Copper Canyon Part 1

I woke up to a beautiful crisp sunny day in the mountains of the Mexican Sierras. Then I woke up and realized that was all a dream and that it did in fact rain all night and it was still coming down. I wasn’t going to sit around the town of Yecora for a day so I hit the road. I had about 160 miles to go to reach the town of Creel. 160 miles in the rain on this road is enough of a roadtrip for one day.

Getting into the zone centro (city center/downtown) of any city is always easy but trying to find your way out seems impossible. Good thing my Spanish is so good that I can easily ask people how to get places. That’s sarcasm. I’m learning more each day but when it comes down to it, I usually rely on finger pointing. I asked a man on the street which direction was the highway and after a minute of confusion he understood what I was asking and pointed to where I needed to go. He smiled and patted me on the back and said ‘buen viaje!”

I got on MEX 16 and drove higher and further into the mountains. A thick blanket of fog covered the landscape making it easy to not be distracted and just focus on the road. So far the roads in Mexico have been mostly well paved asphalt with occasional sections needing repair. I knew after a night of rain that I should be extra cautious and take my time winding around the corners.

Good thing I did cause there were a few times that either half of the road had been covered in a small mudslide or a giant boulder rolled into the street.

I wasn’t trusting my GPS anymore on this highway so at every intersection with another road I’d stop and double check my maps. Surprisingly enough even in the mountains if I open up Google Maps on my iPhone it will show the roads and where I am. After a few hours of driving I pulled over at a small restaurant in the middle of the forrest for a cup of coffee. A cup of hot instant coffee warmed me up and I was off.

The road comes around a corner and into a small valley where it winds its way past farms before entering the town of Creel. I rode into the city center and did my usual hotel search. On the main street downtown there is a Best Western but it was too expensive for me. I found a nice place called Hotel Real la Sierra just a block off the main street. It was early in the day so I grabbed my rain jacket and camera and walked around the city.

I’ll write more about the people in this area of Mexico in the next blog but here are some photos of this small mountain town.