Report 1 - Creel, Chihuahua, Mexico

Mexico 2007 email report 1 January 25

Wow, Chris & I have been in Mexico for the past 9 days. And as the saying goes, we've been packing a quart into a pint.

First of all some housekeeping. If you don't want to be on this email list, let us know and you will be removed immediately. Second, our personal email addresses still work, so if you have private messages for each of us, use them, rick@netoasis.com and chris@netoasis.com

The last time I emailed you, we had come back to Carbondale early from Canada. Within 2 weeks of getting back, Chris's mom passed away and within a month of getting back our daughter got married in Montana. Our tear ducts were cleaned out and our emotions were on the table. It took a couple months of getting reorganized but we kept on going. I started a remodel/addition and worked 7 days/week, near 10 hours/day (about 1300 hours) for 5 months to try and get this job to a point I could walk off of.

We left Carbondale on Monday, January 15 at 5 in the morning with 14 inches of fresh snow in our yard and a temperature of 8 below zero. We trailered our motorcycles to Arizona. We had snow packed roads for 40 miles or so and then all the roads cleared up. It never really warmed up a huge amount as there was still snow on the top of our motorcycle trailer when we got to Green Valley, AZ (south of Tucson) 14 hours later.
My dad was kind of enough to let us use his carport to organize and pack our trip. We spent a day and a half packing, longer than we thought it would take. It was much nicer packing here rather than in the snow and cold of Colorado.

We knew lots of things we shouldn't do in Mexico so we did a few no-no's in the first couple of days. First off, we didn't get to the border (Nogales) until around 2:30 in the afternoon. We knew it was late but not bad. Except when we stopped down the road to get our tourist and vehicle paperwork, it took 3 hours. It was 5:30pm when we started riding into Mexico with darkness rapidly approaching. First rule in Mexico, never ride after dark. Oh well, off we went. Fortunately, we only had to ride about 50 miles to Magdalena del Kino. Right away we found a nice motel/restaurant with secure parking and a very nice room. This was great as we were tired from all the traveling and packing the past few days. We had a good nights rest and the next morning we took off heading towards Hermosillo (pop. 610,000, hwy 15). The riding temperature was quite pleasant. We got to Hermosillo early afternoon, so we decided to keep riding. Second rule, never pass a gas station in Mexico. A few miles out of town, fortunately, a sign informed us the next gas was 130 km (85 miles). So back we went to Hermosilla to get gas. After gassing up, we took off for parts unknown on Hwy 16 heading east. Our stop ended up being Tecoripa (pop. 160). The weather started misting on us riding into Tecoripa, so it was a no-brainer to stop. Our room was in a 7-room motel with no heat. It seems around here, most of the time, it is warm enough, heat is not needed in the winter. This night would have been a good night to have heat but we had a roof over our heads, which was good as throughout the night the rained hard. The no heat is good for snuggling.

In a town of 160, things grind to a stop pretty early. So by the time we headed out to the only restaurant, it was closed. Third rule, don't eat at road side stands. Well we were hungry, the taquito stand was open, we stopped and ate. The food was actually quite good and we survived quite well. We also met a local who had worked and lived in North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona and Colorado and who spoke better English than we did Spanish.

After dinner we adjourned to our humble room for the evening, sleeping close together.
In the morning, it was still raining hard, so we had no desire to get up. But alas the weather did lift and the clouds got higher, so we decided to forge on.
We loaded up and went to our roadside taco stand for coffee and tea water. There we met the local English teacher. He drives up from Hermosilla 4 days a week to teach English at the local school.

Off we went for more parts unknown. About 20 miles into the trip the road got twisty and I mean twistier than anything Colorado can put up. Tight nasty little turns and as it ends up about 70 miles worth. Now on motorcycles this is the worst but included in the road was rockfall the whole way. I should mention so far the two road crews we met, were 4 men in a pickup truck moving rocks by hand. So here we are dodging rocks on this nasty narrow two lane road and what shows up but some fog. Now the fun begins. So now we have a nasty narrow two lane rock strewn road with fog. Let's see, hmm, what else can we throw into the mix. Well how about a dose of mist and light rain. So for 3 hours and 100 miles we rode this adventure with all the concentration we could muster. When we finally came out of the mountains and into a small valley, the town of Yecora was waiting for us. It was short day but we were exhausted. We found a motel in this dirt roaded town and it had a room heater. This was good. We spent the evening warming up.

The next morning, there were clouds but they were lifting. When we got going, the day was starting to be the most beautiful day yet. This day we rode to Creel, which is an access point to the Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon). The day was a bit more than 200 miles and these were some of the best twisty roads we have ever ridden. So after the adventure of the day before, we were now getting to really have some fun. The ride to Creel gains elevation, Creel is at 7700'. So we gained somewhere around 4000' in elevation this day. By the time we got to Creel, the temperature was noticeably cooler.
What's nice here is all hotels have heat, we liked that alot.

We stayed the night at the Best Western but moved the next day because it was way too pricey for us. We did have internet in our Best Western room, a big luxury so far.
The next day, we caught up on some news and email. Then walked around town for a while. Our riding companion, Ken Stevens, from Texas was supposed to show up today. He had been delayed from leaving because of massive ice storms that shut down the interstates.

Ken showed up mid-afternoon and we spent the rest of the day chatting away, getting our plans set to head into the canyon the next day.

The next morning we decided unload a bunch of weight off of our bikes, stuff that wasn't going to be needed for the next two days. Chris and I both took off our aluminum pannier side boxes. This not only made our bikes lighter but narrower by about 18 inches.
Now we were set for our first major destination, Barranca del Cobre. From the beginning of our planning, this was the only set destination we had (besides the Panama Canal).Being the slow people we are, it wasn't until noon when we were finally able to get going but we needed gas. So off to get gas and the only station in town had only 1 hose working and 15 cars in front of us. Ah, mexican time, slow down and enjoy. 30 minutes or so later, we were finally on the road. The first 50 miles is all paved and sweet twisties. The weather was good so we made pretty good time on the pavement but didn't get to the turn off to Batopilas until 2:30 and we knew the next 40 miles were all dirt and not easy. First stop, the military checkpoint a ¼ mile from the pavement. We got to open our boxes for them to inspect. Not a big deal as we are not carrying any contraband of any sort. It was just cold on top. So away we went not knowing how long it was until we got to the switchbacks. It ended up being 16 miles going through the forest, pretty much high up on the rims. The road had obviously been closed just in the last few weeks due to rain, snow, slides and erosion but had been opened by bulldozer recently. The going was slow and cold. Finally we came to the beginning of the switchbacks. These switchbacks drop about 4000'-5000' in 8 miles. The road was nothing more technical than we had ever ridden but it did have the challenge of the recent weather. We got down just fine but we didn't stop for any pictures as the clock was ticking. The views are awesome. We got to the bottom and crossed the river bridge, then it was another 16 miles into Batopilas riding more or less within 500' elevation of the river. We got to town just before dark and we're looking for a specific hotel on the square but got directed to another more austere lodging location. Ken went and found another spot from us. The motorcycles were driven through the front door into the and interior courtyard where they stayed safely for the night. Very interesting. We unpacked, met up with Ken and went to a recommended restaurant for dinner and beer (large bottles). The interesting thing in Batopilas is it is usually temperate but not this year with all the cold air and moisture masses that have been moving through the US and Mexico. So room heat was not an option, it would have been nice but a luxury we didn't have again until we rode to the top and back to Creel. So again, Chris and I got to snuggle. I like this cold.

The next day we had a casual breakfast and were tourists. We took a 5 mile motorcycle ride out to Catedral Perdida, an elaborate cathedral discovered in a remote canyon and toured the ruins of Hacienda San Miguel, which was a very large complex built by an American who came here to exploit the mining scene.

Batopilas was founded in 1708 by the Spaniards, who came and mined silver here. The town's only street is almost 1½ lanes wide and the town is 2 miles long right along the Batopilas river. So it has a rich history and interesting architecture. We also found out in the morning the place we had been wanting to stay was right next door but it had no sign whatsoever. So we packed up and moved to much nicer accommodations with windows that closed and also rode our bikes through the front door into the courtyard.
The rest of the day we did almost nothing but be bums. We went to one of the local watering spots and drank beer for a while. Later when we were getting ready for dinner, Ken came and said a couple of more motorcycles had shown up, big BMW's and one of them was from Minnesota. This was interesting as I've been on motorcycles discussion groups to find out about Mexico and one guy emailed me twice he would see me in Batopilas. Sure enough, this guy and his uncle from Alabama were the guys. So we had to drink some more beer and tell tall tales before we went to dinner.

Then next morning we had decided to leave by 10am and get back to Creel relatively early. So breakfast at a nice spot and off we went. Just before we left another American told me she heard there was another storm coming. This motivated us even more to get back to the top. So off we went taking pictures along the way. Along the river we went and up the switchbacks, this time stopping to admire the awesome view. We got into the forest part of the road and in a couple of spots, the road was good and greasy and both Ken & Chris took easy falls. We got nice and muddy picking the bikes up. We got back to the military checkpoint, opened our boxes and off we went. By now it was getting cold again and grayish. We stopped for gas and put our cold weather clothes and electrics on. This was good and I had my electrics on high for about 20 miles before my hands warmed up. For all of us our feet never got warm. About 30 miles out of Creel it started to snow lightly and the icicles on roadside cliffs was a telling sign of the cold. By the time we got to Creel we were good and frozen, Chris especially. We got our rooms and cranked up the heat. Wohoo, we like heat. The snows continued and by 9pm there were a couple of inches outside.

Today as I write this, it is another layover day as the roads are snowed packed and we aren't going anywhere. We also found out the road we were planning to take west out of here, is a bit more than we want to handle with our bike setups. So our road now will head east toward Hidalgo del Parral. From there it will be south and west. We do have a mission now to get to the lower elevations and the ocean. We are going to have margaritas on the beach somewhere in the next week.

We are hoping to get out of here tomorrow but not at the cost riding crappy roads.
That's it for now. There is so much to tell.

Some day there may be a website and pictures but don't count on it.
Rick & Chris