USA bound!

After leaving the unexpectedly pleasant Puebla, we rode north for the city of Morelia which was just a stopping point to get to Guadalajara. Morelia was a very quaint and picturesque city with towering cathedrals in the center square and a pleasant atmosphere. The next day we rode the remaining distance to Guadalajara and found a friendly hostel to call home. But our trip for the day could not be that easy so just as we entered the city on a major highway, Tim's handlebars start to shudder violently and when we pulled into a service station, we were met with a flat tire. The very same tire that went flat in Panama, but thankfully Tim had invested in the proper tools to change it and after and hour of sweating the new tube was in and we were on our way. The Tequila Hostel was located just outside of the downtown area in walking distance of the markets and grocery stores, which proved useful as we would eventually spend over a week there. Upon arrival we noticed that Shaun's sprockets were entirely shot and his cheap chain was on it's last leg. After a good nights sleep we set out into town to find the parts needed. After bouncing around in the back of a taxi and going asking around for a “tienda para motos” we finally found a street that had a few stores but after checking a few different stores we were unable to find sprockets for Shaun's bike so we decided to order them and just wait for a few days. A few days somehow turned into a week. It was a pretty relaxing week in which we really didn't do much other than explore the city, change tires, enjoy some of the night life, and of course we saw Ant Man in a nearby theater. When the parts finally arrived we were quick to reassemble the bikes and hit the road.
We talked to a few locals about our route and everyone gave a look of horror when we told them that we were planning on going north into cartel controlled Mexico. Our first stop was supposed to be Durango where apparently “people are beheaded”. Considering we heard horror stories about almost everywhere we went and still have yet to see evidence of any real danger, we decided to proceed anyways. Upon arrival to Durango thankfully we were met with a nice town and friendly people. We got some street food and went to bed pretty early to prepare for the next day in which we planned to press further north into the copper canyon area. After leaving Durango, we made a stop in Hidalgo del Parral where we stocked up on food and other supplies to prepare for our desert and copper canyon trail riding. Our first day of heading towards copper canyon was a bit of shock as we pretty quickly ran into some very technical riding as the road deteriorated to the point of not really deserving the title, “road”. We had to learn quickly how to navigate deep and muddy trenches and steep uphills covered in mud and rocks. There were moments on the first day when we considered turning around but we decided to press on. After 4 hours of riding through mountain trails it became appearent that we were not going to make it to our expected destination of Batopilas. To add icing to the cake, the last hour of our day was filled with rain and thunderstorms, the perfect combination for riding on slippery trails that hugs the edges of cliffs. To our amazement we came into what looked like a small village. Too small to have a name. We were prepared to camp but we started to ask around to see if there happened to be a place to sleep somewhere and discovered that we were in an area that no longer predominantly spoke Spanish, but an indigenous language which made communicating interesting. But after ten minutes of charades and broken Spanish we were able to find a man named Reuben who owned a shed that was packed with 6 double beds. We negotiated the price for the room down to 250 pesos, less than $17 USD and moved in. It was a very interesting scene as we quickly became the spectacle to behold for the very colorfully dressed village inhabitants.
Dinner that night was inside the home of a nearby family where we sat at their kitchen table and enjoyed a delicious dinner for a reasonable price. Because we were so high in elevation, the room was equipped with a state-of-the-art wood burning furnace which we quickly lit and put to use drying our soaking wet gear. We slept well that night and the next morning we said goodbye to our hosts and continued down the dirt goat trail that supposedly lead to Batopilas. This day proved to be the most difficult and enjoyable riding we had experienced on the whole trip. Collectively we went down over 6 times and we spent a good amount of time pushing each other out of muddy ruts and up steep slip-n-slide hills. It was often difficult to appreciate the incredible scenery because we had to focus on staying alive so we took frequent breather breaks and had lunch in one particular cliff side lookout. Eventually we found a few dilapidated signs that pointed to Batopilas which confirmed we were heading the right direction. Within a few hours of lunch and after descending over 6,500 feet on rocky, switchback, cliff-edge trials we arrived in the very small town of Batopilas. It was here that we really encountered our fist taste of Cartel activity.
The northern section of Mexico is said to be almost entirely controlled by the drug Cartels because of the lucrative US border providing an endless source of demand for drugs. Admittedly we were skeptical of how accurate these claims were but quickly changed our mind when we saw that there were no police in this town, just very heavily armed men in large, expensive and unlicensed truck. Because Batopilas was en route to many nearby towns, we saw frequent pick up trucks full of armed men in the bed passing through and circling. Not just your average pee-shooters either, most of these men were toting heavily modified ak-47s and American M4's and had well-stocked chest rigs. It was also common to see these men walking down the street as well. Despite their intimidating appearance, the locals would just wave and smile as they passed. So we followed suit. We found a bug infested hotel to stay in for a decent price and brushed the bug carcasses off the beds and went to sleep. The next day we road on half pavement, half trail to the much larger and tourist-friendly town of Creel. We all felt like camping so we found a local mini supermarket to get supplies to camp and headed for a nearby lake where we found a beautiful place to set up. After gathering some firewood and starting a fire, we cooked our dinner and relaxed by the fire for the evening before retiring to our tents.
After waking up we packed up and made the 5 mile journey back into town to find a hotel to stay in and get information about a train that ran from Creel to Chihuahua. Our hope was to hitch a ride on this old, famous train that crossed the dessert but unfortunately it turned out that this was not possible. We enjoyed a relaxing day in town and spend some time planning the route for the next day where would make the over 400 mile ride to the United States border. 8 hours of riding got us all the way to the border where we had to wait in line to cross into the US for half an hour. When we got to the front of the line of vehicles crossing the bridge, we realized that there was not going to be anywhere to reclaim our $300 “import deposit” that was mandatory for entry into Mexico(only the second time). So the US border officals recommended that we cross of the bridge again back into Mexico to get information on where to go. Thankfully we can lane-split so we made it back across the bridge fairly quickly only to discover that the unmarked building we needed to go to was almost 20 miles back into Mexico. This a prime example of the logic used in this part of the world. So after getting only a brief taste of America we headed back into Mexico to retrieve our deposit and after an hour of riding we were back at the border. Chris, being American, was welcomed back with little interrogation and Shaun was let in with only minor searches but Tim got the full package. It took over two hours of questioning and waiting to resolve a visa issue before Tim was granted access to the land of milk and honey. At this time is was already after 10pm and thunder storming so we hopped on the highway and rode until we found a rest stop to set up camp a little after midnight. That night's was certainly not the most restful as thunderstorms rolled through for most of it but the next morning we went to the closest town of Las Cruces, New Mexico where we are currently staying while awaiting a rear suspension spring for Tim's KLR. It is surprisingly wonderful to be back in the United States. After three months of riding in third-world countries and not speaking English, the US is a very welcomed breath of fresh air. Thank you to all of the friends we made in Central America and Mexico who helped make our journey a little easier and more enjoyable.
Our plan is to head north west through the Grand Canyon and eventually Utah and Wyoming before we start heading east for Michigan. It is great to be back!