Ruta Del Cakebaker or.....

the back way into Batopilias! :eek1

I met Chuck Blair (Cakebaker) not long after this trip (below) down to Batopilas, Mexico, going from the North in October of 2007. (No, that is not my bike and at this point, I had not yet met Chuck)!




Again, these pic's are from the North to South coming from Creel, Chihuhua, Mexico and heading to Batopilas, Mx. This to me, was a stunning ride and a great way to see Mexico. The area is known as, 'Le Barranca del Cobre'
or Copper Canyon. They say it is a series of canyons 5 or so times greater than the Grand Canyon.




Tired but happy, took us over 8 hours to go less than a 100 miles that day.




This is a hotel just before the bridge into Batopilias. It is buried into the sub-tropical landscape of Copper
Canyon and is very alluring. Unfortunately, we did not stay there this time. It is a neat old hotel and it's only about
$20.00 a night to stay.




The bridge into Bat.



I'm told the town is an old Silver mining town and oddly was the 2nd location in Mexico to get electricity. www.mexicoguru.com/batopilas.php

Great little town, the people are very friendly, the food is great and the place is not too touristy. The white building is our motel (Hotel Juanita's), we drive through the house into the courtyard. Again, all of this was in '07.



Great bunch of guys to travel with. Anybody can do these rides, anybody...:)

When I got back to Creel, everyone was kinda packing up to head for home & other places. I noticed a guy trying to put a bike in the back of a pick up truck by himself. I asked him if he needed any help. He said, "yeah". I helped him push the bike in & he said, "thanks". I said, "ur welcome" and took off. Unbeknownst to me, that was Chuck,aka CeeBee aka Cakebaker




Some of the guys Burt & I rode with to Batopilas. Good riders all!




More later..........

Looking forward to this.

Hey Rick (Motor1) Your actually going to post this! It's really history but it brings back recent memories that motivate me to go back.

I was riding the WR450 Yamaha on that ride and a bolt backed out of the flywheel and tore up the stator between Bat. and Creel. Had nothing under 2,000 rpm but it got me back to Creel and was soooo glad I brought my pickup then. You saw me struggling to load it the next morning. Here's a couple of pics from back then.

Hi ya Chuck. It's winter, cold, rainy/snowy, thought I'd do a multi-year ride report of our get togethers . I forgot to mention that we really had met the day before near San Rafel when I saw u & Utro's (spell?) brother hauling ass past us! :eek1 U guys were moving! Even though I didn't know ya all I tried to catch ya but was too loaded with gear to do so.

Fast forward to March 2008. I hooked up with a bunch of crazy ass dual sporters & headed into Baja, Mx for some fun & unbeknownst to me, some fast ass riding! :eek1



Puertecitos, where the pavement ends!




Not much of a town here. We all stopped to re-group and count riders........u don't want to lose anyone!




Great riding, if any of u ever get a chance to ride in Mexico. Very remote through here (although it is being paved as I write this!) and some of where the Baja 1000 is run. Spectacular scenery!




Here is where I meet Chuck again & we figure out that he was the one I helped w/the bike in Creel! He has a red XR650R set up Baja style & knows how to ride it. The entire ride to Gonzaga Bay we skirt the Sea Of Cortez. Amazing views.





Gonzaga Bay.........Neat little fishing village on the Sea Of Cortez. Shared a room w/one of the guys, cost was $20.00 split between us! They have a small restaurant and the seafood was fresh and delicious.
Below is what we woke up to.




We got an early start heading south. This stretch is about 100 miles with no amenities except for this place (below). Coco's Corner. Sometimes he's there & sometimes he's not.




The two of us (Chuck & I), hooked up w/another guy on a XR650R & we pretended to be Baja racers! Amazingly, (and very luckily) no one was killed or maimed in the malay. LOL T'was a lot of fun riding there w/those two.
The Baja can be very tough on ur bike! :eek1

Fast forward some more to August 2008.





Roxanne & I were in Washington State for a few months. I learn through ADVrider that Chuck was finishing up the TAT (Trans-America Trail ) and ran out of riding buddies! :eek1 He was wandering aimlessly around in Nevada. I was able to get his cell # from the ADV site. I said, "Chuck, we don't really know each other but, u are about a day and a half from Lakeview, Oregon. I am in Olympia, Wa., about a day and half away as well. I will meet u at any motel u can find there and do the Or TAT with u."
He was all for it!
Rox helped me get ready, a challenge with such little notice. The bike is an '07 Suzuki DR650. I love this bike. I love that women next to me too.








