Thrills and risks in Copper Canyon

“Copper Canyon Thrill Ride” (Oct. 27) brought back memories. My husband and I traveled there in the fall of 1985 with four friends and our son Ben, who was 5.

We flew from Tijuana to Los Mochis and then took the train to Creel and stayed three nights at the Sierra Lodge. From there we hiked to the falls and, the following day, traveled to the mission school in Creel with supplies for the school and the clinic.

It was a wonderful experience for Ben to give trinkets, crayons, pencils and paper to the children playing in the schoolyard. He even gave one boy his Frisbee. And it was unforgettable for the adults to see how primitive the clinic was and how appreciative the personnel was for the cases of medicines we brought.

We then traveled to Cerocahui and stayed at the Hotel Mision.

The following day we hired a truck to take us to Urique at the bottom of the canyon. We piled into the flatbed of the pickup and headed off for the ride of our lives. Our driver raced into the canyon like a madman, and we just laughed.

In Urique there were no automobiles, only horses and donkeys. We sent Ben across the river with our friends in a box suspended on a cable, and he loved every moment.

There’s something about that kind of trip that makes one throw caution out the window. We probably wouldn’t travel on the pickup and in the box on the cable now, maybe because we’re older and wiser.

Carol Mehtlan

San Marcos, Calif.