Copper Canyon and Beyond by BMW....
- Thread starter Hltoppr
- Start date
Scott Brady
Founder
YEAH BABY :luxhello:
blupaddler
Conspirator
WOW :exclaim:
You guys were really moving. 2500 miles in a week and a half.
You guys were really moving. 2500 miles in a week and a half.
mountainpete
Spamicus Eliminatus
Love to see the pics!
Scott Brady
Founder
Rio Urique?
Hltoppr
El Gringo Spectacular!
Yes, Sir! Except even at knee/thigh deep in spots it's much harder on a bike....darn river rocks bounce you around everywhere!
Looks like you took the same route we did in your CC exploration. We were told that the road was impassable by motorbikes....tough off roading in spots, but overall very fun!
-H-
Looks like you took the same route we did in your CC exploration. We were told that the road was impassable by motorbikes....tough off roading in spots, but overall very fun!
-H-
Hltoppr
El Gringo Spectacular!
Mexico, Part I
As many of my travels begin, this one was a spur of the moment decision. Many may recall my question of whether to take some time and tour Barranca Del Cobre, (Copper Canyon) Mexico, or travel North to Moab this spring. Due to some constraints, the main one being that my wife and I are expecting our first kiddo in August; I was leaning towards Moab.....well......:ylsmoke:
On Friday, February 10th I was introduced to three adventurous spirits through a mutual friend. They were planning a week and a half trip through Copper Canyon on their BMW motorcycles. Mel owns an identical 1988 R100GS as mine, Tony rides a 1992 R100GS, and Parke has the newest bike of the bunch, a 1997 1150 GS. I’ve done enough adventure racing, teaching, and rescue work to have a pretty good feel for whether the interpersonal dynamics will work, and I immediately felt comfortable with these guys.
A quick look at my schedule, and some coaxing from my wife, and the last minute preparation began....new tires, oil change, valve adjust.....and we’re off!
Day one was a windy trip to Bisbee, Arizona, dodging (sometimes unsuccessfully) large tumbleweeds and the Starbucks slurping, cell phone yakking drivers of Phoenix and Tucson, where we found a cheap hotel to crash and get a meal and shower before hitting the border the next morning.
The wind died down the next day and we hit the border crossing at Naco, which was an easy experience....tourist permits and vehicle import permits were processed, and some money changed into pesos. Tony has heard a rumor of some nice hot springs in Aconchi, so we hit the road, which turns out to be a nice, rolling and twisty journey through high desert terrain. If the road didn’t have an occasional burro and layer of gravel, it would have been a fantastic motorbike road! Such is to be expected in Mexico.
Our travels paid off, as the Aconchi hot springs were incredible. Two dollars per person to camp, and a nice soak in one of about ten springs with some cold Tecates ended the perfect day! :camping: Ironically, the first person we met at the hot springs was from our home town of Flagstaff, a theme that continued through the trip.
Our next day’s goal was to make the town of Yecora, which took us through numerous small Mexican towns, and over a “new road” built outside Moctezuma. This route was told to us by another camper at the hot springs, and didn’t show on our maps...what the heck right?
After asking directions in Moctezuma, we found the new road, with the Garmin GPS V basemap showing that indeed, we were headed the right way....oddly enough, the “new” road seemed to consist of “old” pavement, or pavement with a thin layer of gravel on top (always fun on a motorbike!). We pass two pickup trucks filled with gravel, and six men with wheelbarrows and shovels filling in the road shoulders; quite the construction crew.
After weaving our way through some cattle and some small towns we arrived at a large wall of dirt erected to keep you from driving over the cliff on the other side...the “new” road ended! Wait! A hand painted arrow points down to the right into an arroyo! We stop to check our maps...not really any good, because our road isn’t on them...
Down we go, into a ramp that was apparently cut by a small bulldozer, into a streambed with tire tracks. After bumping through the water and over some rocks and large potholes, we dead end at a cattle pen with a gate....definitely not a main passage. I ride back to a man tending some cattle and ask which way the road to Yecora is....open the gate he tells me! Through the gate it is!
We break out of the small arroyo into a larger area which actually has some construction equipment. Parke comments that he thought it would take an awfully long time to build the road with six guys and two pickups. Another half-mile and the road in the arroyo ends, followed by another bulldozer cut up to a newly erected bridge. We seriously felt like we were the first ever to take the road!
One thing I always do is overestimate the distances one can drive off the toll roads in Mexico. Road conditions, livestock, and military roadblocks always slow the pace. This day was no exception. Coming out of the new road we were met by a military checkpoint, which, after explaining that items in Tony and my panniers were food and clothing, and going over the moving map GPS with the curious military members took some much needed daylight time.
Getting late in the day, Tony has a hard get off after getting crossed up in a rutted section of dirt road, and his GS is upside down pointing downslope. The GS shakes it off with nothing but a busted turn signal, and after letting the oil settle back in the pan, it starts up with only slight smoking and we continue into the dusk.
All the straight roads on the map in this area are twisty...five miles to a destination on the GPS translates to 12-15 miles on the ground. With the broken and sometimes non-existent pavement we’re on...it takes a lot of time.
I always say I’m not going to drive at night in Mexico, and for good reason. Even in a car there are too many variables to risk it, but sometimes it is pretty unavoidable. While we are prepared to camp, this particular part of Mexico is known for some drug smuggling activity, so we’d really rather not just throw some sleeping bags by the side of the road. We get to Mexico 16, which is supposed to be a major highway, right after dark. Our map shows a town, Santa Rosa, at the intersection. We see only a cliff face...no town.
