river - Trans-Americas Journey

People talk about the drive down to the town of Batopilas deep in the Copper Canyon as a “white knuckle” trip invoking phrases like “death road” as their eyes widen. This is because of the narrow and bumpy condition of the steep and mostly-dirt road that descends 6,000 feet in six miles–and because of the conspicuous lack of guard rails (or guard anything) between you and the sheer drop-offs into the abyss that exist all along the way.

Of course, we had to do it.

The first half of the drive from Creel to Batopilas is a paved road with beautiful vistas.

The first half of the drive from Creel to Batopilas was on a paved road with beautiful vistas.

Our journey started off pleasantly enough with good pavement and even better views heading out of Creel. Then we traveled over a stretch of road on which our biggest challenges were the workers and huge trucks frantically widening, grading and prepping the surface for impending pavement. So far, so good.

However, the second half is a VERY interesting unpaved road that drops over 6,000 feet. At one point, a big valley opens up. From here we see the Batopilas River and the road nearly 4,000 feet below.

Once the pavement ended, things got VERY interesting as we began a 6,000 foot drop to the canyon floor. From this vista point you can see the Batopilas River and the "road" still nearly 4,000 feet below us.

The way down over 4,000 feet in only 6 miles... switchbacks, many switchbacks.

Switchbacks are the best (ie, the only) way to drop 4,000 feet in just a few miles.

Once the real descent started, however, the road narrowed to about 1.5 car widths in most places. Throw in increasingly tight turns around blind corners eventually culminating in an epic multi-mile stretch of switchbacks, the likes of which we haven’t seen since India and Nepal, and you’ve pretty much got the picture.

Random goats, donkeys and cows were also on the road taking up valuable space but, thankfully, there weren’t a lot of other cars. We only encountered two other vehicles and both times we were lucky enough to be on a section of road that was wide enough to allow us to just squeeze past each other.

A view of the road down (straight down) to the Batopilas River supposedly taken from a helicopter. (not my photo, found online)

This aerial photo (not ours) dramatically shows the road down to the Batopilas River.

Our truck heading down the seemingly never ending switchbacks down to the river.

Negotiating the seemingly never-ending switchbacks down to the Batopilas River.

Batopilas was the only area of the Copper Canyon where we saw Tarahumara/Raramuri men (not just women and girls) in traditional clothes.

As the road nears the river, the road changes from switchbacks to a more reasonable slope.

As the road neared the river it eased out of switchback mode and adopted gentler turns and inclines.

After a few hours of extremely careful driving we reached the Batopilas River, crossed it and began a much more reasonable gentle ascent on a wider road on the other flank of the canyon. Another hour or so on and we finally reached the town of Batopilas.

The ever present Virgin of Guadalupe watching over travelers onthe rickity bridge.

The ever-present Virgin of Guadalupe watched over us on the creaky wooden bridge over the Batopilas River.

Once the bottom is reaches, it's time to climb up on the other side.

Not there yet: Once we reached the bottom and crossed the river we immediately started climbing up the other flank of the valley to the town of Batopilas.

The town of Batopilas is a former silver mining town largely founded and furthered by Alexander Shepherd who was once the mayor of Washington D.C. The richness of the area’s mines made Batopilas an extremely important and powerful place despite its remoteness–so much so that Batopilas was the second city in Mexico to get electricity, after Mexico City.

Today it’s a sleepy long and narrow town stretched out between the Batoplisa River on one side and rocky once-silver-laden cliffs and hills on the other. Batopilas manages to cram in not one but two plazas. Don’t miss the surprisingly compelling (and free) museum off the main square. The young guide on duty the night we went in read his explanations in English from a notebook with a “script” in it.

Oh, and don’t miss meals on the open-air patio at Dona Mica. There’s no sign but its right across from Carolina’s restaurant which we found less delicious and more expensive than Dona Mica. The food isn’t fast at Dona Mica, but it is home made and delicious. We had one of the best Mexican breakfasts here. It took half an hour to get our plates but there was plenty of strong freshly brewed coffee (not Nescafe!) to ease the wait.

Nearing Batopilas, the road follows the river into town.

The road followed the river into the town of Batopilas.

Besides the drive down, another major draw of Batopilas is the Lost Chruch of Satevo about eight miles out of town. Romantic pictures of this beautiful falling-down domed church even appears on many official Chihuahua tourism posters and brochures. We had been looking forward to seeing the church and we hurried over a road so bad it made the road down from Creel seem like a superhighway just in time to catch sunset light.

Imagine our disappointment when what we found was not the crumbling exposed brick and vibrant domes shown in the tourism publications but an ugly, boring mono-chromatic church being used as a battleground by village kids playing loudly inside and a garbage dump by everyone else.

We later learned that a “restoration” in 2007 was responsible for erasing the charm and the life from the structure. Even Batopilas locals hate what was done and don’t even get professional architects and renovation experts started on the subject. If you ask us, this is one church would have been much better off if it had remained lost.

20 minutes past the town of Batopilas along a rough road lies the tiny village of Satevo with its famous 'Lost Church' that is evocativly shown on Chihuahua tourist posters throghout Mexico. However, when we arrived we were incredibly disappointed to find a poorly resored and dirty church. Above is a photo found online (not mine), of the church before restorations. Below is my photo of the generic 'Lost Church'.

The famous Lost Church of Satevo is a sad example of "renovation" gone horribly wrong. Above is a photo found online (not ours), of the picturesque church as it used to look. Below is our photo of the church as it looks today.

The Mexican government is nearing completion of a new dirt road that will connect Batopilas with the town of Urique in the neighboring Urique Canyon, creating a spectactular driving loop. But for now, the only way out of Batopilas was back the way up the road we’d come in on–to Eric’s delight and Karen’s resignation.

