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The Copper Canyon - Big Bend Loop

Eric,

Thanks for the info on bypassing Chihuahua. That is really good to know.
 
The Copper Canyon - Big Bend Loop: Batopilas

Batopilas

Batopilas is a great little town. It is about a mile long, spread out along one side of the river. It consists of more than 1 street, but not much more. We followed the main street through town, looking for Hotel Mary. When we reached the end of town and hadn’t spotted the hotel, I asked a few locals where it was located. The first two I asked gave me conflicting directions, but finally, the third person I asked was able to direct me correctly. Hotel Mary is on the main street about 1 block before the town square (la plaza). We had ridden right by it, but had failed to notice it. You would expect the locals to know where it was. Maybe it was my pronunciation or something that was throwing them off.

We checked in and they let us park our bikes into the lobby for safety purposes.
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We hadn’t eaten since morning and it was about 4 p.m. at this point, so after unloading the bikes and washing up we made a bee-line to the kitchen/restaurant there in the hotel. I order steak ranchero and Uncle got the enchiladas. Again, the food was excellent.
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As we were waiting for the food to be cooked a Hispanic woman came into the restaurant and engaged us in conversation. She was from Chicago or Indiana or somewhere in the area (I asked where she was from and she said something about Indiana, then Chicago then some other place I can remember, so I’m still not sure exactly where she lives). In any case, she was very friendly and visited with us during our entire meal. She was kind enough to take our picture too.
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She gave her name as L.A., mentioned it was a nickname and then told us her full name in Spanish which consisted of maybe 5-6 words. We just called her L.A. She told us about a local bar, the Nevada, and persuaded us to join her and some locals there once our meal was finished. It was hot and a couple of cervezas frio (cold beers) sounded like a fine idea.

Located behind the door with “cold beer” painted above it we discovered cerveza fria.
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Once in the Nevada courtyard, LA introduced us to several people, including Rojillio and Ramiro. Only Rojillio spoke any English and Uncle and my Spanish was not good, so LA and Rojillio facilitated our discussions. Ramiro had on a fine Batopilas shirt and liked country and western music. I just happened to have a Luckeback, TX t-shirt with me and arranged a trade.

LA, Ramiro, & Me after our t-shirt exchange
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Uncle and LA enjoying a cold one
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The locals were very friendly to the dos gringo touristas and we had a great time visiting with them.

After several cold ones, Uncle and I headed out to wander around Batopilas. It was Sunday night so I didn’t expect much to be happening. As darkness fell on the town, a few people gathered in la plaza. The plaza, or town square, appears to be the natural gathering place for anything that happens in this town. It is a cool place to hang out.
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LA had told us she was going out tonight to some party across the river. What she really meant was that she was going to another bar, el Puente Cogange, located next to the river to listen to some local musicians. Batopilas is not all that large and a few hours later, while exploring, Uncle and I stumbled across that place. The local group was playing music and singing and tourists and locals alike were enjoying the show while having a drink. We joined right in to a hearty welcome.

Good music and singing requires dancing.
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Arturo, lead singer (actually the only singer in this musical group), had a fine baritone voice.
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Arturo, Rich, and Rojillio. In case you are having a hard time seeing the three of us look to the right of the tall, blonde German gal
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Arturo could sing and dance at the same time, which the tall, blonde German gal found interesting cause she spent the entire evening dancing with Arturo (not that there is anything wrong with that). When they weren’t dancing, he would sing for her.
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That’s all I’m going to say about that. What happens in Batopilas, stays in Batopilas.

The musical trio of the evening. I’m thinking the guy in the cowboy hat might have had a lot to drink, but I’m not sure.
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Puente Colgante, the den in iniquity, exposed to the light of morning
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So ended our first, and only, night in Batopilas. We had enjoyed a fantastic ride down into the canyon and then a wonderful afternoon of food, new friendship, and discovery, and then a night of drunken debauchery. (Actually there might have been some debauchery around somewhere but neither Uncle or I participated, scouts honor.) Tomorrow brought a major change in plans, but I think it the trade off was well worth it.

