We awoke early to watch the sunrise over the mountains directly in front of the hotel. After a nice breakfast we set out on the tour which included a ride on the Cable car halfway down the Canyon. This was well worth the ride as we got some great views of the Canyon, the hotel and a number of Tarahumara homes on ridges below the Cable car. The only place we saw and got to hear a homemade violin being played was here and the performer knew his instrument exacting some great Indian melodies from it. You can also take the four mile long Zipline to the lower Cable car terminus and then ride back in the Cable car. Some of the guests did this and had a really wonderful time.

We stopped at a number of viewpoints, each a little different finally ending at Divisadero where the “El Chepe” train comes close to the edge of the Canyon and stops long enough for travelers to walk to the viewpoints over the Canyon. However, the Canyon area is large and interesting enough that a week could easily be spent staying in some of the small villages and exploring the area more thoroughly. Along the way we were able to take many pictures of the Canyon and Tarahumara Indians as well as look at quite an interesting selection of homemade artifacts.

After returning to the Hotel for a drink and checkout, we were transported back to the station to catch the 1:15 pm train to Los Mochis. In true fashion, it arrived about 2:00 pm. We had a nice lunch on the train as it made its way down through the mountains to Los Mochis arriving there about 10:00 pm; an hour late. From there we took a taxi back to the marina in Topolobampo.

While we had a rather limited time to spend in the canyon, it is clear that the area deserves a much longer stay. We enjoyed every minute of the train ride, the hotels and the canyon views along with our stay in El Fuerte. Anyone traveling in this part of Mexico should make the time for this excursion into the Sierra Madre Mountains.