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Once you begin down the grade south of
Jesus-Maria, keep a sharp eye for cattle in the road. I saw a number of
herds on the side of the road when I was headed north in daylight and the
roadside fences are non-existent. On my southbound trip I had to drive
more than 1 hr in the dark as I approached Guerrero Negro. I chose to tuck
in behind a truck after dark and let him find the errant bovines.
At this time of year it is difficult to
make Guerrero Negro in daylight from
Tijuana. The days are short and
you are traveling against the time zones. To make it in daylight, you have
to cross the border by 8:30AM and press hard all day. Someone said to me
yesterday that they thought the drive from TJ to Cabo was so difficult. If you accept that it IS a two day trip, it
can be a very pleasant trip.
Click here for Border Wait Times for Tijuana and Otay Mesa
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Herd of untended horses roamed free south of El Rosario. They took off |
In Guerrero Negro I stay at the Motel Las
Ballenas, a small place on the right off the main drag half a block. It’s
a very simple room, but I’ve always found it clean with plenty of hot
water, secure parking and just $200 pesos for one person. There is a diner
in this same block on the main road, I would use the same adjectives to
describe the food as I do the rooms. I usually enjoy my best meal of the
day at Hotel Malarrimo’s restaurant. They have great beef in particular
but anticipate $15 an entrée average. This place is very busy during the
whale watching season.
Traffic was very light for most of the trip. I left Guerrero Negro at
7:30AM and despite the fact I was moving right along, I didn't need to
pass a car until 11:45!
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Several traffic lights have been disconnected and who stops and who
doesn’t seems to be tribal knowledge. The best fast food in town is Taquaria Karen on the east side of the road at an intersection. The
beef, pork and fish tacos are something I try not to miss when I’m passing
though.
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Looking north at Tres Virgenes. The geothermal plant steam can be seen
middle frame extreme right |
Significant paved detours exist around
bridges that are out just north of Santa Rita and just north of El Cien.
These bridges have been out for a while and demolition is still underway
while construction of new pylons has begun. Both of these detours are
about 200 yards long and rough. Take it slow and it’s not too bad.
From El Cien to La Paz the road is
complete. After years of construction this road is wide open. The corners
are banked and the pavement is well marked. The final military check point
is just north of La Paz. Construction has begun on the overpass on the
north side of La Paz but traffic doesn’t seem to be affected.
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Between San Pedro and Todos Santos the desert is beautiful and lush. |
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Most of the minor problems on Hwy 1 occur
in Baja California Sur. Baja California uses mechanical asphalt machines
where Baja California Sur uses the ‘rice crispy cookie’ technique to
resurface the highway it seems. Tar is first applied to the prepared
roadway. Then crushed stone is smooth on, then another layer of tar and so
on. The finished product is rolled and left with quite a bit of loose
gravel on top of the new surface. Along Bahia de Concepcion north of
Loreto there is some of this type of resurfacing in process. Watch your
speed on some of the corners, it can be like driving on ball bearings.
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These painted cliffs north of Loreto are particularly beautiful at
sunrise. |
At km99 south of Mulege the bridge has
been out for more than a year and the roughest detour of the trip is
around the construction. It is paved, or shall we say was paved. It’s now
a series of small car eating potholes so take your time, it’s less than
150 yards. At km35 in the same stretch there is a big chunk on the
northbound lane missing near the shoulder.
The roadway from Loreto to CD Insergents
is wonderful. Resurfaced this summer with great new yellow and white
lines, I didn’t see any cattle in this area on either trip.
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Agriculture is booming business in 'The Valley', as the area around
Constitucion is known. |
From Insergents to Constitucion is four
wonderful lanes the entire way. Watch for slow moving farm machinery that
takes up more that one lane. In Constitución the center two lanes are the
through street and four lanes outside the boulevard are to access the
local streets.
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The bus stops right along Hwy 1 in Mulege. This
Sea of Cortez side oasis is a growing favorite of snowbirds. |
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Watch for cattle and goats in the road
between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas. There are more road kills in the
section than the other 850 miles combined. Particularly bad are from La
Paz to the Hwy 1, Hwy 19 intersection and from El Migraino south to Cabo
on Hwy 19. Truck traffic from La Paz to Cabo is heavy and radar has been
seen in use by the Federales. Some resurfacing is wrapping up from Todos
to Cabo, watch for loose gravel on the turns.
If you haven’t been to Cabo in a year you
won’t recognize it and more importantly, almost every street downtown now
is one way the other direction. Coming into town from Hwy 19 you will find
construction and heavy traffic from Soriana’s in. Four lanes are under
construction, but they were needed about 4 months ago. Lazaro Cardenas,
the main street though town has major changes too.
The left lane is no longer the through
lane but a delayed arrow left turn lane at several intersection. U turns
are not allowed at any of the intersections, although you may make what
they call a 120° turn onto the opposing service street. At City Club, the
left turn is achieved from the left lane of the right hand service road.
Don’t worry, you’ll understand after your first ticket. They are
aggressive in Cabo now on parking tickets and moving you along in red
zones.
All told, the road is in great shape and
the desert drive is beautiful. So take your time, don’t drive when you are
tired and enjoy the scenery.
Tomas
Remember - Mucho Ojo!
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