More to follow…
 
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The Copper Canyon - Big Bend Loop: Day 4

Day 4 – A Parade and Then Back to Creel

If you’ve ever read any of XR650Rocketman’s ride reports on this forum, you know they typically involve an early start, riding hard and fast all day long on as much unpaved stuff as you can find, and maybe, if you are really lucky, reaching your final destination before the sun goes down. In the spirit of XR650Rocketman’s rides, our plan for day 4 was to ride from Batopilas to Urique in 1 day. It sounds easy, but it isn’t. There are only two ways to get to Urique from Batopilas and neither of them are particular short or quick. One way involves going cross-country through some reportedly very rough terrain, challenging navigation, and drug runners. We decided against this route. The other way was to backtrack to Creel and then take the one road past El Divisidaro and down to Urique. This is the route we had in mind. I think it can be done if you start early, ride like **** all day, and luck is on your side. I think it can be done, but don’t know if it can be done since Uncle and I didn’t do it.

Two significant things were happening in Batopilas when we woke up on day 4. The first was that for the first time ever a Mennonite man was marrying a Tarahumara gal. The wedding was scheduled for 1 p.m. but it was by invitation only and for some reason our invitations were delayed in getting to us. The 2nd thing was that it was Viente de Noviembre (November 20th) – a holiday for celebrating the Mexican revolution that began in 1910. There was a big parade scheduled for the morning and everybody was off work and gathering downtown for the big parade. Hey, I’m not in Batopilas everyday nor do I get to see an authentic Batopilas parade everyday. To heck with Urique, I can see it next time.

The parade was scheduled to start at 8 a.m., but we were on Batopilas time. The parade would start when the parade started, no matter what the clock said. So, we went to breakfast at Dona Mica. Rojillio, whom we had met the previous day and had spent the evening drinking with in Puente Colgante, met us at la plaza that morning and took us to it. It turned out to be a fine choice.

Breakfast was cooked on a wood-fired stove.
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The cook, Bellia
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Chorizo con huevos, frijoles, tortillas, and fruta (eggs with spicy sausage, beans, tortillas, and fresh fruit) made a tasty breakfast.
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After breakfast, we wandered back to la plaza and waited for the parade to show up. It was festively decorated for the event.
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Finally, around 9:30 or so, the parade showed up. It was well worth the wait. The parade consisted of every kid in town (the total population of Batopilas is around 1200 and it seems that 900 of them are kids). They were arranged by school or grade, with each grade/school dressed differently.

Pancho Villa showed up. I thought he would be taller.
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I believe this was Zapata and his wife. He was shorter than I expected too.
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More shots of the different grades.
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An acrobatic display.
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Another shot of Pancho Villa, armed to the teeth.
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The parade ended at la plaza, with all the kids lined up around the perimeter. Everyone gathered around for some short speeches and the ending ceremonies.
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It was a fine parade. If your schedule permits, I’d suggest being in Batopilas the morning of Nov. 20th next year (or any year for that matter).

With the festivities over, we loaded the bikes and headed out toward Satevo and the Lost Cathedral. Satevo is 4 miles further down river and the road getting there was the roughest we experienced during this entire trip. It was rocky, rutted, washed out, and generally in poor condition. In other words, a fine dual sport road.

If I have the story correct, the Lost Cathedral is more than 400 years old and no one knows who built it or when. It is built of red brick, which seems to be an unusual building material in this part of Mexico even today. It is still in active use, too.
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A couple of fellows were working on the roof.
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After our visit to the Lost Cathedral, we rode back to Batopilas. Back in Batopilas Uncle wanted to stop in at the store of a German fellow who hand-paints postcards. We located the place and went in for a visit. His art was beautiful and we both bought a painting. I recommend you stop in when you are in town. His sign says “art postcards” and is the only place like it in Batopilas so you should be able to find it.

The best way I can describe Batopilas is that it is like being in a town in the Old West around 1900. While there are cars, electricity, and other modern conveniences, there weren’t a lot of them and, it appears to me, that despite these modern things the way of life here more closely resembles life in the old west than life the typical lifestyle of the 21st century American. Whatever the case, I really enjoyed my visit to Batopilas and am anxiously looking forward to my next trip there.

We left Batopilas and began our journey back to Creel. A trip to Urique was out. We were going to have to keep a steady pace to get back to Creel before nightfall, but even so I couldn’t resist stopping for a few final photos of the canyon.

Looking back towards Batopilas. See the truck?
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In case you missed it.
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The mountain make the houses look small, don’t they?
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On the way up, the first mechanical problems of the trip cropped up. I began to have serious doubts as to whether my KLR was going to hold together long enough to even get me back to Creel. It was looking really bad.

