Mexico RV Caravan Travel Day - Creel to Guachochi

Ruth and I are kind of recreating a route that we did in January of 2015... but in reverse. So while it's all new for the group, it's kind of new for us as well because we're seeing it in the opposite direction!

Monday's route we knew would be special. Hardly anybody goes this way... for whatever reason. But especially not tourists from Canada and the United States. The odd thing is that the route includes amazing scenery. As one of the group said at a rest stop... "you have really outdone yourselves this time!"

We planned for a 9:00am start on Monday to do the drive from Creel to Guachochi. But we all had to top up with water and empty our holding tanks. We will be going ten days without access to a dump station, so this will be a good test of the group's boondocking skills!

So that took some time. Plus, it was cold and frosty having gone down to -5C (22F) Sunday night. But the sun quickly warmed things up.

I went with one of the employees at the Villa Mexicana Lodge in their van to fill up people's drinking water jugs. Here in Mexico it is common to have a "garrafon"... a jug that holds approximately 19 liters (5 gallons) of purified water. In Creel, they have a coin machine that fills them for 10 pesos (68 cents CAD, 52 cents USD). They've looked after us really well here at the Villa Mexicana Lodge. Shame more RV'ers don't bring their rigs to this area. If they did, the RV sites would be better maintained.

We ended up getting on the road at about 9:30am. It was only a 154 km (95 mile) drive, but it was a very curvy road with lots of ups and downs. I figured it would take us about four and a half hours with some rest stops.

This road is one of the many spectacular drives in Mexico. And as I said, hardly anybody ever comes here. Of course we are glad of that... because there is hardly any traffic!

Scenery along the way.

Not long after we got going, we heard on the radios that rig number 7 Larry and Martha had what sounded like a minor issue... their entrance steps were still out. They pulled over along with rig number 8 Roger and Mona, and the rest of us managed to get into a small parking area at Lago Arareco.

It turned out that Larry and Martha's steps had caught on something when they filled up with propane earlier, and they were slightly bent and would not retract properly. They used a crow bar to put things back into position so that they wouldn't be sticking out and we were soon on our way. 

In the meantime, it gave us a chance to get a couple of photos of pretty Lago Arareco.

Could be northern Ontario?

Here come the rigs behind us.

We stopped for a break at the bottom of a canyon, then had a lunch break a little further on.

Heading downhill.

Here come some of the others behind us.

That's our road that we were just on!

Someone got creative with this big rock.

Now that's a big chunk of curved rock. 

Can we hike up there?

Goats about to cross the road.

Some of our group following behind.

Wow.

More wow.

We remembered one particular area that was worth a stop right at the bottom of the canyon. It was still too early for lunch, but it was certainly worth a stop to stretch our legs and take some photos.

The river.

Denise and Ruth crossing the bridge.

Looking down from the bridge.

Scenery along the way.

Ruth and I had been to this area about five years ago and had done an overnight at a place that rented cabins. We hadn't been able to contact them in advance, and it's a bit of a rough road in so we left the group at a nearby gas station and Ruth and I carried on to what is now called El Tepehuan Resort. They have done quite a few improvements to the place since we were here before. There are some new cabins and an event building and a small motel. Still a very rough road in though!

We met the owner Ismael, and he said that of course we were welcome to park for a night, and the cost per rig was 200 pesos ($13.60 CAD, $10.25 USD). 

Having a drink at the bar.

Roy, Jim, Roger, and Larry.

Enjoying the view.

GPS coordinates 26.84094, -107.070748

They have a nice restaurant here overlooking a small canyon. Ten of us decided to go for dinner and it was very good.

Today (Tuesday), we are off to the city of Parral. Another worthwhile Mexican attraction that most people never see.

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