December 29 Batopilas to Creel

Warm tropical air filled the deep canyon throughout the night. The town priest blessed the bus around 3:30am, as it was loaded with passengers, mail and packages. After climbing the canyon walls for two hours, we came upon a strange scene in the suddenly cold morning. A stake-bed truck blocked the road and fire surrounded it. Our bus driver and his partner discussed the problem as we slowed to a halt about one hundred meters away from the scene. The driver's partner, standing low in the door well, pulled a tool box from under the driver's seat and flipped the lid open, revealing two big pistoleros. A moment later, a man stepped from behind the truck that obstructed our path and waved for the bus to come forward. Our driver was clearly relieved to recognize the man and pulled along side at a spot just wide enough for the two vehicles to pass. Two men were reconnecting the truck's drive shaft by fire light. They asked for a bolt, which our driver provided from the tool box and, with the grinding of gears, our horseless stagecoach was again making the slow climb up the mountain. Several passengers got off at Samachique just before dawn. As the light of the morning broke over the horizon, we were riding high on the east rim above Copper Canyon, above clouds so smooth and glossy that it appeared the sheer walls contained a lake. By lunchtime we were reunited with our little friends in Creel. Everyone joked that they were surprised to see us alive, that they planned to bring us pan, sopa y floras on El Dia de los Muertos. When asked how we spent our time in the rugged canyon, we reported, to the delight of the cooks, that we passed the time watching "Dos Mujeres, Un Camino." Ten-year-old Denise and her visiting cousins were excited to show off their American friends to other locals, especially after we left town going west and returned from the east. They paraded us around the quaint town and showed us little-known paths that meander up the pine-covered hills that define Creel. We slept well that night. NEXT PAGE