More to follow…
 
The road from Creel to Batopilas. From Creel you travel a paved road through Cusarare and down to Samachique. Near Samachique you turn onto the unpaved road that runs down through La Bufa to Batopilas.
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Steve,

The parade was definitely worth the change of plans. I can't believe how lucky we were to be there to see that. I didn't realize Nov. 20th was a significant day of celebration, so it was just dumb luck we were in Batopilas that morning. There were other parades in towns all over Mexico that day, but I'm glad to have seen that particular one.
 
Makes me want to rob a bank so I can afford the time of and money to go... :-P Right now that is about the only way it would ever happen :doh:

Awesome report. :popcorn:
 
Richard Thanks for the great ride report.Please think about a trip tour down there in 2007. I'll buy the gas. Thanks,Ben
 
Ben,

I'd love to return in 2007, but I'm not sure if my wife will be as understanding as she was during this first trip. After things settle down some at my house, I'll plant the idea with her and see how she responds.
 
The Copper Canyon - Big Bend Loop: End of Day 4

About 20 miles up the climb from Batopilas my front tire started making a grinding / squeaking noise. Something was definitely wrong inside the hub. At first I thought the brakes might be dragging, but that was not the case. At the first opportunity, I pulled over and discussed the issue with Uncle. We figured either the wheel bearings were going out or the speedo worm gear had a problem. I was praying it wasn’t the wheel bearings.

What should I do? I wasn’t exactly in a spot where I could get the bike towed back to Creel. Eventually, somebody would come along and maybe they would be in a truck and would haul the bike to Creek for me. On the other hand, if I keep going and it’s the wheel bearings and they lock up, then I’m going down; hopefully not over the edge of a precipice to my death at the same time.

I field checked the bearings and made the decision to keep riding, praying I would make it to Creel without incident.

We continued climbing and the noise got louder and more persistent. Once we reached the paved road we were able to reach higher speeds, which made the noise worse. Then my back brake went out.

Going into a hairpin turn I grabbed front and rear brakes and noticed that my rear brake wasn’t working. I wasn’t running hard so the front brake was more than adequate to slow me down to the appropriate entry speed, but as soon as I came out of the corner I pulled off the side of the road to see what the problem was. It turned out that the rear caliber was stuck and the brakes were dragging, causing them to heat up, which in turn overheated the brake fluid, which boiled, causing a loss of brake pressure. I removed the caliber, freed it up, reinstalled it, and didn’t have any more problems with it the rest of the trip. I’m guessing that the caliber got stuck from all the dirt embedded in it from the road to Batopilas.

The shadows were getting really long at this point. We had gotten a really late start due to waiting for the parade to end and the work on the rear brake had eaten up precious daylight. It was going to be a race as to whether we would beat the darkness back to Creel, and I was handicapped because I deliberately kept the pace down in case my front wheel locked up.

We made it back to Creel, though, right before darkness, and my wheel didn’t seize up. We checked into Margarita’s Plaza Mexicana Hotel, which was a more upscale place than Casa Maragaritas which we had stayed at 2 nights previous (both places are owned by the same folks though). We had payed $350 pesos ($35 USD) for 2 at Casa Margaritas, a price that included breakfast and dinner. Margarita’s Plaza Mexicana charged us $480 pesos ($48 USD), but the room was larger and nicer and included a tv. Breakfast and dinner were included in the price too, but in this case you got to sit at individual tables, instead of a community table over at Casa Margaritas, and the food was a little more upscale. It was the best $48 dollar hotel I’ve ever stayed at.

Dinner at Margarita’s Plaza Mexicana. Dinner was some sort of tuna casserole and it was delicious.
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After dinner and a few cervezas, Uncle and I retired to the room for the evening. I discovered that even in Spanish the Simpsons are really funny. The Spanish Homer is a hoot. We ended day 4 watching Novellas (Spanish soap operas) in our room. It had been quite a day.
 
The Copper Canyon - Big Bend Loop: Day 5

Day 5 – Fixing the Bike, visiting El Divisidaro and Basaseachi Falls

The first morning we woke up in Creel there was frost on the bikes. When we woke up the morning of Day 5 there was even more frost on the bikes.

It was a little frosty
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We had the bikes locked up in a fenced in area for security purposes. So, we rolled the bikes so they would be in the sun and went back to the hotel to grab some breakfast. Other than the oatmeal and fruit I don’t remember what they served, but I do recall it was quite good.

Now that the sun was up and the bikes de-frosted I pulled the front tire off my KLR to see if I could identify the problem. A close inspection revealed that the bearings were fine. The problem turned out to be that the speedometer worm gear was binding. I examined it and couldn’t find any damaged splines so I’m guessing it just needs more grease. We didn’t have any grease available, so I simply removed the worm gear and rode the remainder of the trip without a speedometer or odometer.

