Copper Canyon from El Fuerte to Divisadero, September 4-5-6-7, 2001
Friday, September 7, 2001 - Waking up in Ceracahui - the Falls and
our return to El Fuerte
by C. Juk; all photos
property of Zihrena Systems©
This morning
we were up at 7, together with the generated lights and the Cerocahui
Mission bells from across the street. While John wiped the sleep from
his eyes I wandered out behind the Hotel Mision and discovered their
vineyard and gardens. Had a fabulous breakfast of fresh watermelon,
papaya and cantaloupe, hot, home made country biscuits with real mango
preserve made by the hotel kitchen, and eggs. Then we walked the block
into town to pick up a couple of sodas and water for our horseback trip
at 9 am.
The mists were rising from the valley when our guide took us along the dirt road, over the small bridge and then through fields of yellow, orange and red flowers studded by large boulders and flat expanses of rock. We started to climb up a trail alongside a small stream that bubbled down toward the Cerocahui River, switch backing up a hillside, with our horses hooves sliding over the stones and through the mud. The trip up took about 40 minutes, and we finally arrived at the head of a small canyon where the Cerocahui Falls dropped several meters into a crystal clear, cold pool. The rocks were mossy and surrounded by greenery and shadows shifting through the overhanging branches. We stayed at the falls about 20 minutes before heading back along the same trail to the hotel.
We
joined up again with our 3 girl bus companions of the day before, who
were also heading back to the train after their mornings' outing to the Cerro del Gallo lookout over the Urique Canyon, which is supposed
to be one of the most dramatic vantage points. It wasn't very successful,
it seems, since the valley was shrouded in thick cloud that didn't allow
much of a view at all. I was glad we had opted for the trip to the waterfall.
We took the bus out of Cerocahui and back to Bahuichivo, arriving in plenty of time to catch the 2:30 pm train, especially since it arrived at 2:50. Our trip back down the canyon to El Fuerte could conceivable be described as just more of the same thing we'd already done, but of course it wasn't. It was a new view, from a different angle, with different light qualities, of a road we'd travelled once and of which we had by no means seen all. I again spent the better part of the almost 4-hour downhill journey on my feet on the between-car platforms, taking even more pictures and appreciating the vistas anew. On the flats approaching El Fuerte, we were treated to some fascinating cloud formations pierced by the rays of the disappearing sun.
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Drawing up to the El Fuerte Station, we saw that our trusty taxi driver
in the beat-up station wagon had remembered that 
we'd
told him we expected to be back on the Friday afternoon train. He was
there and waiting for us, and took us happily back to the Hotel Herradura.
John accompanied Julian back to his house to pick up our truck while I
stood outside the hotel and watched an incredible light show as an enormous
pillow-like cloud hovered behind the El Fuerte church spire at sundown,
turning pink with a strange inner glow that, shortly after dark, split
into a spectacular display of lightning.
This
last night of our Copper Canyon journey we returned to the Mesa del General,
the place we'd simply had an after-dinner drink on our first trip through.
The menu had some interesting-looking stuff on it we wanted to try. John
had river turtle in green sauce, if I remember correctly, and I had bass
in oyster sauce, kind of oriental style. Eclectic, not bad, not the best
meal in the world, though it was certainly worth a try, and we were hungry
and tired enough to enjoy just about anything.
During this trip we learned that the Canyons, approached from the Chihuahua side, are to a great extent penetrable by vehicle, which is one reason, besides lack of time on this particular trip, that we didn't go further up by train, even to Creel. I hope that some time in the not-too-distant future we'll be able to tackle the Creel area and at least the depths of the Batopilas Canyon by car, if not further afield.
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2 | Day 3 | Day
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