2003-10-17,18 The Journey 2003-10-18,24 Creel 2003-10-19 Rock Climbing 2003-10-20 Valley of the Monks 2003-10-21 Copper Canyon 1 2003-10-22 Copper Canyon 2 2003-10-23 Copper Canyon 3

Creel, Chihuahua (Saturday, 10/18/2003 and Friday, 10/24/2003)

Creel, the "Gateway to the Copper Canyon", is a village of 6500 people situated at the northern end of the Barrancas del Cobre Natural Park, which encompasses a large portion of the Copper Canyon system. One can't help but imagine that many mountain towns in Colorado were once like Creel, with an economy that is struggling to transition from logging to tourism. Creel is a town perched precariously on the cusp of progress, where can be found both historic missions and Internet cafe's, mom and pop boarding houses and a Best Western. It is a town whose economic development is almost inevitable as Copper Canyon becomes a more popular tourist destination, and while it appears that the locals have no desire to see Creel turn into another Aspen, one can only hope that future generations will resist the tide of globalization and maintain the town's unique flavor, progressive but steeped in old world charm.

We arrived in Creel late Saturday afternoon and took a quick sunset hike around the ridges enclosing the town before meeting our local guide, Arturo Gutierrez, for dinner. We would use Creel as our base of operations for the rest of the week, as Arturo and David led us on rock climbing and mountain biking day trips into the hills surrounding Copper Canyon and on a three-day backpacking expedition into the canyon system itself. Our accommodations were rather posh log cabins at the Villa Mexicana (which the locals still refer to by its former name, the KOA.) The cabins came complete with color TV, full private bathroom and shower facilities, and home cooked meals. The local food is simple but well-prepared (and almost always hand-prepared) with fresh ingredients. The honest-to-God, unadulterated, 100% real butter served with the morning toast was itself worth the price of admission.