Thanksgiving in Mexico

I spent Thanksgiving 2010 in Mexico climbing volcanoes: Nevado de Toluca, a 15,300 ft volcano west of Mexico City; and Pico de Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico at 18, 491 feet. I went with friends AL, EW, CH, and JF. JF's son also accompanied us halfway up Toluca. What a fun way to spend Thanksgiving (sorry I missed out on family time Mom! :P). Here are quite a few pictures of the week we spent climbing:

In the parking lot of the trailhead for Nevado de Toluca

getting ready to start our hike to acclimatize (I didn't climb it in flip-flops,

just haven't gotten all the way ready in this picture yet)

looking back down the valley before starting our climb

1/3 of the way there, we descended into the volcano's crater,

which was home to 2 high mountain lakes

almost to the summit ridge

from the summit looking back down towards

the tiny lake below, where we'd just been

climbed a little spire on the way back down! way fun!

Helping ZF for a little bit-- man was he tired!

our basecamp in the maid's quarters of JF's house in Mexico city

got some sun....

after half a day of recovery and a late night Thanksgiving feast,

we took off again for our next objective, Pico de Orizaba, Mexico's highest.

Here we are getting our gear loaded up on the rusty old Landcruiser that would

take us to the Piedra Grande hut from Tlachichuca.

goofing off...

more loading....

more goofing off....

skip forward 18 hours and here is the summit. No pictures of the drive to the hut, our late night arrival, peeing in the dark all night outside the hut, mice in my duffel bag, the start of our climb through the labyrinth, etc... Lots of exertion & sweat lead up to this pic

the sky cleared up for a few minutes

EW on the summit

AL on the other side of the summit crater rim

back at the hut getting ready to head back to Tlachichuca

in heavy traffic on the way back to Mexico City

The next day, we went to the ruins/pyramids at Teotihuachan to cap the trip

EW, CH, AL on top of the pyramid

a dish called escamarole.... which translates in English as "ant larvae"

Honestly, it wasn't that bad...

AL enjoying some ant larvae

here's my truck in the SLC airport lot... covered in snow.... what a welcome back to America!

everything locked in snow and ice... winter arrived while we were gone!

This was a great trip with lots of memories. Viva Mexico!