It should be apparent by now that I have a fondness for Mexico. And it's not only because I met my wife there after scaling Iztaccihuatl (17,342 ft.), one of the three major high altitude volcanoes in Central Mexico, with my bare hands. Pico de Orizaba (18,405 ft) and Popocatepl (17,887 ft) being the two others (yes I know I use passive voice) which I did not scale with my bare hands. An article today from the Environment News Service reminded me of my sad and short climbing career and pointed out that Mexico is the fourth richest country in diversity of species and the second richest in ecosystems worldwide and has recently become the first Latin American country to set aside a wilderness area. According to the article:

The new El Carmen Wilderness Area located in northeastern Mexico is the first wilderness designation to be made in Latin America. The designation protects the Sierra del Carmen mountains that stand adjacent to the Big Bend National Park in Texas.

I spent over a month traveling through Mexico, from the arid northern deserts to the high altitude volcanoes to the jungles of Chiapas, and if I had more energy, I'd bore you with my monotonous travelogue. But tonight I shall spare you. So most American think two things when they think Mexico - Cancun and Corona. They are so wrong. And thank god that just after these rednecks think these thoughts, they run their Suburbans into the Hummers in front of them. Mexico's geographic and cultural diversity is unparalleled. Take it from me. I know these things. I have multiple degrees and spent many years being educated. For example, Copper Canyon in Northern Mexico is 3 times bigger than the "Grand Canyon". Read about it on our site or take an Outward Bound trip there yourself. Mexico. Beautiful country. Fabulous people. Good food. Visit.

Alaska is obviously the king when it comes to the outdoors. Backpacking, climbing, skiing, kayaking, hiking, oil pipelines, biking, you name it. But surfing? Hell yes, according to this article in the Jackson Hole Star Tribune via the AP about surfing in Alaska. This is probably old news for hard core surfers, but it's new to me. And I'm paid the big bucks to blog about this type of newsworthy stuff. Though you have to wonder what's left. Melting ice caps are causing some nice long breaks in Antarctica maybe? I thought this was a great quote from another article in the JuneauEmpire.com (login: takeoff password:youhoser):

"It's pretty similar (to surfing everywhere else), you just get your stuff ready and go," Dowell said. "But then when you are out on the line-up (waiting for a surf-able wave) and there is no one around, and a giant coho salmon jumps right by you. ... It was just amazing."

If you're bored with the nice warm waters in Mexico and the rest of the world, head on up. And don't forget to stop at the IcyWaves Surf Shop.

In case you missed it, and most of you probably did, Icer (a spray-on wax company) trucked in a couple of tons of snow into San Francisco and let a bunch of lucky kids rip it up on the Streets Of San Francisco Bullitt style. Best thing to happen to SF since Rice A Roni. Of course, the rich little socialites that call Pacific Heights their home whined like little babies according to the Chronicle, but good for Icer for pushing this through. Whether they'll get a chance again next year is doubtful.

Update: The Chron posted some great video of the event here.

"We are the canary in the mine, unfortunately, and the harbinger of what is yet to come for the rest of the world," said Patricia Cochran, executive director of the Anchorage-based Alaska Native Science Commission.

So I'm heading to bed at 2 a.m., depressed at having just written a blog entry about not having anything to blog about, when I remembered this little gem on gobal warming from Rueters today. So I fired up my computer at 2 a.m. to bring you this rant. OK, I realize we live in a Brave New World, but Aldous Huxley couldn't have written this stuff during his best dystopian wet dream. Lest we forget that we live in a faith based era. Where down is up and up is down. As the NY Times pointed out last year, the old era was "what we call the reality-based community,'' defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' So eskewing all fact in our new era, let me share this excerpt from the article above and we can embrace the faith together:

Sinking villages perched on thawing permafrost, an explosion of timber-chewing insect populations, record wildfires and shrinking sea ice are among the most obvious and jarring signs that Alaska is getting warmer as the global climate changes, scientists say.

Are you feeling the embrace? Permafrost melting? Pshaw! Who lives in Alaska anyway? What do scientists know? The earth has been heating and cooling for hundreds of millions of years. Just because we, as in the good old USA we, are the biggest consumers of raw materials in world history? What does that prove? The new faith based me says screw it. We know global warming isn't going to stop. Does anyone really think that we will be able to reverse, let alone stop what is obviously happening? Let the chips fall where they may. Throw your cold weather gear away like it was the Kyoto Accords. Mountaineering is done now that they're landing helicopters on the summit of Everest. Sell your skis and snowboards. Who can afford lift tickets anyway? The Alps are already melting away. The Himalayas are not far behind, as lakes fill to capacity with melting snow according to the BBC. Embrace the faith my brothers and sisters. Start learning to kitesurf or surf. Stock up on sun screen. Learn desert camping skills because it's going to be a scorcher baby. Buy real estate in the Yukon or NW Territories. Canada is the promised land I tell you. The surf will be amazing. The beaches pristine. And best of all, all the rednecks will be stuck at the border with no gas for their Suburbans. I feel the faith. Where's my board wax?

