Once  the rains start in July, things green quickly…those 18 species of oak begin to grow and green up and the waterfalls flow. The pic below was taken in mid August last year.

One of our guests, my daughter, at the overlook above Urique.

CHEPE, the Copper Canyon train continues to run as always- its just not the most desirable time of year to go.

The way we approach our experiences there is to have a rough itinerary and then flex to meet the interests of the group. This make for a vastly different experience than people get with the canned or packaged trips. Time on the train, experiences in little towns, hikes to great views, meeting interesting locals and so on- all of this happens on each trip.

We usually stop at this incredible viewpoint- and then go on down to the bottom to the little town of Urique and enjoy some agua chile- some of the best of Norteno food.

Morning at Lake Arekako

Morning times are always special, and for those who want to catch “Amanacer” we can head for the rim or perhaps a remote lake like this one near Creel.

Some prefer just to enjoy the quiet with a cup of coffee or whatever- the point is , there is flexibility.

One of the features of our trips is to visit little trains along the railway that hardly any people visit. Places like Cusarare, Cuiteco, Temoris, Areponapuchi and many more.

One of my favorites is Cuiteco- it is featured in a new Authentic Copper Canyon video- watch for it in the first few moments.

This photo is taken in Cuiteco at sunrise- a quiet and lovely place.

Anchors for the new gondola

They have these construction towers up right now and the real towers and cables are soon to come.

I had a interesting visit up to the constuction site. ..

Ladders up to the upper saddle ...

There are these ladders that get you up off the saddle to the upper area where the construction is happening.

When I got up there, there were 3 or 4 Raramuri there just hanging out. They seemed disinterested in me and offered me some homemade blue corn tortillas and goat broth in cut off coke liter bottles.

I noticed that these natives do something you rarely see mestizos do…they stare at the mountains. They seemed preoccupied with the immensity around us, even though they live there everyday of the year.

Those deep eyes seemed eager to soak in the grandeur.

At the bottom, we spent the night at the little camping area established by Gary Ziegler and Amy Finger of Adventure Specialists years ago. My first order of business was to take a plung is the icey water and bask on the little beach.

This photo is courtesy of the fine travel photographer, Eric Mohl. Eric and his wife, writer  Karen Catchpole  of Trans Americas Journey were my companions on this wild descent.