A Blast from the Past!

[FrenchieXJ]

This is a blast from the past, I do not believe I ever posted it on the forum? Either way this is a quick story.

Copper Canyon 2022 “The Shades of the Canyons”!

Well one of the best adventures I have taken.

What I have always said, comes around again! I have struggled during some adventures over the years, as they never are the same. The people you are with, make all of the adventures OK, Good or Fantastic! This was Fantastic!

I am tired today as I try and catch my breath. I got home at around 4:45 AM after a 750 mile drive (with 400 miles of it in Mexico) and a border wait of 1hour and 50 minutes wait at the border. The trip was for me was a 2,500 mile adventure drive over just over 2 weeks. I will get writing up a report in the coming weeks.

The background leading up to this adventure.

It was over 40 years ago that I have a friend talking about a trip that they took by way of a train into the Mexico mountains. I got interested about this adventure, as I love trains.

I got my friends and some other “Fukarwe”* friends for a adventure that was to change my life! My friends had never driven into this area and only passed through the area on the train.

*The “Fukarwe” group is a unorganized group of outdoor people. Who ever wanted to do a trip or related outdoor experance they would contact the others and just do it. No Meetings, no dues. We would generally make up a Tee shirt for the event. Everyone would get one who attended. Our mascot was a Indian, always doing different things. Generally he was holding a broken bow in one hand. When I put the trip together I took and had him standing on a concrete pillar. The one side cast into the pilar is the letters “U.S.” and on the other side is MEX..These were placed along the border between the countries. They were spaced about a mile apart. We would drive right past them on out adventures.

For most of my life when we were going to Baja California would cross the border out in the desert. It would depend where we were going whether this was our crossing spot or the regular border crossings. We used this for our quick crossings. Yes, we did bring out the Border Patrol on occasions. Generally they would get on a high observation point and watch us. Some times they would sit their and we would drive up to them.

Back to Copper Canyon and the “Shades of the Canyons.
We had some Topo maps of the area, and that was all I could find. There were no roads and only scattered dots on the maps. These dots were from a house to ranchos. This map was last updated in 1960.

Not knowing the area at all I built a small trailer, about the size of a M-416. I built the trailer with a aluminum camper top and a pull out kitchen for the trip. It was able to carry 20 gallons of water and 30 gallons of fuel. This also allowed 2 people to sleep in the camper shell and one below with the kitchen pulled out. We had to use it on a couple of nights at full capacity for sleeping and for shelter from the cold weather.

This adventure covered temperatures from below freezing to 110 degrees. Fires to fun. Climbing out of vehicles jumping into cool waters to cool down and climbing back into vehicles soaking wet, driving wet looking onward to the next river.

This was the adventure of a life time! We had laughs difference of opinions and moments of just WOW!!!.

I could not forget this place, as I had gotten “it got under my skin”. Just a place in my heart that has kept me coming back.

With well over 100 trips into this place I still keep learning and sharing. With my Driving School business growing I had request about places to go with the clients skills they had learned. I expanded my adventures into Mexico to share my experiences with others. This became very popular and I was doing up to 5 trips a year for clients (and myself).

Well a number of years back and some health problems I thought I had taken my last adventure into the “Barrancas del Cobre” and the Sierra Madre Mis. of Mexico. I have been lucky that with some medical advancements, I have been able to keep going.

This has lead me to the 2022 years trip. I have been asked by friends to let them know if I was going
again as they wanted to go. I contacted them and we had a group of over 6 vehicles with interest in going. As life is, things happen and we go with 3 vehicles instead.

I was a bit disappointed as I had a couple of them that I was hoping to share all of the information with that I had collected over the years. With the information in my head it goes away when I go. I was hopping that I could get a person to take over the adventures and keep sharing this with others. As with all of us our days are numbered and we do not know what our lucky number is. Back at the ranch the people who I had hoped could continue this life going were unable to make the trip.

Well today! With the adventure behind us and the memories of the fantastic group of 5 people telling stories, laughs, B.S. experiences behind us, I will share some of it with you. Many photos were taken by the others, I am busy doing many other things to take pictures. I have all of them and many more in my mind, I know what I have seen. I was asked by a friend (Russ) if he could ride with me. I said yes but he had to be the trip photographer, He did take over 1,100 photos. The others in the group may post their photos themselves. Also a magazine is going to have a article about this trip in it in the future.

