Yo Sobrevivi el Camino a Batopilas

I'm a Sol man.

The maps appear to be Garmin Topo maps for Mexico, but I can not find them on Garmins web site. Where did you get these GPS maps?

The topo maps are E32 maps http://www.cartografiagps.com/mape32/

They come as a download and only work with one GPS.

You can save some bucks if you buy from this site. http://cartografiagps.com/paginas/tienda_cartografia_gps_mexico.htm

Just had an hour to kill and was able to do so most enjoyably with your fabulous ride report! Every word and pic most appreciated! I'm crossing my fingers that everything works out wonderfully for the Mexican girl to get all the help she and her family need. What a blessing that would be to them and I'm sure word of the Norteno Americano's generousity will spread thru the area. Keep it comin', fellas!

+1, I told my coworker about this part of the story today. The girl's life is so significant and memorable.

Everything else is just old white guys falling over, breaking down and getting flat tires.....

Who are you callin' old cowboy?

Hey Doug, glad to see you found the room


Sleddog

Hey, ya gotta go with what you're good at.

While I'm here... Truck of the Day. This guy was with the quads.

Speaking of which, I have another caguama sitting in my fridge.
Been saving it for a special occasion ...

I see you guys had fun down there, as usual!
Next time, I'm staying another week, dammit!

So far it looks like you covered much the same ground as we did on our recent trip in November the BeemerDon of the FJR Group.
I recognized the use of the Carta E32 maps but it looks like your version is a recent update from the version I had.
Did you find the bridge north of Chinipas or did you just ride across the river? Judging from conditions the river should not be very deep.

My E32 maps are the 2011 version.

Bob and I left first and rode up to the bridge. We did look at a couple of the normal crossing places and they were pretty shallow.

I'm not sure if anybody else rode through the water or not.

Awesome ride report! Looks like a great trip!

After breakfast at Gaby's we're off to see the new bridge here just north of Chinipas. We wind our way towards the bridge and we go past the airport and follow a rising trail along the Rio Chinipas. Just as we're at about the highest point of the road a small single engine plane comes in for a landing following the river and passes below us. Pretty cool sight. The new bridge is well, big and we hang out on it for a short while waiting for everyone to group up. I snapped a couple of pictures but for some reason no one gets a shot of the bridge.

The view to the North from the bridge.


To the South.


The objective today is El Forte but it's a bit of an ambitious goal if our track record for flat tires continues. So we're ready to cut short with an option for Alamos if we need to. We head for the hills outside of Chinipas.


Looking back towards Chinipas.


We're up and over one ridge and down into the valley below. Heading up the next ridge we find a nice short cut and take full advantage of it. When we head down the other side the temps are climbing as we descend into the desert below. We head down and the farmer heads up with supplies.


Ian and fugarwe at a shady rest spot.


Now we're down in the lower elevations and it's kinda hot. The roads are wide open compared to the mountains and we hustle along. Tury waves to his adoring fans.


We stop a tienda for some refreshments. Tury with some of his admirers. Note the young man on the right, smelled like someone was burning rope :jose


A personal water tower, now this guy has some water pressure.


One of the small villages we pass through in the lowlands.


After what seemed like 30 miles of high speed wash board roads we arrive in Alamos. A pretty nice town and we take a break at one of the town squares for a snack and a break from the dusty roads. We come a cross this guy who was originally from Iowa who moved here a long time ago and well looks the part.


We're getting tired and hot and really sick of the wash board roads. The thought of another 70 miles of the same isn't very appealing. A shower and a couple of cervezas now THAT'S appealing. But we want to get to El Forte today so we can spend 2 days there. We waver back and forth stay here, it looks like a real nice town or keep going through the desert and have tomorrow to do as we please. Cwc asks a local policeman what the condition of the road is to El Forte. He tells us that it's paved over half the way there. Well that seals it we're off to El Forte.

Here's a hint when asking directions in Mexico try to be very neutral when you ask directions don't ask is this the way to El Forte pointing the way you think it is. Ask which way to El Forte and let them tell you. They seem to want to tell you what you want to hear so if you think that's the way to El Forte then yes that's the way. In this case we wanted the road to El Forte to be in good condition so that's what he told us. Unfortunately that was a bit optimistic the pavement ended about 10 miles out of town. The good news was that the road was in large part without the wash board we had coming into Alamos.

Cwc asking directions, this worked out better than in Alamos.


T-bones on the hoof. Note the inner tube at the ready on cwc's tail pack


Several small village to pass through on the way to El Forte.


Just before you reach El Forte there's a big reservoir here is cwc on the dam.


We finally arrive at The Hotel Guerrero


Showers, comfortable chairs and cervezas. Is this a great country or what?

Dog of the Day.

It was a long day. Bob and I made it to El Fuerte just as it got dark.

Most people took the green route, but when we got to the point where you had to decide the locals said motos went east so we did too. It's a bit slower road and we are also a bit slower so we arrived about 45 minutes after the rest of the group. We did get some pictures though.








This is the profile of the green part of the route from the Powershouse GPS. Note the difference in the vertical scale.

That section of road / trail leading out of Chinipas was one of my personal favorites from our trip. We came from Alamos into Chinipas. Some of us forged the river and the wimps took the bridge.
I have a video of both ...

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ixzXgyBGIxw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Nice job on the report. Makes me want to go back and get away from the weather around here. They are calling for some snow this weekend :huh

Oh---it saddens me tremendously that they built a bridge across the river in chinipas----well I got to cross the river twice in the 2 times I've been to Chinipas----the river crossing was my favorite part of Chinipas-----glad to see Gaby is still in business. Now the roads will get improved--here comes the tour busses and traffic---and it all goes to hell.

thanks guys !!

Mark
BigDog

Only wimps and wannabe ADV Riders on Beemers use the bridge. True ADV'ers will still forge the river.

I think it's going to be a while until that road is good enough for a tour bus.