Copper Canyon(s), Chihuahua, Mexico

Years ago Charlie and I flew over Mexico's Copper Canyon System coming home from Puerta Vallarta and agreed the area looked like a good place for an adventure! March 2-11 found me traveling into the canyon area with the Chapmans and Sandells, long-time Silverton friends.

We boarded the Chihuahua-Pacific Railroad on the west coast of Mexico and traveled up into the Sierra Madre Occidental, over 26 bridges and through 87 tunnels, from sea level to 8000 feet. We could see into some of the canyons (there are 20 in the system), and enjoyed spectacular scenery and changes in vegetation. Of course the windows in the club car were the best place for good viewing!

The Tarahumara Indians, known for their great running ability, live scattered through these canyons, living in remote caves and small houses, connected by a spider-web-like system of foot and goat trails. They quietly appear at the train stops to sell their baskets and carvings. They are rather like ghosts, as they simply stand and wait for customers to come to them. The only words I ever heard from them was an answer to the question about the price of one of their wares. They do not hawk or push their wares. This Tarahumara man was sitting near his wife who was making a mat out of aguave fronds and selling baskets. Note his worn and dusty feet.

This young girl was selling baskets at a railroad stop. She would have walked many miles from her home, through and up out of Urique Canyon, to sell. The canyon is so steep she probably had to ascend the final hundred feet or so by ladder, with her baskets on her back.
Below is a view of the Urique Canyon, one that is close to the railroad. The Tarahumara Indians (they have the reputation for being great runners), a tribe that has remained mostly unchanged since before the Spaniards arrived, live deep within these canyons in caves or simple homes connected by an elaborate network of foot trails. We could see homes, with binoculars,
on the far plateaus in this photo.
Here is another "spectacular" view of the canyon. This rock is known as the "Balancing Rock", as it teeters if someone stands on it with both feet. Not wishing to end my current habits of gleeful travel and adventures, I only stood on it with one foot! (Yes, it was straight down on both sides!) Leaving the train, we traveled by van, down a twisted dirt road, 150 kilometers (100 miles) into the Batopilas Canyon, the deepest. Our destination was the silver mining town of the same name, dating back to the 1600s. The road had many switchbacks and cross-overs and was an adventure, even for those of us from the Rockies who are accustomed to our four-wheel jeep roads!
There are a few very high waterfalls in the canyons. I hiked 310 concrete steps to the bottom of this fall---an odd convenience to find in this very remote area (the steps, that is, not the water!)

We stayed at a small hotel in Batopilas for several days and enjoyed hikes in the area. Here is a snap of me resting en route to the "Lost Cathedral", the church at the end of the valley. The church is a puzzle to historians as there was never a town here, just this large Jesuit-style cathedral.
It was wonderful to experience a different area of Mexico than I had previously enjoyed. The Tarahumaras live simply in a beautiful land and I hope that visitors, such as myself, won't cause their life to change. One can only wonder...

Next posting will be when Suzie and I meet in Phoenix for a visit....Until then.....