[Toy Man]

I just found that there is a maximum number of characters per post so I am having to break this report into multiple posts.

24 October 2007 Wednesday Odometer 91283. We are up about 4:30 packing and getting ready. Marty teaches me beginning race walking and we spend a half hour walking around the motel courtyard. Breakfast at the motel’s restaurant at 7:00am. I have Machaca – a scramble of meat, potatoes, peppers, onions, etc.
We off about 8:00am.

Frenchie leads us thru a maze of streets until we reach a rock and dirt road heading up hill. Madera is at 6500 feet elevation and we keep climbing until we reach the ridge crest at 8000 feet. We take a good rock/gravel/dirt single lane road down the side of the ridge, across a plateau and down a steep escarpment, switch backing our way down to a small suspension bridge across the river. The total drop was about 3700’ feet which does not sound like much but is a LONG way down.

A note about the road: It is a single lane road with an occasional small turnout. We meet a few pickups and two or three suicide SUV drivers flying low to somewhere. Meeting and trying to pass stake bed log trucks is ‘interesting’. Even more interesting is that most of the log trucks have the logs cross wise on the bed with only a single chain holding them on. If that chain ever breaks, the logs will come rolling off the truck onto the road/vehicles behind the truck.

The canyon(s) we are in is the northern edge of the Copper Canyons and we can see high tree covered ridges extending into the far distance with no sign of human habitation.


Once across the bridge, we drive several miles up hill and then take a cow path for about a mile to the Grand Cave trail head. Take the 10 minute hike down to the cave and check it out. It is a large under into a rock outcropping with some nice Indian ruins in it. Lots of pictures and then hike back up to the trail head.


We drive back down to the bridge and then about an eighth mile down river to a hot springs and swimming pools.


Let me describe the setting: Miles from anywhere and a least a 3 hour drive over a less than perfect road to get here. Someone (the government?) has spent a fortune constructing a very nice facility here. Extensive rock wall reinforcement of the hillside and a gazillion cubic feet of concrete to hold several large swimming pools and other small soaking/children pools. There are also some water tubes and shade cabanas and a caretaker’s residence. I would be surprised if there were 50 people a week during the summer. No one was there when we arrived. A nice short swim/soak in the warm pool and then we head back up the escarpment.

About half way up we turn off the road onto a rough track and drive downhill about a mile to the trail head for several caves – Cave of the eagles, cave of the serpents, and another one. Frenchie leads the group down to the cave of the serpents while I conserve my energy by holding down a chair. Two hours later they back – tired but glad they made the hike.

It was now 5:00 with a 1.5 hour drive back to Madera. The sun sets 5:38 and we are just starting up the last ridge. It is full dark when we top the ridge and start down to Madera. We reach Madera at 6:30 and stop for dinner at Sam’s Saloon again. We get back to the motel at 8:00 pm. A long and interesting day.

GPS: 58.1 miles in 5 hours and.21 minutes of driving. 10.8 mph average speed.

25 October 2007. Odometer 91293.

We are up at 5:00 am packing and getting ready. Yet another bright sunny morning but cold. Breakfast and then we are off at 8:00 am stopping for gas at the outskirts of Madera.

I see our first modern looking two story houses in the outskirts of La Junta.
We top off our gas in Tomochi and continue on to Basaseachi. We are waved thru a military check point shortly before Basaseachi. We arrive at the Basaseachi Falls parking lot/camp ground at 12:30. After a short meal of excellent pork burritos we walk down to the falls overlook.

You cannot see any of the falls from the overlook – just a great view down the valley and you can see the bottom a LONG way below. Basaseachi Falls are 950 feet high and the third highest falls in North America.
We are the only tourista’s at the falls. We also the only ones camping.
It is another bright sunny day - probably in the upper 60’s. The sun goes behind the ridge at 4:30 and it starts to get cool immediately.

As it gets dark, we hear three pistol shots on the road above. Just someone celebrating we guess.

GPS: 144 miles in 4 hours driving time at an average of 35 mph. The elevation is 6580.