I'll be checking this thread often. I'm hoping to head down early 2014. I've got that baja almanac linked several times in this thread and it's pretty well detailed. I'd suggest you get a copy if you can.
The tarmac stops just outside of Puertocito, from there to Alphonsina it is pretty sandy, with fairly deep silt at time, I dropped the GSA once there, as you will see in the pic we are pretty loaded, but it is really the camping gear for 2, and the winter riding gear that takes the bulk. From Puertocito to Alphonsina Others might have had no problems in these conditions but I have minimal off road experience and this was my first time in ''deep'' sand. After Alphonsina to get to Coco's corner the road is not bad but again with sandy parts and loose fine gravel, we crossed 3 or 4 guys pre-running the course for the Baja 1000, all thought we were nuts to be here with the big GSA. Getting to Coco's The last stretch about 30 km from Coco's to the Mex 1 was very rocky with big rocks and large ruts, some loose gravel, washboard part, and several relatively steep hills with sand wash at the bottom, all doable, but two up loaded it was tough, I manage to keep the bike up for the approx 60 km and maintained a speed of about 45-50 k/hr. I felt I needed to keep the speed at that level because of the sand. From Coco's to Mex 1 We did the 500 km from Bahia de Los Angeles to Mulegue on tarmac today and it was great, heading to Loreto tomorrow.
If you enter at Tecate I vote Compadre Trail. Im in San Diego if you guys are riding through... stop bye for a drink. I only read the first couple pages... You should be prepared for plenty of dirt either way. Dirt is just part of baja.
A while back I started a Baja information thread. I set it up to be an indexed thread, like the tent space list. It hasn't grown much, but there are a couple useful links. If you have something to contribute, please do! Linky: For Baja Travelers I also got a couple of long overdue updates done today.
We aren't racing to Cabo....we have four weeks and are going to be taking it very, very slow. Plan on sitting on beaches, drinking beer, reading/fishing and generally fucking around...(as I noted in the first part of the thread). Cabo is ONLY a point where we turn around....don't even plan on staying there. I sailed there in 85.....there was NO marina...now it's a rich guy/tourist playground. Have zero interest. Just want peoples input on places to see and stay.
Looks like Boca de Alamo maybe? <IFRAME height=315 src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lWdeDBa3neM" frameBorder=0 width=420 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>
Although I didn't know it by that name,,great vid! Pic was taken just as the road out of San Juan de los Planes, and over the mtn pass, reaches the Gulf of Cali..this stretch was one of my fav memories from my Baja trip... Look into Cabo Pulmo area further south for a couple days relaxation
Thanks for the tip! I just ordered 2 polar bear coolers on amazon. I had to order one for my riding partner so he doesnt drink all of my beer!!
Glad to help. I actually sell them, but since having my second open heart surgery last year, I'm more focused on fun.
Whoops! sorry, I would have bought them from you if I had known! I followed your link to your other thread and didnt really read past the first post. We brought some coolers last year to Baja but they were the cheapo ones from walmart, they did the job but leaked water pretty bad. They sell cans of beer in 8 packs, and some of the remote places we were they sold for 35 peso's! that abot 37 cents per beer! Glad to see your taking time for fun, not enough people do. We will be down in baja mid January for two weeks trying our best to have fun!!