Jim B.

Jim served in the US Navy Submarine Service from 1966 to 1974, then was a Quality Control Manager for 35 years in Northeast Texas before retiring to Mexico in 2009.

 Jim enjoys fishing, biking, and gardening. His other interest includes Mexican history and he participates in the exploration of old haciendas with the Cazadores de Haciendas group.

Lynne

Lynne arrived at Lakeside full-time, from Vancouver, Canada in March 2005 and started hiking with a few women on Fridays that fall. They became familiar with the lower level hikes, and as they gained confidence started exploring other trails, working their way up to the Three Crosses and the Oak Forest.  That original women’s group eventually became co-ed and evolved into the current Friday Hiking Group.  Since then, Lynne has hiked the Chupinaya, Mount Garcia, and Viejo trails with her favourite hikes being the Oak Forest to Ixtlahuacan and the WOW Point trails above the Racquet Club. Lynne enjoys the exercise that hiking provides and the camaraderie of her fellow hikers.

While Lynne never hiked in Canada she has hiked in other countries while on vacation which includes Nepal, Morrocco, Bolivia and Peru, Vietnam, England and Wales, Australia, New Zealand, China, Mongolia, Patagonia and the Lakes District in Argentina/Chile, the Camino de Santiago Portuguese route, the Cinque Terres area in Italy, the National Parks in Croatia, the Julian Alps in Slovenia and the Grand Canyon.

Doug and Amber

Doug moved to Ajijic in 2009 and has lived here ever since.  Doug says “retirement agrees with me, I’m in my 70’s and I feel I am the most fit I have ever been in my life.”  When people ask Doug what day of the week it is he replies “hell I’m retired, I don’t even know what month it is.”  “We are living in paradise here.”

Doug never hiked before coming to Mexico and Ajijic is the only place he has ever hiked.  Doug has been hiking with the Ajijic Hiking Group for almost five years now and considers himself more than passingly familiar with just about any trail that can be reached walking from the hiking groups meeting location at Dona’s on the Carretera. Fellow hikers Lynne, Laura and Larry have been instrumental in his trail education. Doug keeps a database of hiking waypoints and can tell you the distance, elevation gain, and elapsed time for just about any local hike you can describe. Doug is active in trail maintenance and always carries a saw with him on the hikes, he uses it readily to ensure the trails are maintained for everyone’s use.

Wherever you see Doug, Amber isn’t far behind.  She is an enthusiastic hiker who loves to blaze the trail. She is a bright girl and knows whenever there is a fork in the path to wait there for Doug to be sure she takes the right route.  Amber hikes with Doug four to five days a week and probably knows the trails just as well as he does.

Larry

Larry is not only one of our dedicated hiking leaders but he is an adventurer. If there is a possibility to explore or create a new trail, Larry proclaims “it’s doable.”   He turns on his GPS so he can track the new trail, pulls out his trusty sheers and starts trimming the brush.  For any hikers who were lucky enough to hike with Larry on one of those days, they would have had an for an off the beaten path adventure for sure.

By Larry’s side is Levi.  He’s a strong steady hiker and if he’s not up ahead blazing the path you might find him off exploring the woods closeby.  I’m not sure who inspires who more, Levi or Larry.

Gary and Madi

Gary is dedicated to newcomers to lakeside and first-time hikers. He is caring, understanding and generous with his time. He ensures that all first-time hikers are comfortable making their way along the hiking trail and that no one gets left behind.  Garry has a wealth of information and keeps all those in his group informed about the hiking path and areas history and points of interest.

Every hiking day Garry picks up Madi from a former hiker (who can no longer hike) and brings her along. Madi loves to hike and Garry ensures she is with us every step of the way.  You will find Madi up ahead of the group and if she’s not ahead of you she will almost certainly have found a pool of water to splash around in.

Jim C.

Jim has been hiking in the mountains around Lake Chapala for the last 10 years, as well as other areas within 2-3 hours drive of Ajijic. As a hike leader, he likes to point out the natural, cultural, and historical features encountered along the way to people who may be new to the area.

Jim retired after 30 years of work as a union and community organizer. He and his wife Carole moved from Oregon to Ajijic in 2007. During that time, they have visited many of Mexico’s colonial cities and ancient pre-Hispanic ruins. They chronicle their experiences, including hiking adventures in their photo journal blog called Jim and Carole’s Mexico Adventure.

Ed

Ed has been coming to Mexico for over ten years, originally to San Miguel de Allende and more recently to Ajijic.  Walking around town and hiking in the hills has been a major source of fun in both areas, as it is in his northern home in Victoria, Canada.  Even when he was an office manager in his working days, he liked being outside the most at his home in the country.

Ed now concentrates his efforts on the shorter hikes with the Ajijic Hiking Group. This level of activity helps newcomers get oriented to the local trails and altitude. It helps Ed get his exercise and have good conversations with interesting new friends.

Brett

Brett was born and raised in Miami, Florida and lived there for fifty-five years. He graduated from Barry University with a B.S. in Business and spent his adult working career at BellSouth, WorldCom, Quest, Washington Mutual Bank & Country Wide Bank and for a time in the Real Estate profession. Brett moved to Mexico in 2016 and is happily retired. He was and is still a lifetime aficionado who has run five marathons, over fifty ten kilometer road races and enjoys many other outdoor activities such as scuba diving, golf, archery, and bicycle riding.  Brett’s current passion is hiking the mountains above Ajijic and enjoys leading the intermediate hikes and occasionally the beginner and advanced hikes as well. 

Ernie

Ernesta AKA Ernie is originally from London, Ontario and has been living in Ajijic for 8 years now. She has been hiking ever since she moved here and is proud to help out leading hikes with the Ajijic Hiking Group. It’s a nice way to pay it forward for all the years she’s been hiking in the group.

Jutta

Jutta has been hiking the mountains for several years above Lake Chapala.  She enjoys the challenge and the outdoors and has great respect for all things natural. Jutta leads several Intermediate hikes that include day log hikes.

Jutta loves to paint and is quite good at it.  One of our hiking group patches is an impression of one of her paintings.

Ron

Ron is from British Columbia. His wife and he are winter snowbirds, attracted by the hiking opportunities here in Ajijic and have been involved with AHG since 2015. Ros has been hiking all of his life including many miles on long-distance trips. His other hobby is playing music.

Queen

Queen, was born and raised in Detroit, MI and lived 11 years in Las Vegas, NV. and 4 years in Atlanta, GA before retiring
from a 27-year career in education.

She hiked for the first time in her life two weeks after arriving in Lakeside area December 2017. Queen fell in love with the Mexican mountains and the
hiking community. She has often exclaimed, “I think hikers are
some of the coolest people on the planet.”
On the days that she leads the short hike to the Waterfall you can hear telling eager hikers, “We’re going up that mountain,
and we’re coming down.”

Queen is an international author, blogger and creator of the Considerations.

Rick

 After living in Panama and Costa Rica for 20 years Rick moved Lakeside about a year and a half ago. He loves it here as life is so much easier.

David