The Journey of La Barranca del Cobre
Feb 27, 2020
A brisk walk outside, it is cold up here in the mountains of Creel where the train starts it journey down to Los Mochis. It was time to catch my train "Chepe Express" for the first leg of the train ride to and through Copper Canyon, Cañon del Cobre. There isn't copper here, only silver in them thar hills. The name Copper comes from the color of rocks from one of the 7-canyons that make up what is collectively know as La Barranca del Cobre.
The first leg is from Creel to Divisadero. Hotels in Divisadero are in the neighborhood of $250 to $500 US per night. Well, too much for my blood. I moved on to a rural mountain village that barely shows up on an online map called Areponapuchi (Arepo). The narrow 2-lane road turns into a dirt path and here is the hotel.
This painting on the wall of the hotel represents this area. The mountains, the cliffs (las barrancas), waterfalls, the Tarahumara, their traditional music, the eagle, the train, Bridges and Tunnels.
Over the 27th and 28th I was able to take two more tours. Some guides are better than others and others just drive and point to a path where you need to go if you want to see something. Today Andres was the lowest cost guide and out did all the guides in where he took his clients, what there was to see, how he described a lot of detail about his home and people.
It is spring, or the beginning of it as you can see the Plum tree (Ciruela) just starting to bloom. Peaches too. In this season there is also an annual ultra marathon. This bill is pasted on the door of the MiniSuper a short walk from the hotel.
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| Marathon of the white horse. 21, 42, and 80 KM with Huaraches. |
The phrase that says it all is" Amarra tus huaraches y unite a nosotros! This translates to:
- Tie on your sandals and join us.
When you have to run in sandals up and down through these canyons, you have to be ready and know what you are doing. Up to 700 runners often start this race. As we drove around on the tours and hiked to picturesque lookout points, you can see rocks and trees painted with small Green and Red stripes. These colors designate the route for these runners. This year, 2020, is the 18th year of the race from what I understand. This race includes women, kids, men, and gringos from around the world.
Google this search phrase and view images:
ultra caballo blanco maraton chihuahua mexico
In these images you will see the contestants. Very impressive. Having seen this terrain, you might also be impressed in what you see and who these people are. The story of the name of the race is also interesting. Llego un hombre blanco a correr esta carrera y lo correo por varios años. Antes de comenzar cada carrera, se aprivinia en su mente para poder concentrar en lo que estaba haciendo y que iba suceded. Este blanco, comenzaba a relinchar como un caballo, galopeaba y brincaba. Hací me lo dijeron a mi.
In Albuquerque there is a tram. In Divisadero there is a tram (Teleférico). This one is quite a bit longer and is impressive in comparison.
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| Teleférico: La Barranca Del Cobre |
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| Local Tarahumara village |
From the tram (Teleferico) you can see some houses. You can also see the path to get down to them. There are no roads. The houses are made of Adobe and pine poles. The metal roofing is carried down from the top of La Barranca.
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| A native vendor selling crafts under the Teleferico |
As a comparison of the relative size of the American Grand Canyon and the Barranca Del Cobre, the Grand Canyon is a bit deeper. The Barranca is 4-times the area of the Grand Canyon. Huge is probably not an overstatement. Water from the 7-canyons drain west into the Sea of Cortez. I am heading that way on Sunday as the train winds through the canyons with the water that flow down.
Shaman / Curandera
Our guide, Andres, took us to visit a Shaman, Catalina, who lives with her family in a single room cave. Those of us on the tour decide that we would each be asking to be treated by this woman. I chose not to picture her face, for several reasons, but mainly because I didn't feel it would do justice to the experience. Anyway, I did take a picture of her Huaraches and feet as well as her traditional skirt. She is very classic traditional Tarahumara. I have a picture of her heels too but this one reminds me of my brother with the rumored thing for toes or against toes.
