Across a big river and up a big mountain; The tale of La Ruta de la Independencia Part 5

And then, on the last day, we rode ...




And rode ...





And rode ...






And rode ...






And finally, Success !!!

Basaseachi Falls, all 650+ feet of it ..

The dirt road up to Basaseachi was very nice, for me one of the best in the whole area, its being paved with maybe 20% ready, i have mixed feelings about the improvement, i think i will be good for the communities, specialy during the harsh winters, but i cant stop feeling that we are losing one of the ´Great Ones´





Yecora at Dusk, sadly the end of the big group. From there we took the road back to our hometown.





The Official Route Map, not the most detailed map, but its good to give you and idea of the B route.





This trip, with more than 60 cars, was very different from what I am used to, I think that the way we divided the group was a good thing, and made everything more manageable.

Despite the problems at the Chinipas river crossing, I still think that Mid September its the best date to visit the Sierra in a 4x4, with the rains making for a nice expedition feeling to it, I hope you enjoyed the photos and will be waiting for your comments.

Saludos.

Across a big river and up a big mountain; The tale of La Ruta de la Independencia Part 4

Finally, we made it to Creel ...

Since we where there, we had to check out the bar with the live Bengal Lions at the door, sadly after that and way too many beers everything its kind of blurry .. So not much to tell ...

Whats left of the crew. It was later on the day declared the official Hangover day




On the way to Basaseachi, and the rain began ...




If you can only take two roads on the Copper Canyon, take the Cuiteco lower road and this one ...




Next, the conclusion and goodbyes

Across a big river and up a big mountain; The tale of La Ruta de la Independencia Part 3

And on we went to Cuiteco, crossing Bahuchivo, taking the lower dirt road.

A nice day to wheel with your friends.




The Friendly Mexican Ejercito. Doing a hard and underfunded job.




When you see the railroad it only means you are getting closer to somewhere.




Our Tijuana friends, a diesel van sure comes handy when you have to pull a JK across the sierra.




Toño, our Navojoa Main man, showing us how not to get close to the Cuiteco Creek fall.




The Cuiteco Lower road, if you can only ride on one road in the copper canyon, make sure its this one

Across a big river and up a big mountain; The tale of La Ruta de la Independencia Part 2

Whatever relief we felt for crossing the river soon ended, as we realized that we had to drive 3 or 4 hours in the dark and under a heavy downpour to get to Temoris, were we decided to spend the night.

But first, Chinipas, the forgotten, middle of nowhere, last century mining Mecca.




For a while there where the not so menacing little clouds.




And all smiles and even a rainbow shot.




But then, the smiles disappeared. Beautiful and scary, my best two words to describe the drive up to Temoris.




The next day at Temoris, accounting the damages. And educating the rear fenders not to mess with my new tires.




Another day at the wheel, on route to Cuiteco.



Next, the nice road ...

Across a big river and up a big mountain; The tale of La Ruta de la Independencia

Some time ago we setup for our annual trip up the Tarahumaran sierras in the Copper Canyon area, but this time somebody decided to do an open invitation to the nearby 4x4 clubs, little did we knew that we`ll end with a nice and long line of more than 60 cars....

Our trip consisted this year of a long drive starting in Navojoa then to Alamos, across the Chinipas river, up to Temoris, cross the nice towns of Cuiteco and Divisadero, Then Creel, across the sierra to the nice Basaseachi Falls, back to Yecora and from there by road to our hometowns, all and all almost a thousand miles of mostly rugged roads and nice postcard worthy vistas.

The get together at Navojoa, after a nice Cochito a la cubana (Cuban style Pork barbecue) and plenty of beer. As a good Mexican i am a sucker for stickers ... :-)




At 6.30 am we headed out of town, on our way to Alamos, Sonora. We divided the big group in 4 groups or so, and off we went.




Alamos, a good old fashion colonial town (With some good restaurants), I am partial to El Fuerte, Sinaloa. But still like Alamos a lot .




Up the sierras on our way to destiny (The Chinipas River crossing)




After several hours, getting closer to the Chinipas River, down below.




With the help of our river guide we mostly make it across (For the record, out of almost 60 cars, only 5 had trouble, and of those, 4 where brand new JKs), so much for new tech.



This its what a heroe looks like deep in the Sierra, our trusty river guide (He made a killing that day, $5 per car )



Next, the big dark road ahead ...

Our annual big trip, La Ruta de la Independencia 2007

Our annual trip to la sierra this past september was a great success with over 60 cars from several 4x4 clubs.

We took route B to Creel and then went on to Basaseachi falls, it was great to travel with so many people, and the Montañas where nice as always.

Read on to see what a bunch of guys on 4x4s did last september ...