reached SLRC, we passed a string of Chinese restaurants. On Ray’s authority, Mexicali has the largest Chinese population in Mexico. Apparently, they have moved out to the ‘burbs (i.e. SLRC). Did I mention that it was lunch time? So we had Chinese buffet, which had several obvious adaptations for the Mexican culture. Ray thinks that the food here was much better than the food experience in Barstow, California.

At SLRC we also re-connected with the border fence the US is erecting. I haven’t really thought much about this until I actually came face-to-face with it. It seems odd that this is the next step in our relations with Mexico. It is reminiscent of the Berlin wall, neat and orderly on the US side; full of graffiti on the Mexican side. It is also odd that our economies are increasingly intertwined (count the US license plates on the roads here, the housing communities full of US retirees, or the trucks loaded with produce going to market in the US), yet there is a definite message the border fence is giving. As we drove down Hwy 2, we followed the fence for some time giving us occasional glimpses of the rooftops of homes and businesses on the US side. Very Orwellian.

Shortly after leaving SLRC, we crossed the Colorado River and into Baja California del Norte (BC on all the signs). For those who asked, the Colorado river really is a trickle where we crossed (see photo), However before looking for someone from LA to club, much of the land between SLRC and Mexicali is crisscrossed with aqueducts and irrigation ditches filled with water that no doubt come from the Colorado. Driving on Hwy 2 you see that this is a major agricultural area (a stark contrast to the landscape at the beginning and end of today’s journey). I am really curious to see the Colorado River as it crosses the US-Mexican border to see who really has the water.

There was a 12 peso toll ($1US) to cross between Sonora and BC along with a 20 minute wait in line for the tool booth. We did not expect this nor the 2nd army checkpoint. However, we must have looked a lot less suspicious since we were waved through. After the stop-and-go traffic through SLRC, I persuaded Ray that we really did not need to check-in with the largest Chinese community in Mexico, so we skirted Mexicali opting to pay the toll (couta) on Hwy1 which is a really great road. Let me just interject that all of the main roads we have been on have been really good. Hwy 1 however is something like a two-lane interstate highway in the US (Limited access with entrance only at the interchanges).

After getting around Mexicali, we got back on Hwy 2 and drove about 30 km west of Mexicali, then got off on a dirt road where we drove about 30 miles south until the road ended at Conon de Guadalupe. This was our 2nd experience with the vast empty spaces in the Sonoran dessert. It took us about 2 hours to reach the campsite during which time we passed one house, an entrance to a ranch, and 1 person on a bicycle. We drove up (what I think is) the dry river bed. Be advised, you need the 4WD low range gear to get up the canyon. The campground is a dessert oasis and lives up the hype on the website.

We only had a short time before dark. Ray and I tried to hike up the waterfalls but it was too far. The winds are really strong in the canyon and we are experiencing some heavy rain which probably explains the length of this entry. But we had a soak in our hot spring, and have the fly up on the camper and are dry, warm, and are still happy campers. I will write more about the canyon tomorrow.

I am really liking Mexico.


Sunday, 28 February – Canon de Guadalupe (lat 32 09.217; long 115 47.458; elev 1221 ft)

1. Looking out Guadalupe Cayon toward Mexicali

2. The canyon is a dessert oasis.

3. Sunrise on the palm trees.

4. Ray perched above one of many cascades we explored.

5. Cholla was in bloom (special tribute to Jack Huffman and
the many dessert flowers we know nothing about)

Today was a long day but a short journal entry. Ray and I got up today and spent the morning and early afternoon exploring the canyon. We hiked up past many cascades and waterfalls. The river was full because of last night’s rain. We turned around when the canyon walls became too steep and left us nowhere to walk but in the stream. The cholla were in bloom and the palms were laden with nuts in the canyon. We had an early dinner and then did some exploration of the lower canyon.

Mario, the proprietor of the campsite, gave us the keys and instructions on how to close up the camp tomorrow – then he left for Mexicali. So Ray and I are really out here alone.

Tonight is a full moon. We watched the moon rise over the mountain to the east.

Tomorrow, we get and early start and drive to San Felipe. We are due for a laundry break.


Monday, 1 March – Canon de Guadalupe to San Felipe

1. Panaroma of the mud-flats on HWY 5 between Mexicali and San Felipe

2. Ray on the San Felipe waterfront

3. Ray with the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) looking east.

Another travel day. Adam, the son of the camp ground owner, went to high school in LA. He spoke English like an American (about the seventh that we met). He advised us against trying to drive across the Lagima Salada, which looked like an easy 30 km from the canyon to Hwy 3. Apparently, the mud flats are not good for travel when they are wet. So, we retraced our steps 30 miles up to Hwy 2, back to Mexicali, then down Hwy 5. We didn’t miss the mud flats as Hwy 5 crossed the southern part of this - another awesome geological feature.

At La Ventana, we left the main highway because of construction. At this point, we went over 100 miles on dirt road for the trip (we expect another 100 miles south of Puertecitos before we pick up Hwy 1, the main north-south highway). When we returned to Hwy 5, we traveled on the brand new highway into San Felipe. It appears the government is investing in the road between Mexicali and San Felipe. Like Puerto Penasco, it looks like the there is an effort to make San Felipe more accessible to those of us north of the border.

When we arrived in San Felipe, we were greeted by ReMax Realty and Century 21 signs, then beach front condos and villas. In fact, many of the camp ground and RV parks listed in Ray’s Baja camping guide had gone “condo” and were catering to a higher class clientele. We had to search for a while before finding and “RV” park on the south beach. We are the only mobile RV tonight. Everyone else is planted here permanently.

It is odd, when driving around San Felipe, the majority of the high-rise building are incomplete. Many of the housing communities seem to be in a similar state. Clearly, everything froze in place when the housing bubble burst in the US.

Tomorrow we do laundry and resupply. We may try to move to Puertecitos depending on how long it takes to get our chores done.