We then had Mike who was my Autohome RTT sponsor of mine when I was working (and a long time friend).

We had Chris and Anne from the I4WDTA (International 4 Wheel Drive Trainers Association) and long time friends.

I brought a traveling companion with me. Russ is sort of related by a strange way. Because of being a friend, adoption, marriage, 4X4 wheeling nut and part of the 5 generations alive family tree understand this there is a song on You Tube that best describes it.


With some last minute changes to the departure date we meet in Arizona to get paper work done and meet up. I was there for the formal meeting and dinner in style. Early in the morning we get the proper paper work done for the adventure. We are officially on our way for the wilds of Mexico.

We go to a favorite place of mine. We head to the lodge where we plan to spend the night. The place was filled with people celebrating a birthday party of one of the children. It was hard to get a count of the children and adult people their for the celebration. I would guess at least 50 people plus dogs. We were welcomed into the party like family. The time for pinata arrives and the beatings commenced.

Our first steps get us into the ruins of the past culture of the first people of this area. Thousands of years ago some as old as 5,000 years ago is in front of us. Some of us get mud up to our hands. We create our own pieces of what may become some ones treasures in the times to be determined by those who find it. Chris get his hands into the clay of Mata Ortiz (Paquime style pottery). With a life of training behind him of training in other areas and not pottery Chris turns out a true piece of art. (Art is in the eyes of the creator). All kidding behind it was good.

Limited by size!

 

[FrenchieXJ]

With some good meals and a nice beds for the night we bid Mata Ortiz good bye and headed to the hills. The morning sunlight took us to El Willy and the Valley of the Caves. We arrived just a bit late and they were closed for the day. We went back to town for the night and arrived to find another of my friends campground closed. With just a few calls and some and we got into the camp ground opened up for us. We settle in for some home cooking of our own.

The morning brings us to our first full day of dirt tracks. Where we are is deep into the Sierra Madre Mountains. We enter a place which has some of the worlds most unique plants live together. The names we pass through are just the names of the remote ranchos and family groups of homes.

We have seen what we need to have to live. We get a wake-up as to we have that is fluff we think we must have and needed to live. Well is is simple Water, shelter, food and family. This is a start to make you take a moment to reflect on life!

Awaking we have the pleasant warm mountains days and the cold nights in the high mountains. We have some hazy days as there are fires burning off in the distance. Most of these are set to clear the under growth.

Our evenings are spent sitting around dispensing information telling stories. We all take out turn sharing our wisdom and very important information. The song sort of explains this best.


As we spend the evening eating our own cooking one of the gang gets a bit distressed with our cooking or something. By morning the situation has us taking a day off of our simi-planned route. We make a run into the pharmacy in the next town and get supplies and some medication. We wait out a day and the following morning we get to a hospital a ways up the route. They confirmed the meds. were the correct ones for the situation. With a IV drip and time for us to resupply we moved on to our next stop.

We stayed at the hot springs for further recovery. The relaxing springs were just what we needed. It took a while to convince the others that the outdoor shower was the best choice. The pipe straight from the spring, is perfect shower temperatures. The large volume is gentle and soft. They all commented that this special outdoor shower is the best shower any of them had ever taken.

The following morning we went for a hike, out to the cave that was the easiest hike for all of us to be able to do. As usual it was fantastic the fact that like the earlier cave hikes we did they are pristine and for the most part un-molested.

Returning back to town we had traffic control out blocking the roads. The timing was just right that the Rally Car race was ending leg in town then departing for the next leg. We saw many cool cars coming in and leaving. They finally let us and the many people waiting go. Next thing we know we have the racers passing us. This lasted for a while then they are directed to a different route and it is calm again. The soaking in the spring waters our sick person has made s full recovery. This is great news as traveling when sick is never fun.

We continue to the first of the water falls and head out for the paved roads. We are making good time and the hazy air clears up and then returns. We get into the mountains again and the roads go every direction but straight. Eventually we reach the 900' tall water fall. There is about the same amount of water as last year. The rocks are slightly damp at the bottom put the pool is full. Even without the cascading water it is still super. The last 3 years have been very dry and the mine up stream from the falls takes the water for their use. We camp at Fernando’s Campground, Rancho Lorenzo. Fernando is always fun to talk to. His family pushed him into retirement over 3 years ago. He in not going to ever quit until they put him in a casket. He can enjoy his time talking to people now, more then in the past when he had to get back to work.

