This was our first major trip inland during our cruising sojourn, and we chose a destination about which we had heard a lot of terrific things from other cruisers.  Surprisingly, we had not really been aware of Mexico’s Copper Canyon prior to cruising, but the advanced billing once we were here proved irresistible to us; with spectacular scenery, remote location, mysterious indigenous people plus a train ride, we put this area on the top of our “gotta see” list.  Even with our high expectations, we were not disappointed.

From spring of 2002, we began to research and plan our trip.  As friends Les and Marcia from Indigo also wanted to travel here, we decided to go together.  Catharine pulled information from every available source – guidebooks, websites and anecdotal reports from other cruisers – and we debated the best plan for us, involving a good combination of energetic walking and geologic gawking.  Friends Mac and Wendy from Pantageous and Guylaine and Jean-Luc from La Soghia also signed on to the traveling show.  Our party of 8 allowed us to form our own tour group specialized to our interests.

The first day was spent traveling by bus from San Carlos to Guaymas, Guaymas to Los Mochis, Los Mochis to El Fuerte, a total of 8 hours on the bus.  El Fuerte is a Spanish colonial town of 25.000 people, with lovely old stone buildings around a central square (zocalo) and an old fort.  We settled in to our accommodations in a 19^th century hunting and fishing lodge decorated with colonial antiquities and spent the evening walking around town. 

We boarded the train – the Chihuahua al Pacifico – first class  - at 8:30 the next morning (officiall departure is 7:40, but it always leaves at 8:30??).   This train’s route through the canyons was originally conceived of in 1861 by an American looking to establish a faster way to ship via land from Kansas City to the Pacific.  This corridor would purportedly shave 4 days of travel time over the route to San Francisco.  The extreme terrain, however, meant that the railway would not be completed in 1961, missing the era of train shipping almost entirely.  The train is now used primarily for tourism.  And what a ride it is.  Mike says it is the most fun you can have for $50 without catching a disease.  With an elevation rise from 200 ft to 7800 ft in 6 or 7 hours, we went through several switchbacks, open and closed loops and lots of tunnels.  The train itself is comfortable, with posh seating, clean bathrooms, and a cool, almost vintage bar and dining car.  You can also stand on the platforms between cars and stick your head out or take photos – with caution, as the brush on either side is not meticulously trimmed! Sometimes it’s not such a good idea to look out, some of the track is so narrow and extremely steep terrain that when they have a derailment, they just empty the cars and push them over the cliffs!! When the first leg of the track was finished, a short length from Chihuahua towards Creel, over 90% of the trains derailed at least once during the trip. And passengers regularly had to get out and help jack up the cars and get them back on line, or help chop down trees for firewood to get up the steep grades.

The Copper Canyon is actually a series of seven linked canyons – four of which are deeper and longer than the Grand Canyon.  The train stops for a passenger lookout at Divisadero, where three of the canyons intersect, and the views here are absolutely spectacular.  There are fantastic lodges nestled on the canyon rim at this and the previous stop, but the room rates are also fantastic (over $250 US/night), and did not match our backpacking criteria. We knew we could return to the area by local bus if we felt we wanted to after our 15 minute stop.  We continued to Creel another 1 ½ hrs further on.

Unlike the Grand Canyon, the Copper Canyon area is not a desert, and the entire canyon area features lots of greenery.  According to the guidebooks, there are more species of pine and oak (over 250) than anywhere else in the world.  Creel, the largest town in the area, has its roots in the logging industry.  Our accommodations were at the legendary Casa de Margarita, the backpackers’ favorite.  We had made advanced reservations because of our group size, and it’s a good thing, too, as the place was full for the three nights we were there.  Our double rooms were $25 USD for a private bath, and full breakfast and dinner included.  Mealtimes were a hoot, with people from around the world speaking many different languages, and some of us trying our really bad Spanish. 

We spent the next day hiking around Creel.  There was a “leg stretcher” walk to the top of a hill overlooking town with a statue of Christ and a fantastic view, which oriented us to the area.  Then we traipsed along a 15 km route outlined by the staff at Margarita’s which allowed us to visit a Tarahumara (local Indian) cave dwelling, valleys of interesting rock formations (Valley of the Mushrooms and Valley of the Frogs), a mission village and Church (San Ignacio) and a lovely (but cold) lake.  En route we met a lovely Tarahumara woman walking back from town, and stopped to talk to her and buy some of her basket wares. 

