Where in the World?

View of the Mirador del Rio Oteros

Our day started at Café Veronique for breakfast. Erica and I had the huevos (eggs) and chirizo sausage plus the mandatory guacamole with fresh tortilla chips. It was a great way to start our day since we had many kilometers to travel and a host of sights to see.

The Divisadero Barrancas was our morning destination. Our first stop was the Balancing Rock. This is very large rock balanced on a much narrower pillar of stone out in the middle of the canyon. The top stone is denser and erodes more slowly than the stone below. Most of the strange shaped rocks in the area are caused by this erosion mismatch.

We stopped at one area where we could walk a path along the edge of the canyon with a bonus at the end being a walking bridge over a deep chasm. The scale was huge. We were looking at the opposite canyon walls miles away and looking down two or three thousand feet. It seemed very close and very far at the same time. Most of the canyons in the Copper Canyon region are deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon which may surprise most people.

Cusarare Falls

Returning to Creel around 1:30 p.m., we had less than an hour to eat and get ready for our afternoon adventure. Our first stop was the elephant rock. From certain angles this eroded rock look just like a large elephant. Next stop was Lago Arareco which means horseshoe lake because of its shape. It’s about 18.6 miles (30 km) long. The indigenous people of the area can be seen around this lake and it is also a popular spot for the locals to relax.

Not too far down the road was Cusarare Falls which means eagle’s nest in the native language. Our driver took us over a 1.9 mile (3 km) incredibly bumpy path along and in the stream to get to the parking lot. A short walk brought us to this beautiful waterfall nestled in this steep canyon. The rock face had two very distinct colors, one being yellowish and the other a very dark gray or black. Erica and I walked down the 280 steps to the bottom of the falls where we were greeted with a beautiful rainbow at the bottom. The timing was perfect as the light was at the best angle.

A short drive later we explored the Cusarare Mission church and village and then onto the Valley of the Frogs and the Valley of the Mushrooms. Like I mentioned earlier the stone erodes at different rates causing bizarre shapes. One area had many shapes like frogs and the next had dozens of stone mushroom shapes. Very bizarre and extremely beautiful!

Our final destination for the day was a Tarahumara family home in a cave. We were allowed to walk in and around their home. It was humbling to see how these people live quite well without all the modern conveniences and crutches we have today. They lived in a small peaceful valley surrounded by beautiful rock cliffs. I’m glad to have been able to experience this.

View my photos for the day. (26 photos)

Michael