Queuing the Toyota’s up for our border crossing into Mexico was a cool site. Three FJ Cruisers and one Tacoma, three rooftop tents and 2 M416 trailers made it look like we were heading out for a long trip. We all breezed through the crossing which just a quick check by the Mexico border authority of our papers.
Ready to enter Mexico
We headed south towards the west side of the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains. Our first surprise and an indication of what was to come was when we rounded a corner and there were cars lined up on the road. Looking ahead we could see that there was a flooded wash flowing over the road. After watching a few other trucks ford the crossing we decided that we would have no problems.
Chris in our first river/flood crossing
We continued south on a good two lane highway to Moctezuma where we had tacos for lunch. After lunch we headed further south. There had been lots of rain recently and there we numerous rock slides on the road so we had to be on our toes rounding each corner. The view of the mountains was spectacular.
View back north
Turning east we headed into the mountain on a back country dirt road. We soon encountered our second major river crossing of the day with river flowing over the top of a concrete bridge. We all crossed with no problems and found a great camp overlooking the valleys for our first night.
Photo: Chris Marzonie
The morning brought a fantastic view with the valley floors carpeted with fog.
Our destination was a full day’s drive into the interior of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Our route took us across 3 small mountain ranges and 2 additional river crossings, though none as large as the first. The scenery was beautiful with a mix of cactus, palm trees and other trees. Being mid winter the colors were muted but there still was plenty to see.