I headed out for a neat and beautiful backroads trip to Lakeview, Or.





No traffic, no peeps........my kinda riding! :)
Found a cheap motel in some tiny town and called it a day!



The next afternoon.......MR. CAKEBAKER!! :)




Hooked up w/Chuck again.



Which is not always an easy thing! It's always interesting trying to make ur way through the woods, across an entire state w/ a roll chart & bad GPS tracks! (well, they might have been good tracks but Chuck & I couldn't make heads or tails from 'em)! :huh




I had the tools & parts, Chuck had the know how! lol



To say the least, we had a blast trying to figure out how the hell to get to the pacific ocean.
Got lost almost the same way Rod & I did back in '06 (I was lucky to have done the entire TAT from Jellico to Port Orford in 28 days back in Sept of 06)





Even with two gps's & two different map sets, we got mixed up in the forest. Remember..3 numbers are a spur/loop. 4 numbers are through!




A little fishing village in the middle of nowhere. We were so happy to find this place. It was late & we were tired, cold, hungry! Very nice people there.


The next morning............

Coco before his last set of surgeries - Click on the picture -




At Coco's

We missed a few spots Rod.




OMG, there be babies on the TAT!



As u can see, Chuck will pretty much go anywhere! So, we got along just fine....(he just missed getting a pic of me on my ass)!



Just a little stroll through the woods, la de da..............:) We are so lost here it's almost not funny! :huh



Finally, we find some neat paved roads.



This is beautiful country and the paved twisties are to die for!




Rod, remember this crap. Up & over, up & over, where oh where, is the ocean!? :) This went on for a day & 1/2! :) U keep thinking at every peak that u'll see the ocean!

Anyway, we made it to Port Orford, Oregon.....it was neat being there again. Even neater for Chuck, as he started in Arkansas!




t took us 3 1/2 days to cross Oregon.


We hit the beach (literally and figura-tively), found a great local seafood place & chilled! :)






So, this brings us almost up to date. More later...........

The Cakebaker & I kept in touch as we seem to have the same type of rides in common (I'll not elaborate on the pillow talk). Chuck had mentioned that there was a back way into Batopilas. I had never heard of it, although that didn't mean much. However, Burt Gunn (Chuck & I have both ridden to Mexico w/Burt on a couple of seperate occasions) had not known of any back, side, east, west or south way into Bat. Now Burt, u could say is somewhat of an expert on Mexico. He has been going down there for some 35 + years. He speaks Mexican (not the spanish u would learn in school). Burt was pretty much ready to bet Chuck lots of bucks, that there was no route from the south into Batopilas. It seems a year and a half ago Chuck had found a way to do it and did do it. By himself!!:eek1 So....the plan came together to meet in Creel and try to make a loop from Creel to Creel coming into Batopilas from the south.

Packed up & ready to go. Leaving Tallassee, Tn



Bye honey, be back in a few weeks......I hope!




Chucks got a nice place outside Houston, Tx...........we did some minor repairs & adjustments on the bikes.






We loaded the bikes in Chuck's truck & headed for a day & a half drive to Terlingua, Tx. We are both familiar w/the area. We know a guy there that has a neat little motorcycle shop & will let us keep the truck there for 2 or 3 weeks.




Not far from the below pic, we almost got nailed by 2 deer. Both, pretty much in the middle of the interstate! Some kinda good reaction by the Cakebaker to miss both Bambie's!




Ft. Stockton, Tx was our overnight stay at a cheap motel (and yes, there was a bit of pillow talk). :eek1




Terlingua, Tx is very close to Big Bend National Park. It is on the Rio Grande which separates us from Mexico. Great place to ride in the winter months.




We got to Ralph's (Cycletek 432-371-2560) The guy is top notch & very fair. Seems he will have some camping as well in the near future. Thanks Ralph.




After unloading the bikes we headed to Presidio, Tx/Ojinaga, Mx in the truck and secured our tourist visa and bike permits.




The paper work went smooth & took little time and about $55.00 bucks for everything. Chuck & I already had gotten our Mx insurance on line before hand. Well, we did have a little delay when they thought Chuck was a criminal! :huh They had him sign papers saying he, "was not a crook" (Of course, he could have been signing a confession, as it was in Spanish) l




Chuck has a better handle on the language than I do. I like to tell people that I have restaurant spanish! However, the longer u are in country & the more u try to speak it u do start to 'get it' after a bit.

