Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Discussion area for peaks outside of the USA
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
Snowclimber
Posts: 49
Joined: 6/6/2011
14ers: 38 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by Snowclimber »

View into summit crater:

Image

My gear on Popo summit:

Image

Shall I continue?
User avatar
Matt Lemke
Posts: 775
Joined: 1/9/2011
14ers: 58  8 
13ers: 116 11
Trip Reports (13)
 
Contact:

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by Matt Lemke »

When I was there is was exploding and smoking the entire time lol
Lemke Climbs
The Pacific Coast to the Great Plains = My Playground
"Take risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping"
"When you come to face what you fear, let the creator guide you"
Snowclimber
Posts: 49
Joined: 6/6/2011
14ers: 38 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by Snowclimber »

Yeah, I didn't stay up there long since it was rather sulphurous. I wouldn't recommend tons of people start showing up there illegally, as I was investigated via a jeep party (who didn't leave their vehicle proximity to bother hiking uphill and finding me) and I could see a potentially seriously consequential crackdown if it became even slightly more common to do it, but I have to admit it was exhilarating. Folks can PM me if they have specific questions about doing Popo, but I can only recommend the most cautious of routes and methodologies.
Snowclimber
Posts: 49
Joined: 6/6/2011
14ers: 38 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by Snowclimber »

Matt Lemke wrote:When I was there is was exploding and smoking the entire time lol
Yeah, it was even smoking a lot when I was going up. But by the time I had topped the glacier, there was a calm spell. A big plume erupted once when I was near the top, so I just ran downhill a little to wait it out while the prevailing wind carried it towards Puebla.
User avatar
Scott P
Posts: 9438
Joined: 5/4/2005
14ers: 58  16 
13ers: 50 13
Trip Reports (16)
 
Contact:

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by Scott P »

Maybe off topic, but dang,the glaciers on Izta are completely gone, at least on the south side?

Image

My photo from 1992 (those are glaciers rather than seasonal snow):

Image

Popo in 1992 (pre-eruption):

Image

Image
I'm old, slow and fat. Unfortunately, those are my good qualities.
mtnjim
Posts: 124
Joined: 3/14/2011
14ers: 57 
13ers: 215
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by mtnjim »

Great photos, Scott and Snowclimber.

Snowclimber, I'll pm you a bit later.

I'll be heading down again next week for a 26k race on Toluca the 15th. Doesn't seem to go to the summit quite as the description has the altitude of the turnaround at 4250m.

I'll probably stick around and go to the true summit on Sunday, maybe do some additional acclimatizing in the area before probably heading over to Izta. When I was on Izta in Dec, I only went to the Knees (I think; it was where the ruins of the hut known as the Igloo were) but will probably summit a time or so while I'm in the area. I only went that high last time because I was doing a little acclimatizing for a race to 15200 up the other side that week-end and didn't want to tire myself out.

And then go over to Tlachichuca and see about Orizaba. I know the weather can be a little iffy this time of year so I'll just have to see when I'm there.

Just doing some training for Elbrus early May....if I get my Russia visa problems worked out. 8-[

If anyone has any experience with the area the last two weeks of April, any info is appreciated.

JimS
Post Reply