Copper Canyon is for Real

I had heard so many good things about Copper Canyon over the yearsthat Katherine and I decided to join our friends Don and BobbieDrennon and Rich and Leigh Ann Baker on a one week trip that turnedout to be a marvelous adventure. We departed Mazatlan by bus to LosMoches, and then took a van to El Fuerte, arriving just in time tocheck into the Posada Del Hidalgo Hotel and go for a walk around thetown. The old hotel had been recently modernized, and without loss ofthe "old Mexico" atmosphere. We found a great restaurant, called ElTecate, just off the plaza on the opposite end from the church. The following morning we took a van to the train station where weboarded the northbound Chihuahua al Pacifico train. The train wassemi-modern with comfortable seats and good air conditioning. By thistime Don admitted that he had left his jacket on the bus and took agood deal of ribbing before he started realizing he really needed ajacket. After a couple hours of travel in the lowlands, we reached thehigh country, and started seeing trees, lakes, flowers and treesblossoming a bright purple, white, yellow, and pink. Even the cactushad yellow flowers, adding to the colorful landscape.At about mid-afternoon we arrived at the gorgeous Barranca MiradorHotel, where we stayed for two nights. The resort hotel had remarkabledécor, and every room had a balcony that extended over the cliff witha tremendous view of the canyon. There were Tarahumara Indian womenselling jewelry, baskets and beadwork at the entrance to the hotel. Ofall the places we visited, these women had the best quality baskets.This tribe lives throughout the canyon system. They originally livedin the lowlands, but with the coming of civilization, the shy,reclusive people moved further into the mountains and lived in cavesand some wooden dwellings. The men are well known for their longdistance running ability.There is a great contrast between our Grand Canyon and Copper Canyon,as the Grand Canyon has huge cliffs with beautiful red, yellow, brown,and copper colors with no vegetation. Copper Canyon is actually aseries of six canyons totaling 25,000 square miles, and the deepest is6,136 feet. High in the Sierra Madres, Copper Canyon is a beautifulgreen with multicolored trees, and beautiful flowers.All our meals throughout the week were on the American plan, andserved family style so our lives were not complicated by having tostudy menus. The food was excellent at every stop. After dinner aMexican guest found a guitar and began singing beautiful songs. Peoplearound him picked up the beat and before long a Mexican mother andadult daughter were dancing. It was a wonderful way to end our firstnight in Copper Canyon.On Saturday we took a van to visit Creel, a town of primarilyTarahumara Indians. The best way to describe Creel is "tourist trap."There may be some other industry there but I sure couldn't find it.The town consisted mostly of gift shops, restaurants and hotels.Indian ladies in colorful dresses were everywhere either sewing dollsor weaving baskets while selling their wares. It was really cool witha cold wind so I took pity on Don and loaned him one of my jackets. Wewent to Arareco Lake where the huge rocks went down to the watersedge. We took along box lunches prepared by the hotel staff, andenjoyed a picnic while watching Mexican families frolicking onholiday. Afterward we visited the "Valley of the frogs and mushrooms,"named because of the many boulders that have taken the shape of frogsand mushrooms. We also visited a huge cave in which an Indian mannamed Sebastian had lived his entire life until three years ago, whenhe died at the age of 106. His extended family still lived there andthe cave was a real "Kodak moment," with the unique rooms that wereopened to us during the tour. That evening the hotel provided a manwho sang Mexican songs, and although he had a good deal of audienceparticipation, it was obvious that he was not the hit of the impromptusinger of the previous night.On Easter Sunday a tour guide named Daniel drove us around the area,pointing out the various trees, which included: Red, white, silver,and Magnolia Oak; Mexican, Chihuahua, Durango, Ponderosa, Apache, andsad Pine; Madrona—that had a red bark; Manzanita; and Juniper. All ofwhich with their copper, red, green, and brown colors gave amagnificent look of fall in the springtime. High above the canyon wasa rock outcropping with a fairly flat rock seating on its center. Itwas named "balancing rock" and Daniel demonstrated how to stand on therock while