Batopilas

27 01.63 N, 107 44.36 W

This morning after breakfast Phoebe called Maclen, who was the guide and driver recommended by the folks on SV Magic Carpet. He was off at Chihuahua and recommended Cesar who would be by in 15 minutes. And sure enough he was. We arranged a grand tour with Cesar. He picked us up at 10:30 am, and after a stop at a small grocery store to pick up some snacks we were on the road by 11:00 am and on our way to Batopilas, one of the deepest canyons in Barrancas del Cobre. 

The fun began after we left the paved road behind. Cesar's 4-wheel, all wheel drive vehicle got a workout as we forded streams, climbed up and down, around hairpin turns, avoiding cattle and one skunk. The elevation at Creel is 2330 meters and Batopilas is 460 meters. We travelled through groves of Ponderosa pines, long needle pines, weeping pines, then lower to madronas and oaks and then cacti as we got closer to the bottom of the canyon. We passed families of Tarahumuras walking miles from a village to their settlement, including women and small children in brightly colored clothes, men wearing jeans and cowboy hats or loin clothes. In the hillside we saw their cave dwellings and corn fields. Some raise livestock such as cows, pigs and goats. There are about 65,000 Tarahumura living in the Copper Canyon and they own a large portion of the land.

 

We bounced along on roads used for logging. The views were spectacular. We could look across the deep valleys and see the different levels of floral, and the amazing rock formations. We passed a group of loggers who shared a sip of Lechiguilla, an agave liquor locally made similar to moonshine. It has a bit of a kick to it. Cows in the roadway would stare at us as we drove by. Some seemed indignant that they had to move to avoid getting run over. It was a little hair raising to look over the side of the road, steeply down into the valley below, hoping the vehicle would not slip over the edge.  

 

It became even more disconcerting as night approached and we came around a corner and met the headlight of a truck with a flat tire in the middle of the road. Cesar and Reg got out to see if they could provide some assistance. I took advantage of the stop and relieved myself behind the SUV. The truck has a flat and the spare tire did not fit the hub and was barely a tire (no tread and the steel belt was visible). The spare was secured by only 2 nuts and they moved the truck enough for us together by. Not sure how many feet it moved after that. We finally arrived at Batopilas. The town was founded in 1708. It's heyday was in the late 19th century when an American, Alexander Shepard, was mining silver in the area. 

We are staying at Hacienda Batopilas,a gorgeous place with lovely Mexican tile work in the bathroom and stained glass windows. Cesar took us to Dona Mica's for dinner where we had a home cooked meal of chicken with mushrooms, refried beans and rice with freshly made corn and flour tortillas.

It was a long drive today so we are to bed to sleep.

Tomorrow we will see the local sites of Batopilas. 

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