Ken Cooke - 1-3-2007 at 08:59 AM
Today, our group awoke in the tropical environs of El Fuerte, Mexico. This is a historic colonial town with a strong 19th century architectural feel.
Yesterday, we descended from the high country of the Copper Canyon into the lowlands of Sinaloa with the help of Doug Rhodes - proprietor of Hotel
Pariaso Del Oso.
Our major concern was to depart the 8,000 ft. region due to a major storm which wiped out many of the roadways throughout the state of Chihuahua,
Mexico. Falling snow in Chihuahua has killed one on the roadways, and has stranded hundreds if not thousands of motorists - as seen on last nights
evening news. Doug took our group along a route we had previously planned to travel along a rather unsavory corridor. We made it to pavement with
plenty of daylight, although a constant rainshower dampened the roadway, and increased our anxiousness to reach El Fuerte in good time. Jay Wheeler
lost a shock mount on his Wranger, causing him to toss his shock absorber in the rear of his Jeep while Brad Green now has an intermitent fuel pump
problem which may need attention when we reach Alamos later today.
The constant snow and mud we encountered will no longer be a major factor in our daily travels due to pavement which we will now spend a majority of
our time on. Once we reach Alamos - an old Copper mining town with a sizeable Gringo population, we will only hit the dirt if we choose - and with
all of the mud we saw yesterday, that is a good thing!
We have uploaded photographs to the http://www.justruns.com/gallery2/v/Run+Photos/copper/?g2_GALLERYSID=54a65f5b8558db649bffa1e43b74fcd5
[http://www.justruns.com/gallery2/v/Run+Photos/copper/?g2_GALLERYSID=54a65f5b8558db649bffa1e43b74fcd5]
We plan to reach Tucson, Arizona the evening of Friday the 5th. Nos vemos!
-Ken Cooke, Trail Boss
DianaT - 1-3-2007 at 10:40 AM
Copper Canyon is so great. Have not been to Alamos for several years, but we really liked it.
Ken, do you know the condition of Highway 16 from Chihuahua to Hermisillo? We really like that route and wondered if it has had recent problems.
Thanks
Diane
Ken Cooke - 1-3-2007 at 07:07 PM
Don't know the condition of Hwy 16. We traveled up the 24 from El Fuerte and we plan to head out to Hermosillo on Friday. Can't wait to be back at
home sweet home...