East shore Baja road, from San Juan del Mar to San Felipe...

After leaving the small collection of ramshackle buildings know as San Juan del Mar, the road begins to climb, and it narrows from a wide single lane road, to a narrow, rocky, single lane road, that should cause anybody not driving a high clearance vehicle to stop, and contemplate if they really want to go to San Felipe after all. Besides being steep, very curvy and narrow, the road offers hazards such as washed-out sections, and sharp rocks, lurking to shred your tires.

Photo: That's the small village of San Juan del Mar, as the road leaves the coastal plain, and begins to climb into the mountains, as it heads north. This photo looks south, at the road I previously traveled.

Soon, as you head north, the road climbs, but it doesn't wander far from the sea, as the coastal plain has disappeared, to be replaced by towering, rocky, red desert mountains. The mountains rise up, nearly vertical, in some cases, hundreds of feet from the sea, and only in a few places are there small bays, with small, sandy beaches, that are only accessible from the water. The road becomes quite spectacular, as it climbs into the barren mountains, rarely out of sight from the blue sea. In the 12 miles between San Juan del Mar, and Playa de Costilla, you cross a series four major grades, and numerous minor grades, and the grades bear names such as Cuesta la Huefanito, Cuesta la Virgen, Cuesta la Poma, and Cuesta la Araiza.

Photo: Punta San Isabel sticks out into the Sea of Cortez, as I climb Cuesta el Huerfanito, on my way to San Felipe.

The road has been blasted out of the red rocks, and in many places, its very narrow, steep, and has many sharp turns. This is no place for a motorhome or a trailer, as the road is too narrow, steep and rough. There are very few places to pull over or turn around, and many times, the road will hug the sheer, mountain cliffs, and it will be a dropoff of several hundred feet to the blue Sea of Cortez below. When you do get the opportunity to pull over, you'll be rewarded with spectacular views of the red, desert mountains, and the blue, Sea of Cortez. The contrast is awesome, which makes for spectacular views.

Photo: Looking ahead to the road, as it climbs Cuesta El Huerfanito, after leaving the small poblado of San Juan del Mar. Motorhomes and trailers are not recommended to attempt to drive this road!

Photo: Looking north, as the road begins to climb Cuesta la Poma. Note the rocks are basalt, which is volcanic in nature, and how the cactus has disappeared. The only vegetation is very small, stunted greasewood.

Although you're less than 20 air miles from the poblado of Puertecitos, which offers most basic services, you're in very rugged, remote country. If you broke down, or had some sort of an emergency, help would be a long time in coming. Your cell phone will do you no good, as you won't encounter cell phone service until you reach San Felipe. The locals in the fish camps use VHF marine radio for communication, which is of questionable legality, but the most reliable, legal means of communication would be first, a satellite phone, and second, VHF, ham radio, if you happen to have a Mexican amateur radio license.

Photo: The road is cut out of the cliffs, and becomes a narrow, one-lane road, north of Cuesta la Poma. The four wheel drive trail that leaves the main road near the top of the photo leads down to a secluded beach.

I saw a couple of fishermen around the village of San Juan del Mar, but driving over the series of cuestas, I didn't see another vehicle. If you want to get away from traffic, life in the fast lane, and most other human beings, this country is for you.

The village of Playa de Costilla is reached at the bottom of Cuesta la Araiza, and it is mostly a collection of nice houses, built on bluffs, overlooking the sea. There are sandy beaches, with roads leading down to them, and I actually saw signs of humanity, including a family who had driven their SUV down to the beach, and were enjoying a swim in the warm water.

Photo: Looking south from the summit of Cuesta de Araiza. Note how the road is cut out of the mountain, and the nearly impossible to reach, but pristine beach below.

Photo: Civilization appears, in the distance! That's the south side of Puertecitos, some 6 miles to the north of where I am now, and I still have a ways to go on the dirt road that leads to civilization.