We left our digs in Terlingua the next morning on the bikes. Finally!! No pics, but River Road from Terlingua to Presidido is a very cool twisty 2 lane road more suitable to a crotch rocket or sport touring bike. Still fun on the DR650 though.



Kinda uneventful but pretty country into Chihuahua.




We made it to a small motel in Anahuac, Mx just as we were losing light. It is not a good idea to ride Mx at night, although I seem to have done it now on more than a few occasions. :huh




The next a.m. I'm off to find coffee



I come back to the motel & find this site. Seems Chuck will enjoy pillow talk with just about anybody!

Hotel Pinos in Creel, Mx. I like this place. I have stayed here before. The price is right, clean and the owners are very pleasant people.
Burt shows up later that evening. Break out the Tequila and beer!





See what I mean!


This is an art gallery we like to go to when in Creel. (sorry, kind of a private joke)!


I have to say, except this one day of getting rained in, the weather was fantastic. We truly had some weather angels with us for the next 7 or 8 days.



More Tequila and beer!

We all hit the sack early. It was easy sleeping listening to the rain.

In Mexico u don't see alot of cops, especially this deep in the interior. However, u must beware the TOPE! These things will kill ya if ur not careful! They are in every friggin' town in all of Mexico! Even on the dirt roads they build up mud tope's!









We left Creel in the rain, so we were a little cold but dry (good gear) when we found this little restaurante. :) Some huevo con jamon, a little coffee and we're ready to go. Especially when u've had dos (two) breakfasts in one sitting! Seems between all of our great spanish & the lack of english from the proprietor, we ended up ordering a second meal :huh (which we happily ate & paid for, so as not to insult or hurt any feelings)!





Still a little drizzly. Burt & I followed the Cakebaker too who knows where. From here on we are at his mercy! :eek1




Hours go by............




..................the rain lets up, we gear down & have some coffee at a little tienda.




Hope I'm not boring ya all too much with my little trek through Mexico. It is truly a beautiful, magical kinda place and it is fun for me to share it w/u guys & gals. :)

Still a little wet & muddy we continue on. We are getting out in the bush now and see almost no other humans for quite awhile.




The landscape becomes just amazing as the clouds start to make way for the sun! :) (Of course these pic's do not even come close to doing any of it justice). (It should also be noted that I suck w/a camera)!






A bit slippery........but fun, just the same. :)


It actually is fun riding like this. Chuck & I wicked it up a bit & got a little more muddy. (Seems Burt is the smarter of the 3 of us)!



Gorgeous views.




The rain pays off in many ways....makes for more challenging water crossings. :)






I'm telling ya, this is fun stuff! More a bit later.........

Chuck says," whatta ya posing"? I say, "This whole trips about posing isn't it"?

OK, I'll shut up & u all can just relax & look at the scenery.













I'm very fortunate, not many Americans get to see this beautiful land!
Hell.....not many people get to see some of these places we ride!




Very desolate.............not much out here.





When I was riding these roads, I kept reminding myself that Chuck had been here already, by himself!:eek1 It's hard to convey even w/text & pics how convoluted & confusing these roads can be. We all had 4 different maps and they all don't read the same!:huh The gps is a little helpful but nothing to count on.








Oh boy! More water!

It doesn't seem so menacing in the pic's but that water was moving very swiftly! :eek1 And, being about knee deep (and lots deeper in spots) it would move the bike violently down stream. We had just watched one truck just make it through and another on a different path have just a little trouble. Soooo, I decide to just go for it!





looks easy........



.........not too bad so far.




It's hard to tell in the pic, but I hit a nice size hole just at the end. Thought for sure I was going into the drink. Luckly, I was able to muscle & throttle it over to the dry side! All the mexicans were laughing & clapping!




Well, that was fun, in a scary sort of way! :eek1

I started to take some pic's of Chuck's crossing and realized that he & Burt were walking Chuck's bike across. As I said before, Burt is much smarter and wiser than us! :)




I could tell that it was tough going for them. This water is swift & strong!




:eek1







ummm, which way? :huh



Now, for the third deep spot!


Chuck & Burt really have their hands full keeping the bike on track.






I couldn't help of course........who else was gonna take pic's!



Finally, they make it.



Al-righty then........only one bike left! :eek1