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| Hiking | 6.21 Miles |
2,614 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.21 Miles | 7 Hrs 35 Mns | | 0.94 mph |
| 2,614 ft AEG | 58 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I had a conference in Mexico City. First time there. When I realized that there were volcanoes in the vicinity, I did some nominal research and was surprised to find a couple of nearly 18,000 foot peaks "just" outside of town (okay, about 35 miles east of the city).
The higher peak, Popocatepetl ("Popo") (17,883 ft.), is an active volcano, erupting most recently in 1996 and killing 5 climbers who ignored closure orders. The neighboring/lower peak, Iztaccihuatl ("Izta") (17,343 ft.) is not active and open to climbing.
Popo was emitting water vapor on the day we climbed Izta, making for some good photo ops.
Coming from Phoenix and not having any real chance to acclimatize, we were hesitant to sign up for a full summit attempt, but we instead opted for a climb on the "portillo" route to the shelter/refuge that sits around 15,400 feet--which was still well above our previous altitude record.
The hike itself is not long, distance-wise (6 miles), but it starts at around 13,000 feet, so this hike is all about the altitude. And gaining 2600 feet from that starting point, over 3 miles is relatively steep as well.
No guide is required, though there is a park entrance fee. We opted for a guide, because we didn't have the bandwidth to navigate the logistics (not to mention the driving)!
Our guide was a German, who had married a Mexican and decided to stay in Mexico. We were joined by one other gal from Canada, who plans her trips around destination marathons (which she had run the week before in Cancun).
The drive takes you out through the town of Amecameca and then begins to climb up into the mountains, with scenic fir/pine forests. Eventually, we arrived at the Park visitors center, which sits in between the two mountains with nice views of each. The visitor center has a nice model of the volcanoes with interpretive signs.
After a short pitstop, it was then on to a rough dirt road (though passable without 4WD, when dry) for another 40 minutes or so to the trailhead at La Joya, which along with La Joyita just up the road, are often used as staging areas for overnight hikers who generally begin hiking around midnight for a summit attempt.
We got on the trail around 9:30 or 10 am. The altitude was certainly felt as soon as we reach the first steep climb. But we took it slow. And while we were a little concerned about being the weakest link with our marathon-running Canadian on board (my wife had never been higher than 14,000, and my highest hike was Mt. Whitney at 14,500), it turned out that the marathoner struggled more than we did. That said, thankfully, she was able to persevere and had a good attitude throughout, allowing us to reach our desired goal on the day.
The portillo route is so-named for "doorways" that mark points where the trail crosses over the ridgeline from one side to the other. There were 4 portillos, each offering nice and different views of the surrounding area.
The day was quite clear at altitude, though haze still obscured Mexico City on the east side and Puebla on the west side at the lower levels.
The hardest climb was between the 3rd and 4th Portillo, not only because of the altitude, but the trail gets steep there. The refuge/hut is not far beyond the 4th Portillo, and actually requires a brief descent.
On the way back to the 4th Portillo, we took a slight side trip to an overlook that provides the panoramic vista on the day.
The hike back was uneventful and we all were happy to be feeling relatively good. We stopped for some mandatory tacos on the way back down the mountain, and made it back to town (with traffic) around 9:30 pm.
A thoroughly enjoyable hike, if you are in the area. Next time, we'll venture further up! |
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