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El Rincon translates as “the Nook.” It’s a natural spring located 420 meters southwest of the Guachimontones archaeological site and the source of the Teuchitlan River. In 1895, British archaeologist Adela Breton visited burial sites near here and made references to “ceremonial circles.” It is also here, in 1962, where the discovery of obsidian knives in the water eventually led researchers Phil and Acelia Weigand to the circular pyramids and evidence of the ancient West Mexican civilization of Teuchitlan.

In the state of Querétaro, they say La Peña de Bernal is the third largest monolith in the world.

For years, a noxious mixture of human waste, toxic chemicals and heavy metals flowed into the Río Santiago from the heavily polluted 66-kilometer-long Ahogado River located southeast of Guadalajara. The true nature of these aguas negras was visible for the world to see at El Salto de Juanacatlán, where the cascading water churned up billows of toxic foam said to be so corrosive it could remove paint from cars. 

There are a number of feeder streams along the course of Río Caliente, but none quite like the Black River. And when it comes to adrenaline-raising excitement, as far as I’m concerned, the hike to the source of the Black River ranks among the ten scariest things I’ve done in years.

“It’s time for another visit to the Highland Hermit,” announced my friend Mario Guerrero. “We’ll camp near his cabin and visit one of Jalisco’s most dramatic miradores (lookouts).”

If you’re interested in learning about any sort of outdoor activity from technical rock-climbing to bird watching, the place to go for training is Escuela para Actividades al Aire Libre Carbono-14, which offers 26 courses in outdoor skills, all of them certified by the Mexican Labor Secretariat.