Copper Canyon, Mexico, 2002

 

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A pretty precipitous drop down into this different River Valley, an amazing Grande Vista but  vertiginous. A trail led off to the left along the edge of this this very very steep descent. I saw some goats on it and I decide “Okay this must be the way.” I started walking along this this path, zigzagging my way along the extremely steep slope.

A half an hour passed, it was just getting steeper and steeper. Large 1500 foot slabs of rock that were just almost completely vertical and the path started across the slabs. I ran up one of these 10 or 20 feet, basically rock climbing but there was really nothing to hold onto. I started to realize “This is probably just a goat path.” And by now the Goats had disappeared. I was really not going anywhere good and I was getting pretty tired. Just trying to stay up stay standing up straight on the this tiny little track. “Okay it's time to turn around.”

And almost the second I decided that turning around my foot slipped.  I went sliding with great speed down this incredibly sleep steep slope, I was on my back just grasping up above. My arms are spread out to my sides clutching at whatever dry grass or debris I could get my hands around.

Just as my body was sliding off this Cliffside, I managed to grab a couple of sizeable clumps of grass and stop my descent.

I lay there Breathing heavily looking up at the sky with my legs dangling off a 50 or hundred foot drop. And thinking to myself “Yes I could die out here.” Or more like “I'm very close to dying out here and there's nobody who would hear me scream.” I also remember thinking “It's so beautiful.” I lay there within such an incredible landscape; so tumultuous, its mass of cliffs. Slowly very slowly I shimmied myself back up on my butt to the point where my feet were back on Solid Ground. I rolled over and slowly crawled back up the steep slope on my hands and knees, making my way back up to the track.

I steeled my nerves and carefully started picking my way back along this goat track to the plateau, realizing to myself that if it had been later in the day, if I hadn't been starting fresh early in the morning, I definitely would have died. Because it took an incredible amount of Eva energy to traverse that reversed path, carefully balancing the knife-edge to stay upright. By the time I got back to the plateau I was exhausted just from these 2 hours of dealing with the return. 

Definitely a harrowing little escapade. Back on the right track I was so sort of done in. I just kept hiking that day even though I was exhausted, many miles all the way down the other side of the valley This journey was supposed to take three days but I ended up doing it in 2. Down to the blessed river and bathed. A lady lived there in a small casita; she fixed me a meal of fried fish.

I camped overnight by the river and hiked back into Cuahatemoc. The Mexican side of my family were relieved to see me home. I was too.