BackRoads: San Carlos Mexico

It was raining. That was good. It meant it wasn’t snowing. The road rose after we left Cananea, Sonora, riding south along the Rio Sonora River. This was familiar territory and as the sun played hide and seek I thought about other rides in Northern Mexico (see “Along the Sonora River,” MOTRA, July August 06) and the smiles started despite the rain.

After a night in Bisbee, AZ, it was early morning when we loaded the gear and headed out. Our destination for the day would be Banamichi and a night with our dear fiends, Bill and Irma, owners of La Posada del Rio Sonora. Our ultimate goal – The town of San Carlos on the Sea of Cortez.

With Lynn leading on the BMW, Terry and Becky following two-up on their Triumph and me riding sweep, we devoured the twisty roads of the Rio Sonora. The road surface; well it’s hard to describe in places. Originally macadam and not asphalt, the road had been patched then the patches patched. It appears that this procedure had been repeated many times. The good news is that there is a major effort to repair the road. At least there is a major effort to announce the road repairs. Huge, colorful billboards trumpet the project, which appears is being done in small sections separated by many miles of patches on patches. Still, it’s progress.

The road climbed up from the river, twisting through narrow road cuts then dropping down over white washed bridges. All the bridges are named; my favorite is “Puente El Toro Muerto” – the “Bridge of the Dead Bull.” It crosses a narrow arroyo, where the road sweeps to the left then climbs quickly to the right again. The desert is green and alive, very different than previous years when drought scoured the landscape and the land was as black as if burned by wildfire.

The sun came out but it stayed cool, temperatures in the 50’s. Construction zones slowed our progress and we waved to the workers, our Spanish inadequate to engage them. We found the rhythm of the road, a Sonoran rhythm.

We wanted to be in Banamichi before the late afternoon. Riding the narrow mountain roads directly into the slanting sunlight was something we wanted to avoid. We went through the small towns of Bacoachi, Chinapa, and Arizpe. We crossed the river at five different vados or fords in the river. All but two have a solid concrete bottom. One has a clean gravel base and then there is the wash out. A flash flood took the vado out a few years ago and it’s still a mess. Some muddy areas, multiple paths made by other traffic and a confusing looking current. Once again, over thinking things was the major problem. It was simple, just look for the tracks leaving the other side and ride through the water to that spot. Through Sinoquipe and finally Banamichi came into sight. Into...

We hope that you enjoyed reading this excerpt from "San Carlos Mexico". If you would like to read the entire article and more, you can order a back issue of April / May 2007 where this article was originally published.

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