We have hot showers and the campground to our selves. The night has the serenading of the coyotes and the other creatures of the night. It has been some time since they have had bear troubles so we keep a clean camp we do not want to invite in and problems.

With the falls at low water, we head off to our next adventure. Today we take a former dirt track (which is now paved) wandering through the mountains. This was a 5 hours years ago now it is under 2 hours. This is out highest point in the Barrancas del Cobre area. We reach well over 8,000' and look down on the aspen trees. We continue to see many trees and plants that we can not identify. One of my groups years ago referred to this location as the top of the world. The road circles around the peak. We can see to the end of the world to the west ans as we circle around to the other side we can see again to the other end of the world. We can look down the western slopes into the lower mesas and canyons. This has been a wish of mine to access the area. I have tried on different occasions to get into the area. The foot paths have been opened up to a single lane dirt road. The last attempt we made it to a small community. As we entered town they had a police check point. They wanted to know where we were going. I told them that I heard of a new route to get over closer to one of our destinations. The reply was that 2 different drug cartels both want to use this route. If they are hot expecting a shipment of drugs coming through they may shoot first. By all means we needed to be hunkered down for the night when the sun goes down. Since I had people who were not int this much thrills we turned around.

We arrive at Creel for this is our center hub for the many directions we can go into the different canyons, or other sights. We visit the train stop at El Divisadero overlook, ate off of the 50 gallon drums and do some additional shopping. We finish up with a relaxing stop at the hotel lounge for a cool drink sitting on the leather covered chairs.

We spend some time taking in the vistas then we return back to the log cabins for the night. We are at a drop of 6,000' down to the river below. The vistas in all directions is stunning. A cleared patch of natural vegetation for a plot of hillside land is the store for existence. A small building is setting near by and the protection from the elements for the family calling this home.

From this point the people see a little sliver of the canyons that are part of the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains. For the 98% of the people this is the view of what they call Copper Canyon. The train ride is a fantastic way of seeing a sliver of the “Sierra Tarahumara”. The Tarahumara as the Spanish called the first peoples of this land. They called themselves the Raramuri!

The story is a very long one with some tough times for a group of people who wanted nothing to do with with the outside world.

I enjoy watching the Raramuri weave baskets out of pine needles into gorgeous baskets. They are functional and art at the same time. We deal directly with the makers and no middle man taking their profit. I like the construction of the baskets and how they are made. I always get the strange look from them when I buy then partly finished. I like to show the art under construction. I pay the full finished price for them and we are both thrilled. My collection is filled up at home and the wife has stopped (or given-up) telling me to not bring them home. I still think that I can slip in another one without getting caught.

We have still more miles of dirt tracks to cover and thousands of curves to drive. I have counted some of the routes down into a canyon with 180 degree turns an a 90 degree followed by another 90 degree turn. By the time we get from the mesa to the river it is over 100 turns. And generally hours later. You are not through yet what goes into the canyons must come back out again. We follow another road up to get out and are met with the same challenge grinding up for hours happy to see a 50 section of straight road.

We return back to Creel and get laundry and other chores taken care of. Life is still there. We have more entertainment around the table and discuss the plans for the next day. We head to bed and slip back into our minds of the days travels. The wonders, the thrills, the beauty and the people overwhelm our minds.

continued

 

[FrenchieXJ]

Today, we are driving into the bottom of another one of the many major canyons. The road is paved or it sort of was and maybe not in all places where it should be. We start out smooth, then we have many sights that pass us by from out the windows. Seeing this road that replaced the old single lane dirt track is breath taking. We have locations where you see the remains of the old road that I used for 25 years.

We drop over the edge we watch the Alpine forest gradually go to a mixed forest. We pass many small fields that were plowed by beast and man walking the fields. These fields are scattered on any small bench on the cliffs. Looking close you will see s small cabin and maybe some greenery as water is life and without it you are dead.

The Tarahumara (as the Mexicans and outsiders call them) or Raramuri (as the call themselves) have moved into this remote location when the Spanish came into their area. They are very shy and wanted nothing to do with the outside world. This extremely challenging area is the home where they farm the small chunks of land to exist during the summers. The winters are down at the bottom of the canyons fishing, hunting and gathering.

