Bumming (around Mexico) and Bagging (Volcanoes)

Dec 16-28, 1999

by Judy Rittenhouse

Dec 16 found me in my usual pre-trip frantic state: packing gear, assembling 5 days of backpacking food (that we would be willing to eat, at least if very hungry), and making the drive from Bishop to San Diego.

Once in San Diego, Dave and I made final selections of gear and food based on what could be carried in two backpacks for the next two and a half weeks. We eliminated several luxuries in favor of a rope, wands, ice pro and axes, and RJ Secor's book "Climbing Mexico's Volcanoes".

Just after midnight Dec 18, we finally arrived at the Mexico City airport and found that all nearby hotels were filled. Since we were determined to use public transportation whenever possible, we asked our taxi driver in Spanish (at least we hoped we did) to drop us off at the bus station, where we set up our first camp and spent the night on the floor alongside some Mexican families.

We had decided to acclimatize by first climbing La Malinche, a nearby volcano of 14,640'. In the morning we took a bus to the town of Apizaco , ate a Mexican street breakfast and bought a lunch and some bread and cheese to go (para llevar) at the mercado. We eventually found a taxi, and after considerable haggling over price (in bad Spanish), we arrived at the government resort on La Malinche (about 10,000').

Once there, we set up our tent and dayhiked on the trail leading up the mountain. The next day we set out early, accompanied by two energetic Mexican students, Cristóbal and Miguel, from the nearby town of Orizaba whom we had met hiking off La Malinche the previous day, and were eager to climb it again. We made good time, with me running to keep up, and struggling with Spanish. We summitted in 4 hours, stopping for lunch and photos. Cristóbal and Miguel photographed each other holding banners declaring love for their girlfriends. Altitude sickness hit me on the hike down, but dissipated overnight. The next day, we took a regularly-scheduled shuttle bus called a collectivo, that Miguel had told us about, back to Apizaco. (We discovered that these shuttles are cheap and ubiquitous, serving local areas. But finding where to catch one can be interesting, especially with limited Spanish skills.)

We then bussed to Tlachichuca, the access town for Pico de Orizaba. We walked to the Reyes family ranch, where we spent the night and arranged for a ride the next morning to Piedra Grande, the climbers' hut on Orizaba at 15,160'. At dinner that evening we met two climbers from Baja California, Hiram and Julio. We found out that they are members of Montanismos de Baja California (MOBAC), and friends of Lou Wilson, who lives in Tijuana. Hiram was planning to climb Orizaba with Roberto, a mountain guide. After arriving at the hut, we spent the rest of the day and the next acclimating. We amused ourselves by hiking to the snow (about 800' elevation gain), adjusting crampons, and practicing self-arrest. There was plenty of water from the nearby spring, which we drank without treatment. The hut has three levels of sleeping lofts. We picked the top level, as Dave figured the resident mice wouldn't make the effort to climb up there. That theory was quickly dispelled, as one bold fellow scampered over David's head. We got plenty of beta from other climbers at the hut, and were pretty jazzed.

We decided to climb the Ruta Directo on the Jamapa Glacièr unroped, since there was reported to be no crevasse hazard. A minority of parties were roping up. On December 23rd, the third morning we started up the mountain at 2 am, by the light of a full moon! It was very cold and we were thankful for sunrise and the dawn of a beautiful sunny day. There were many wands left by earlier climbers; we set about half a dozen to fill in gaps. The snow was "styrofoam" type, although mushy in some places which could mostly be avoided. Everywhere self-arrest looked feasible, and runouts generally were reasonable. Thus we considered the climb to be technically moderate, although the high elevation certainly presented a challenge. On the steep slope below the summit, I discovered that my left ankle (sprained in September) wouldn't support me on the steep traverse using "French" crampon technique in the required bent position. Using "Judy" technique I progressed slowly, and with Dave's patience we finally reached the summit (18,600') at noon. After 5 minutes, spent congratulating ourselves and taking photos, we headed down, declining the temptation to glissade. Descent was uneventful, although I was tired. Dave hiked ahead as soon as we were off the ice to organize our gear to head back to Senor Reyes ranch for dinner and a good night's sleep.