shifting weight to make it wobble. After he asked forvolunteers, I mounted the rock and he began yelling "rock faster."When Rich asked me if the rock wobbled, I told him I really didn'tknow as I could not tell if it was the rock or my knees that wobbledwhen I looked at the ground, several thousand feet below. We closedout the day with a visit to Divisadero Overlook, where the men admiredthe beauty and splendor of the junction of three canyons while thewomen shopped for souvenirs at a close by "mini-mall."Later in the day we boarded the train for a quick ride to Bahuichivo,where we were picked up by a bus and driven 12 miles over a rugged,dusty road with no scenery visible due to the dust, to a town calledCerocahui. We checked into the Hotel Mision, which was an older, morerustic hotel. Our rooms were extremely cold, but each room had a smallstove and we were provided firewood and a quick lesson in making afire. Each night we built a fire a couple hours before bed time, thentook our showers while it was warm. We awakened to a cold room andhopped around the cold tile floor getting dressed as quickly aspossible. The hotel had a large combination dining room/lounge, and anadjacent large conference room with a pool table. A pool was inoperation but our group was void of anyone hearty enough to tryswimming in the unheated water.Monday we took a van for one of the roughest rides any of us have evertaken. We were on a two-lane dirt road with no shoulders or safetyrails and the road was in need of maintenance. For a road that bad weran into a lot of on-coming traffic. Each time that happened we wouldboth stop and one vehicle would back up to a wider part of the roadwhere they could pass. Our first stop was Gallegos Lookout where therewas a breath taking view of the Urique Canyon. We could look down andsee the town of Urique, on the edge of a large river at the bottom ofthe canyon. When we got to Urique we took our box lunches to arestaurant where we bought soft drinks and visited with some touristsfrom California and Texas. After lunch our guide informed us that wewere indeed at the end of the road and the only way back to the hotelwas over the same road we had just taken. We stopped at a cave alongside the road where three of the cutest little Indian kids wereselling baskets. The mystery remains to this day as to how in theworld those kids got in the middle of no where with no adult supervision.On Tuesday morning we explored the small town, and then played cardsas we waited for our van ride to the train station where we boardedthe train for the return ride to Los Moches. We stayed overnight inHotel Santa Anita, then caught a bus for our trip to Mazatlan.HELPFUL HINTS: Whenever anyone told about a trip to Copper Canyon,they never told me how to dress. Of course it depends on the season,as it is cold in the winter and hot and rainy in the summer. Since ourtrip was from March 24-30, we decided to use layers—and guessed right.Every day it was sunny, but with a very chilly wind most of the daysin the high altitude. When we went on the tours we wore long pants,shirts/sweatshirts, and carried jackets. Walking shoes are a must asno matter what tours you take, you'll be walking on trails and overrocks. Don't over pack—yeah, I'm wasting my breath, but remember thatyou'll be schlepping your bags on and off the train and to and fromyour hotel rooms.Bring along plenty of change because none of the vendors or hotels hadsmall change like $5, $10, and $20 peso denominations. Further, you'llneed larger bills for tips for the tour guides, maids and dining roompersonnel.Several other tours were available at each stop, including, walkingrafting, and horseback riding. All of the hotels had plenty of bottledwater for purchase.We bought a package deal through Copala Travel Agency in La GranPlaza. Their telephone number is (669) 986-2120, and you can emailthem at viajescopala @hotmail.com. At the start of the trip a van took us from Los Mochis to El Fuerteand it took about an hour. On our return trip the (one-a-day) trainleft El Fuerte at 8 p.m. and arrived in Los Mochis at 11 p.m. A twentyminute bus ride from the station and we were at the hotel at 11:20p.m. Using simple math, even after an aggravating train ride thatshould have taken half that time, I figure we should have had a vanmeet us in El Fuerte and we would have been at the hotel in Los Mochesbetween 9-9:30 p.m.! Trains and nothing else runs on time so relax androll with the punches and you'll have an unforgettable trip.

Charles A Hall
Author: "Mazatlan IS Paradise"