The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Another side of Mexico – Part 1: The Volcanoes

Completely apart from and high above its popular beach destinations of Cabo, Cancun, and Cozumel, there is a side to Mexico that few foreigners experience.  In the Central Highlands, south of Mexico City, excellent hiking and climbing opportunities may be found amidst the ice and snow of its volcanoes, including the 3rd highest peak in North America.

Our Hauser Exkursionen group consisted of nine German clients, a German leader, a handful of local guides, and The Vagabond Hiker.  That alone provided quite a cultural experience.  All were simpatico, however, and most all spoke excellent English, or at least vastly better English than my vague remembrances of schoolboy German.

We started out with the easy and accessible (and therefore popular) ascent of Volcan Ajusco, which at 12,900 ft. overlooks Mexico City from the south.  While Ajusco gave some nice views of the city, our itinerary quickly became more interesting with the climb of Nevada Toluca (15,390 ft), Mexico’s 4th highest peak, which provided a great scramble along the crater ridge to the high point.  Several German proved their mettle with this short but challenging climb.  The next objective of our group was Mexico’s 3rd highest peak, Iztaccihuatl (17,260 ft), known locally as Ixta to facilitate pronunciation.  This peak was the most difficult we attempted as it involved an alpine (pre-dawn) start, one mile of vertical ascent, high elevation, and some snow.  Only four of us, myself included, reached the summit.

As a respite from the more challenging climbs, we next hiked up Mexico’s 5th highest peak, Malinche (14,640 ft), which featured masses of locals on their private version of the pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.  This pilgrimage, likely the largest in the western hemisphere, culminated the following day when millions converged for her feast day.  Finally we tackled Mexico’s highest volcano, Pico de Orizaba, at 18,490 ft the 3rd highest peak in North America.  We spent the pre-summit night at the high camp after more than an hour crawling along a rough 4wd drive road in our ancient Jeeps.  With another alpine start at 2 AM, we climbed up to the 30-degree snow slope of the Glaciar de Jamapa and then traced a route up the glacier and around the crater rim to the actual summit.  With better acclimatization, eight of us reached the top with its splendid early morning views across to the Gulf of Mexico.

View North to Mexico City from Ajusco trail. At around 25 million inhabitants, the greater metropolitan area of Mexico City is the largest in the Western hemisphere.
Volcan Toluca ascent route (l) with Laguna del Sol.
Part of the Hauser team scrambling on Toluca summit ridge.
Detail of ice formations on the Toluca summit ridge
Lagunas del Sol (l) and del Luna from Toluca summit ridge.
Amecameca hotel balcony view with Ixtaccihuatl in the background.
Christoph (l) and Detlef on Ixta summit with Popo behind. Due to volcanic activity, it is forbidden to climb Popocatépetl, Mexico’s 2nd highest volcano.
The Vagabond Hiker on Ixta’s summit, again with Popo in the background.
Some of the Hauser team climbing back up to the “knee” on descent of Ixta.
The Vagabond Hiker (r) with Christoph hiking up Volcan Malinche.
Stuck on the Pico Orizaba 4wd route to high camp (photo courtesy of Tim Steinmetz).
Orizaba view at dawn (Tim Steinmetz).
Sunrise on the summit caldera Pico de Orizaba (18,490 ft).
The Vagabond Hiker on the summit of Pico Orizaba with the mountain’s dawn shadow behind.
Looking back up the Glaciar de Jamapa to the summit of Pico de Orizaba with several climbers descending (right).
On our final descent route of Pico de Orizaba with high camp in the center of the photo.

Apart from the excellent hiking and climbing, a key attraction of this trip for me was all the extra time we had for exploration of Mexico’s cultural treasures in the Central Highlands, including the incredible pyramids at Teotihuacan and the attractive colonial cities of Taxco and Puebla.  Part 2 of Another Side of Mexico will highlight two of these attractions…

The Vagabond Hiker

Coachella Valley Preserve

Leaving St George on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I headed to the Coachella Valley to escape the upcoming cold snap sweeping in from the Pacific.  I had not stayed at Gail’s place in Palm Desert for several years, but it still offers the best value in the area.  Indeed, her private casita (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/84061) with a full kitchen, small pool and numerous pets (dogs, cats, chickens, ducks) was the first place I had stayed back in 2011 using Airbnb.  I can highly recommend it, though book early for the winter high season.

Hiking in the desert around Palm Springs is a wonderful way to de-stress after the frenzy of condensing all one’s belongings into a 5×15 foot storage unit.  I spent four days exploring some nearby canyons, hiking the Panorama Loop trail in Joshua Tree National Park, one of my favorites with its view of San Jacinto Mountain, and discovering the gem known as the Coachella Valley Preserve (https://coachellavalleypreserve.org/)

Mt San Jacinto (10,834 ft) from the Panorama Loop high point, Joshua Tree National Park

Located in the Indio Hills to the east of the busy I-10 artery, the preserve is centered on a seep from the San Andreas fault in southern California.  This seep provides a rare riparian habitat in one of the driest areas of the United States.  Several oases of California fan palms — the only palm tree native to California — provide habitat for desert-dwelling birds, mammals, and the endemic and endangered Coachella Valley fringed-toed lizard. Hiking on boardwalks through two of these oases and then up to the summit of a local hill provided a great overview of what this preserve has to offer, though numerous other trails were left unexplored for a future visit.

The McCallum Grove, spring-fed from a fault seep. The dunes in the foreground provide habitat for the endemic Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard, threatened by proposed developments.
California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) in McCallum Grove, one of several oases in the Coachella Valley Preserve
The endangered Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard. Much of the Preserve is out of bounds to hikers, hence this stock photo.

The Vagabond Hiker

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