A very easy going day, where the main event was an excursion to the town of Urique, which sits at the bottom of the canyon of the same name, at an elevation of 800 m above seal level. Since the Paraíso del Oso sits at 2,200 m above sea level, that means we were going to descend a good 1,400 m, from the pine forests of the highlands to the semi-tropical environment of the deep canyon.
Our first hint that the word was changing around us was the flight of a macaw as we were admiring the green slopes that dropped from the road to the river. At this place there was an old Rarámuri woman, Doňa Juliana, who was sitting in the sun outside her small lean-to against the cliff, with whom Raúl stroke a friendly conversation, even helping her thread the needle with which she was sowing a girls apron. He even got her to smile while I took a photo of the two of them!
Our party includes three Chilangos from Mexico City, who are doing a promotional video for the Chepe. They are a funny bunch, who speak as if they came from the barrio in Mexico City and have an inexhaustible supply of jokes (to add to Raúl’s own inexhaustible supply of his own) so we were happily laughing along until we got to the Mirador El Gallego, where they sprung into action. Unfortunately the fog had rolled in, so they could do nothing (but they got a lot done when we got back, so stay tuned).
The drive down the canyon, on a dirt track that was fair to middling, was quite exciting. Fortunately we only had one or two close encounters, which Hugo managed with skill and poise, while my behind cringed in terror looking at the cliff on my side of the van (I was riding shotgun – yikes)!
The first striking feature of Urique is the landing strip, which is a very wide paved road that starts near the river and rises at a 20 degree angle unto the side of the mountain. I could well imagine my flight instructor, Brandon, directing me to line down with the river, drop 500 feet into the start of the 1,500 ft runway, and coolly saying “just ride up the slope until the plane slows down”.
Urique is, surprisingly, quite a handsome little town, with well paved roads and all the municipal services one would expect from being the county seat. Its main attraction is, of course, the river, which is wide and wild, and which made my fisherman’s instinct awaken. Unfortunately I was not carrying my line and hooks, so I will have to wait until Brandon, Dennis, and I come back some time on a Cessna for a weekend of fishing.
We ate at the house of Aunt Tita, who not only serves an excellent table, but is also a paradise of tropical flowers and shade where one can retreat from the heat and humidity, which in Urique could easily reach 40⁰ C. She is also the local partner of the Caballo Blanco Ultimate Marathon, an 80 km extreme sports race that requires the participants to go down one side of the canyon, cross through Urique, and then continue up the other side of the canyon. It is an annual event that attracts lots of crazy people, but which is often won by local Rarámuri runners. I believe the record stands at five and a half hours, which sounds completely insane to me.
On the way up the Mirador El Gallego was cloud free, so the boys sprang into action, deploying … their cellphones! They did have a tripod so they could do lapse photography, but they explained to me that the cameras of the cellphones were just as good as professional cameras, and that, as is always the case, the trick was on how to get the best out of the equipment, the situation, the light, and the opportunity. They did show me the result of their lapse photography takes, and it was stunning, with clouds erupting out of the canyon and spreading like fire over the cerulean sky. I am going to try this trick myself, as soon as I buy a tripod.
So that is it. Tomorrow we will leave our gracious hosts and retake our place in the Chepe to reach Los Mochis. I am going to miss the Paraíso del Oso. It is a true family enterprise with Dad Diego at the helm, son Hugo as excursion master, daughter Annie as the marvelous cook, and granddaughters Rebekah, Renata, and Lupe as the always smiling waitresses. I have felt this has been the most comfortable stay of this trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment