25/26 Mexico Week 7b (Jan 28-30) – Climbing the highest Peak of Sierra Madre Occidental
Three major mountain ranges dominate Mexico: the Sierra Madre Occidental (west), the Sierra Madre Oriental (east), and the Sierra Madre del Sur (south). “Sierra Madre” means “Mother Mountain Range”.
On this trip, we are spending the time in the Sierra Madre Occidental (west). This range runs for over 1,500 km along the Pacific coast and stretches from the U.S. border down to the state of Jalisco. It crosses the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Nayarit, and Zacatecas.
We arrived by ferry from Baja California (La Paz) to the state of Sinaloa (Topolobampo) and began our explorations on December 23—and it has been a blast. The area exceeded my expectations.
Week 1: fly into Loreto, Baja California > drive to La Paz, Baja’s capital > take a ferry to Topolobampo, Sinaloa
The Sierra is known for its spectacular canyons (e.g Baranca de Cobre, Baranca de Sinforosa….), even deeper than the famous Grand Canyon; and for its rugged terrain. It is high. We often find ourselves at elevations well above 2,000 meters.
Week 2: Los Mochis > El Fuerte > Barranca del Cobre > Cascada de Basaseachic
So far, we have covered three states: Sinaloa, Chihuahua, and Durango. And—surprise, surprise—we set our sights on climbing the highest peak of the Sierra Madre Occidental: the sacred Cerro Gordo, rising to 3,355 meters. The peak lies in the state of Durango. Week 7 was that week…
We left the capital of Durango as it was getting dark and drove for a while at night. We had to find a reasonable place to camp. The next morning, we woke up, looked at the map and… within a couple of kilometers of us there were three named mesas. Really! This is such a rarity here. Topographic maps almost don’t have names— even fewer than in Canada. So our first order of the day was to hike the flattest peak ever, with the beautiful name Mesa La Nicolasa..
Heading towards Mesa La Nicolasa, 2200m.It’s lower than the trail head 😄 The next flat-topped peak of the day in the general direction to Cerro Gordo was Cerro Pánfilo. Sure is flat, but some trees grow high here. This one was just before we reached the summit.Ok – the peak was flat but it had 700 m prominence, and it was 3160 m high, and driving to it required 4×4, and the drive took a long time, and it was not clear where the highest point was.Maybe here?On the way back we noticed interesting artifacts. Does this have any significance?Still on the way to Cerro Gordo Chester spotted another peak over 3000m, so we got that one too. No official name, lots of microwaves towers instead ….. and a happy MartaShe also caught a rare sight of ….Chester on the cameraThe next day, we pushed on toward Cerro Gordo, our ultimate destination. Not only were the mountains getting bigger, but the potholes were getting deeper—definitely a time to pay close attention to driving.Durango, the capital is at the centre, my index finger points at the approximate location of the Cerro Gordo @ 3352m
As we leave the main road, the access roads get progressively smallerFinally a tree barricades the access – although Chester still managed to squeeze through hereWe started the hike. Chester suggested following a streambed instead of hiking the ridge, which could have been steepIt was a steep hike all the way to the summit block. And then full stop. At first, we thought we were out of luck, but then we found a weakness in the steep wall. With just a bit of scrambling, we made it to the top.The summit has 2 little houses.In the houses there are offerings to the Gods of Corn and the God of Rain.I thanked the Gods for being able to make it to the top of this sacred mountain – the highest peak of Sierra Madre Occidental.
Chester flew the mighty Ikarus over the highest peak of Sierra Madre Occidental Looking toward the ridge we did not takeGetting to the car was quick We stopped in Maíz Gordo, the closest settlement to Cerro Gordo, and were immediately invited for coffee—which turned out to be supper.
Carmen made supper for us. Thank you for your amazing hospitality.
And this is how Mexican tortillas are made – the basis of Mexican meal Carmen and Juan-José were our hosts in Maiz Gordo, and offered us their yard to camp!Before we left, Juan-José even gave us a tour of the sawmill where he works.
Marta and Chester's Maleficent Adventures 
