DESTINATION La Malinche Volcano 1 Photoset
2013-12-26 | |
|
| | |
|
| Hike & Climb | 8.60 Miles |
3,839 AEG |
| | Hike & Climb | 8.60 Miles | | | |
| 3,839 ft AEG | | 46 LBS Pack | | |
|
|
| | |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | | The first of three high altitude climbs in central Mexico, La Malinche volcano (14,636ft) forms a beautiful background to the cities of Puebla, Tlaxcala and Apizaco....this last one being the last stop before heading out to the La Malintze National Park. My original plan was to do this climb as a day hike but on my way there i met a Czech couple also doing this climb and we decided to head up the trail about two miles from the trailhead. The weather conditions were okay, it was cloudy and cool but as we started heading up light rain started to fall, it then soon started to get stronger just before sunset. Being that darkness would soon come we decided to look for a suitable camping spot for our tents away from the trail and onlookers for added night time safety. Campsite elevation was 10,797ft, at this altitude rain poured on us almost the entire night with it stopping about two hours before sunrise. We started our push for the summit at a little after 7AM and quickly made our way up the well worn trail mixed with paved road up the dormant volcano. At about 1.5 hrs we reached a flat clearing in which was also the mountain's tree line and caught our first glimpse of a beautifully snow covered summit with some fast moving clouds moving across. That is when we decided to put on our gloves and head gear and continue our ascent towards the ridge line. From then on we pretty much opened our trail since we were the first climbers to reach that point after last night's snow. Despite having limited visibility most of our way up the wind was light and pleasant. During the last 20-30 minutes before reaching the summit the wind started picking up. At this point we reached the summit in which unfortunately did not have any visibility to enjoy, we then proceeded to take cover from the wind and have some snacks, stayed up there a little over thirty minutes before starting our descent. On our way down we encountered two Polish climbers making their way up, we later came to know they stopped their summit attempt due to worsening weather conditions. I think it is safe to say that only us three made summit on that day. Once we reached the flat area just above the tree line we saw many Mexican families and their kids that had come to enjoy a little bit of the quickly melting snow. We made it back to our camp site area, picked up our gear and made it back to the trailhead in which we had to wait for our little van turned into public transportation bus but in the meantime i enjoyed some awesome and well deserved tacos and quesadillas being freshly made by hand by this happy older lady. Our next stop was Cholula, a suburb of Puebla in which we spent the night and prepared our supplies for the next morning's journey to Paso de Cortes, the place of the Popocatepetl-Iztaccihuatl National Park, our second climb and first ultra high altitude mountain. |
|
Wildflowers Observation Isolated
|
|
| _____________________
| The world is my playground! |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
