Whew! Putting a book together is quite a job and, believe me, it’s twice as difficult if the text is bilingual. Yes, this second volume describes, in both Spanish and English, 25 new sites chosen from among more than 200 attractive outdoor locations which I wrote about in this newspaper over the last 30 years.
What most amazes me is that totally new hiking sites still keep popping up after all this time. I have a feeling that “Outdoors in Western Mexico” could go into 20 volumes and would still not include every one of the fascinating outdoor sites in what I call “The Magic Circle” around Guadalajara, where all five of Mexico’s ecosystems meet.
In fact, in this new book you’ll find a sort of cross-section of what the Magic Circle has to offer: snow-covered mountains, geysers, deep canyons, pyramids undisturbed for 1,500 years, volcanoes, pine forests, cold springs, hot rivers, cloud forests, jungle trails, weirdly shaped rocks, “Flying White Sheep” and even a boggy home for old and tired crocodiles. Yes, each of these can be found in a single day’s drive from Guadalajara!
“Outdoors in Western Mexico Volume 2” (Al Aire Libre en las Cercanías de Guadalajara Volumen 2) includes GPS coordinates for every site as well as start-to-finish routes on Google Earth (thanks to Wikiloc.com). I hope that means we’ll hear no more complaints that “The place you mentioned in your book has vanished,” (meaning, “We couldn’t find it.”)
One of the most amazing places in this new collection is a set of three spectacular waterfalls called Los Azules, located on the outskirts of the town of Tequila, which happens to be perched on the edge of a deep barranca. We had spotted these waterfalls with binoculars from the opposite end of the canyon in the 1980’s but were unable to reach them because the bottom of the canyon is a veritable wild jungle of lush, semi-tropical trees and plants.
Twenty years later, after we had given up on ever finding those waterfalls, a friend casually remarked, “Oh yes, Los Azules. I take people there all the time.” To our great surprise, we discovered you can drive (in absolutely any kind of vehicle) to a certain spot in Tequila, park, and after walking only ten minutes, find yourself on a Machu-Picchu-like trail which brings you to the second pool of Los Azules in another twenty minutes. Amazingly, the water is clean, not at all cold and the water falls all year round. Fall number two is forty meters high, wide, lacy and spectacularly beautiful and the pool beneath it is deep and wide enough to swim in. Floating in that pool with red and blue dragonflies dancing in the air, you can’t help but ask, “Have I made it to paradise, or what?” I hope our new book will inspire you to visit a few places like this before fences, concrete and asphalt “develop” them into something else.
At the back of the book we’re including a set of drawings and diagrams showing the tracks and scat of 17 different animals who, last night, may have walked along the same path you are on today. These charming illustrations were created by artist and naturalist Karina Aguilar and originally appeared in a booklet about mammals in the Primavera Forest which, unfortunately, has gone out of print. I’m proud to say that we have rescued those drawings and given them new life. Now you’ll know whether that’s a puma or a possum waiting for you around the bend!
“We expect Outdoors 2 / Al Aire Libre 2” to be ready before this coming Christmas. You’ll find information about availability of the books and where to buy them in Guadalajara and lakeside on our website ranchopint.com or call (33) 3151-1612.
