A Vacation from A Vacation

We left Santa Rosalia at midnight April 6, 2015 to cross the Sea of Cortez, a 70 mile journey that took us 13 1/2 hours. The passage was uneventful with no high winds and fairly flat seas. Just the way Peggy likes it! After anchoring at several beautiful beaches and snorkeling on many of those days, which we enjoyed immensely, we arrived at the marina in San Carlos. It was now decision time: do we continue sailing the Sea of Cortez next fall or do we return home? In 2001 we sailed up the United Stares eastern seaboard and over to the Bahamas with four of our six children. We have many fond memories of this trip, which was cut short by 9/11. Peggy always wanted to complete the trip so she convinced Jay to transport “Little Lara” to Houston, rather than San Francisco. After arranging to haul the boat and load it on a trailer for Clear Lake, Texas we thought it was time to take a vacation from our vacation. We decided to see Copper Canyon, Mexico.

Copper Canyon

It was a long but very worthwhile journey. We traveled by city bus, tour bus and train. We reached the heart of the Tarahumara Mountains in the northeast corner of Chihuahua state and found ourselves standing atop the majestic heights known as Las Barrancas del Cobre (Copper Canyon), a name that derives from the stunning greenish copper hue of the canyon walls. Spanning a total length of 37,000 miles, these canyons are longer and deeper than the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Their mighty walls conceal remarkable legends, traditions and surprises. We had heard many wonderful stories about Copper Canyon from other cruisers, but Jay was interested in this trip for another two reasons: (1) His Grandparents made this same trip in the late sixties and always spoke of their fond memories of visiting with friends as they rode the newly constructed railroad, while viewing the magnificent canyons below and (2) His Dad always spoke of his desire to take an extended cross-continental train journey.

Chepe Train Route

The train runs between Chihuahua and Los Mochis passing through tunnels and traversing the mighty Sierra Mountain Range. The Chihuahua al Pacifico (Chepe for short) took about 90 years to complete. Opened in 1961, the route is 390 miles long and crosses 39 bridges and 86 tunnels. The scenery along the winding 14-hour journey is nothing short of breathtaking. The train offered comfortable seats, a full service dining area with fast food options, air conditioning, heating and restrooms.

Chepe Train

The vast and colorful biodiversity we encounter in this legendary part of Mexico is ideal for nature lovers and eco-tourists. We marveled at the forests and lakes, enjoyed the wild life, and admired the contrasting vegetation along the way. The climate along the route varies depending on the time of year, ranging from arid and desert-like to lush and tropical. For us, the weather was perfect: warm days and cool nights. The ever-changing hues and shapes of mountain range seem to melt into the horizon.

Tarahumara Indian

One surprise for us was the vibrant community of the Tarahumara Indians. These indigenous people have made the canyons their home for centuries and their lives are intertwined with these mountains and canyons. Living in this remote region, their way of life has largely been preserved since the times of the Spaniards. The Spanish arrived in the Copper Canyon area in the 17th century where they encountered the local indigenous people. For the Spanish, Mexico was a new land to explore for gold and silver, and to spread Christianity. The Spanish named the people they encountered "Tarahumara", derived from the word Raramuri, which is what these indigenous people call themselves. Scholars theorize that this word may mean “running people”. To this day these people are famous for their endurance in long-distance running. They are known to travel long vertical distances, often running nonstop for hours.  We fell in love with the Tarahumara people.  We found them to be friendly, courteous, industrious and shy.  Very, very shy!  When we offered to shake their hand, for example, they would smilingly only brush our hand oh so slightly.  This was true even of the children.  During our trip, we stayed in rural “casitas” and nice luxury hotels. Very different from the log cabins and cave homes of the Tarahumaras we visited, where we learned first hand about their customs and traditions.

Typical Tarahumara Home

Tarahumara Kitchen

Basaseachi Waterfalls

One of our favorite attractions at Copper Canyon was the “seven zip-lines” where we traveled up to 1400 feet over 8,350 foot canyon gorges and reached speeds up to 65 miles an hour. Another was the awe-inspiring Basaseachi Waterfalls on the Basaseachi River, the second-highest waterfall in Mexico at a staggering 807 feet tall. We attended church in El Fuerte where there is a Branch. There we met the District President, Branch President, many Church members and several sets of missionaries. El Fuerte was one of our favorite cities that we visited. It is the home of "Zoro"!

The Legendary "Zoro"!

El Fuerte was founded in 1563 by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Ibarra, the first explorer to come to this area. In 1610 a fort was built to ward off the fierce Zuaque and Tehueco Indians, who constantly harassed the Spaniards. For years, El Fuerte served as the gateway to the vast frontiers of the northern territories of Sonora, Arizona and California. For nearly three centuries it was the most important commercial and agricultural center of the vast northwestern region of Mexico. El Fuerte was a chief trading post for both silver miners and gold seekers. In 1824, it became the capital of the newly created Mexican state of Sinaloa, which reached into modern-day Arizona. In 2009 it was named by the Mexican government as one of ten “Magical Towns” because of the fort, old style architecture and beautiful down town plaza.

Reluctantly, we found ourselves returning to San Carlos so we could prepare “Little Lara” to be transported. To return San Carlos we had to take four buses – a school bus, a city bus and two tour buses. Needless to say, Peggy and I were very nervous about about our return trip with our limited knowledge of Spanish, knowing that some of the bus drivers would drop us off on the side of the road so we could catch the next bus. The return trip turned out to be uneventful, however, as we got off one bus only to get on the next one withing minutes. Then came the hard part, preparing “Little Lara” to be transported to Houston, Texas, but that is another story.

Jay Zip Lining

Peggy Zip Lining