As we enter the canyons we see more of the Raramur men and boys dressed in their traditional clothing. The women and girls are in their colorful dresses. The Raramuri are always looking at the ground and not at you. If they glance up it is for a fraction of a second the back at the ground.

As we descend into the canyons we stop and look over the edges at the twist and turns below. We will be driving these in a short while and we need to see what is coming up at us. We try and meet oncoming vehicles on the switchbacks where the route is wider and we can cross paths much easier. The point vehicle gets the exciting job of locating the oncoming vehicles. This is very exciting as the route has blind spots and blind corners. We radio back to the others of approaching vehicles and they can tell just how much fun the leader had to find the oncoming vehicle(s). The high pitch of the voice over the radio is generally a tell tail sign!

We have some nice pull outs that lend themselves to the beauty all around us. The ever changing of the colors of the canyons change with the position of the sun. Reaching the bottom of the canyon only leads us to miles of narrow route cut into a sheer cliff. The vertical walls deposit rocks into the route some pee size to bigger then our vehicles. Everyone has to watch constantly not to tackle more the they can clear. There are also sections of the road that have slid down to a more stable location. It is not a time to take a nap. If you do then you are lucky if the wall saves you from a free fall.

We arrive at Batopilas in time for lunch. We locate parking and lunch again is fantastic. We take the water front new road with it’s unique up and down route. The streets were built hundreds of years ago where small carts and pack animals were the means of travel. This leaves them best suited for foot traffic and small delivery trucks only.

We go to a restaurant that I went to over 40 years ago for lunch. The food was fresh and not 40 years old. We finish lunch and continue on our drive the buildings are old with some restored and other in total disrepair. The town is over a couple of miles long and a couple of hundred feet wide at best. We see the remains of the Shepard’s old mining and processing mine on the other bank of the river. For now it is off to a special place for me Satevo (Church, Mission or Cathedral)? The history of what has happened here over the years has been lost. This building is out of place in the remoteness of the canyon. It is the size of a Cathedral (but not in this location it is out of place) WHY! but much bigger then a Mission or church which would fit in better in this location.

Driving down river to Satevo we are looking for a location to camp for the night.

Take a moment and indulge me in my memories;
I will go back 25 years ago to a time when I met a special person. She was around 3 years old. Cute and a smile as big as the all outdoors. Her parents were the caretakers of the Satevo Cathedral. She and the other kids would bring the key to the lock on the Cathedral door, allowing us to enter. She was always there but a couple of times over the years, when she was at the doctors in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua. She suffers from seizures, I have watched he grow up for all these years. Well she has grown up into a beautiful woman. Her smile has grown up with her. I have been in a place where I have been able to help her with her medicine cost over the years. When many of my traveling companions meet her they also help. I do contribute to some other worthy originations at home. This is a special one for me and part of my Copper Canyon experience. I want to thank any of the others who have helped her over the years. A big “Thank You” to all of you!

When we arrived into the community I walked over to her house. Her sister saw me coming up to the house she got her up and when she saw me it was run and a leap into my arms. For what I have said before is the warmest hug and kiss on my cheek, you could imagine. We have a friend connection and it sure warms my heart seeing her smiling face. Well this year she had a surprise for me. She had a couple of pots (Olla) with her paintings on the side of the pots a painting of the Cathedral. Since we had many who contributed to her medical expenses. She made a door prize drawing with tickets for the two pots she had. She made tickets for a drawing. In her hand she put the pieces of paper for us to draw. I got the last folded paper and won one of the pots. Of all of the pottery I have bought over the years this sits proudly on out fire place at home. My Favorite!

We explore the Cathedral and say our goodby’s and head up river to our selected riverside camp site for the night. We have decided to take a shorter route to our next location. Shorter by one long day of driving.

Camp is set on the sand river bank with the sounds of the river behind us.

Good Night!

 

[Ninelitetrip]

@FrenchieXJ

Thanks for sharing..

 

[FrenchieXJ]

We awake to a day that will be a shorter day of driving. I said shorter not easier! Today is a full dirt route soon as we leave the town. It is over the mountains with the switchbacks all of the way up and back down. This is not a short climb up and down but over 35 miles of ups and downs.

