Copper Canyon

I spent a couple of days in Cuahtemoc before heading down to Creel. Apart from another full round of shops selling the cowboy boots and hats and even saddles here, the other unusual thing is the Mennonites that life around this area. They tend to stand out because of their Dutch heritage (blue eyes and blond hair) and although not as strict as the Amish in Pennsylvania they will not swear oaths of loyalty to anyone but God, and continue to speak their own dialect of Dutch rather than Spanish.


Some of the Mennonites. Not your normal Mexican look


Around Cuahtemoc


The main Square

Creel is a little town at the top of the national park which is known as the Barranca Del Cobre or Copper Canyon. It’s not one canyon but consists of six that make up the park. The main canyon is at times wider and deeper than the Grand Canyon. The fisrst day I rode down to Davisidero to the train station and entrance to the park from where you get some fantastic views from the top looking east into three of the canyons. There is also a cable car which will take you 900mtrs out onto a bluff in the middle again offering some beautiful views.


Creel


One of the Indian national parks around Creel


Valley of the Monks


Some more Monks??


Looking into the Canyons at Davisidero


The Cable car at the top

The second day I decided to take the luggage off the Wombat and ride down into the canyon to a little village called Batopilas. I’d stay the night there and ride back out the next day. I got down into the canyon OK even though the road runs out, and the last 60km or so is a very steep and rough gravel road, and found a nice little hotel in Batopilas.


The road ends and this dirt road leads down to Batopilas (as of 2013 it now tarmac)


The temp starts to rise but the views are marvellous


Across the bridge and into Batopilas


The Hotel in Batopilas


I rode through the living room to park the bike!!


The river crossing into Urique


Aldus didn't quiet make it!




A couple of views coming out of the canyon

Then another guy (Aldus) on a bike turned up (another Canadian) So we had a few beers together and in the morning he said he wanted to ride a different route back out. So we set off together. What a mistake!! We rode out of the canyon over a very steep rough dirt track (which wasn't marked on my map) and down into another. I nearly went into the rock face at one point and Aldus dropped his. When we got to the next village, Urique, we had to cross a river. I got very wet feet and boots full of water and Aldus dropped it just before he got to the other side. We stopped for lunch and to try to gather our thoughts. The other problem was fuel. We had managed to get some at a house where he had a 40 gallon drum and sold us 5 litres each. After lunch (well by this time it was 3.30) we set off again, but unfortunately in the wrong direction!! Bugger. By the time we backtracked it was 4.30. Aldus said he was staying there for the niight, but I had booked and paid for the hotel in Creel, so I set off again. The road just got worse! Bull dust and very loose sandy conditions made it very hard to make any sort of progress. The fuel light came on and the map indicated that the only fuel that was commercially available was in creel some 80km away, the sun was really getting low at this point and I was hopeping that I could not only find some tarmac but also some fuel. Luckily I made it off the dirt just as the sun went down, and the little village of San Rafael had a fuel pump that sold me fuel just as it went dark. I got to Creel at 21.00, so that was a twelve hour day.

The sense of achievement is great, but I wish I'd just ridden back the way I had come down.

After a sore nights sleep (my shoulders and neck were so tired from the off road riding) I got up the next morning, topped off the fuel in Creel and headed for Chihuahua.







Two nights there to find a laundry for some clothes and a power wash to get the bike clean. On the Thursday before Good Friday I headed the two hundred km towards Ojinaga and the border with the US.