At Playa Christina, the road is still dirt, but big changes are taking place. The East Shore Baja Road is still intact, but if you look at the hills to the west, you'll notice a lot of activity: The long-promised, new road up the east shore of the peninsula is actually being built, as you can see the dust from earth moving equipment at work, and the well-engineered cuts and fills that mark the progress of the new road. I'm sorry to see this happen, as progress comes with the pavement, and when this road is extended south to Chalapa, the coast will resemble the hodgepodge of resorts and fish camps that populate the paved section of the road to the north. I suppose that's progress, even in Baja California.

Photo: Bulldozers at work, at Playa Christina, constructing the new road that will vastly alter the wild, pristine nature of the east side of the Baja peninsula.

Just south of Playa Christina, the road takes an abrupt turn to the west, towards the new road being built, goes underneath the new road through a concrete culvert, and disappears in a flurry of construction activity. Huh? Now what do I do? So I thought that I had missed something, so I did a 180, and went back to the point where the road ducked under the new road, and turned north on a dirt road, that parallel the new road. No joy here, as the road came to a dead end after about 100 yards. So I backed up, retraced my route, went under the new road, and took a dirt road that lead towards the towering, desert mountains, that appeared to go in the right direction. No joy here either, as after a few hundred yards, the road dead ended at an abandoned mine. Now what? I might add that there were no warning signs, no detour signs, no flaggers, absolutely nothing to indicated which route to take.

Photo: Bahía Christina, and the small settlement of Playa Christina. The dust is from the bulldozers at work, constructing the new road south.

Turning around, and driving back to Gonzaga Bay wasn't an option, as I could already taste the fish tacos that I planned to enjoy in San Felipe, so it seemed like the only way was to travel on the new road that was being constructed. Yet, the new road was occupied by tractors, dump trucks, road graders, and vehicle traffic didn't look too compatible with the flurry of construction activity that was happening. I saw several guys hanging around a tractor, and not knowing what else to do, I stopped, got out of my truck, and explained my predicament to them, and asked them if it was OK to drive on the new road. They said that it was, as despite the construction traffic, the new road was the way to get to Puertecitos and beyond. I thanked them, climbed into my truck, and proceeded to drive north on the new road, keeping a sharp lookout for construction traffic.

Photo: I stop by the side of the road to photograph a serene cove, with a family enjoying the beach from their SUV. Its legal to drive vehicles on beaches in most parts of Baja California.

Abruptly, pavement is reached just north of Playa Christina, about 5 miles south of the small town of Puertecitos. One minute you're on the graded dirt, and the next minute you're on pavement, complete with striping, banked curves, and road signs. The transformation is miraculous, and almost unreal, but quite welcome after driving nearly 100 miles over one of the worst roads that Baja California has to offer.

Photo: Pavement begins, just north of Playa Christina. Note the new, well-engineered road that my truck is parked on. The pavement begins abruptly, and it's a fine, smooth ride to San Felipe.

From Puertecitos, it's a little over an hour to San Felipe, as you drive north along the paved road. Looking to the east, at the Sea of Cortez, the shoreline is almost solidly populated with resorts, trailer parks, private houses, and fish camps. This is progress, thanks to the paved road, and when the East Shore Baja Road is completed south to Gonzaga Bay, you can bet the rustic, pristine nature of the coast that I just experienced will be gone forever. That's progress, Baja style...

My suggestion is if you desire a hard-core, rough, desert road experience, with includes lots of adventure, and few other people, drive the East Shore Baja Road before it is paved, and the pristine nature of the area is lost forever.

Photo: Fish tacos, garnishes, chips and BEER are what I was looking forward to in San Felipe!

The distance from San Juan del Mar to Playa Christina, on the dirt is about 15 miles, but took me nearly 3 hours, thanks to many photo stops, lots of rough, mountain road, and a lot of hesitation at Playa Christina. From Puertecitos to San Felipe, its about 54 paved miles, which take a little over an hour to drive.

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