As a little change-up for me, I also had a passenger with me this year (a novelty with me). I drive by the seat of my pants since the many routes we use are not on the GPS’s. This is how I learned and I just do that today. It works some days and not “others”. Today was the “others”! Wild driving! I came across a land mark that was not their on my last trip. I did not recognize it. I looked at the cattle corral next to the road. We had just passes a “Y” intersection a half mile back. I question myself did I sleep through a turn? No! I was awake and not in a canyon bottom or pasted to a rock cliff. Was I talking so much that I was not paying full attention? That could be a strong possibility? Those who know me will say “that is a positive hit"! I do not remember for sure one way or the other.

I have the others wait as I go back and look at it. That did not help so I drove down the route for a ways. I did not recognize this route, so I returned back to the others. They pointed out that the corral looked newer and so I went with that thought. We continued down the track. We came upon the closed 1 room school house and seeing this I knew we were on the correct route. (This was the little school that had a mother of 4 kids and 6 others from the area as students.) We had supplies for them as well as some treats last year. This year we had 2 kids hanging around and they got treats again this year. After this laps of my memory, you can bet that I will not make that mistake again (at that spot). That is how I learned all of the routes in the “Barrancas del Cobre” starting 40 years ago. I will never do that again until the next time I do it!

After the 5,000' climb up we were on the mountains razor back. The ups and downs were smaller now at around 6,500' level. We covered miles where they were still steep but shorter climbs. Then we come to the last down hill run of a 5,000 ‘ drop. With engines in the low range we headed into the last decent for the day. We look down on Urique river far below and it looks so small. Reaching Urique the deepest of the canyons we cruse town and into our camp for the night.

We again have some very dusty sections of "Bull Dust" to contend with. This is the fine "Talcum Powder" dust that comes up from the tires and just hangs in the air. It is every where and gets into and on everything.

We get settled into our camp and a relax for the night. This is the second night of this adventure where I skip a dinner and just snack. I am exhausted with all of the turning the steering wheel all of the day long.

Our evening time was discussing the days sights and as usual I share a lot of the history of the area. I have time to take advantage of not grabbing the steering wheel and can focus about the history, birds, plants, people and geology. I get so excited when in this area, just sharing the information. When discussing the upcoming days route, my mind returns back to when something happened. (As we drive down the mountain I remember the time the track suddenly got very tight. The drive down the canyon many years ago when we came into town late and drove the track down at night. The view was tiny lights far below in the black sky. The problem was not being able to see others coming up the track. It happened in a bad spot (it is never on a good location) when the Army’s Humvees meet us on a narrow section. We had to do some maneuvering we made it by them. The pucker factor was 10 time stronger then the vehicles safety belts.)

Back to the discussing the up comings plans. We also use the time to discuss the next days plans and what we want to do. We will start with the climb straight out of town and for 25 miles of switchbacks and a climb of 6,000' of no relief from the climb for the vehicles. We stop when we can and also visit the view point with the glass floor hanging over the cliff. The views are fantastic as we continue over the mountains and the plateau. I tell the others about a hotel and restaurant I had visited years ago. I warn them but we all know first hand experience is better. We walk in the restaurant and are escorted out because we are not part of a tour group with reservations. Heck we had showered the day before so we did not stink that bad. We went to my regular hotel and restaurant where they were more welcoming. Today was a shorter day to the lodge where we will spend the night. We walked in and they were happy to prepare us a great lunch as we get settled in for the evening.

We had a nice evening meal and time to talk. Yes! We did what many people have lost the ability to do in today’s world. That is sit and talk face to face with each other. Today we communicate by most everything by way of devices and not face to face. Most of our group are old enough to remember this strange habit and we make the switch to the days gone by.

This town is a small community where you live with just the basics. The basics are here also! The new "Basics" are present here also the kids walk around with a cell phone (personal communication device) glued to the side of their head. Will this kill the place of the world where I have found so much peace?

Life is interesting for us!

Making a big splash!

We start with another fantastic meal. I get up earlier then most of the others and walk out and say good by to Fernando. He has a long drive to get pump parts for the water well pump. I first came to the valley of the bear in 1980. Fernando’s father and mother were the owners. As time passes Fernando and his wife have taken over running the hotel, restaurant and bar.

When everyone is up we have a big breakfast. The day is going to be a easier drive with plenty of locations where strange or funny things have happened over the years. This just makes for good stories. It can fill the hours of driving take a whole new experience.

 

[FrenchieXJ]

Once we are settled in our vehicle for the day we have many changes today. The weather is much warmer as we slowly drop our elevation. Many ups and downs but we slowly drop into the next big canyon.