Senor Reyes Rancho was heavenly to return to, and we thanked the volcano gods for blessing us with good weather and good fortune. We later learned that Hiram and Roberto had successfully summited the following day. Staying at the Reyes' compound was a highlight of our trip. Breakfasts and dinners served in their dining room were delicious. There was even a climbing wall, which consisted of holds bolted to a wall of the compound. Climbing it was an adventure - you had to downclimb because there were no top anchors and small stones kept pulling loose.

The next morning we headed for the third volcano, Iztaccihuatl (17,160'), planning to climb it before losing the acclimitization gained on Orizaba. Several crowded bus rides were required to get to the town of Amecameca. These turned out to be adventures; on one bus two teenage girls were unabashadly giggling at our huge packs, and on another we had to pay an extra fare for the packs. We also failed to get off at a stop, and spent two hours in the town of Chalco searching for the collectivo stop. When we finally arrived in Amecameca, we rented a room at a hotel next to the town plaza. It was Christmas eve and there was a special Christmas mercado set up, where we ate our fill of local food, and watched the celebrating throngs. The evening fiesta included religious services, caroling, and intermittent firecrackers, and went on seemingly all night.

On Christmas day we found a battered taxi to drive us along with a Mexican family of four to Paso de Cortes, the junction between Ixta and Popocatapetl. Since we weren't willing to pay extra for the "special" service to go further up Ixta, we shouldered our huge packs and started walking and thumbing. We quickly were given a ride by a Mexican family on a day outing. From the trailhead at La Joya (13,124'), we headed up a steep trail. After about 3 hours of hiking with huge packs we camped right on the trail. A strong wind developed, making sleep more difficult.

About 2 am Hiram, Julio, Roberto, and two women climbers walked by on their way up the mountain. We arose at 6 am, ate a quick breakfast, hid our camping gear under rocks to protect it from reputed banditos, and headed for the summit. When we passed the Republico de Chile hut at 15,580', we met Hiram, Julio, and Roberto, who had turned around due to altitude sickness in some of the party members. We also met Irma and her friend, also from Baja and members of MOBAC. They were headed for the summit with two guides from Mexico City. After several miles of slogging above 17,000' we finally gained the summit without using crampons - even though we were walking on snow a large part of the time. The guides performed a ceremony on the summit, which we learned was a yearly offering to the volcano gods. They gave Dave and me some colored seeds to scatter and to keep with us for benevolence. Again the descent was tiring. When we reached the hut I took a 20 minute nap, then we hiked down to our gear stash and decided to spend another night on the mountain.

The next morning we hiked back to La Joya and luckily received a ride back to Amecameca with three climbers from Mexico City, all of whom had studied in the United States and spoke excellent English.

We then spent two days visiting tourist spots and an archeological site in Cuernavaca. We then headed for Toluca, where we visited another archeological site, climbed Nevado de Toluca (15,390'), and cheered in the new Millennium. Before heading back to Mexico City and home, we made one more stop, Valle de Bravo, a town recommended by the Mexican family that had given us a ride to Nevado de Toluca. It turned out to be a pretty (almost exclusively Mexican) tourist town with a beautiful lake. Returning to Mexico City, we spent an evening in the City Plaza (El Zocalo), where a continuing new Millennium holiday fiesta was commencing, and flew back to San Diego early next morning. All in all it was a fun trip. We were impressed by the friendliness and helpfulness of the Mexican people.

[We learned after returning to San Diego the sad news that 3 Russian climbers died on Orizaba on December 28. Their bodies were found after an extensive search. They had reached the summit and on descent, apparently wandered off the main path. All three fell down a snow slope and over a cliff, not far from the hut.]

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A Los Alpinistas story and photographs by Judy Rittenhouse.