A short page on Mexico's most active volcano, no 'one of' about it. 4000 years in existence, this geological baby is growing in a caldera of the Colima Volcanic complex (see map below), sitting pretty on the Pacific coast. The city of Colima, only 30km distant, is built upon a 2500 year old debris avalanche from the volcano's south flank. Currently exploding several times a day and oozing out a lava dome this is a very temperamental beastie. Clearest views are during the dry season, November - April. Plenty of photos with coordinates to show you what things are like on the volcano but overall this page has relatively little information on access to the summit as it's pretty dangerous and themonitoring staff and civil protection guys would get upset.
Getting there? Excellent question! Colima isn't very well known within Mexico let alone outside it. It has its own airport, and there are other transportation hubs in nearby Manzanillo and Guadalajara. From there it's by any number of bus incarnations. ETN do a mean ham, cheese and jalapeno sandwich. Mexico City on the other hand is an option but a long 10 hours away. Unfortunately for any summit baggers there's a rather large exclusion zone around the volcano for your own safety. Access is virtually not existent, you can't drive up it like Mauna Loa nor sit around at the top and watch it explode like Stromboli. The lower flanks are largely covered with private farmland where visitors are unwelcome. Best (more or less safe, though don't hold me to that) views are from the 6km distant Nevado de Colima.
Risk of death in summiting at present? Not all that high, there's a dome growing with small intermittent explosions. Risk of death in general, fair to middling. Being halfway up the cone and having an avalanche in your face wouldn't be pretty. Not to mention that this thing has had major eruptions with almost no warning and could kill you several miles away if not 10s of miles away. See links at the bottom for the most up-to-date info.
Video of dome in the summit crater by the reporteromex channel on youtube from 18/12/08.
All (red) taped up
Unhelpful hazard sign
As menitoned above, it's covered in the stuff, for good reason. Don't even try. Unless you have a helicopter or light aircraft, in which case you might find a rather startling number of friends. It really is an ash infested jungle of hazards with very little stable structures to climb anywhere. Rock will crumble in your hands, the ground will vanish from under your feet. This is particularly true in the dry season. Ropes aren't really much good, there's not a lot you can tie one to that won't shift when weight is applied. That includes other people. A route open one morning will have gone by that very afternoon. Anything you do build is likely to get destroyed at some point or another, if not by volcanic material from the sky, then lahars running along the ground. You will need a Plan A, B, C, D, and E, if not the rest of the alphabet as well. The volcano can sometimes go for many years with little or no activity, in which case get your taco stand in at the top before anyone else does. Oh, and get insurance.
Types of activity
Illustrations of recent activity at Volcan de Colima. Lahars also occur but only during the wet season. Lava domes additionally form from time to time, either as short term or long term features. Plinian sized eruptions (read: mass destruction) have occurred in 1913 and 1889 and 1818 as well as in previous centuries.
Large explosions
Mid size explosions
Small explosions
Degassing
Chilling out
Lava flows
Life on the Volcano
While Volcán de Colima may technically be off limits to most, as someone doing volcanological research I had the opportunity to see the terrain. Some examples of the different areas of the volcano are shown below.
Upper south side
Between Nevado and Colima
Upper north side
The easy way
The hard way
The cross your fingers way
Camping and wildlife
Camping is fairly risky business - always the chance of your tent catching fire as lapilli comes down or trampled as cows go for a random stampede. Death also common from chigga dermatitis - i.e. scratching yourself to death, not to mention dehydration, pointy animals, lahars, rockfalls, the odd pyroclastic flow, and general impossibility to rescue you.
Dead something
Giant beasty
Numerous types of birds and animals can be seen at Volcan de Colima. Cows and horses perhaps are the most common, with several lizard species, scorpions and rattle snakes also sometimes seen. Humming birds and vultures are both common sights, as are dead armadillos. Not being natural climbers, once they fall into a barranca they tend to have trouble getting out of them. Puma tracks are frequent sights, the pumas themselves are a bit harder to catch. Insects, especially of the blood drawing biting kind are limitless. And of course bobcats, this is a great journal article about them. Read on!
Weather
Clouds moving in
Wet season character - Reliable in an unreliable sort of way. Ignore forecasts and just expect rain, and lots of it in the afternoons. Wind direction usually to the west, this has a very strong influence on ash distribution. Unlikely to see the volcano at all from distance between 11am and 5pm. 4000m of volcano behind some of the biggest clouds you've ever seen.
Dry season character - Reliable in a reliable way. Rain is extremely rare, occurring maybe only once a month if that. January is more prone and snow may cap the volcano at this time. Night temperatures noticeably colder, known to be down to at least -8C at 4000m at night regionally, though reports of -15C. Wind chill can be exceptional as the location is close to the coast and nothing else as high for a very long way. Wind direction usually to the north east.
External links / Current volcano activty
GVP page with general information, historical and current activity reports.
Mexican Volcanoes
