Barrancas Del Cobre

Sometimes, the best beginning is the last photo of the trip. And this was one fantastic trip.

I'm the big gringo on the right and I'll get this party started tonight. I will be looking for at least two of my fellow travelers to jump in and contribute their pics and thoughts about this saga. After reviewing my 519 photos, I have realized how inadequate they are in regards to my memory.

Copper Canyon

March 2013

The Minnesota group Tury told us about? Interested in hearing about the road down to Bato. Hope you had a great time.

Mike

During the dark and cold days of January and February, I hatched a plan to haul my bike to Yuma, Arizona. I have ridden Baja a few times now and it seemed like a good time to go again.

Long story shortened.......all the local riders were "working"......or "vacationing".......so it was looking like my first Baja solo.

BUT..........then I stumbled into an invitation to ride the mainland with this group of riders......so it was easy to say.....I'm in!

I loaded my 690e onto the hitch hauler, packed the pickup and headed south towards warmer temps and some solid sunshine. I arrived a day before the ride was scheduled so that I could make the trip to San Louis Rio Colorado to pick up my FMM (Visitors Permit) and TVIP (Temporary Vehicle Import Document). The TVIP is expensive at $460 for 2008 and newer vehicles (including moto's) but $400 is refundable when you leave the country. I understood that the two Yuma residents had their papers already and the two Kali riders had pre-registered. I didn't want to be the guy who held up the long ride on day 1, so this was a good plan.



The bad: I was practicing my peg work on the road and got pulled over for standing on the bike. The officer then said I had run a stop sign. Since I'm 6'3" plus the pegs are 20" or so off the ground, I look like a 4x8 piece of plywood when I'm on the bike and standing.

The good: I sweet talked myself into just a warning with the statement: I've taken classes to be able to stand and stop that bike. I was really just practicing.



Whatever, it worked.



The Kali folks rode in late that afternoon and we unloaded their bikes. The mechanical lineup consisted of #2 Yammie WR250's with 17 inch wheels, #1 '97 Suzie DR650, #1 old style KLR and my '08 690e. All the bikes were wearing Shinko 244's except for my brand new set of MT-21's. Mine were the only set of tires that got used up on this trip.

Interesting that you bring up the Minnesota group. We ran into a group of seven riders and I'm really curious to learn how their trip turned out. I didn't take any photos of them but look forward to seeing a ride report or hearing how they did.

I expect this ride report to take a while to get completed so bear with me (us) as it unravels....

Day 1 ride:http://goo.gl/maps/5eSGH



Two of us stayed with Burt (our intrepid leader) and after gearing up, we headed over to Mikes house to pick up Doug and get rolling. Patio shot of the gang with Mike's wife Kay watching over us. The bikes were clean and ready for some miles today.



So down the road we rolled. There was some alleged construction at San Louis Rio Colorado so we rode to Gila Bend and then south to the crossing at Lukeville. Burt was just tickled to get us across the border, his second home is Mexico and he's like a steelhead in home waters.

Burt Gunn is a delight to ride with.

This was a 360 mile day on pavement. Fresh riders, fresh rubber, clean bikes and thumpin' good times. We kicked it at anywhere from 60-70 mph for a good stretch of road. After Lukeville, we stopped in Sonoyta for Premium gasolina priced at 11.70 pesos per liter.



Mike takes no chances and has a bright jacket, he also wears a vintage Bell helmet that reminds me of Meteor Man.

It was also the first time of the trip that some wayward Mexican wanted a photo with Senior Alto (myself).....no explanation from me, but you'll see this several times over the trip.......



Not much to photo until we finally stopped in Santa Anna and typical for the country, across the road is a nice looking garden vendor.



A quick walk reveals the town mission and patron saint.



Mass is in session......no new Pope yet...........



Dinner is served (Camarones were readily available throughout the trip) and it's an early night with some WiFi in the room.

Mi Vale' Madre.....................

Noticed you caught the military in the background, even a guy with an assault rifle :huh

Uploading pix to Flickr now, will be able to fill in some gaps.....

Whats with Mike and his bibs? Seems like a convenient place to keep his hands, seems to be a common theme in all the pictures

looking forward to read the rest of what seems to be a great adventure

I am looking forward to see more pictures and read your adventure through copper canyon.

