Days 48 Through 50: Hiking From Urique To Batopilas

With our bikes safely stowed away at Entre Amigos, we headed out around 7:45 am with a bag full of burritos made for us by Maruca's sister.  Not too long after, we passed the first town where some locals were already half drunk and singing songs plucked out by an older cowboy on his guitar.  At the next juncture, we found out from a couple guys that we could take a shortcut over a swinging bridge to start the climb out of the canyon and then it would join our plotted course.

Emmanuel poses for me while crossing the bridge.

Gonzalo coming up from behind...

A few parts of the trail obviously suffer through the rainy season, we found the makeshift supports to be a little frightening.

Despite the heat, I found the hike out of the canyon to be easy walking and we arrived at the ranch Los Alisos de Torres around mid-day.  Tomás had told us to tell the rancher Don Prospero that he had sent us and that we would be welcomed and that they would give us fresh water.  What he didn't tell us was that it would be a refreshingly breezy oasis in the middle of desolate and dry climb out from Urique.  We were greeted by palms, mango trees, grapefruit trees, grapevines, and some of the nicest people we have met so far.  We ended up staying for about four hours we loved it there so much... Don Prospero stayed and chatted with us, served us coffee grown and roasted on his ranch, offered us bananas from his banana trees, and even pulled out a bed for me to take a siesta.

We also discovered that Los Alisos serves as a water point for the Caballo Blanco ultramarathon and our hike was part of the marathon route.  One of the primary legs of the ultramarathon is to run from Urique to Los Alisos and back and it was neat to have hiked that part.  I would later find out that our route back would also take us on another leg of the ultramarathon, but that's a story for a later post.

Gonzalo and Emmanuel enjoy the shade of the grapevines.

The three of us decided to shell beans for Don Prospero and chat about life, the universe, and everything.

These were some of the best bananas I've ever eaten, served up in a handwoven Raramuri basket.

While the boys napped, I played with a local Raramuri boy who was taking shelter from the heat with his mother.  They live about a two hour walk from Los Alisos.  He was fascinated by my animal imitations.

We finally tore ourselves away from Los Alisos once the heat of the day had passed and continued on fortified by fresh spring water and a lovely rest.  We profusely thanked Don Prospero and gave him a small tip as a sign of our gratitude.  He seemed embarrassed that he had little else to offer us and tried to send us off with tortillas and beans, but we had plenty of food already.  Instead, we accepted a few bananas to take with us on our journey.  From here, the views were stunning as we hike to the summit.

Emmanuel taking in the view.

The trail becomes a bit more rugged, but nothing too hard to navigate.

We got to an area a bit before La Yesca where the trail connects with a dirt road and set up camp.

We got a late start the next morning because we were relishing the cool night air.  While eating breakfast, the boys said they needed to get water at La Estación, a nearby ranch just past where we were camping that Tomás had identified as a place to get water.  Gonzalo thought I had overdone it when I said I had nearly three liters left.  Pshoo, I said, better safe than sorry so I took a lot of water at Los Alisos in case there was no water at La Estación.  Turns out, no one was home at La Estación so we had to hope to come across some other ranches.  Our maps showed that there was some sign of life at Piedra Redonda so I started conserving my water and hoped that we would have some luck there.

Nobody home at La Estación.

The long beautiful waterless road to Piedra Redonda... we missed a turn off for a trail and ended up staying on the road, but  we knew both would take us to Piedra Redonda.

Guillermina and her daughter Guadalupe live in Piedra Redonda and welcomed us with cool refreshing spring water and some shade.  She even offered us beer, but we knew it would be a bad idea.  We stayed a bit to rest and chat and learn a bit about their life there.  We are not the first ones to come across their home, turns out a while back, a pair of bike tourists also stopped by her house.

A local animal that is supposed to be delicious... oh wait, that's Emmanuel.

A view of Piedra Redonda... Guillermina tells us that there are five families that live there.

We learned from Guillermina that if we talked to another family that lived in Piedra Redonda, they could show us a shortcut across their property to start a more direct descent into Batopilas.  So we headed over to the other ranch and were greeted by a large family who showed us a steep climb up through some pine trees to the trail.  Each of the family members wished us well and off we went.

Lunch among the pines before heading down.

Emmanuel is part of an adventure club and takes the opportunity to show off a bit.

Taking in the view of the Batopilas canyon (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Rocky technical descent.

I don't remember where this was, but we found a huge water reservoir being filled from a spring.  We took the opportunities to cool off a bit.  Shortly after this, we came across a party of some friendly Raramuri ranchers.  We asked them what the party was for, they said it was the yumare, to ask for rain  They invited us up, but we declined because they were all pretty drunk (which is traditionally a part of the yumare) and moved on.

Back to the road to Batopilas.  By this time, we just stuck to the road although we did see some parallel footpaths.

