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i have two weeks off for christmas and was thinking of hiking in mexico somewhere than finding a beach towards the end. i have no experience in mexico and probably am not in the right mind to go down there, but maybe someone can steer me in the right directions.
i heard of a hike in the baja over the mtn. to some beaches and a different on in a large caynon system.

anyone know the area

ran into a dude that said he did Copper canyon once, told me its about 4x bigger than the one here in AZ. no beach tho..
the only way to get into the "right mind" is to sample some of the finery near the Guadalahara Highlands in the neat little mountain town of Jalisco.
I would use a travel agent to get the scoop on what to eat, where to hike and if you need a guide. It sounds like a lifetime achievement type trip - and IMO often overlooked. Id love to make it but unlike some single people on this site who remain nameless, Josh I have a family ;)
bring me some tequila

Mexico is far, far less safe for travelers than it used to be. I would be careful to research which of the states are considered to be safer. You don't want to be stumbling around in the territory of one of the cartels.

There is a book by a guy who hiked with his burro down the length of Baja, also. Has neat photos, and some info.

My roommates and his buddies are from Nogales, from what they've said I would be traveling south of the border for any time soon

fairweather8588 wrote:My roommates and his buddies are from Nogales, from what they've said I would be traveling south of the border for any time soon

You mean you would, or you wouldn't? I'm assuming the latter. Nogie is another one of those places where there has been a lot of violence, murders, and so on. The various cartels are fighting each other.

I know that a lot of Canadians and other snowbirds are still wintering along the Sonoran coast of the Sea of Cortez. A lot of Americans are still traveling the highways to get to San Carlos and other scuba and vacation spots. However, the State Dept. has issued an alert due to the increased level of violence.

Oopsies, i meant to say that I would not go down there right now

No way, Jose. I have a lot of business contacts in Mexico, particularly the northern part, and they're all scared out of their minds. Those who can have sent their families to the U.S., and there's no way I would go to Mexico at this time save a few places like Cabo. This is not cops and robbers, rather, it is all-out war. Coked-up narcosoldiers are all over the place. It's not just in Nogales, Juarez, and Tijuana, either. The smaller towns and cities are basically owned by the cartels because they've gone to the law enforcement folks there and offered them plata o plomo: you take our silver or you take our lead. If you go hiking in northern Mexico you could run across something that someone doesn't want you to see, and then you're a dead gringo.

Just be very very careful, and I strongly suggest you consider an alternative north of the border.

well that changes my mind a bunch, what about the baja area, i know REI does a trip over there.

my next question would be i guess if the baja is the same trouble, where should i go with two week to do it ?

My wife was a teacher and we always had about 2 weeks off at the end of the year with the same dilemma.... where can we go where it's warm? If weather is not an issue, I'd head for Utah and all the great hiking areas ie Bryce, Zion, Escalante, Arches NP. BUT if you have the coin I'd go to Kauai!

Kauai fo' you, no boddah me, but da Big Island fo' me, brah!

It is cold and snowy up here right now. Maybe head further south - like Belize?

I have a suggestion that would include think about belize,you might also look at Surinam if your first thought is never heard of it ,thats the place to go.

i dunno about old Mexico, but I can direct you to some trails in New Mexico (its shinier!)
w/ 2 weeks off you could hike a large portion of the Grand Enchantment Trail (hailed by many as the most scenic trail in the southwest)
start at First Water t/h and hike as far as time allows. A window that large would likely get you across the state line and well on your way to the Silver City area where you could (dont know for sure) catch a flight to Phx .

JamesLyding wrote:No way, Jose. I have a lot of business contacts in Mexico, particularly the northern part, and they're all scared out of their minds. Those who can have sent their families to the U.S., and there's no way I would go to Mexico at this time save a few places like Cabo. This is not cops and robbers, rather, it is all-out war. Coked-up narcosoldiers are all over the place. It's not just in Nogales, Juarez, and Tijuana, either. The smaller towns and cities are basically owned by the cartels because they've gone to the law enforcement folks there and offered them plata o plomo: you take our silver or you take our lead. If you go hiking in northern Mexico you could run across something that someone doesn't want you to see, and then you're a dead gringo.

Just be very very careful, and I strongly suggest you consider an alternative north of the border.

Get ready for the "hot war" between these groups to spill over into Nogales, BTW...

Jeff MacE wrote:Get ready for the "hot war" between these groups to spill over into Nogales, BTW...

Don't think it hasn't already. I'm not sure about Nogales, but I know that some of the border towns in Texas have lots of murders and kidnappings related to this. Glenn Beck and Pat Gray talk about this a lot on their radio shows.

Josh, come to Ohio where it's safe. Man, I'm bored. I'd kill to be in Mexico right now.

Hoffmaster wrote: I'd kill to be in Mexico right now.

Pun intended?

Hoffmaster wrote:

Jeff MacE wrote:Get ready for the "hot war" between these groups to spill over into Nogales, BTW...

Don't think it hasn't already. I'm not sure about Nogales, but I know that some of the border towns in Texas have lots of murders and kidnappings related to this. Glenn Beck and Pat Gray talk about this a lot on their radio shows.

Josh, come to Ohio where it's safe. Man, I'm bored. I'd kill to be in Mexico right now.

No; it's going to escalate further...

fairweather8588 wrote:Pun intended?

No. I didn't even think about that. That's funny.

Jeff MacE wrote:No; it's going to escalate further...

Is this in reference to the first sentence of my previous reply? The syntax might not be coming across correctly.

i thought about ohio, but what is over there? ;) matt, did you know that steve and keely are climbing in chatanooga for two starting today, you should go find them.

i was thinking about the trip you did with liz, matt, it was in cal. and i think you needed a offroad vehical to get out there, where was that? i know that not very descriptive, but i am not sure other than it was in cali.

tewa, is the Grand Enchantment Trail flat, hard, busy, cold? i will look up some things but maybe you know already?