The Tarahumara are one of the very few indigenous peoples in Mexico who fully resisted Spanish and Mexican colonization; most of them still speak their own language.  They retreated further and further into the hills and canyons, and remain very shy towards outsiders.  As part of their culture, they walk and run terrific distances, and may be the most physically fit race on earth, with resting heart rates astoundingly low.  While we were all most curious to learn more about these people, we realized that those whom we could meet would be the most integrated into a North American way of life. The women when you see them are always on foot and several yards behind their husbands, who may be riding a horse. They do not look like any other Mexicans we have met so far; they have very dark red/brown skin and high square cheek bones.

Nights at the canyon rim were cold – frost on the ground every morning is not what we expect from Mexico, but the country continues to surprise us.  We departed the next day for the silver mining town of Batopilas.  Three travelers from Germany joined us on our three-day adventure to the canyon floor, and we all enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.  We arranged the trip through Margarita’s, and Luis, our driver was remarkable.  Though he was reticent to speak English, we all practiced our Spanish and pumped him for local information about what we were seeing on the way down.  It is over a hundred miles, 30 on extremely steep gravel roads and takes over 4hrs, with 70 switchbacks (Andreas, our German physicist friend, counted them. One section as you go down the canyon has over 40 in less than 6kms.)  It could have been a white-knuckle trip, but Luis was really cautious.  We arrived safely and Luis took us on an orientation tour of the town prior to delivering us to our lodgings – the magnificent Hacienda Rio Batopilas (built and owned and operated by Margarita’s).  We felt like participants in an Agatha Christie novel, as we were the only guests, and the villa-like rooms had no electricity, only oil lamps, but there were brass beds and claw-foot tubs.  Veronica, our personal chef, had been sent ahead to prepare the hotel, and she catered to our every whim.  We dined in an antique-filled room at a long table and were served by Arturo, our own personal maitre d’hotel.  All this for only $50 USD per night! Including breakfast and dinner.

The next morning we were whisked away by our local guide Arturo (different guy) in his pick-up truck equipped with bench seats in the back for a tour of the area.  We visited the “Lost Cathedral” of Satevo (a mission 7 kms down the river), which is neither a cathedral nor lost, but it is beautiful.  The mission was established in 1600, 30 years before Batopilas, but was on a dangerous flood plain so was never the thriving center it could have been.  The church is still used today for services every second Sunday.  We also visited another Tarahumara cave (the parents were off at a Maize Fiesta, but the young son and daughter showed us around for tips), and walked along the riverbed.  We individually visited the Hacienda San Miguel, headquarters for Alexander Shepherd, the American who had really made a go of the silver mines here.  We learned that the Indians, then the Spanish, then the Mexicans had originally mined silver here.  One guy accidentally found a mother vein, but felt that the remote location would make extraction unprofitable.  He sold the claim to Mr. Shepherd for $600,000 in 1880.  Shepherd began mining here (after being ousted as the last State Governor of Washington, DC)’ wisely choosing to process the silver on site and ship out only bullion on monthly burro trips.  At that time, the mine was the richest silver mine in the world, with early nuggets weighing over 200 lbs.  Needless to say, he was able to build a fantastic hacienda, which now lies in beautiful ruins!

We departed Batopilas for the return trip up to Creel, and spent a late afternoon wandering through the artisan shops and museums of Creel.  We were glad of our rooms’ propane heaters – the nighttime temperatures were just above freezing!  The next morning we departed for Basaseachi Falls, a 3-hour drive through high plateau.  We had planned to stay in the cabanas there, but were being really spontaneous now as we had no reservations, and there was no phone at the rancho where we wanted to stay.  Our driver, Cesar (Luis’ brother), knew the proprietor and said we’d have no problem, and he was right.  We found a log cabin that sleeps 10 at Rancho San Lorenzo, at the entrance to the national park.  What a spot!  By now we were used to no electricity, and our cabin had a great river rock fireplace and lots of oil lamps.  The rancho is a working ranch, and Fernando, the proprietor, also runs eco-tours and backpacking or horseback riding trips in the area. 

That afternoon we hiked to the falls and along the canyon rim, and all agreed it was a highlight of the trip.  While we were warned that there would be little water across the falls (being the dry season), we were enchanted by the 807 ft falls – so dramatic!  We heard there is a 1400 ft. falls in the park, but hadn’t enough time to trek it see it.