To get into this canyon we need to skirt the mining operation. The mine was unique for many reasons. Outside of Chinipas the gold, silver and other minerals were discovered. This was another of the many areas of rich ore deposits that the Spanish located and developed. These were very small compared to today’s massive open pit mines.

The mine was first just tunnels, shafts and drifts into the earth all hand dug. This was a profitable enough that they had a narrow gage railroad just for the mine. This was different then most rail lines. It did not connect with any outside rail lines. It traveled between the mine and Chinipas.

The supplies to build the line as well as the train were brought over in pieces one piece at a time. The engine and cars assembled on sight. The line was over 18 miles long between where the mine was to the river banks of the Chinipas river. The river was used to harness the power of the water to process the ore.

The rail line has tunnels and bridges on it’s route to the town of Chinipas. This was the first vehicle route after the rails were removed. It was the early 2000's when the route was shut down. With a international mining coming in to reopen the mining area they build a road around the mining areas. That meant the loss of the fun tunnel route. I miss the tunnels and the radio antenna ringing as it hit the rocks inside the tunnels. We do part of the way down the grade pass around the tunnels as driving through them is a bit of a challenge over the rocks that have relocated themself on the floor of the tunnels.

Today they have expanded the mine further east into new deposits. The operation is still growing as the demand for the silver and gold are very high.

We drop into town and we do a drive through town and head out to the river where we set up camp for the night. We have a nice spot by a swimming hole and tall cliffs on the other side of the river. We settle in for a nice evening doing our best to stay in the shade. The water is warm and just right for swimming. We are sitting on the sandy beach when we all jump a bit. I large bolder (rock) decide that what we were doing looked a lot better then what it had been doing of many millions of years. It decided to go in for a swim like some of us were doing. We were caught off guard when it decided to go swimming. I guess we forgot to put up a sigh saying their was no life guard on duty. We take a moment of silence as we remember this rock hard personality who will now have a new wet home.

At the evening discussion for the upcoming days plans. I point out that the route we will be taking is going to be very dusty. Yes, we have had some very dust locations many times on the adventure already. This climb has been the known for its deep ground covering of “Bull Dust”.

The layers of fine Volcanic ash that has been compressed into a soft rock becomes a talcum powder dust when exposed to the elements. I try and impress upon everyone that it is going to get very dusty.

Heading off to bed the night is quiet. We do here the roosters, dogs and frogs make low background noise.

Morning comes at just before the sun get to us. We are ready earlier then normal as we have a shorter drive today. We did not wait we were set to go early for us. We are ready to go so we get a earlier jump on leaving the last of the mighty rivers making up the Barrancas del Cobre for this adventure. Soon as we leave the riverbed I make a discovery the single lane road that has stood the test of time is now double the width. It also has a hard compacted road base on the top.

This is a big surprise to me. For 40 years this route was narrow, rocky and full of washouts and Bull Dust. We are just cruising right up the mountain side, all dust and bump free. I am happy to not have this dust for the others more then for myself. One of the benefits of being in front is you do not generally get as much dust as the others behind you. You also get other joys as well, a oncoming vehicle in your lane around a corner and more.

We stop at a view point for a look at the mine in the distance haze and the town below. We continue up the tight switchback are now able to be navigate most turns in a single turn and no backing up. We are cruising along and I know of a few places where the cliff face is solid rock and widing the road would be quite a feat. It is not long and we reach the first location of the rock face. They did get the road about 1 foot wider and not a inch more.

We are still climbing the 5,000' climb to the saddle where I spot some heavy equipment in front of me. It is the road crew building the road. We are still only a one third of the way up the mountain. We get around the equipment and back to the old road. The fun I thought that we would miss out on (dust, bumps and hidden rocks) is back. Is it Great or is it great?. I hate telling people one thing, then it is not what I had said. Some people might not still believe me after that. I do work hard to try and tell the truth, on occasions.

We make the saddle of the range and we have many more miles of dirt with ranchos scattered on the small level locations. We have left the lands of the Raramuri behind us. We ride high along the ridges and smaller drainage’s across the mountains which will take us to the last canyon with the generally the smallest of the rivers. The curves and grade is still steep and the roads get narrow. We still have the climb out of the west side of the canyon. The dirt has changed from the light gray to the red/brown color. It is not so bad as the Bull dirt but the people behind me are sometimes lost in the dust. This is a good way to celebrate the last of the canyons we needed to access in the “land of the canyons”.