We have to believe there are people out there blogging about the outdoors. But we're having a hard time finding them. I mean really, after weeks of deliberation, the GetOutdoors Blog Editorial team has come up with a total of one semi-interesting blog entry, and it's about a trip that took place a year ago. All the blog search engines including Google and Technorati are worthless since people have figured out how to use them to advertise. I've said it before, but there really is a dearth of good outdoors blogs. I mean, Yosemiteblog is ok, but how many things can you read about Yosemite or about people getting lost or plunging to their deaths over falls? Or maybe I just can't find these damn blogs. Admittedly, the editorial team consists of myself and my 20 month old, so it is biased towards pictures of bears and has a short attention span. If you have tips for outdoors blogs we should check out, please share. I mean really, is it that hard to find an interesting outdoor blog.? Isn't an hour long enough to look? One entry? One measly little blog entry? I dare you to find something better than this entry below:

Grave Lake Loop - Wind River Mountains: I had no idea where this was until I looked it up on Google. That internet sure comes in handy. Thanks Al. Anyway this blogger took a 3-day trip and posted his pictures here....a year later. Or does last summer, mean the summer that just ended? I'm confused. See what I mean about good blogs? Nevertheless, the Wind River Range stretches more than 100 miles in western Wyoming and contains 35 named peaks over 13,000 feet in elevation. Find out more about Wind River Mountains here.

Seriously, if you want to blog and you can write as well as us, which ain't hard, let us know. Info at getoutdoors.com.

I don't quite get it. Don't get me wrong, I like to hike fast, but if your whole goal is to get your total backpack weight down under 4 lbs, why take a pack at all? In fact, why not just take up ultra marathon running and run all your backpack trips in a day? Then you're back home ready for your steak dinner and a nice sleep in a warm bed. That being said, BackpackingLight.com has a comprehensive gear checklist of all the things you need to take on your first "ultra-light" trip. You can find the ultralight backpack gear list here. Calculated to the ounce. Weird people. Really. Can you imagine going on a trip with one of these guys? "Psst, dude, how many ounces that spoon weigh?" "Mine's titanium. 1.2 ounces." "Man, this 6 lb. pack is killing me." I could go one for pages. Anyway, they also recently gave out their "awards" for best light gear. The NewsTribune printed the awards here. The award winners were:

The two-person, 35-ounce TarpTent Squall 2 ($190) won for best single-wall shelter. The 23-ounce Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo E ($235) won for best solo tent.

The 13-ounce GoLite Momentum Jacket ($250) won for best soft-shell apparel. The 5.5-ounce Western Mountaineering Flight Vest ($150) won for best insulating apparel.

The collapsible Platypus Bottles by Cascade Designs ($4.95) won for best hydration accessory. The McNett Aqua Mira ($12) won for best water treatment technology. And the 3.4-ounce Garmin Geko 301 ($230) won for best navigation device.

What does Arthur Frommer know about National Parks? Probably very little. But his staff must, since they put together a pretty good list of fall hikes in Point Reyes National Seashore, Bryce Canyon National Park, Shenandoah National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, White Sands National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park. Nothing in Alaska, but I guess you folks can just walk outside your door. As Art puts it:

When all is said and done, hiking provides the least expensive, healthiest and most rewarding vacations. Each of our state and national parks, forests and seashores has well-marked hiking trails whose total round-trip lengths range from 1 to 8 miles apiece -- easily done in a day.

Ahh, this is why he gets paid so much, and I get paid, well nothing. The thousands of of fan emails I get are payment enough. Thank you my loyal readers. All ten of you. And my mom. Read about fall hikes here.

The latest from the world outdoors.

Fatpacking Backpacking Vacations: Couldn't resist starting with this one. A few more months in front of the computer blogging and I'll be enrolling for sure. Read more here.

Rewilding North America: A team of U.S. biologists and conservationists is proposing a plan to restore giant wild mammals to North America, like those that roamed the continent during the Ice Age—mammoths, saber-toothed cats, and the extinct American cheetah, among others. Interesting theory. Read more about rewilding in this Slate article and this National Geographic article.

10,000 Elephants to Be Culled: Due to rapid population growth, thousands of elephants in world-famous Kruger National Park will most likely be culled. Unfortunately, this sounds like something that has to be done. Though, why not give them to the rewilders...Or....elephant steaks on the 4th...Mmmmm.

Grand Canyon river runners sickened; norovirus suspected: Northern Arizona authorities are trying to determine the source of tainted food that has sickened about 100 people on Colorado River tour boat trips during the past month. More here.

"Alex Lowe Peak" - A Mountain Honoring a Mountaineer: The US Board on Geographic Names has approved a proposal to bestow the name “Alex Lowe Peak” on a mountain in the Gallatin National Forest.

Three Days In Yosemite: Detailed itinerary of what to do if you've got three days to kill in Yosemite. Three day Yosemite itinerary here.

Fall Color Guide: Appalachian Trail Fall Foliage: A Hiker's Guide to Autumn's Peak Colors provides an overview of average dates of peak color along the A.T. Colors are just beginning to appear in the northern sections of the Trail, with earliest color in higher elevations.

Nepal’s Highways to Hell: As Maoist guerrillas battle security forces for control of strategic areas in this tiny kingdom in South Asia, traveling by road is becoming increasingly dangerous, fraught with blockades, ambushes, and mine explosions. Read about it here.

US slashes estimated recreational value of national forests 90%: A new evaluation by the Bush administration cuts the estimated value of recreation in national forests from $111 billion to $11 billion, leading some environmentalists to warn that the study could be used to justify increased logging.

Books About Yellowstone in 2005: A list of notable books about Yellowstone from the Billings Gazette here.

Since I spend most of my time in front of the computer I rarely get outdoors anymore so I have to thank Don for at least helping remember why I used to love it so much. His site contains over 4,000 panoramics from around North America. Everything from Yosemite to Baja is covered. Really this guy has a dream job. Explore the panoramic photos here.