I won’t further comment on the genesis of this expedition, since Teeds has done a thorough prologue.
On Day1, 13 of us left Ojinaga as a group and after several course corrections and a hare scrambles thru the road construction eventually found our way to Creel. Part of us arrived about 5:00 PM and the rest about 8:00. It was a hard 320 mile ride with a killer head wind from Cuahtemoc, and half-melted snow the last hour or so. The rest of the group hit the hotel about 8:00 PM even more tired & cold. They had gone back to find one of the group who had been delayed by a flat & a pinched tube on the repair. I crashed early and hoped Day2 would be a little more pleasant.
Day 2 in front of the Hotel...that's snow and ice we're parked on
Day2 found us splitting into 2 groups which I will refer to as Group A (me and 5 others) and Group B (the remaining 7). Our paths would cross later in the day. After breakfast and a trip to the Pemex, we rode south for the turn-off. More snow and ice greeted us in the shady areas, but we made it to the dirt road and headed for the bottom of the canyon.. A short ride thru the trees and we reached the edge of La Bufa Canyon and started the 6000 ft. descent.
We soon reached some of the scenic overlooks where you can see your road several thousand feet below as it hugs the canyon wall. This is what I came to see and it was every bit as spectacular as I had imagined.
We caught up to a bull-dozer just before crossing the bridge at the bottom of the canyon and cheered the operator on as he creaked across the bridge.
We stopped in La Bufa and took some photos on the tailings pile from one of the old mines, then continued on to Batopilas. We stopped at the big hotel east of town and waited for Teeds who was riding sweep. Steve and John decided to ride back and make sure he was Ok, so the rest of us rode on into the central plaza.
As I was parking along the curb my Husky suddenly died, and just like that, my trip was over. I spent the next 30 minutes checking everything and with a sinking feeling, finally admitted to myself that I was stranded.
One dead Husky
As if that wasn’t enough of a downer, Teeds arrived to announce he had taken a low side and twisted his knee, which was rapidly getting worse. We checked into the Hotel Mary and discussed my predicament. After a beer or 2, John (who speaks some Spanish) and I tried to find someone to take me to Creel. We spoke with a local who said it was possible, but not tomorrow (which was Sunday). There wasn’t much else to do but eat supper and ponder just how long I might get to spend in sunny downtown Batopilas.
Since we had an odd number, I was rooming by myself, so after supper I headed there hoping for a hot shower anyway. After no luck getting any hot water, my mood was getting darker, and when the light bulb in the bathroom burned out, I climbed into bed cold and disgusted. As some of you know, a lot of the hotels in Mexico close and lock their gates after dark for security. This means if you want to talk to someone rooming there, you have to wake up the gate keeper. Apparently there are a lot of people in Batopilas who like to visit the Hotel Mary at 1or 2 in the morning, which requires copious amounts of knocking and banging and talking, etc. This, along with thoughts of how to get a dead motorcycle back to Texas, was hardly conducive to a restful night.
Day 3, the rest of Group A planned on going to Satevo and El Fuerte, so I would soon be on my own, but as I walked into Teeds room, even though he was already in his riding gear, it looked like he could barely put any weight on his bad knee and I suspected his ride was over. After John came in and agreed, Teeds decided that the prudent move would be to bail out with me. Since we had an unkown (to our group) route ahead and at best, someone would have to kick-start his XR650, He agreed. Although I was happy to have the company, I knew he was as disappointed as I had been when my ignition box took a dump.
After breakfast, we waved goodbye to the rest of Group A and set off for the central plaza to wait for the phone office to open. We had cell phone service in Creel, but down here, the only way to call out was thru a public phone office. We spotted 2 other riders whom we had met the day before and asked if anyone in their hotel spoke English, and one replied “yes, the couple who own the hotel speak English”
I found an elderly woman inside and explained our problem. She said her husband was just outside and stepped out to ask him if he could help. He began talking to the man next to him and immediately said “Yes, Arturo here can take you at 6:00 AM tomorrow” Our mood immediately improved and after a short conversation to make sure we all understood each other, Teeds and I had the rest of the day to sit in the sun, take pictures and enjoy Batopilas.
Foot bridge from Batopilas
Local architecture
A genuine Mexican Chihuahua
Packed & ready to load
Day 4, Monday morning about 5:50 AM, our ride showed up, and after loading and a side trip to get gasoline from a local, we began the 3 hr drive out of the canyon. As a passenger, I was free to sit back and enjoy the ride out. I got a much better view of the scenery than on the ride in.
As we neared the top we caught up with a local bus that had left about ½ hr. ahead of us. Just after passing the bus, as we came over a hill, we were greeted by a Federale check point. After ordering us out of the truck, one guy checked inside the cab as 2 more crawled in the bed and began going over our motorcycles. We must have looked un-worthy of a thorough search, as they skipped our gear bags and waved us on , and began another search on the bus behind us.
snow on the road to Creel
Another 30 miles of pavement and we were back in Creel at the Hotel Plaza Mexicana-Magarita. Group B had arrived in Batopilas Saturday and knew that Teeds and I were stranded. They had told our story to Cesar, the son of the Hotel owner, and he had called Batopilas earlier in the day to make sure that we had caught a ride out, and furthermore he was willing to take us all the way to Presidio. Cesar spoke English, so we had no problems getting a deal settled on, and once again, we could kick back and do the tourist thing.
A relaxing afternoon sunning in the hotel court-yard
We spent Tuesday walking around Creel and after loading the motorcycles in Cesar’s pickup,prepared for a Wed. departure for the border.
Group B at the bar up the street from the Hotel
Group B getting info from Cesar (in cowboy hat) for the next day's ride
Day5, We got rolling about 10:30, and as we began the 6 hr drive to the border, got an excellent commentary from Cesar about the Creel area. He runs a local guide service from his hotel and was immensely helpful to 2 gringos who were in a bind. We hit Ojinaga about 4:30 and cleared U.S. customs with a minimum of fuss.
Back at the motel in Presidio
By 5:00 we were un-loading at the 3 Palms in Presidio, and our Mexico adventure was over. We bid farewell to Cesar who was driving back to Creel that evening, and set about winding down with dinner and few beers. Later that night we would hear from John in Group A, who had thrown a chain which punched a hole in the crankcase. He was arriving in Chihuahua by train, with his crippled Yamaha on another train en-route to the border (he hoped)
Day6. I prepared for a short drive back to Odessa, while Teeds would remain another day or 2 waiting on some of Group B to ride back to DFW.
Although my motorcycle trip ended on Day 2, the rest of the trip was more than enjoyable and once the un-certainty of my situation resolved itself, I relaxed and had a great time. Since I only got a glimpse of the rest of the canyons, I’m already planning a return trip. Maybe next time we can skip the snow and cold weather, since I’m much happier when I’m warm.