Mexico Peak Bagging

All three of us reached our altitude PR the first day we were in Mexico, a good sign of things to come. We left Denver on Friday night to try and maximize time for peaks. We flew to LAX which is the worst airport I’ve been to yet. Although lugging our bags from one terminal to the next was a good warm up. Our flights were changed and we were unable to get LAX-Mexico City direct flight we had planned on. Instead we had to stop at a small town north of the city and switch planes. It was a long night of traveling. We finally got to the airport and got our rental car, which was a Ford Eco-Sport, an Escape style SUV.

Leaving the airport as fast as we could, we headed west towards the town of Toluca, and our first objective of the trip. We didn’t drive there in a straight line, but more of a “scenic route”, a trend that would continue over the next several days. None of us are fluent in Spanish, but thankfully Ethan new enough to get us around, with Dave and I left with brief greetings and smiles. Figuring out streets and highways were a challenge.

Sometime later on Saturday we made it to the crater at Nevado de Toluca, our starting point for the climb. The road was a little rough, but nothing to keep a couple hundred Mexicans from driving up to the lake to have picnics and play soccer at ~14,000’. We picked our way up a ridge from the crater, and followed it to the summit (15,390’), running into Mark Burgus and crew. We avoided the popular scree gullies that were full of people until the descent. I was feeling a little short of breath at times, and I got a little weak at the summit, but the happiness of making our first summit helped me get through it. We considered running the ridge around the crater, a fun looking scramble at 15,000’ but with my energy level far from ideal, I wasn’t up for it. Maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t slept more then an hour in the last 30+. Dave and Ethan seemed to be doing fine, however. Making the quick scree descent, we passed old ladies wearing sandals on their way up. It was a bit humbling. Getting back to the car I started to feel pretty nauseous, and we decided to head down instead of finding a place to camp. I ate a little food and started to feel better as we dropped elevation. We stopped in Toluca to find some white gas, which we did at a paint store, and continued on towards our next objective, La Malinche, which was on the other side of Mexico City, ugh.

I was able to get a little nap here and there as Ethan drove us back through Mexico City like a trooper. We ended up spending about an hour driving in circles on the east side of the city at night trying to find the damn road to Texcoco ( we would grow to hate this town). Of course by the time we got to Texcoco, they were having a Carnival, which apparently everyone in town attends. It was crazy. Two lane roads turned into five lanes, people were driving the wrong way on the opposite shoulder. It took us forever to get through the maze. I think we finally rolled into La Malinche NP around 2am. This was one of the longest days ever. We found a spot to camp in the park, a little ways from the partying campers near the TH (10,000’). Fortunately I brought ear plugs and fell asleep immediately.

Refusing to set the alarm, we awoke around 9:30am and broke camp. We headed to the TH, where we nervously left our SUV full of gear and headed up around 10:45am. It felt great to be back on the trail. We all traveled light, myself in trail runners with a camel back. The trail follows a closed road that switchbacks for a couple miles, which we cut through on a dirt trail. It was here that we got our first real taste of the garbage problem. Lots of trash just dropped along the trail. One person even decided to relieve themselves right on the trail. After the road ends, the trail climbs steeply to reach timberline, no switchbacks in sight. It was very dusty, we wished we had masks on. Eventually we reached treeline and got some good views of La Malinche. I was pleased to be feeling better then the day before’s climb. Dave and I took a slow steady pace up to the summit, as Ethan floated to the top. La Malinche (14,640’) had a nice rocky summit, too bad it was covered with trash and spray paint. The views could have been better as the air pollution really cuts down on visibility. This was expected though, and didnt dampen our spirits, 2^nd summit down! We returned to the TH around 3:30pm.