Now that the bike was operational again and my fears about locking the front tire while rounding a hairpin turn with a 1000 foot dropoff next to it had been alleviated, we could get back to the business of riding.

Our plan for the day included a visit to El Divisidaro and then Basaseachi Falls. From there we were going to head north, getting as close to the international border at Juarez / El Paso.

From Creel it is about 30 miles of paved, twisty mountain riding to El Divisidaro. This road is different than the paved road south to Parral in that, while twisty, it contains mostly high speed curves and very few of the switchbacks and slow speed curves the other road has. Divisidaro is a popular spot for viewing one part of Copper Canyon due to its beautiful and dramatic views. It doesn’t disappoint.

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Uncle at Divisidaro
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We didn’t stick around long at Divisidaro. The view is great, but after 20 minutes or so I was ready to move on. We rode back to Creel and then headed north to the town of San Juanito. From San Juanito there are 2 ways to get to Basaseachi Falls – the longer, paved route and the shorter, unpaved route. Of course we took the unpaved route. This is a dual sport adventure, after all.

North of Creel is the town of San Juanito. Chihuahua Hwy 23 goes west from San Juanito to Basaseachi Falls. It is a 60 mile long dirt road.
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The first 20 miles of this road had me regretting we took this route instead of the paved route. Major road construction was going on and there were trucks and workers and rocks and dust everywhere. Yuck. It was hard to tell exactly what they have in mind for this part of the road, but they were definitely widening part of it and may be paving the first 20 miles or so. This was, easily, the least enjoyable part of the entire trip.

However, after 20 miles, things got a lot better. Miles 20 – 40 were actually very good. The road winds through a mountainous pine forest, affording us with some spectacular views.
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I pulled off the road and climbed a small hill so we could take a short water & beef jerky break. During this entire trip we never really ate a lunch meal. Mostly we ate a good breakfast, stayed busy all day, and then ate supper. In between our two main meals we mostly dined on that great Whittington’s jerky and some bottled water.

Taking a break
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Overlooking a valley and small pueblo from the top of our hill stop
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Miles 40 – 60 weren’t bad, certainly better than the first 20 miles but not as good as the middle 20. All in all, I’d recommend this road, especially if the construction is complete by the time you get here.

We passed 3 other riders heading in the opposite direction. The first, a fellow named Buzz from Houston riding a KLR, was on his way to meet some folks in Creel. We visited with him for about 2 minutes but he was in a hurry to get on his way. Nice to meet you, Buzz. About 45 or so miles into the trip a new Triumph Scrambler and a KLR passed us headed back the way we had come. We waved, but did not stop as we passed. At this point, it was late afternoon with maybe two hours of daylight remaining. Unfortunately for them they had at least 3 hours of riding before reaching San Juanito, so they either camped out or ended up riding in the dark before they reached civilization.

At the end of this DS road is a sign directing you to Basaseachi Falls, the tallest waterfall in Mexico.
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There are 2 entrances to the falls. The eastern entrance, which we took, provides a scenic view of the falls from a distance. The other entrance, the western one, affords you an opportunity to walk up to the falls and look over the edge and/or a path to hike to the bottom of the falls.

To give you an idea of just how big the falls are, take another look at the picture above. There are several people standing on the edge of the falls. Can you see them?

Can you see them in this picture?
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See that little, bitty white spot? Well, that’s a guy wearing a white t-shirt. Honest.
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Full zoom
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After taking in the falls, we headed east on Hwy 16 looking for a hotel for the night. We discovered Hotel Magaly in Tomochi.
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Though the room was only $250 pesos ($25 USD) I, unfortunately, can’t recommend this place to you. No heat, concrete floor, and a lingering smell emanating from the bano (bathroom). The other choices in this little pueblo didn’t look any better but next time I will try one of them if for no other reason than to avoid the odor.

The food in the hotel restaurant was good though, so don’t be shy about eating there.

More to follow.
 
CBAT said:
I find myself looking forward to a daily dose of this trip. Awesome. Many thanks.

What a great compliment. Thank you.
 
Richard, I signed up to your Texas Adventure ride forum. That looks fun and a good time of year. The old red pig would be squealing with delight on those roads.
 
