(254) Tour to the Copper Canyon
26 October 2017 | Copper Canyon, Mexico
HB
Everyone we've met and who have been there has recommended checking out the Copper Canyon. And since this is the best time of year to visit, shoulder season, between the hot summer and winter snows, we took this past week away from the boat to visit one of Mexico's natural wonders. From Mazatlan it was a 5 hour bus ride north, an overnight in Los Mochis and then 10 hours train ride inland climbing to 8,000 ft through deep pine covered canyons. The original plan was to make one stop overnight in the mountains then carry on to Chihuahua, but later shortened the distance, instead to take more time in the mountains with two nights in each of the small communities of Creel and Divisidero, before returning to Los Mochis and home. Los Mochis is a big modern city, of roughly 700,000 pop. We visited the botanical gardens while there, and checked out a butterfly collection and held a scorpion and a tarantula, after being assured neither bit or stung. The Copper Canyon train (Chepe) has two options for style of transport; premium or economy. Sometimes they travel as two separate trains, and sometimes they are separate carriages on one train. For 6,000.00 pesos you can travel to Chihuahua in first class, or for half that price go in economy. The only difference being that first class has carpeted flooring, and a dining car versus economy's snack cart that regularly travels the aisle with chips, choc bars, and pop. Everything else is the same...comfortable reclining seats, air conditioning and shaded windows. We of course made the mistake of first class with the other gringos at the start, but on the return went with economy, also favoured by the locals, and where the atmosphere was crowded, noisy and friendly. The only things missing were the chickens and the pigs.
Our train left Los Mochis in the dark, 6:00am sharp, passing many poor shacks that rim the rail line. By the time the sun was up we had cleared the city and were traveling in flat scrub land, intermixed with agricultural areas with expansive fields of vegetables and grapes. After about 3 hours the train began it's climb, and our progress slowed, initially following a river bed through low foothills, then along steeper canyon slopes with towering rock peaks and steep drop-offs. We crossed up to 40 bridges, some very large, and passed through 50 tunnels, short or up to 3 km long, and in one very impressive valley made several sweeping switchbacks to gain elevation up one side of the valley. The vegetation gradually changed from lush broadleaf forests into lovely ponderosa pine forest with little undergrowth and many granite outcrops. Passengers could stand on platforms between carriages, but you needed steady footing and a good handhold, and the patience to wait for the many others crowding these more favoured spots taking videos and photos.
We arrived in Creel after 4:00pm, a few hours behind schedule, and found our way to Casa Margarita, a simple hotel 5 mins from the train station. I had been slowly building a headache during the day (very likely from the altitude) and by the time we found a room the only relief I could get was by laying prostrate on the bed with the curtains drawn. The next morning it had eased off and we had breakfast in the hotel, as part of the fee. It involved a first course of really watery sweetened cream of wheat with chopped bananas on the side, followed by a main course of tortilla chips soaked in spicy sauce and mashed beans on the side. The most unappealing meal I could imagine, although happily devoured by the other Mexican patrons around us. Ian of course will and can eat anything. No mumble mumble...dirty spoon from him. Give me a ham or bologna and tomato sandwich anytime. Mexican dishes are predominated by some kind of variation of tortillas, tomato, cheese and meat: for example.....enchiladas, chimichungas, tacos, chalupas, quesadilla, taquito, tamale, empanada.....and generously served with mashed beans. No wonder Taco Bell never really took off in north America. Around lunch time I spotted a small eatery with ham and salami panini on the menu, which I greedily devoured under the shade in the plaza, in company with a couple of stray dogs way too close, and decidedly fixed on my prized feast. A man came over and offered to take us on a tour of the surrounding area, and he spoke some English. So for 500 pesos visited beautiful rock formations, a chapel built by the Jesuits in 1861 and one of the many caves that the local Indians still live in.
