The first leg of our summer will be a motorcycle trip into the Copper Canyon region of Mexico, across the Sea of Cortez, and then up the Baja California Peninsula. 

    I have always heard about the Copper Canyon region.  A network of many canyons, the lowest point of the deepest canyon is lower than the Grand Canyon in Arizona. 

    It’s a mecca for dual-sport motorcycle riding.  Many of the roads are gravel and villages dot the landscape.

    A group of Native Americans called the Tarahumara live in the region and have become adept at running long distances. 

    After leaving the Copper Canyon region, we’ll move southwest, taking a ferry across the Sea of Cortez, to La Paz, on the Baja Peninsula.  Then we’ll head in a general northerly direction, re-entering the Unites States near Yuma, AZ.

    Navigation will be with a Garmin Zumo 550 GPS unit.  I’ve spent many hours mapping our route, and, like the Continental Divide Ride, hope it’s as seamless.  Never having to look at a paper map is well worth the effort.

    Meredith’s bike is a 2008 Yamaha WR 250R.  We just purchased this bike last year, replacing her 2004 Kawasaki KLR 650.  This new bike is lighter, and, therefore, is much more maneuverable at low speeds and easier overall for her to ride.  Her bike is outfitted in the same manner as mine, with Pelican cases as panniers and a Pelican case on the back rack.

    We’ve purchased new communicators from a company called Cardo.  These work with bluetooth technology, a type of signal that won’t travel as far, but is more reliable.  After using them several times, they are much more reliable than our old communicators and much clearer.

    My parents are taking us to the border at Presidio, TX, west of Big Bend National Park about 100 miles. 

    All told, we will likely spend two to three weeks on this section of the summer.

   

   

Our Copper Canyon/Baja trip will end when we arrive at our place in the Moreno Valley, near Eagle Nest, NM.  Several days later, we’ll leave there and fly to Cancun, Mexico, where we will begin the second leg of our summer, the Mayan Trail. 

    Fifteen days later, we will end this trip in the Guatemalan village of Antigua, and then fly to Dallas from Guatemala City.

   

   

  

The final leg of our summer is a trip to New Zealand to visit our friends, Kerrie and Mark.

    Kerrie is a doctor and has spent the last year working at a clinic in a little town called Opunake, on the North Island.

    They have never been to the South Island, and our plan is to meet them in Wellington and take a ferry to the South Island.  We’ll spend the next week exploring it, returning to their house in Opunake. 

    Meredith and I will then spend another week exploring the North Island, flying home from Auckland somewhere around July 31.

Daily Blogs

As in past years, our daily happenings will be chronicled.  Unlike past years, the format will be a bit different.  We wanted to allow readers the ability to post comments after reading about specific days.  So we’re using a blog format.  “What’s a blog format?”, you ask.  Well, click here to go to the Copper Canyon/Baja blog, and find out!

Part 1

Copper Canyon and Baja