The Copper Canyon Trip

In March of 2001, I rode my KLR650 from Phoenix to Deming, NM where I met my friend Chuck from Wichita Falls, TX.  He trailered his '94 BMW R100GSPD to Deming and left his trailer at Deming Cycle, the local BMW dealer.  We left Deming on Easter Sunday morning with our first days destination Nuevo Casas Grandes.  We didn't get too far before we realized that we had miscalculated:  we could not find isurance anywhere.  We would ride the entire trip in constant fear of a problem and no liability insurance!  Well, there were no problems but we'll know better next time! Even before we left Deming I discovered a leaking fork seal.  Though it was just a nuisance, it was messy, coating my riding pants with oil and collecting every bit of dust.  It didn't effect the handling though until my trip back to Phoenix.  It got a little squirly at freeway speeds in the wind!  Chuck also discovered a carburation problem that would dog him all the way down and all the way back.  We even tore the carbs down and cleaned them first night out.  It helped but was not the solution.  He rebuilt them when he got back, said it was just 40,000 miles and time to do it. Anyhow, enough talk.  Here are some photos of the country:

Located on the railroad from Chihuahua to the Gulf of Mexico is a hotel perched on the edge of one of the Copper Canyons.  This photo is of the typical country around El Divisadero where the hotel is located.  It was cool at this elevation but as we decended into the canyon to Batopilas, it got very warm!  For many better pictures of the Copper Canyon area, plug Copper Canyon or Berranca del Cobre into your browser.

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The road to Batopilas decends into the canyon from a high, pine forested plateau into a totally different atmosphere.  The weather in Batopilas is tropical and many exotic fruits grow there.  This road is really the only way into and out of Batopilas.  There are a couple jeep roads but by all accounts, they are not even well suited for dual sport bikes.  Needless to say we didn't try either of them.  Look closely and you can see the road in the bottom of the canyon.  We thought when we reached that point we would be very near Batopilas.  Think again!  We misread our 'guide book' and we still had about 15 miles to go after we hit the bottom.  Very hot and dusty; the cervezas were going to really taste good.  And they did!

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This is the same road as we neared the bottom.  You can see a pickup truck on the switchback below us.  Although the road is traveled every day by busses and trucks, it is rocky and rough in places.  I've heard of folks who took Goldwings to Batopilas but I think a BMW GS1150 would be as big as I'd want to deal with.  The little KLR just loves places like this!

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On the right is the Hotel Mary, one of only a couple places to stay in Batopilas. Note the sign says "Parking."  We sqeezed our bikes (the Beemer especially) through one of these doors and into a courtyard where we parked them in front of our room.  Next door was a store, restaurant and bar where Chuck sucked down Pacificos while I went in search of the Lost Misson.

And this is the "Lost Mission," named not because it couldn't be found but because there doesn't seem to be any official record of it in Church files.  It is beautiful and is in process of slowly being restored. I suspect it will be a decade before it is finished if then.  I intend to go back at least once more to check on it.

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