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| My Shaman(a) |
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| I am amazed they can run in these Huaraches |
Here too is a picture of the inside of her house. The part of the cave open to the valley below is covered with logs covered with mud. You can see the stove they cook on and can almost smell the beans and pozole that were boiling. The blue corn tortilla and goat cheese were all ready to eat. Here is her husband who left as the treatments started. He too is wearing Huaraches.
Three other generations of the family younger than her either watched or helped with getting things ready for the treatments. A slightly younger sister commented in her ear as they observed the egg yolk evaluation for one of the visitors, the 16-year old niece was an active apprentice.
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| Casa de la Shamana |
She sprinkled water around me, blew air in my ears and down the back of my shirt collar, then repeated this ritual with smoke from a cigarette, stuck her finger in my mouth to feel my palate. She had cleansed her hands with water and sprayed the water around me creating a shroud. She felt my skull, performed a Spock like energy transfer a few times between our heads. She had me touch her chest then had me touch my head, then touch her head again then her chest. When she got to my right ear, she whispered to me... "What is that thing in your ear?" ... le dije, pues estoy sordo. Imagine that, Ronnie that farm boy is the first guy who ever introduced her to hearing aids. I won't tell you what things she treated me for or what I have to do. I will tell you that it starts with a New Moon.
I didn't think of it at the time but as I write this I am thinking of CCR: "I feel a bad a moon a rising... " Oh memories. It was an experience you may never have. I am a scientist at heart and mentally aligned with that analytical thought process, this is not magic that she is practicing, it is not religion. This lady is authentic, and humble, and lives in a cave with a dirt floor. Her blue corn tortillas are good. I saw the colored corn and their corn grinder. She touched me and I am all the better for it. I met a real human. That is a rare event in the world.
You can see from this image that I am in much better condition after my treatment. No me pudo quitar lo feo but I just look better from the inside. Have you ever had that feeling?
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Powerful Sky over La Barranca
where three of the seven canyons converge. |
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La Barranca del Cobre
These canyons just go on forever |
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| Tunnel for El Chepe Train |
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Andres the guide
If walking in the tunnel, step into the safety zone if the train is coming and hold your breath. |
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| Walking inside a tunnel on the El Chepe Line. |
In this pic I am reminded of two things:
- Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line
- Light At the End of the Tunnel
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El Rio Sarco
I understand Sarco means "El Color Gris", referring to the color of the water. |
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| A view of a tributary canyon (Obregon) to La Barranca |
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| El Duende Canoso |
Well, this is one more day in the life. I am fortunate in that I can do this. It isn't a gift, it is a choice, a way of life.
Happy Birthday Gus
Feb 29, 2020
I have a friend in Questa, NM (La Cienega) by the name of Gustavo Rael. His wife Aurora, and their kids, Floyd, Yolanda, and Stella, I also consider family friends. He is related to the Quintana family from Costilla and Arnold Alire's family (Alicia Alire - la estafetera), I believe.
His mom, Estrellita Quintana Rael's parents were Donaciano and Ursulita Vallejos Quintana so we are probably related through Ursulita Vallejos. Al fin primos, no?
Well Gustavo is now 22-years old. He was born 22 - February 29ths ago. I think the year may have been 1932. He plays the accordion and is a fan of Los Dias del Año Nuevo. How many Leap Year Babies do you know Baby!
Feliz Año Nuevo!
Gustavo and my dad left to the military on the same day, same trip to the outside world. One to the Navy and the other to the Army. Aurora is so cute, no? She is a sister to my cousin Mary Sanchez's husband. I knew Aurora's mom when I worked as a surveyor for the BLM.
Areponepuchi
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Cabañas where I met Andres and Rosario.
