Day 11

There was a sense of excitement amongst our group as we boarded our two, ten passenger vans for our trip to Batopilas. We left Creel around 8:15 AM. The trip to Batopilas is 140 kilometres which under normal road conditions should take two hours, however we did not arrive until 4:30 PM. After you leave the paved highway the road becomes a steep and twisting dirt road that drops from an altitude of 2338 meters at Creel to 495 meters at Batopilas.

The highway is paved for the first 45 kilometres with Ponderosa trees, Limp Needle Pine trees, and Manzanita bushes along both sides of the highway. (The Tarahumara Indians use the needles from the Limp Needle Pine to weave small baskets.) Further down the highway we passed the Monk Praying Rock, the Frog Rock and the Monkey Face Rock.

After climbing we entered the highest point of the Urique Canyon at 1879 meters. Travelling through the canyon we saw Indian homes and cultivated fields high up on the mountain sides. Further down the road we saw the entrance to an Indian cave with logs blocking the entrance and a health clinic built to serve the Tarahumara Indians.

 At this point in the road we entered a detour because of road construction. The road became very rough and impossible for vehicles to pass so we had to back up to a turnout to let a road grader and a large truck pass. There was no traffic control! From this point to our destination at Batopilas we travelled on the old road which is very twisty, rough and dusty. It was quite scary for us because we are not used to high unimproved mountain roads.

Next we entered the La Bufa canyon which is the third highest of the canyons. We stopped at the view point overlooking the town of La Bufa in a canyon 175 meters deep, with a cool river at the bottom. The surrounding mountain sides have become very arid with Agave and Yucca cactus; the deciduous trees have become very stunted and wind blown. From a view point we saw a farm high up on a mountain side with a fruit orchard and cultivated land. The road started to follow the river valley which had several small farms on the river banks. Next we came across the wedding cake mountain, the entrance to an silver mine and further down the road the exit to the silver mine. We passed through the village of La Bufa and stopped for a very nice lunch in a fruit tree orchard.

We are now entering the Batopilas Canyon area which is very rocky and arid; however there is more traffic on the road and people walking on the roadside. There were walking bridges across the river and a viaduct that carried water to a water wheel used to grind up rocks from the silver mine. We arrived at our hotel Margareta’s which housed Alexander Shepard, built in 1880’s and used as a round house where they melted the silver and formed it into bricks.

Bob & Ann