S/V Loomba-Loomba

We are now home on Bainbridge. We had big plans to hit the National Parks and do a leisurely camping trip home, but once we were heading for the barn we just wanted to get there. Besides, it was just too hot to enjoy camping/hiking. So we had a night each in Tucson, LA, SF, and Eugene with quick visits with family at each stop (except Tucson). After being in San Carlos/Guaymas working on the boat in the heat and humidity it was a pleasure to get to the GREEN, snowy mountain landscape and the cool, fresh, clear air  of the good old Pacific Northwest! We arrived in San Carlos, just north of Guaymas, on May 23rd. We stayed at Marina Real for one month while we got Loomba-Loomba ready for haul out and painting. Two of those weeks were spent traveling to Baja to get the car  and visiting the Copper Canyon on the way back. The last week we were there we rented a small condo ...

The Copper Canyon area actually comprises more than 20 canyons covering 25,000 square miles, but there are three main canyon systems that are most visited: Urique, Copper and Terarecua. Part of the fun of the Copper Canyon is taking El Chepe (Chihuahua Pacific Railway) which runs from Los Mochis near the Sea of Cortez to Chihuahua.  It has 37 bridges and 86 tunnels along the 653km of railway line.  It runs through mostly uninhabited country, starting out near the coast, through irrigated agricultural land, dry desert with cordon cactus forests, and up to pine forests sprinkled with madrona and juniper up to an elevation of 7600 feet. The rail line was started in 1898 and competed in 1961. There are a few small towns along the railway, but most of the area is very remote with much of the access by dirt road or foot paths. Apparently this is prime marijuana and opium growing country so you don’t want to be hiking around without a guide. The most fascinating thing, ...