From La Malinche NP, we made our way to Izta-Popo NP by way of Cholula.. We used RJ Secors guidebook for much of the navigating and found it to be very helpful, but far from foolproof. On hindsight I would have invested on a detailed road map of Mexico City and the surrounding area, as our map left us guessing many times. There was an unlocked gate at the entrance to the road towards La Joya and Izta, and we headed up to the empty parking lot (~13,000’). We found a place for the tent, ate some backpacking meals and hit the sack around late:thirty. I’m not sure what happened then, but I had the worst night I can remember. Sleep was out of the question as I tossed and turned in my bag. I had shivering fits and shortness of breath. It was all I could do to look at my watch and wait for the early wake up call. I think I festered around in my bag for about 4-5 hours. When Dave and Ethan finally awoke, I explained my situation. Dave had his altitude sickness book with him, and we did some diagnostic stuff to see if I had AMS. I did sobriety like tests on myself, and everything was coming up negative. WTF? I decided to pack up my bag and start hiking anyway thinking maybe movement would make me feel better. Well it didn’t, and I made it from the parking lot to the TH sign before I told the guys I couldn’t go any further. I was mentally exhausted. I felt really bad for making them turn around. They were great though, and told me it wasn’t a big deal. We headed towards one of our back up plans: Sierra Negra

Looking back now, i’m not sure what caused my problems. I had some strange symptoms before I left Denver the week before that I attributed to panic attacks, which were very uncomfortable and a first for me. I can only describe them as bad adrenaline rushes, but they would happen when I was just sitting there. I had hoped it wouldn’t cause me problems on the trip, as I was really determined not to miss this trip. On our way back to exit the park, the gate we had gone through earlier was now locked, trapping us in. Luckily there was an employee stationed in the nearby visitors center, we gave him some cash and he opened the gate for us.

During the drive to Sierra Negra I was able to get some much needed rest as I hadn’t slept a wink the night before. We drove, then drove some more through towns I don’t remember the names of. I was glad do be doing the easiest summit of our trip, as we just had to climb a switchback road to the summit, maybe around 2,000’. I was far from the top of my game, but it felt good to be out moving in the cool air. The walk was uneventful and offered some nice views of the dry side of Pico de Orizaba. Needless to say, I was feeling a bit apprehensive about the climb that lay ahead. Topping out on Sierra Negra (15,354’) we were greeted by a massive telescope under construction, which is now guarded by electrified barbed wire. Discussions with some workers at the gate were unsuccessful at granting us access to the true summit. We were all a little annoyed, but what can you do? We all decided that it was “close enough”. We strolled back down to our vehicle, where we continued on with our journey over to Tlachichuca to arrange for a place to stay in preparation for our Orizaba climb.

After some perusing in the guidebook, and emails on the blackberry, we were able to find Senor Reyes’ compound “Servimont” in Tlachichuca. It was all part of the adventure so I wont go into details! Entering Reyes place was a very welcoming feeling after living out of our SUV over the last few days. We were quite dirty and in need of a shower and a decent nights rest. This didn’t go unnoticed as it provided Senor Reyes with some amusement. Servimont was great, good food, hot showers and comfy bunks, what more could you ask for in a small foreign town? I think sleeping in a bed at 9,000’ really did my mind and body well as I felt refreshed the next day. After a delicious breakfast, we used the ample space available in the bunkhouse to sort out or gear for the climb. After some discussion with Senor Reyes we decided to leave all the technical gear except axes and crampons at the lodge. We loaded up the truck and began the long ride to Piedra Grande (13,900’).

Initially we had planned on sleeping in a tent somewhere away from the hut to hopefully get a better nights rest, but when we arrived at the hut, there were only a few people using it, so we elected to stay. There was plenty of room, as the three of us had a bunk to ourselves (6 in total). We spent the afternoon hanging around the hut and taking pictures, and I even used the outhouse (beware of flying teepee). After some gear sorting and dinner we hit the sack around 6pm. Unfortunately another large group of people had come up in the meantime, and where now getting ready to fix there meals. They eventually went to bed at 9pm so it wasn’t too bad (again, earplugs). I actually slept pretty well this time, minus a couple pee trips from overhydrating. At 1:30a our alarms went off and we were up and out of the hut in no time. We were all pumped to get going on the climb. The trail is easy to follow up to the sarcofago. Description from Summit Post:

“The first couple thousand feet of the climb is on a rough trail. The trail starts out near the hut, follows the aqueduct, then climbs further up the ravine. Although it begins well-marked, the trail becomes a network of winding social trails further up. At night this is confusing but climbers should be okay as long as they continue upward without doing something stupid like accidentally climbing the sarcofago.”