Bruce,

Very cool. I think it's going to be a great ride/rally. I've already put in a request with the WeatherGod for pleasantly warm weather, a little wind (just enough to keep cool), and no rain. I slipped a $20 in the envelope with the request, so we'll see how things turn out. :-P
 
I was supposed to ride to Garner SP with a freind yesterday morning. As you can see I'm still at home pounding on a keyboard. :-) So much for weather discussions. All is not lost though. I just ordered some new quieter pipes for the LC. That's my problem; if I'm not riding, I find ways to spend too much money. :eek2:
 
The Copper Canyon - Big Bend Loop: Day 6

Day 6 – North through Mexico

It was cold again this morning and there was frost on the bikes. We had a long way to go today, but decided to eat breakfast while waiting for things to warm up.

Breakfast was good – Huevos Rancheros
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Huevos con Chorizo
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Uncle and Irma. Irma owns the place.
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Our plan today was to head east on Hwy 16, then run north to La Concho, then run north east through Gomez Farias, Buenaventura, and Magon to Villa Ahumada. In Ahumada we would catch Hwy 45 and run it north all the way to the border.

Headed east on Hwy 16 we had a great time in the twisties. About 30 miles or so east of Tomochic we reached the edge of the mountains. A large plain stretched out in front of us, with another, smaller mountain range in the distance.
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We ran north through that plain, headed for the turn-off at La Concha. The riding in this area was okay – nothing spectacular, but not a completely straight, boring road either. The map indicated we would pass through the pueblo of La Concha after making our left turn. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly correct. Following the road signs, we turned northeast as indicated to get to La Concha, but the pavement quickly ended. Maybe the road through wasn’t paved?
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The road wasn’t unpaved, the road wasn’t there; it ended in La Concha. I flagged down a local and showed him on the map where I wanted to go. He told us to backtrack to the highway, go north a bit and we would find the correct road. Bingo! He was right and we were back on track.

From here all the way to Magon the road was quite good, with a mix of twisty hill riding and high speed desert riding. After Magon, we were back in the Chihuahuan desert and the riding was all high speed, mostly straight roads, all the way to Juarez.

Remind me to never go through Juarez again, especially the international border crossing. It was bumper to bumper traffic, hot, and choked in smog. Just navigating through Juarez was hectic with all the traffic, taking about an hour and then it took another hour to get through the border check. We arrived in Juarez fairly early. We left more than 2 hours later due to the congestion. Not fun, plus it ate up all the remaining sunlight.

It was almost dark when we finally arrived in El Paso. We headed east on I-10, looking for the first motel we could find once we were on the outskirts of town. I finally spotted our home for the evening – the Americana Inn. $65 for the night got us a clean room at the back of the property and as far away from the freeway as possible, a hot shower, and television in English.

We had been out of the country for 5 full days with no contact with anyone in the states so Uncle and I both broke out our cell phones, turned them on for the first time since we had left Terlingua, and started checking messages and returning calls. I let my family know I was back in the states and all was well.

I already miss riding in Mexico.

At least I've got 2 days of riding in Big Bend still ahead of me to help get me over my sadness though. :)
 
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The Copper Canyon - Big Bend Loop: Day 7

Day 7 – Indian Hot Springs

There are several roads out in the Big Bend region that I’ve been eyeballing for a few years, wanting to ride. One of these was the road down to Indian Hot Springs. Several DS riders that have ridden this road have called it the best dual sport road in all of Texas, rivaling anything in Baja for beauty and remoteness. This trip was my opportunity to experience this road for myself.

Our plan was to meet up with Mike at The Lodge in the west Texas town of Sierra Blanca. It took us a little more than an hour of slabbing it on I-10 to get to Sierra Blanca from our motel in El Paso. Once there we linked up with Mike, topped off our gas tanks and headed south towards Indian Hot Springs.

The first part of the route heads south on Hwy 1111, a paved road. After a few miles though, Hwy 1111 ends and the rest of the loop is unpaved road. Here’s our first look at the unpaved road. It’s basically flat and runs southwest across the desert towards the distant hills.
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We are headed in the direction of those mountains in the distance.
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Before tackling this road, we lowered the air pressure in our tires down to about 20psi for better traction.
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Mike on the route to Indian Hot Springs
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After a few miles of straight, high speed riding, we reached the distant hills. Things got a lot more interesting at this point. The scenery was better and the road twistier and more fun.
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We stumbled upon this fix-er-upper special. It’s probably your for the taking, bullet holes and all.
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More road shots
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Mike
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My KLR and the road
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As we approached the Rio Grande and the end of this road, I spotted a small military observation site with camoflauge net, two trucks, and several soldiers. They were sitting on a small hill, in plane site, so I thought I would be stop and ask about road conditions up ahead. This was not well received by these fellows at all. As I headed towards them they reacted like I wanted to start a war. They jumped up, quickly put on their gear, and armed themselves with their M-16s. Several took up positions behind the trucks. They didn’t draw a bead on me with their weapons, but positioned themselves so they could do so quickly if needed. I recognized what they were doing as I’ve done the same thing many times with the teams I served with during my military career, especially in hostile situations in foreign countries.

