Copper Canyon Hike

During the last week of November Andrew went for a trip to mainland Mexico which included a train trip and hiking through parts of the Barranca del Cobre or Copper Canyon region. It started with 3 small-plane flights to Chihuahua, a city of nearly 1 million people.
                                                                                

The Chihuahua Cathedral was completed in 1789. 

The Mexican War of Independence started in 1810, and eventually led to independence in 1821. One of the early steps was a famous call to rebellion by a priest Hidalgo. In 1811 rebel leaders including Hidalgo were captured and executed. This mural is one of many on the walls of the town hall showing the history of Chihuahua.    

This mansion was built as a wedding present for the owner's fiancee, but he never lived in it. It is now an art gallery.

DAY 1

The hiking group comprised Claudia our organiser (German, but living in Spain), Andrew and Jane, and Ellen, Inga and Sonja from Germany. We got up at 4.30 to catch the train El Chepe which goes from Chihuahua to the Pacific coast at Los Mochis. The line has 39 bridges and 86 tunnels in 655km, and was opened in 1961 after many decades of building. 

The train climbed to El Divisadero at 2350m. The station was mainly a series of stalls selling food and crafts.

First view of the Copper Canyon from El Divisadero. The name is given to the canyon of the Rio Urique, and also more generally to a region of  more than 20 canyons carved out of the Sierra Tarahumara. Together these canyons are four times larger than Arizona's Grand Canyon, and nine of them are deeper than that is. The deepest point, near Urique, is 1879m below the surrounding peaks.

El Divisadero station and village is perched on the edge of a cliff at the top of the canyon.

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We met our guides Miguel and Jose Luis and together walked several hours before heading down to our campground in the fields of a small farm nestled high in the canyon. Our evening meal was cooked by Miguel's mother who lived nearby. 

There are more than 50,000 indigenous Tarahumara living in the Sierra Tarahumara. Being so remote, they retain many of their traditions. Some live in villages, but many live in log cabins on quite isolated farms such as we visited and subsist on basic agriculture of maize and beans and run a few goats for milk. They are also famous for running long distances on their very narrow and steep tracks.

Contemplating the view at dusk

DAYS 2&3

Next morning we walked back to El Divisadera where we were picked up by this utility. Three of us had to go in the back on the couch together with all our bags.

After a few hours along a very rocky track we arrived at this lodge, where we spent two nights. The lodge had been built some years before with a government subsidy to encourage a tourism industry for the Tarahumara. But then Mexico lost tourists for a few years as a result of drug wars and so the lodge was getting run down. Only recently has the area been considered safe and now tourism is picking up again.

Views of the canyon from a lookout near the lodge. Notice the Urique river far below.

DAY 4

There had been a cold change in North America at the start of our trip and at night we sat around a campfire for a while but then early into the tents. Today was sunny but cool at our lunch stop. The views were great!

Our luggage including food and kitchen gear was carried by four burros, one of whom had a suckling baby along. Claudia and Ellen are checking the cooking bag on the top.

This rock formation reminds one of a wedding cake.







DAY 5
After camping in a valley the night before, we climbed back up to camp on a cliff-top that night. There are a number of soaks which come out of the cliff about 30m below the top on a ledge largely hidden behind the trees in this photo. You can see a small storage tank into which water from the soaks used to be piped.

The rocky ledge and the edge of a soak. An interesting scramble  to get down and follow the ledge all the way across the lip of the cliff.

The view of the canyon and down to the river from the old storage tank.





DAY 6
This was the last day of hiking. We travelled along the tops till lunch time, and the descended steeply to the village of Naranja. From there by a pick-up to Urique.

Group photo at lunch stop.

From left: another guide and 2 minders of the burros; Jane and Jose Luis; Heriberto 8-year-old son of Jose Luis and Rosa our cook; Sonja (seated), Ellen and Claudia; Rosa and Inga.












View of Naranja nearby and Urique
in the far distance

We came down from behind the saddle along the cliffs at the left.






DAY 7
We spent the day exploring the town of Urique.

The ecolodge we stayed in had a variety of fruit and vegetable gardens as well as some impressive cacti and superb views of the mountains at the top of the canyon.

Part of the main street.

The river runs parallel to the main street.






DAY 8
We left Urique in a pick-up to take a long and windy road back up to the top of the canyon. Here was a great lookout over Urique, the river and the road as well.

We caught the train again at Bahuichiva. From here the train travelled mainly near the bottom of a gorge. This spectacular section of track comes out of a tunnel to the left of the top of the waterfall,  and after a couple of kilometers and some more tunnels it loops around to come back towards the bottom of the waterfall. Then it uses a bridge to cross the river and return to its original direction.

We stayed at the Rio Vista Hotel in El Fuerte. It had lots of murals in passageways and in the rooms.

DAY 9 

Jane and Andrew spent the day exploring El Fuerte before taking a cab to Los Mochis and flying back to Baja on day 10.

     A major archaeological site a few kilometers out of town has lots of petroglyphs.

The town has colonial ambiance and Spanish architecture. This is a courtyard of a rather grand hotel with lots of decorations and a spectacular small pool area.

It seems that on a 15th birthday a girl can have a celebration. This one was getting a set of still and movie shots of her outfit - in a main street near the town square!

And finally, the legendary El Zorro, a bandit hero who defended the poor from Spanish oppression, was reputedly born in El Fuerte. A statue has been erected to highlight this.