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

Copper Canyon, Day 2 (Wednesday, 10/22/2003)

After refilling our water bottles at a spring-fed water trough (courtesy of the Tarahumara), we were off on another 8-mile hike. Our pace was predominantly very slow due to the precarious nature of the trail, and it took us the greater portion of the day to hike those 8 miles, even though the elevation change on Day 2 was not extreme. We spent most of the day winding along the canyon wall about midway up, stumbling across some spectacular views of both the canyon bottom and the rim. Toward the end of the day, the trail began to switch back as we descended down into the bottom of a box canyon, home to a briskly flowing stream and a Tarahumara citrus farm. We availed ourselves of both. I'm not a great fan of grapefruit, but either the fact that it was tree-ripened at the bottom of a mile-deep gorge or the fact that I was ravenous from hiking down said gorge made it the best tasting piece of fruit I've ever had.