Shipwrecked in Bahia de Los Angeles
We had heard stories of the road leading south of San Felipe. The final 25 miles of HWY5 before reconnecting to MEX1 had not yet been paved and was under construction. Knowing that this meant a whole different thing then in America, I was not expecting any comfort on that stretch of “road”. I aired the tires down to reduce some of the rattling and we set out hoping for the best. Our convoy partners took off the night prior, opting to stay a night in Puertecitos before tackling the road themselves. We hoped they would rescue us when Big Blue died…
Instead, Big Blue conquered the 25 miles like a champ! There was a lot of rattling, and a few noises that perked up even my seasoned ears, but otherwise all things went without issue. Two hours of dirt, gravel, and mountain passes, and we popped out onto MEX1 unscathed. We pointed South and picked up speed only to turn off MEX1 after 30 miles to head East, crossing the mountains again and arriving at Bahia de Los Angeles late in the afternoon.
After a quick review of the local RV parks in the town, we settled into Guillermo’s RV Park for the night, which promptly ended at 6:30 PM for us. It was a long day on the road and neither of us had the will to stay awake any longer. The morning proved more to our liking.
By mid morning we had eaten breakfast and thought we were done with Bahia de Los Angeles thanks to such poor Internet within town (no cell signals and the entire town shared one connection). Before leaving we went to check out the campgrounds North of town, and were blown away with Campo Archelon. With it’s beachfront camping for small rigs only, Big Blue fit in perfectly beside the other van and tent campers who all came out to introduce themselves.
Very quickly, the decision was made to stay here a night no matter how poor the Internet in town was. The rest of the day consisted of a hike to the lighthouse down the beach, a bit of sun bathing, hanging out in the hammock with a few drinks, then a BBQ, and finally sitting under the sky watching the stars slowly crawl past.
The next morning just got better…
… but I did have to get my butt into town at first light to get caught up on work. Afterwards we headed back over the mountains, connected to MEX1, turned South, and made our way to Guerrero Negro.
It’s great to know that the unpaved section of highway 5 isn’t as bad as some people make it out to be. The reports I read made it sound like off-roading through the valley of death.