The next thirty miles takes us two hours. Pitch black twisty roads with rocks, goats, and a nice fresh oil slick down the center of the right lane, which causes the rear tires to slip uncomfortably, combined with yet another military checkpoint and the exact same panniers being checked make for a very slow trip. We gain altitude on switchbacks, moving up into pine forests...it begins to rain. I remind myself that not all parts of “an adventure” are supposed to be fun, and that if we take it slow and easy we’ll be laughing about it tomorrow. By 9 pm we finally roll into Yecora, exhausted, and find a cheap hotel for the evening with a dinner of quesadillas and tecates.
Part 2 to come....
-H-
As many of my travels begin, this one was a spur of the moment decision. Many may recall my question of whether to take some time and tour Barranca Del Cobre, (Copper Canyon) Mexico, or travel North to Moab this spring. Due to some constraints, the main one being that my wife and I are expecting our first kiddo in August; I was leaning towards Moab.....well......:ylsmoke:
On Friday, February 10th I was introduced to three adventurous spirits through a mutual friend. They were planning a week and a half trip through Copper Canyon on their BMW motorcycles. Mel owns an identical 1988 R100GS as mine, Tony rides a 1992 R100GS, and Parke has the newest bike of the bunch, a 1997 1150 GS. I’ve done enough adventure racing, teaching, and rescue work to have a pretty good feel for whether the interpersonal dynamics will work, and I immediately felt comfortable with these guys.
A quick look at my schedule, and some coaxing from my wife, and the last minute preparation began....new tires, oil change, valve adjust.....and we’re off!
Day one was a windy trip to Bisbee, Arizona, dodging (sometimes unsuccessfully) large tumbleweeds and the Starbucks slurping, cell phone yakking drivers of Phoenix and Tucson, where we found a cheap hotel to crash and get a meal and shower before hitting the border the next morning.
The wind died down the next day and we hit the border crossing at Naco, which was an easy experience....tourist permits and vehicle import permits were processed, and some money changed into pesos. Tony has heard a rumor of some nice hot springs in Aconchi, so we hit the road, which turns out to be a nice, rolling and twisty journey through high desert terrain. If the road didn’t have an occasional burro and layer of gravel, it would have been a fantastic motorbike road! Such is to be expected in Mexico.
Our travels paid off, as the Aconchi hot springs were incredible. Two dollars per person to camp, and a nice soak in one of about ten springs with some cold Tecates ended the perfect day! :camping: Ironically, the first person we met at the hot springs was from our home town of Flagstaff, a theme that continued through the trip.
Our next day’s goal was to make the town of Yecora, which took us through numerous small Mexican towns, and over a “new road” built outside Moctezuma. This route was told to us by another camper at the hot springs, and didn’t show on our maps...what the heck right?
After asking directions in Moctezuma, we found the new road, with the Garmin GPS V basemap showing that indeed, we were headed the right way....oddly enough, the “new” road seemed to consist of “old” pavement, or pavement with a thin layer of gravel on top (always fun on a motorbike!). We pass two pickup trucks filled with gravel, and six men with wheelbarrows and shovels filling in the road shoulders; quite the construction crew.
After weaving our way through some cattle and some small towns we arrived at a large wall of dirt erected to keep you from driving over the cliff on the other side...the “new” road ended! Wait! A hand painted arrow points down to the right into an arroyo! We stop to check our maps...not really any good, because our road isn’t on them...
Down we go, into a ramp that was apparently cut by a small bulldozer, into a streambed with tire tracks. After bumping through the water and over some rocks and large potholes, we dead end at a cattle pen with a gate....definitely not a main passage. I ride back to a man tending some cattle and ask which way the road to Yecora is....open the gate he tells me! Through the gate it is!
We break out of the small arroyo into a larger area which actually has some construction equipment. Parke comments that he thought it would take an awfully long time to build the road with six guys and two pickups. Another half-mile and the road in the arroyo ends, followed by another bulldozer cut up to a newly erected bridge. We seriously felt like we were the first ever to take the road!
One thing I always do is overestimate the distances one can drive off the toll roads in Mexico. Road conditions, livestock, and military roadblocks always slow the pace. This day was no exception. Coming out of the new road we were met by a military checkpoint, which, after explaining that items in Tony and my panniers were food and clothing, and going over the moving map GPS with the curious military members took some much needed daylight time.
Getting late in the day, Tony has a hard get off after getting crossed up in a rutted section of dirt road, and his GS is upside down pointing downslope. The GS shakes it off with nothing but a busted turn signal, and after letting the oil settle back in the pan, it starts up with only slight smoking and we continue into the dusk.
All the straight roads on the map in this area are twisty...five miles to a destination on the GPS translates to 12-15 miles on the ground. With the broken and sometimes non-existent pavement we’re on...it takes a lot of time.
I always say I’m not going to drive at night in Mexico, and for good reason. Even in a car there are too many variables to risk it, but sometimes it is pretty unavoidable. While we are prepared to camp, this particular part of Mexico is known for some drug smuggling activity, so we’d really rather not just throw some sleeping bags by the side of the road. We get to Mexico 16, which is supposed to be a major highway, right after dark. Our map shows a town, Santa Rosa, at the intersection. We see only a cliff face...no town.
The next thirty miles takes us two hours. Pitch black twisty roads with rocks, goats, and a nice fresh oil slick down the center of the right lane, which causes the rear tires to slip uncomfortably, combined with yet another military checkpoint and the exact same panniers being checked make for a very slow trip. We gain altitude on switchbacks, moving up into pine forests...it begins to rain. I remind myself that not all parts of “an adventure” are supposed to be fun, and that if we take it slow and easy we’ll be laughing about it tomorrow. By 9 pm we finally roll into Yecora, exhausted, and find a cheap hotel for the evening with a dinner of quesadillas and tecates.
Part 2 to come....
-H-