A Border Patrol agent was with them and he walked up the road to intercept me before I reached their camp.

“What do you want?”, he asked in a challenging tone of voice.

“Nothing. I just stopped to say hello.”

“You need to leave, Sir.” he replied, pointing back the way I had just come.

“Okay.”

“Where are you from?”

“I’m from Austin. My two buddies and I are headed down to Indian Hot Springs, enjoying a ride on our motorcycles.”

“Well, you need to leave.”

“No problem. Have a nice day.”

Mike had pulled up behind me during the exchange. I signaled to him to make a U-turn, and we exited the area; we didn’t even stop to take a picture of them from a distance.

I don’t know if they’ve had problems or are expecting problems, but I wish them the best. It was Thanksgiving Day and those fellows weren’t at home with their families. Instead they were at work, in the middle of nowhere, with their scopes trained on Mexico.

Once we reached Hwy 192, we turned east towards Indian Hot Springs. Hwy 192 was paved, but the pavement ended in a very short distance. From here till we got back to Hwy 1111 the road was unpaved. We paralleled the Rio Grande for many miles. We were in the desert but much of the land we rode through was a swamp. There was lots of water and we even ran across a large pond full of ducks. Yep, ducks in the desert.

We also ran across a couple of havelinas.
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These 2 didn’t know what to do as they were caught in no-man’s land. There was water on both sides of the road and they clearly didn’t want to jump in the water. They ran back and forth across the road looking for a way to get clear of us. I stopped my bike and shut off the engine to give them a chance to clear out. Eventually they decided to run up the road to a point where there was no water and they could get off the road. Once they were off the road we continued on our way.

We came to an open gate with cattle guard. The two sentinels stationed there told us where we were.

Sentinel one
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Sentinel two
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Before we reached Indian Hot Springs, we came upon 2 abandoned buildings.
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A short distance later, we finally reached Indian Hot Springs. The mountains in the background are in Mexico.
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Today Indian Hot Springs is a private ranch / resort that can be rented for special events. I was told later on that the Border Patrol had recently rented it as a base of operations for a training exercise. Since we hadn’t rented it and it was private property we did not enter the grounds, continuing on our way.

Up to this point, the road from Hwy 1111 to here had been okay, but I wouldn’t call it the best dual sport road in Texas. Not even close. Things were about to change for the better though. Way better.
 
Re: The Copper Canyon - Big Bend Loop: Day 7

Your encounter with the troops was interesting and encouraging. :giveup: Wish there were more of them on the border. That brings up a question: do you carry and personal protection while you are out and about in the back country? I'm also interested in what type of tires y'all were running on the different bikes. I'll be needing a new rear very soon as mine in worn to the point of being squared off. I've had my XL600 for only a couple of months and she gets pretty squirrelly when cornering on pavement with those worn knobbies.
 
Bruce,

None of us were carrying any personal hand guns or anything like that. I don't know if there is a way to legally carry a firearm into Mexico and didn't want to risk carrying one illegally.

Mike and I are running Avon Gripsters on our bikes. This is my 2nd rear Gripster and my first front Gripster. I really like the Gripster. It works great on pavement, has been more than adequate on unpaved roads, and gets decent mileage (I got about 5k out of my first rear Gripster). This is the first set of Gripsters that Mike has run and at the end of our trip he told me he really liked them.

Uncle is running Continental TKC80s on his bike, front and rear. He had them installed about a week prior to our trip. After the trip was over he told me he really liked the TKCs. I don't know how much was bike, how much was tire, and how much was rider, but Uncle never had a problem keeping up on the unpaved roads, even on the road to Batopilas and the road to Satevo.
 
I agree. I don't think you can legally carry any firearm or ammunition even in Mexico. In the states you might have the same problem inside Big Bend. I'm not sure about state land.

As long as your uncle has been riding I'd trust his opinion. What tire did he have on his bike before the TKC. That might give a relative, pun intended, idea on the improvement by changing to TKC
 
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