We wind our way into the genital rolling hills. And large ranching areas. We do find the paved road to have some positives No dust, smoother and quiter.

We roll into Alamos in record time. We are in time for lunch. This may have been a record time to cover the 66 miles. We discuss what we want to do. Spend the night or head to our next goal. Request have come in for some gulf water time. We push on after our lunch to Bahia Kino for the night.

We are traveling a warp speed today. We are going so fast that in a hour we have come 300 years into the future. We leave the 17th. century behind us. We have come into today’s world. Is that a good thing,
a bad thing or just a different thing.

Tonight we treat ourselves to a hotel for the night in Bahia Kino. The soft bed feels good.

Buenas Noches!

 

[FrenchieXJ]

As morning shows it’s sunny face in the morning. We discuss the options for the day and we decide to aim for the border. It will be pavement and so we can make it to the border during the daylight. All goes well as we reach the double splits of the road. I made the first split and then missed the second split. This sent us through town of Nogales and not along the toll road. Well we have the extra fun of sitting in line waiting to cross the border on a Saturday late afternoon. The clocks tick off the seconds, minutes and hours in line. We make the crossing and we continue on to one of the parties homes in Arizona.

When we arrive at Mike’s house we help each other unpack. We need to dig out the gear of each other in our vehicles.

With my wife leaving the first thing in the morning sunlight for California. I decide it would be nice to say hello to her before she leaves for her 2 weeks. Someone needs to be home to feed the critters. I think we can make it before she leaves. With Russ with Myself and in the U.S , Russ can drive here. We each do a couple shifts of driving the additional 450 miles to home. For a total of 730 miles today.

All goes well and we get in just in time to load the wife’s car with her luggage. The sun comes up and she is on the road, right on schedule. Russ hits the guest room and is out for 6 hours. I got my 15 minutes of sleep on the road so I am up for the day.

How did the adventure go?
We went the whole adventure without any TV and it is so nice. The old saying of “No news is good news” is so true! This says some things better then I can. “I will never reach my destination if I never try, I will sail my vessel til the river runs dry” Garth Brooks”

Your travels can be close to your home or in distance lands, it is different for each one of us. May they be as exciting as you can handle and enough of a challenge to make it special to you.

Well the question I expect that you may have is what about the Drug Gangs? This was more like the trips of over 25 years ago. Were they there? I am sure they were but we did not see any of them. Maybe they were busy at the borders with smuggling people into the U.S.A. or just hiding better. We had no guns in our face or any problems in any way. We has one person who got lit-up twice with the red and blue lights. No ticket or any problems. I think this is what happens when you have a new truck and fixed up for overlanding, you get their attention.

We all have our special place!
For me my place is the Sierra Madre Mountains. What the canyons, mountains, rivers and people have shared with me is just one of those special places. The relationship with the “first people” and this area will never know beyond them. What I have come to understand is far beyond the surface beauty. This is marvelous place and I see past this. I wish I could put into words the feeling I have and the respect to the people who cherish this special place! This did not come from just a quick visit it is far beyond that. I have made over a hundred trips, adventures and expeditions onto “the land of the canyons”! I do not know how many more I will be able to do, but I will keep going to the end! I hope that everyone can find their special place as I have! We all should have this place where we can get in touch with ourselves. I hope that you can return back to your special place for you to find your inner peace when ever you want!

I hope that this has inspired you to get out and live your dreams. I have had years of exploring the outback with many different 4X4's. I worked and built my company to do what I liked and I got to travel. Doing what I did in my free time, back when I did the same thing I did working. I did explore by myself or with a friend(s). This trip was one of those, doing it with good friends! It is still what I do today as I have been retired for 14 years now. I hope to see you again soon my friend “Barrancas del Cobre”! Yesterday is history, Live for Today, Pray for Tomorrow!

Thank you for coming along on the adventure with us.

“I am their leader, which way did they go?”

Frenchie

 

[Ace Brown]

I ran the Copper Canyon trip with Frenchie a few years ago. It stands out in my memory as a favorite of many, many overlanding trips. His current narrative of a more recent trip brought back vivid memories. I could see most of the spots he mentioned as a clear photograph in my mind. Like Texas Gary’s Beach where we too had a perfect swimming hole. But we did not see a rock dive in.

Thanks for the memories.

Ace


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