Well, we had some issues once we got to the base of the sarcofago. I was pretty sure we had to be left, but we didn’t come to a consensus and just kept heading up. Before we new it we were on some steep scree and snow, exerting a lot of energy. At this point I was sure we were off route, but up Ethan went. I just muttered a few swear words and kept going, upset that I was having to work this hard while every step being a new altitude record. I felt if we had to back track that the extra elevation gain would potentially keep us from summiting. We came up to a headwall below the sarcafago and found a ledge to make an ascending traverse on steep snow. It wasn’t ideal, but it was our best option besides heading down 1,000’. We let Ethan go ahead and check things out so everyone didn’t have to waste energy and he seemed to have plenty to spare. After awhile he yelled down that it looked OK, so Dave and I began putting on crampons as the snow was rock hard. Then as if we needed more stress, Dave’s crampons came apart while he tried to frontpoint. Im not sure of the model he had, but they were of the adjustable strap on variety. After about thirty minutes we got them repaired. Off we went on the ledge, “this better f******g get us to the glacier” I said to myself. After some exciting steep snow climbing at ~16,000’ we were granted access to the normal route and the base of the glacier, phew. Words were exchanged, and we continued upward.

My attitude improved 100% after I was on the glacier and knew we had a straightforward climb ahead of us. I got back into the rhythm of climbing and slowly kickstepped my way up the snowfield while the sun started to come up. Ethan slowly pulled away from Dave and I as we soaked it all in. Watching the sun rise from 17,500’ on the glacier was an amazing experience. I started to think we would pull this off. We just kept kicking away, slowly, 18,000’, woo hoo! Snow gave way to rock, and we were at the crater! A short hike from there and we stood on the 3^rd highest peak in North America. I felt alive! We were the first group to summit that day, with another group coming up shortly after us from the dry side. The weather was actually quite pleasant and we hung out for about 30 minutes. The descent was uneventful, following the correct route back to the hut. 11 hours after we left the hut we were back at the hut and flip flops! It was a good finish to a tiring day.

Back to Senor Reyes place and another hot shower and my first beer in Mexico. We talked briefly about staying another night, but decided to go snag Cofre de Perote (14,049’) while we were in the area. Given our goal to climb the high ones in Mexico, it was the only peak left in the area and a return trip would be out of the way. So off we went towards the town of Perote! We got some strange looks as we shopped for groceries in this town, probably not a lot of gringos passing through. However, everyone was very friendly and we even got some directions to the road we needed to find. Cofre de Perote is heavily used by a TV company and is covered with antennas and the works. But it’s a 14er so……

We drove up the cobblestone road in our abused Eco-Sport until we felt it prudent for the next days climb (~12,500’). Nice views of the town from our camp at a switchback. We hit the sack and slept soundly until we woke on our own. The next day it was a nice stroll along the road towards treeline, where we came across this cool staircase along a rock wall. We could have just followed the road to the summit, but the staircase looked intriguing so up we went. It was a cool route to the base of the cliff band and antenna mayhem. I had flashbacks of Sierra Negra as we walked past the barking dogs and barbed wire. An employee of the cable company came out in his pickup and we chatted with him briefly. Apparently he didn’t care as we made our way up the man made staircase towards the summit. The crux of the climb was not touching any electrical wires. Im not to sure OSHA would have approved. From the summit we had excellent views of Cofre’s sub summit and Orizaba beyond. Of course we had to head over there as well. The traverse to the subsummit was fun along a drop off ridge and easy scrambling. We were rewarded with better views of Orizaba from here. A quick trip down the road brought us back to the car. One of the main goals for Dave on this trip was to check out the Pyramids at Teotiuhacan, so back on the road again.

