San Carlos to Mazatlan Discussion
I'm going to open a real can of worms, but hopefully help some. About 7 years ago, we were leaving Mazatlan, and a friend wanted to tag along. He said that he "always" went to San Carlos in a day....
Forum Discussion
The object of our exercise has been to get over the border early to make San Carlos. We have stayed at Edgars in Santa Anna on occasion.
The reasoning behind the push is not to be stuck "in the middle of nowhere" and that phrase translates differently to travelers. It may mean they are not comfortable in unfamiliar surroundings, or the tanks are full and require dumping...where's the dump site? and there are many more, thus the push to drive to the comfort zone. Two of the most consistent features of driving Nogales/San Carlos/Mazatlan are; there is a pemex coming up soon and the roadway is always worse than you thought it might be, has the potential of destroying any piece of mind and just about any vehicle.
San Carlos to Mazatlan or the reverse provides much the same situation. When another San Carlos develops from more pioneers and risk takers between San Carlos and Mazatlan, I'm sure many more travelers will take the option of a 3 day plunge as opposed to two, to get to Mazatlan, especially for those of us whom make Maz the destination for the winter.
This is not to say the scenery and activities along the way are wonderful. A magnificent progress of a great Coastal Plain, it's just how much more of that road do you want to endure and how many days do you want to spend on it? Will your vehicle make an unsuspected one foot drop to the shoulder, is there a place to turn around, will I sink in a mud hole?
More cumbersome vehicles that can not reverse are less likely to go off roading to find all those good spots to stop for the day.Thus a one day run from San Carlos to Mazatlan.
The reasoning behind the push is not to be stuck "in the middle of nowhere" and that phrase translates differently to travelers. It may mean they are not comfortable in unfamiliar surroundings, or the tanks are full and require dumping...where's the dump site? and there are many more, thus the push to drive to the comfort zone. Two of the most consistent features of driving Nogales/San Carlos/Mazatlan are; there is a pemex coming up soon and the roadway is always worse than you thought it might be, has the potential of destroying any piece of mind and just about any vehicle.
San Carlos to Mazatlan or the reverse provides much the same situation. When another San Carlos develops from more pioneers and risk takers between San Carlos and Mazatlan, I'm sure many more travelers will take the option of a 3 day plunge as opposed to two, to get to Mazatlan, especially for those of us whom make Maz the destination for the winter.
This is not to say the scenery and activities along the way are wonderful. A magnificent progress of a great Coastal Plain, it's just how much more of that road do you want to endure and how many days do you want to spend on it? Will your vehicle make an unsuspected one foot drop to the shoulder, is there a place to turn around, will I sink in a mud hole?
More cumbersome vehicles that can not reverse are less likely to go off roading to find all those good spots to stop for the day.Thus a one day run from San Carlos to Mazatlan.