Gonzalo and Emmanuel found themselves running low on water again and were once again saved by a friendly local family just outside the small town Cerro Colorado.  There we learned that the drug trade had actually dropped dramatically and was no longer a viable option for many people, and that the gold mining industry was all that was left.  We inspected some bits of rocks with gold speckled through them, and then sadly learned that they process the rock with mercury to remove the gold and wash the byproduct into the river.

After asking about the possibly camping along the river Batopilas near this family's property, we decided to head into Cerro Colorado to pick up some supplies to supplement dinner and camp somewhere on the other side of town.  Emmanuel saw a garden with swiss chard and the woman gave him a huge bagful for free.  Gonzalo and I went to the store and like many isolated communities, there was nothing but canned food... until we spotted a papaya sitting on the shelf.

The local school... posters were written in Spanish and the Raramuri language.

Time for dinner... mmmm fresh papaya.

Zona de hamacas.

Since we had lost time relaxing at Los Alisos (well worth it!) and sleeping in the day before, we still had a good half day of hiking to get into Batopilas.  The heat was oppressive and we were all exhausted and ready to be done.  Gonzalo was struggling immensely with the heat and Emmanuel and I both were suffering from our shoes.

Typical water jar which are made by the Raramuri and are designed to keep the water cool.  The folks at here had wonderfully cool spring water that we all took advantage of about an hour or two before Batopilas. 

Success!

We wandered along the long stretch of town to the plaza and found a cheap hotel, showered, grabbed some cold beers, collapsed for a bit, and then asked around town about getting public transport or hitching a ride back to Urique.

A few travel notes for cyclists:

• It is important to note that this hike requires a base level of hiking endurance to cross from one canyon to another.  The trails are steep going both up and down and the additional weight of any camping gear (we did well with just our hammocks and sleeping bags and left our tents behind).  We hiked around 60 kilometers, though I think it's a bit less if you actually stick to the foot trails.  Because we on a dirt road for much of the descent, we hiked quite a bit more distance.

• Tomás told us that it is possible to camp at Don Prospero's ranch Los Alisos and it's certainly a wonderful place to spend a significant amount of time.

• We had brought a water filter and iodine drops to treat any water we found (which would later become essential), but at this time of year, all the streams and waterfalls are dry, so you have to depend on spring water.  Although I could get away with about 4 liters per day, Gonzalo was drinking up to 12 liters in a day in the heat.  We were highly dependent on the kindness of strangers because the spring sources are not readily apparent.  I saw this as a silver lining because had there been abundant water in the streams, we wouldn't have had a reason to get to know these amazing people.

Days 46 And 47: Urique

Urique is probably best known, at least among my group of fitness and adventure oriented friends), for the Caballo Blanco ultramarathon that was made famous by the book Born to Run and the barefoot running movement that was born in part from the Raramuri culture of long distance barefoot (or sandal-clad) running.  Historically, the Raramuri would chase their prey until they got tired or until they ran off a cliff onto spears below, at least I think that's what the Lonely Planet says.  Although the area has a relatively developed network of dirt roads, the Copper Canyons are laced with winding paths historically used by the Raramuri to traverse the canyons.

Upon entering the town, we were greeted by this mural which lists the winners of each years' ultramarathon.

Entering Urique is a bit like going back in time with one huge anachronism... the abundance of pickup trucks, most American made, lining the streets.  It's an easy place to like, people say hello to you in the street, cows and burros amble alongside the chickens and kids, and the views are stunning.  We helped a guy capture a renegade burro and had a lovely conversation with the woman who sells elotes (corn).  It's that kind of town.

The streets of Urique are charming.

Hand down, Entre Amigos is my favorite hostel I've ever stayed in, with a huge shared garden, camping, dorms, cabins, shared kitchen, ping pong dining room table, common areas, and stunning views.  It's one of those places I could lose myself in for a while (even with the blistering heat of summer).  The owner is an elderly American guy who splits his time between Oregon and Urique, but lately has been sick and staying in Oregon more often.  Tomás and his wife Maruca are the ones who take care of the hostel year-round and we found them to be incredibly helpful and kind.  Tomás has his own side business as a guide for area hikes, but also showed us maps and gave us advice on possible routes.  Maruca showed me around the garden and the "main house," explained what produce was available this time of year, and let me borrow some oil to cook with.

The garden produces even during this hottest part of the year!

Ciruelas (plums) were just coming into season when we arrived... by the time we left, they were abundant and we gorged ourselves silly.

The "main house" boasts a large library with a small book exchange, just ask Maruca which books are available for exchange.  There are several cozy places to read or work in the library.

I was surprised to find that even at this time of year, there was an abundance of produce, including grapefruits, limes, swiss chard, beets, butternut squash, onions, plums, and garlic.

We bought a few eggs from Maruca and I made an awesome veggie and egg breakfast quesadilla.

Gonzalo and I had expected to be at Entre Amigos alone.  May and June are considered the lowest of the low season because temperatures are consistently over 100 F (42 C) and can reach 120 F (50 C).  Only crazy fools like us would visit at this time, right?  Nope!  We were relaxing in the kitchen area when Tomás came by with Emmanuel, a fellow bike tourist.  I paused for a second.  He looked really familiar.  And then I remembered that I had seen him at the ticket office for the ferry in La Paz and had commented to Gonzalo that there was another cyclist.  Turns out he started one day after us from La Paz.  We chatted for a bit about some potential plans to hike to Batopilas and invited him to join us.