We made it to the pyramids about 1.5 hours before closing, so we did a little express tour. I love exploring ruins as well, so this was a nice side trip. Back in the car, headed back towards Izta base camp. As usual we had to make a few impromptu turns to stay on route. Normally we would wait for a returno (u turn) to turn around when we got off route, but this time Ethan decided to go across the median. It didn’t look too bad, and could easily be done in any vehicle with decent clearance. So we go for it and CRUNCH, eww that didn’t sound good. Oh well it’s a rental. But then the oil light comes on, “uh oh” I said as we must have hit the oil pan. We pull over and jump out and look under the car to see oil spewing on the ground. Apparently Ford thought it was a good idea to put the oil filter in a very unprotected location, and we managed to break the thing off. I jumped back in and we high tailed it to the next exit, which to our momentous good fortune had a gas station. I shudder to think how this could have happened high on the slopes of Izta or some other dirt road in the middle of nowhere. I held my tongue on this one, as Ethan drove the entire trip and I didnt want to be in his shoes. Thanks mon! So we pull into the station just as the engine dies, probably seized up from no oil! We had full insurance so we called Avis and they deliver us a nice Camry in about 3 hours ( could have been worse) We manage to fit all our crap into it, and continue on towards Izta-Popo NP. Thankfully this was a well maintained road so we no longer needed the clearance of the SUV.

Back to the gate again, this time it was locked, so we spent the night there. This prevented us from getting an alpine start, but I was glad to be sleeping a bit lower. I think we finally got the guy to open the gate at Paso de Cortez around 8am or so and made or way to La Joya and the TH(13,000’). There was only one other car at the lot. We geared up quickly and began the ascent. We were all feeling strong and made pretty quick work of the lower route. We had excellent views of Popo on the way up, and it was smoking. The trail was easy to follow and we reached the hut in a couple of hours. This hut was kind of a dump and I glad we were making it a day trip. After the hut the trail steepens dramatically up loose tedious scree. This started slow my pace a bit. Up we went, and up, and up some more. Eventually we made it to the belly glacier. I hadn’t done a lot of research on the peak, and the many false summits really started to take there toll mentally. By the time we finally reached the summit, (17,159’) I was totally spent. I took a seat and tried to choke down some food. Unfortunately the clouds were rolling in pretty good at this point so we didn’t have much of a view. This was OK though as I wasn’t in the mood for hanging out, I was getting pretty weak and needed to head down asap. Once we got past the knees I felt better knowing it would be mostly downhill. My toes started to jam into the front of my boots, but I didn’t want to stop to take them off. We were still about 45 minutes from the TH when it began to hail. That combined with some lightning that was a little close for comfort had us running down the trail, something my knees were not happy about. Thankfully the storm moved away from us and we made it back to the car unscathed, 9 hours roundtrip. Looking back up at Izta you could see the slopes covered in white, probably an inch or two of hail. This made for some slippery driving on our way back down the pass.

Driving back to Mexico City, we were all high from the weeks experiences and knowing that we had climbed more peaks then we’d planned on. It was a very successful trip. We even had an extra day to check out the city which was a must. I used some frequent stay points and got us a room in the Holiday Inn at Zocalo. It had great views of the Zocalo and the city from the rooftop restaurant. We got some strange looks lugging all our gear through the hotel. The next day Ethan wasn’t feeling well, so Dave and I spent the day at the amazing Museo Nacional de Antropologia and the Frida Kahlo Museum. Sunday we left the hotel early and headed through the empty streets to the airport. A direct flight to Denver was a nice way to top off an amazing week of climbing in Mexico!