ver three weeks in August and September 2022, Ben Stookesberry and Erik Boomer successfully descended three unrun rivers in northern Mexico's Copper Canyon region. Veteran. This guidebook also includes unrun rivers and huge missions with accurate mile-by-mile gradient descriptions and put-ins and take-outs. La Linea and the Sinaloan Cartel are both at war in the mountains between Sinaloa and Chihuahua, providing an obvious concern, as that is precisely where these rivers are located. But, Ben and Boomer's experience with all the locals was exceedingly positive.The National Park and main tourist areas were perfectly safe. In the small villages, many handguns and AK47s were brandished, but everyone was welcoming and kind. The Rio Basaseachi flows off a 1,000 ft waterfall and then carves one of the deepest canyons in North America for the next 18 km, with 3,000 ft of gradient in 18 km. Ben and Boomer spent three days on the river with perfect flows. Despite the steep, non-stop gradient, they were able to paddle huge sections of Whitewater and were blown away by the beauty of this incredible place. They also found very high-guality Whitewater and tight canyons on the Rio Cocheno. With a similar drop of 3,000 ft but over a slightly longer section, most of the Cocheno was runnable and worth going back for.