Fernando told us he had a restaurant on site, and that they would make whatever we wanted.  We had our most authentic Chihuahuahuense meal here, and everyone raved.  The next morning, we hiked through the box canyon on the ranch, and had fun tossing the fake boulders left behind when a French film company had shot a western here the previous month.  We tried to identify trees, shrubs and birds that we saw, but many are not seen in the Pacific Northwest.  Then Fernando loaded us into the back of his pick-up (we were standing up – like cows going to market) and drove us to the highway bus stop.  En route we went through a Mexican Army Road Block/Drug check, but they were more interested in our opinions of their country than any thing else, and were extremely polite.

We made our way back to Guaymas via the winding back route – necessary as there are no drivable roads through the Copper Canyon – and enjoyed yet another side of Mexico.  Here we had fun going through very typical Mexican agricultural towns, the breadbasket of the nation.

The only dark blots on the whole fantastic trip occurred upon our return.  Our car had been broken into, and our radio and tow-bar were stolen.  Rosie’s stay at the local vet’s proved disastrous for her, as she can home with a terrible case of ticks, with many bites all over her, and seemed quite traumatized by the experience.  She returned to her usual self in a few days, though, as we readied the boat to begin our next adventure – spending a month sailing the 1000 miles south to Zihuatanejo. We are, however, wondering if it is such a good idea to have a dog on board, especially as we anticipate it will be more difficult to find good lodging for Rosie as we head further south.  Her days as second mate may be numbered.

Contacts:  Copper Canyon website:  www.coppercanyon-mexico.com

El Fuerte Lodge:  Tel:  01 (698) 893-0226

Casa de Margarita:  Mgr: Denise  Tel: 01 (635) 456-0045

Rancho San Lorenzo email:  lobo_waterfallsadventure@yahoo.com.mx

Mikey’s version of the trip:

For railway nuts, which male isn’t?? This was a lot of fun. The scenery was spectacular and the engineering feat’s to build this railway defy logic. It couldn’t be done today and be profitable. (I don’t know that it is now) being able to hand out of the car doors the way you could years ago was great. I probably spent 3 hrs hanging out of the windows. There are many placed that evidence that this is no easy place to run trains, as Catharine said, there are many cars over the edge. The only thing worse than seeing a car over the edge, would be seeing one with the wheels still spinning!

At the one of the loops there is a work yard that they drag the battered cars back to, here we saw many box cars being cut up for shipping out, too battered to repair. One box car is left as a reminder of how dangerous it can be, it has a 3 foot boulder wedges in the skin of the car!!

On our return to Creel from Batopilus, the trains where all stopped in Creel and Divisadero as there had been a rock fall in between that kept the line closed for over 36hrs. A beautiful place but dangerous no the less.

Batopilus and Basaseachi where the highlights for me, apart from the one day Catharine wasn’t speaking to me (don’t ask me why!) the drive to Batopilus is again an engineering feat, at one point looking down the canyon you can see you road 8times ahead of you. Its all blasted out of the rock and part of the road was the original “Camino Real” that was used to haul the riches of Mexico out by mule train.

Les and I entered on of the abandoned silver mines, which was right on the road to our hotel. We entered a large addit and went in about 100 meter’s, it was a large hard rock mine and you could see where they had hit a vein and just tunneled up, down and sideways to follow the silver. It must have been treacherous trying to get out in a hurry, we would have spent more time in there but we were not prepared enough for any further exploration. Back at Shephards Hacienda, Les and I walked the ruins of the mine workings, mill, ore operation and smelter. There is no data available at the site (a great shame as this was a huge operation for its time) so we tried in vain to figure out where everything went. We later found a photo in the museum in Creel and found we only got about 20% of the buildings right!!

Basaseachi was just plain spectacular scenery; another day at least would have been great for more canyon hikes or horse riding. Thank god for Ibuprofen or naproxen, hiking these old bones at 7000+ feet altitude took its toll on all of us, it’s tough to get enough oxygen in the system after years at sea level. But nobody complained and even blistered feet recipients went out for the second day hikes.

Sitting road big wood fires in lamplight takes you back to another time, no radio, no TV (although Fernando our host at Basaseachi did have solar power and a generator in his restaurant complete with computer and a satellite internet connection!!) but this was the only power available, we enjoyed pre-dinner cocktails slept in by our own backpacks, seated around a roaring fire that just kept the temp in the cabin above the cold nose phase during the night.

All in all, a great trip that would have cost twice as much stateside with less to see. But finally we are ready to move on, after saying goodbyes to our friends here we will all go our own separate ways. We may cross paths down the road but who knows, there are lots of new adventures just waiting for us!

 Photo Album for Leg 11