TOUR OF THE COPPER CANYON, MEXICO
Spending 2 years in a Travel Trailer in Mexico!
My Malcolm Callister
OVERVIEW
Linda and I left our RV Travel Trailer behind, there are no RV parks at the top of these 10000 ft Mountains. It is March, we have just arrived by the historic El Chepe express train. At Divisadero, we stepped down from the train, not onto a platform but directly onto the tracks. Divisadero station is in the dry, rough country of the Sierra Madre Occidental, at over 8000 ft. We are here to experience the beauty of the Barrancas del Cobre, or the Copper Canyon, in Mexico. For two nights we will stay at the luxury Hotel Mirador while taking walking and Cable-car tours of the Canyons.
ARRIVAL
It is a crisp, clear early spring day, as we walked across the light brown gravel carpark. A shuttle bus had brought us from the railway station to the hotel Mirador. The low, dry-stone wall, of the hotel entrance, formed a backdrop for three Tarahumara Indian women, dressed in their traditional costumes of colored skirts, and blouses, blowing in the wind. They also wore woolen hoodies for warmth. The day before we arrived they had snow. Their heads were covered in a cotton headscarf’s, long black ponytails hanging down their backs. These women sat on the wall weaving baskets out of grass and pine needles.
THE FIRST PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE COPPER CANYON
We followed Rossie of tour guide, from Charter Tours, into the hotel. There a smiling waiter in a black and white barman uniform offers a tray of complimentary drinks and ushers us onto the patio while our luggage is delivered to your room. We see the vast panoramic view of the Copper Canyon under a clear pale blue sky. Linda uses binoculars to examine natures sculptures. Our eyes feast on the dramatic display of colorful rocky peaks, mesas and massive granite walls that stretch to the horizon in every direction. Then my stomach lurched as my eyes first look down, and I realize that I am standing on a patio that is hung out over the edge of the Canyon with the valley floor over four thousand feet below me.
Mountain climbers start to be concerned about the effects of altitude sickness above 5000 ft. We are spending the next two days exploring at over 8000ft.
EXPLORING THE MOUNTAINS AND MEETING THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Each day started with the stunning views of sunrise from the balcony and our hotel room. We watch the start of regular daily activity of the distant cave homes of some of the Tarahumara Indians. These Indians live in caves with a log cabin-like front and corrugated steel roofs.
Later we took a cable-car ride, and walking tours along the mountain trails, seeing the lifestyles of the Tarahumara. Tarahumara, the indigenous people of these high Sierra Madre Occidental mountains, live by hunting, and farming. Tourism provides a limited income supplement.
REFLECTION
Our two days exploring from the hotel that hangs on the edge of the Copper Canyon were a spectacular series of experiences. The Tarahumara Indians are keeping their mountain home in its natural condition, out of respect for the mountain spirit. Not driven by a pang of modern world guilt to preserve the present for future generations.
We followed their trails, saw their landscapes, and we learned of their culture. We were given a fantastic insight.
M&L TIP OF THE WEEK:
Ford’s 6.0L Power Stroke EGR cooler. When replacing the EGR cooler also replace the oil cooler at the same time. In 90 percent of cases, the 6.0L EGR cooler fails because the coolant side of the oil cooler, which is located under the oil/fuel filter housing, is plugged.
