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My son and I will be in Mexico between December 17-January 1 if anyone wants to join us for some volcano climbs.

Planned climbs are Iztaccihuatl, La Malinche, Cofre de Perote, and Orizaba. If time is available, Colima, Paricutin, and Ajusco could also be climbed. Rafting is also possible.

I expect the cost of the trip (without the rafting) to be around $500 plus airfare. We're planning on using public transport, budget hotels, and not using guides.

My Spanish is rusty, but it should be enough to get along.

Several years ago I also have climbed Popocatépetl and Nevado Toluca.

Scott,
Krista and I have talked about doing Orizaba this year and it would be nice to do it with folks we know. I'll look into it a little more.

Scott wrote:My son and I will be in Mexico between December 17-January 1 if anyone wants to join us for some volcano climbs.

Planned climbs are Iztaccihuatl, La Malinche, Cofre de Perote, and Orizaba. If time is available, Colima, Paricutin, and Ajusco could also be climbed. Rafting is also possible.

I expect the cost of the trip (without the rafting) to be around $500 plus airfare. We're planning on using public transport, budget hotels, and not using guides.

My Spanish is rusty, but it should be enough to get along.

Several years ago I also have climbed Popocatépetl and Nevado Toluca.

Hi, not sure if you will be seeing this .. we are going to try Pico and Izta at the end of Dec/early Jan (Pico, at least, guided, with Roberto Flores). Probably it will be hard to coordinate since we will be still acclimatizing when you leave ... But since you may have been going around that area, I had a question about transportation: is it feasible to get around without car? I am reading about all the insurance fees that are charged on top of the rental fee, so it seems to be very expensive.

Delia, I find it a lot easier to get around WITHOUT a car. Buses go nearly everywhere in Mexico (I'm actually here now), except for some taxi rides to a few trailheads, which taxis are readily available.

Plus, if you want to see some of the other sites, having a car is a major pain in most of the cities and archeological sites. Get the Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, or Moon guidebooks. They have good information on bus routes, etc.

Scott wrote:Delia, I find it a lot easier to get around WITHOUT a car. Buses go nearly everywhere in Mexico (I'm actually here now), except for some taxi rides to a few trailheads, which taxis are readily available.

Plus, if you want to see some of the other sites, having a car is a major pain in most of the cities and archeological sites. Get the Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, or Moon guidebooks. They have good information on bus routes, etc.

Thanks! How did you arrange the way back from the trail head?
Did you make it up Izta? Is it a guide needed, or not?

If you ate experienced, a guide is not needed for any of those peaks.

We made it to the Knees on Iztaccihuatl. We would have made the summit, but we did not know that you have ti get the key for the lodge at La Joya back in Amecameca! Don't make the same mistake! Bring a tent or get the key in Amecameca.

Finding a ride down from Iztaccihuatl shoyld be easy or you can arrange a taxi in advance to pick you up.

For Orizaba, most of the climbing service companies go up there every day in the busy season, so finding a ride down is not a problem. Ours also gave us a radio. Bring a tent jusy in case. The hut was EXTREMELY crowded when we were there.