Emmanuel harvesting some ripe ciruelas (plums).

Group pow-wow to discuss potential routes, availability of water, and other logistics.

A photo of this 1979 Mexican military map of the area in conjunction with Gonzalo's GPS served us well.  Water sources are conveniently marked though it is notably missing a lot of dirt roads.

We discussed two potential routes, the traditional route that goes through a ranch called Los Alisos and is part of the Caballo Blanco ultramarathon, and a longer more southerly route.  It turns out that Caballo Blanco was Tomás' guide for that southerly route once upon a time.  Since I had read that this area had experienced some robberies, we asked Tomás about issues of safety and he assured us that things were tranquil these days.  Based on this, we decided to go ahead with the hike on the traditional route, and depending on how things went, either hitch a ride back to Urique or hike the more southerly route back.

A quick ride out for a swim upriver.

Local guy taking in the view with his Coke.

A refreshing swim a few kilometers out of town.

Be careful, scorpions are not uncommon here... this was a big guy we found at the hostel.

We spent the rest of the evening chatting, making a lovely group dinner from the garden, and preparing for the long hike ahead.

A few travel notes for cyclists:

• It's worth asking Tomás for a discount if you come in the off season.  He is also a wealth of knowledge about the area, but be prepared to ask him specific questions about logistics as we didn't, and ended up having to wing it a bit once we got to Batopilas.

• While it doesn't appear to be open much, at least on Sundays and Mondays, the burrito place just before you cross the dry stream bed (or which may be a stream if you come after the rains) has excellent burritos with meat and nopales (cactus). 

• The supermarket is the only reliable place in town to get any sort of cash since there is no bank.  You can just go with any credit card and withdraw cash but they take a 5% commission. 

Day 45: Fake Summit 30 Km Before Urique to Urique

After a blissful night of sleep with only one or two random dreams about being swallowed by a forest fire, we awoke to the exciting prospect of our glorious descent into Urique.  Gonzalo had thought we might be close to the summit, and I figured his GPS showed that we were close.  Although I remembered Gonzalo showing me the elevation profile once upon a time and I thought it was a bit too early for the descent, I really had no idea.  Much to our dismay, while we had had indeed reached a summit of sorts, we still had plenty of climbing left to do up to Mesa de Arturo.

Okay, Gonzalo said, the GPS shows there's no climbing after Mesa de Arturo.  And for a brief minutes, we started descending only to find ourselves battling hills until we reached the Mirador Cerro de Gallego.  We tried to keep our spirits high as we pushed our bikes up hill after hill and the views were our reward.

We saw the fire from the night off in the distance.  We would find out later it was actually "farmers" burning fields to prepare for the rains... when I saw "farmers" I mean the people who cultivate marijuana here.

We may have spent more time off our bikes than on them (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Some silliness on the road (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Most of the road has sheer drop offs and impressive canyon walls making all the work worth it.

Finally, we see Urique waaaaay down in the bottom of the canyon.

Taking one more look at the gorgeous scenery as we continue on the winding road to Urique (photo credit: Gonzalo).

At long last, we started the true descent into Urique.  I cannot imagine doing this descent in a car or on a bus because at least on a bike, you have a ton of wiggle room.  Some parts of this road are just wide enough for a 4x4 truck.  It was an breathtaking trip down into the sweltering but gorgeous Urique canyon.

We finally get a look at what our descent will be into Urique...

Bikes atop the Mirador Cerro Gallego... we stopped here for lunch and contemplated throwing our hammocks up and staying the night.  If I had to do it again, that's exactly what I would do, but instead, we decided to continue on.

I accidentally locked my rear wheel and it slid out with all the weight of my gear... still getting used to handling this terrain fully loaded!  Lucky for me I just hit the same place on my left knee that always takes a beating when I crash my mountain bike... just a little scar tissue ripped off (photo credit: Gonzalo... who did actually check to see if I was okay before whipping out his camera).

Just a flesh wound!

Glamour shotz.

Gonzalo waiting in the shade for his rim brakes to cool down.  Even though disc brakes don't require these types of stops, I was glad to be able to rest my hands.

Gaaaaah, I love these views!

And we finally made it!

A few travel notes for cyclists:

• After Cerocahui, there aren't many amenities, but there are two little stores at marker 26 with very basic supplies and cold drinks.  We didn't see any stores at Mesa de Arturo just 4 km down the road (though they do sell beer).

• The Mirador Cerro de Gallego is at marker 38 and if you have enough water to camp, I think it would make a lovely camping spot.

• Urique this time of year is an oven.  At the bottom, every day was well over 100 F (42 C) and the nights don't get much better.  Just be prepared to drool at the sight of anything cold to drink and to drink twice the water you normally do.