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Most visitors to the Copper Canyon get off the train once during the entire trip. Our goal, however, was to use the train as a lovely tool to get deep into the canyon where we would get off the train as often as possible. WAY off the train.

After leaving our truck behind with friends we got back on the good old CHEPE, but only long enough to get to the town of Cuiteco where it was pretty much immediately clear that this small town doesn’t see much in the way of tourists.

We checked into the lone hotel in town (though a new guest house called Mirador de Cuiteco is nearing completion) which is owned by members of the Balderama family and was built and furnished with cast-offs from the upscale chain of Balderama Hotels. The place was like a graveyard for 1970s hotel furnishings–mostly in a good way.

An unexpected dash of fancy hotel service may be the most successful hand-me-down here–despite the fact that we are the only guests in a budget guesthouse in a tiny town we returned to our room after dinner and discovered that someone had lit the fire in our fireplace while we were out. Lovely.

Wandering through town friendly inhabitants showered us with greetings of “buenos tardes” and though it would be hard to say that anything of note actually goes on in Cuiteco, the peacefulness (and short walk to a lovely waterfall and swimming hole) is reason enough to spend a day if you’ve got the time.

Tarahumara children at the school in Cuiteco.

Tarahumara children at school in Cuiteco.

A nice hike from Cuiteco brings you to this nice waterfal with a great swimming hole. Regretfully the morning we were there it was too cold for that.

A scenic one hour (one way) hike from Cuiteco (take a guide, there are tricky turns) brought us to this waterfall and swimming hole. Regretfully, the morning we were there it was too chilly to jump in.

Karedn keeping warm by the fire in our room in Cuiteco.

Karen warming up by the massive fireplace in our room in Cuiteco.

The next morning Alberto Lopez picked us up in Cuiteco for the short drive to Cerocauhi and that’s about when the laughing started. This guy is great–knows the area, speaks excellent English and loves to have a good time whenever humanly possible. He was so much fun that we basically didn’t stop laughing for the rest of the day as Alberto showed us around.

San Francisco Javier de Cerocahui church in Cerocahui. Don't miss the hysterical "English" translation of the story of the church in a frame by the front door.

Approaching the Urique canyon a short drive from Cusarare.

Approaching the massive Urique canyon just a short drive from Cerocahui.

First stop: Gallego viewpoint above the town of Cerocahui. Here we got amazing views down into Urique Canyon (the deepest in the Copper Canyon network). From where we stood at the viewpoint–which is currently undergoing a major upgrade with proper bathrooms, new vantage points and more guardrails being installed–the Urique River and the town of Urique were comically small at 4,300 feet below us.

A view of the Urique Canyon with the small town of Urique at the bottom.

The Urique Canyon and the town of Urique way down at the bottom.

The Urique canyon with the Urique river and the town of Urique 4,300 feet below, from the Gallego viewpoint.

The Urique canyon as seen from the Gallego viewpoint with the Urique River and the town of Urique 4,300 feet below.

After the viewpoint Alberto expertly navigated us down the twisting, turning dirt road that switchbacks its way down to the bottom of the Urique canyon. It’s not the hairiest road we’ve ever been on, but the drops are dramatic and there’s not a guardrail in sight. Oh, and it descends about a mile in elevation in the space of just 15 miles of driving.

By the time we reached the bottom we were starving and Alberto knew just the place to go: Restaurante Plaza on the main drag (you can’t miss it–there’s only one main drag and the restaurant is hot pink). He also knew what to order: a cold cerveza (for everyone but him) and matates (stone bowls also used for grinding) filled with a dish called aguachile.

No, it’s not just chile water as the name would imply. This stunner is a kind of thin, spicy Mexican tomato soup absolutely full of peeled fresh shrimp. We each must have had nearly a pound of shrimp apiece and, yes, we ate them all. Not bad for around 70 pesos.

Once we reached the bottom of the canton we stopped for a great meal -- Aguachile.

The steep and windy drive down into the Urique Canyon was rewarded with a meal of aguachile in the town of Urique.

The Urique River.

The drive back up and out of Urique proved easier than the drive down and soon Alberto had us back in Cerocahui where we checked into his shiny new guest house called Hotel Centro Jade right on the town square (look for Alberto or his wife Francia at the Bahuchivo train station and they’ll whisk you off to paradise). We can recommend it because it’s spotless, economical (about 500 pesos for room that will sleep 3-4 people) and comfortable. Each room even has it’s own small patio. And you can’t beat the hosts!

The next morning Francia, took us on a short hike to a nearby waterfall that tumbles through a natural bridge in the rock face, along with their elated yellow lab. We don’t own a dog (except for Grady, but he’s stuffed and doesn’t hike well). However, a well-behaved dog like Muneko (which means “little doll”) always makes a hike better with its full-throttle glee.

Near the trail head to the waterfall we also got a glimpse of a new zip line that has been put up. Sadly, the man who operates it was out of town so we couldn’t take a ride.

Fetch! Yet another waterfall, this one a short hike outside of Cusarare.

Alberto and Francia's lovely dog, Muneko, made our trip to a waterfall near their guesthouse in Cerocahui extra special--and extra damp.

Blue corn, the staple of the Tarahumara diet is left to dry on the stalk.

Blue corn, a staple of the Tarahumara diet, is left to dry on the stalk.

After our morning walk it was time to get back on the train at nearby Bahuichivo station and head for the town of Temoris. Temoris is a mining town that very, very few people ever visit. However, we discovered a lovely place to stay (the Nuevo Hotel) and a great place to eat (Gaby’s). We also found geologists exploring the area for mining potential (hi Larry and crew) and they were all happy to show and tell us about their work. If you’re into rocks, this is the place for you!