Andres' family owns a ranch and have a large apple and membrio (quince) orchard. They ferment stuff here. I talked to his mom about what they do, how they do it, I tasted their stuff. |
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| Groceries anyone? On the other side of the village is the MiniSuper |
Chepe Train Station
Today part of my day included visiting the train station I will leave from in the morning as I head west. Here it is a lot of food stands where I splurged on Gorditas that ranged from good to damn good on Blue, Yellow, and Orange corn tortas. And I had another of those Chili Relleno Burritos. A white flour tortilla, coated with refried beans, then the breaded chili relleno, and topped with queso de Menonita, and finally rolled and a final cooking on the stovetop until the color is perfectly "Dorado". I was never a fan of Rellenos until I tried these.
Lots of vender stands and a train.
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| Clip of view from the train station looking across the Barranca del Cobre |
Una Buena Obra
The following was another of those experiences, Una Buena Obra kind of feeling, A Good Deed. Here is the story of what I experienced:
I was sitting on the steps near the highest part of some stairs of the train station shelling and eating peanuts I had just bought at the store there. This young kid was sitting near the bottom taking a break from playing with the other kids. He kept scooting over then up a step and over a bit more until he was close, really close. I didn't offer him any peanuts because I didn't want 20-kids coming over. After a bit I asked him if he wanted a bag of peanuts. He said yes. I asked him to wait for me and I went to the store and bought him a bag and he was so content. He move away next to his mom and ate and ate, hiding the bag next to his mom's skirt.
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| The Chepe Express. The car with the tall roof is the dining car where I will breakfast tomorrow morning. |
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| These kids were having a good time. No technology required. |
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| Vendor stands, food booths, and kids playing. Tarahumara in their traditional dress |
There there are those that are connected. Technology is interesting in 3rd world countries. It skips generations. They don't go from iPhone 1 to 2 to 3... They go fro 3 5 to 8Plus. Here a cell phone is being charged with this small solar panal.
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| Wired for the road. |
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This guy has been following me around for some time now. Seems like a nice guy...
Definitely shorter than me! |
March 1, 2020
Today I boarded El Chepe Express and rode it down through the state of Chihuahua and into the state of Sinaloa. It is a pretty special ride. When I have a bit of time, I will post some of the pics. At the moment I don't know where to start talking. I think I took 81 pictures, several movie clips as well. I have pared that down because images do not do justice to this beautiful canyon.
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| This is El Chepe Express. |
It cost about $150 US to travel one-way on this train. There are now two trains running on different days covering the whole week. This newer one is the one I rode. The scenery is pretty amazing but you have to experience it to get the most of it.
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| A curvy track with lots of stunning sights that overwhelm the senses. |
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Can you see Catalina peeking out at me from the sky above?
I am in good hands. Photo miracles happen. |
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| Blue skies, country villages. |
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| So many bridges to cross. |
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| So many valleys to traverse and tunnels to go through. |
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| Open windows and photo ops. |
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| Even the train was slow, each turn yields an interesting and evolving scene. |
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| Clackety Clak |
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| A modern new train |
At the moment I am in a mid-sized village named El Fuerte after having traveled down La Barranca del Cobre. I have already visited the Zocalo here, the Fort, toured the museum, and did some sightseeing, then checked on a bus to Los Mochis then north to Guaymas. This village is the birthplace of the well recognized "El Zorro". Something of a Robin Hood type of person. If you are under 50, I doubt you remember.
Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico is my next stop. That puts me within a short bus ride to La Frontera. I have researched the distance to La Frontera a bit more and it is farther than I thought. This is such a large country. I wonder if "El Ponse Bien" Trump will let me back in. I hear they are monitoring blogs to see who is talking bad about that boy and people of color are considered immigrants.
Hasta pronto, the temp here in El Fuerte is about 86*F, something like 50* warmer than when I started this morning in Divisadero, Chihuahua.
Pueblos Mágicos
There a many places I have travelled through that are celebrated here in Mexico, about 121 of them. They are called Magic Cities, Pueblos Mágicos.