Hi Guys----------gonna be a great read.

And a special hi to my buddy burt.
Is that your WR Burt------------man that thing is set up nice !!!!! Better than mine

BigDog

.........great ride, great folks.......no bad company this time......

Muchas gracias....my spanglish improved on this trip and you have a wonderful country with great people.

OK folks, the cat is out of the bag.........it is a Burt Gunn ride........for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting and riding with Burt, he should be declared a national treasure for his knowledge and experience with Mexico. You don't just ride through the country, you get history and geography lessons at every stop. On the opening photo, from left to right, Greg, Mike, Doug, Burt and Ken........

I'm going to wait for Doug and Greg to kick in some photos of their trip and day 1.....and I'm going to attend a Bball tourney that seems to be in town.......12 hours of the big dance, 4 games today.......see you all tomorrow....

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RQRDDDDzvhM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Burts dog, defending the motorcycle in Yuma. Doesn't have anything to do with the report, but this dog has attitude!

IMGP2185.JPG by DDMcGinnis, on Flickr

Team Leader and beverage advisor - Burt

IMGP2189.JPG by DDMcGinnis, on Flickr

His Lieutenant - "I don't camp" Mike

IMGP2191.JPG by DDMcGinnis, on Flickr

The guy on the 'orange' bike - Senior Alto Ken

IMGP2192.JPG by DDMcGinnis, on Flickr

Mr. Gregg with 2 g's (Although I actually count 3 g's)

IMGP2187.JPG by DDMcGinnis, on Flickr

And Myself - Couldn't take a picture of myself riding, so this is how my bike looks and how I roll

IMGP2197.JPG by DDMcGinnis, on Flickr

Santa Ana Hotel $280 Pesos for a double. I took a single for the first couple nights as I had a cold and didn't want to spread the curse.

IMGP2202.JPG by DDMcGinnis, on Flickr

Did a little walking around and shopping. Not too many tourists go to Santa Ana, more of a stopping off point.

IMGP2212.JPG by DDMcGinnis, on Flickr

My traditional melanese torta when in Santa Ana.

IMGP2213.JPG by DDMcGinnis, on Flickr

I didn't wait for the water to get hot and had a refreshing cold shower. Everybody got to bed early (I think), I had dreams of conquering the &#@#*&%ing hill that took me down twice last year.


Todays track
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With some familiar & familia faces.

Was it only last year for that &#@#*&%ing hill ?





Wish I could have made the "Gunn run" this year. Looking forward to the rest of the journey.

Good luck with the hill....

Nice looking KTM 690 Ken...

Wow, 14 seed beat a 3 seed in the opening round......back to the moto's.....

Day 2: http://goo.gl/maps/DKhOh

Another pavement day around 300 miles. These are toll roads, one northern section costs motos 46P and several cost 32P so Burt has a work around for the toll section around Hermosillo that included a stop in Pesqueria for a great breakfast in a very nice place across from the police station.



Great food



And a great gal serving it, she was Jessica from the city of Chihuahua and was very excited to hear where we were headed.

I heard a lot about that silt and that hill. That and the river crossings were the challenges I had to contemplate......:eek1

We would have enjoyed your company on this ride Brad, you would have enjoyed the 690. It's a perfect bike for this type of ride. You do have to be careful with the throttle though because unlike the WR, it will dislocate your shoulders if you "wring the chicken" as Burt says......

Sign me up for the next "Gunn run", this one was a great experience.

When researching for some Moab area riding last year, I came across a Yammie done up like this on the internet....the guy had some pics and rides that was informative and helpful in the Utah-Colorado area....

Was that you, or is there a Yamahaha cult thing with 17 inchers?

The long pavement day continues with the run down to Guaymas. As I was sending home updates via WiFi that day, I referred to it phonetically as Whymas.......

Not much stopping, Mike made a cool video running across the bay but I don't have access to it.





With a quick stop for gasolina, we had some interesting interactions with the locals.....



We pull into Navohoa.



Find the Burtotel and have another early dinner and night. WiFi here supported Skype again.



Still waiting for Gregg to show up and pull out some of his photos. I know you're lurking.........