A common question asked by residents of the United States and Canada is whether or not they should consider heading south of the border for that operation they have been putting off.

Many years ago I stumbled upon a hidden pool fed by a cold spring, the source of a bubbling stream of clear, clean water, all shaded by the most beautiful trees imaginable: enormous, stately, ancient Montezuma cypresses (sabinos in Spanish), but still popularly known by their name in Nahuatl, ahuehuetes (old men of the water).

This little-known mountain top is a gorgeous spire of rock 2,664 meters high, located southwest of Ameca in the enormous Sierra Verde.

“I’d like to organize an outdoor adventure in Jalisco, a campout for beginners,” Alejandro González told me. “Can you suggest a place with a lot of potential?”

Every year for the last four years, CONABIO (National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity) has invited the public to participate in a nationwide photography contest celebrating Mexico’s extraordinary richness in flora, fauna and natural wonders.

We were driving along a lonely road north of the Santiago River Canyon with archaeologist Francisco Sánchez, heading for home after visiting Rancho el Mexicano, famous for being “in the middle of nowhere.”