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| El Fuerte Train Station |
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| Regional Government Building |
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| A wall, mural, and winding stairway inside the building. |
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| El Zocalo en El Fuerte - Palm trees again. |
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| The El Zorro story lives on in this hotel. |
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| The actual fort, now a museum. |
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| The fort and plants of the Sonoran Desert. |
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| Inside the fort. |
March 2, 2020
It was a long travel day on Monday. First a bust from El Fuerte to Los Mochis then a big bus to Guaymas. Total travel time was 8-hours as I went from a small sub-tropical village to the bigger city of Los Mochis through the Sonoran Desert to Guaymas. I didn't get to experience much but desert scenery on the bus. One of my bus-mates was an older guy, yeah probably my age, who was an abañil - a mason from Los Mochis on his way to help his brother who also plasters and works with cement and lives in Guaymas. Here you have to pay 6 Pesos in coins to use a public bathroom. I gave him 5 Pesos because he had paper money, efectivo, but only 3 Pesos in change. Trying to find change can be more complex than it sounds in an empty bus terminal. It is often the little things in life that make the difference.
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| An Old Iron train, steam engine maybe, outside the Los Mochis Bus Terminal |
My trip must be coming to an end. I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express tonight.
March 3, 2020
My chore today after breakfast is to see about a flight to the US. The bus ride is too long. Maybe I can fly to Tucson, Phoenix, or even Albuquerque.
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| The Sonoran Desert in Guaymas |
In the meantime I will go check out the board walk (El Muelle) that overlooks the bay (bahia) and see what all the noise about Guaymas is.
Wrapping it up
I have made it Hermosillo/Kino Bay (La Bahia Kino). This morning I caught a bus from Guaymas to Hermosillo then a shuttle to the airport. An airline company sold me a ticket to Albuquerque via Phoenix and I will be on my way mid-morning.
It has been a great trip, experiences are many, people have been great. Taxi drivers are full of information and other things and only one or two didn't try to gouge me in some way. Even an Uber guy had his trick. But, as with most travel, this was a wonderful eye opening experience. This is a big country. We only hear the bad news north of the border.
Some of the written stuff needs to be polished. Maybe I can add another pic or two, or fifty, but you get the gist of what my trip has been all about. Thanks for tagging along. Let me know where you have been, where you are going, and maybe I can meet you there, at least to share a meal as our paths cross.
Scenic, great food, a great opportunity to walk around and get in shape.
Plot my travels on a map. I can visualize it but I have not drawn the lines. How many miles? Well, probably as many smiles as miles. I don't know how many.
Errors and O missions
When I can, I will go back and review and clean up what I have written but this is not to show I can write, though I like to write and dream, it is to a share a part of my life and lifestyle. My Grampa Julian used to say: "Pues los que me conocen, me conocen. Y los que no me conocen, pues, no me conocen." It sort of implies "I am who I am", and maybe that is what this story is about. We are all different, and that is okay. Through this travel story maybe you can see something you have not seen and you see it through my eyes. On your trip, you may interpret it differently. Enjoy your travel and trip too. Send me some pics!
There are errors and maybe I left stuff out. No se apenen manitos, it is okay. Don't live life in a straight line, what lays off the beaten path is different, interesting, and an opportunity to see a bluer sky.
The Americas stretch from Tierra Del Fuego to the great white north, the Yukon, and beyond. America is not the USA. It is two full continents and a lot in the middle. You might be surprised how many US citizens live or travel south of the border full or part-time. Thousands upon thousands. Very seriously. In the city of Oaxaca alone there are 5,000. Central America and South America are loaded with Expat communities. They come for the weather, the low cost of living, the low cost medical and dental, for the welcome from the communities that are happy to meet new strangers from up north with no reservations. What you read in the news is political and it has an agenda. After traveling 46-states and about 14-countries on various continents, I firmly believe there is no place like home... and home is the 3rd rock from the sun, it is planet earth. There are no borders.
Thank you!
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| El Chepe - Train Conductor |