We stayed over in Creel again that night and the next morning caught the train to Divisidero. By this time the panini from the day before had worked its way into my system, complete with whatever bug that accompanied it, and I spent the day feeling despondent and complaining to Ian that I was sick of being sick, looking for banos, and then finally throwing up whatever was left.
We hadn't made any reservations in Divisidero, hoping by chance to find something reasonably priced when we got there. On the higher end, for $180 USD you can get an expensive room overlooking a section of the Canyon. Luckily though, as we stepped off the train an enterprising local spotted the two lost and bewildered white tourists, pushed through the crowd and offered a cabanyo for the night for $800 pesos and tours the next day. So off we went, and spent two nights in a lovely cabin, with shower andTV on the outskirts of the small village. Divisidero has the most easily accessible and impressive views of the Copper Canyon. Before we came to Mexico we had never heard of it. It actually is a series of six distinct canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains each formed by rivers, that merge into a single river and then flows into the Gulf of California. It is six times larger in area than the Grand Canyon, and deeper. The Mexican Government has put a lot of effort into building tourism here, and there is a large assortment of activities and scenic areas. You can hike, ATV, horseback or, bike ride. There is a series of zip lines that connect between a network of high points in the canyon, a gondola and a zip rider. We went for the zip rider and the gondola. Now Ian is not too keen on heights....but when I heard it was the longest in the world, 2540m long, has speed up to 135km/hr and drops 450m I wasn't going to leave without the experience. And maybe it was curiosity that got the better of Ian. Even so I think he had a death grip on the harness and a fixed stare at the exit point from start to finish and didn't see or remember much in between. His first words at the bottom were, 'well I won't be doing that again'. We purchased a drone video of our ride afterwards, so he at least he has some evidence of what happened.
Divisidero is also the center of the Tarahumara Indian homeland. They still wear their traditional clothing. The women in particular hand sew bright patterned and full skirts, and dress their babies in colourful hats and garments. Men, around the villages, wear regular T shirt and jeans, but further from town still wear a short loin cloth. 80% of the Tarahumara live year round in caves. The government has tried to build homes for them, but they quickly move back into their traditional dwellings, and the houses fall into disrepair. Tarahumara don't own property, they instead occupy, down through generations of families, land that belongs to the whole community. They used to live up to 120 years old, subsisting on beans, potatoes and corn, but their lives are shortened now by introduction of white man food. We found them very austere, showing little emotion, and shy. It is not their way to be showy or accumulate material belongings. Their lives are very simple. How most outsiders identify with the Tarahumara is through their basket making. They are intricate and colourful and prized ones are made with the long needles of pine trees. The women are the artists and they often display their creations at stalls along the train route, walking alongside the train with bundles of baskets and bags of fruit (apples and peaches) selling to tourists leaning out between carriages at brief stops along the route, and in the open town plazas. Their kids are usually running around the stalls playing or are sent out among the tourists with various trinkets to sell. Mothers are paid here as an enticement to get their kids to school, and the larger communities have boarding schools, so that children can walk in from the farther areas on Mondays and return to their homes on Fridays.
Above all else from the trip, the scenery will have the longest impression. There are many similarities between the high elevation pine forest here and British Columbia, and we felt a tinge of homesick. Apart from the train and small highway that pass through there is little development and so the view out from the highpoints is unhindered and spectacular. On the high Mesas in the distance the land is flat and grassy and occasionally you can see a small dwelling and cornfields. The canyons go on and on into the horizon, with deep drops that disappear into a green haze. And the air is clean and carries the smell of pine needles. For us, it was a welcome respite from the humidity at the coast, and the first time in months that long pants replaced dresses and shorts.
Our trip back to the boat was uneventful. Pipi was happy to see us, as we were her. Our friend Will had minded the boat and Pipi for us, buying her catnip and toys.
This weekend, weather permitting, we'll leave the dock for an overnight shake down, and sometime in the next week the topsides will get a good wash down to remove summer's accumulated dust and dirt.