Mexican Thanksgiving

After a lot of planning and fretting, it was finally the day before our departure. Mariel showed up early in the afternoon and we went through gear, using the list I had built and shared, and revised multiple times (and she had begun to ignore... coming as it was from her obsessive dad).

Then in a last minute web search of trip reports, I found plane tickets that depressed me. They were far, far superior to those I had already purchased- check out kayak.com. I didn't even mind that ours were more expensive; these new ones offered a much shorter flight time, fewer connections, and better schedule. Oh well- we were locked and loaded.

Note that the schedule we ended up with was a bit different than what we planned. I explain the changes on the report for that day.

Izta

Pico de Orizaba

Our peaks sit just outside Mexico City, with Itza about 40 miles away as the crow flies (and two hours as the bus crawls). You can see all three peaks, Itza, Popo, and Pico de Orizaba, from the airplane on the final approach to the Mexico City airport (if you look before the pollution gets too thick).

The climbing season is generally December to March. We chose this week because it fit in my school schedule. Early in the season probably provides better snow conditions, later provides better weather. If I had a choice, I would also try to climb during a full moon (we had almost a new moon). Summer is the rainy season.

Our actual schedule:

• 21st: fly to Mexico City
• 22nd:bus to Amecameca, taxi to Altzomoni Lodge (13k)
• 23rd: climb Izta, taxi to Amecameca, bus to Puebla
• 24th: bus to Tlachichuca
• 25th: drive to Piedra Grande hut (14k), acclimate
• 26th: climb Pico de Orizaba, drive back to Tlachichuca
• 27th: bus to Mexico City
• 28th: fly home