The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

June 12, 2017

It was late before we finally could see “Nevado de Toluca”. The Volcano is in 4200 meters, so we had to stop and put more clothes on because of declining temperatures. Almost at the campground the GPS showed 13,487 feet/4110 meters (right picture).

P5071790_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)  P5071800_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

I had been sick the last three days and in the altitude I was not feeling better. It was a struggle for me just to help Esben to set up the tent.

DSC01702_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

Esben ordered me inside the tent, and he made me some warm tea while he made dinner.

P5071803_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)  P5071808_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

It sucks being sick when you are on the road, but I was convinced that I would be feeling better in the morning. It didn’t get much better during the night and Esben woke me up at 4:00 am because his stomach was hurting and he felt like shit! He had to leave the tent 4-5 times for the next four hours, and neither of us didn’t get much sleep. It was below freeze all night and Esben was cold and now we were both feeling sick. We still manage to get up the next day.

P5091866_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

It was our first visit to a volcano, so we was still determined to hike up the volcano – or at least give it a try at our own pace. I was still lacking behind Esben having a hard time catching my breath while coughing on the way up. But we did get up on the edge of the volcano, were we had the view of the two lakes in the crater of the volcano. In the right picture you se the lake to the left (La Luna = the Moon).

DSC01532_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)  DSC01544_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

Nevado de Toluca a long-extinct volcano, which is also known as “Xinantécal”. It has two summits on the crater rim, the lower summit Pico del Aguila (4620 meters) and the highest summit Pico del Fraile (4704 meters), which is Mexico’s fourth tallest peak after Pico de Orizaba, Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl.

P5081827_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

We decided not to hike to the summit of the volcano, but instead hike around the lake to the right (El Sol = the Sun). On the way we could enjoy some of the spring flowers

DSC01559-HDR_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)  DSC01567-HDR_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

The lakes are known for its special blue and green water, which is hard to see from distance, but as we came closer and the sun came through the clouds… it was just amazing!

DSC01623-Pano_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

At the southern end of the lake the water became green

DSC01587_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)  DSC01580-2_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)DSC01601_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)  DSC01602_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

Getting to the northern end of the lake

DSC01614_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)  DSC01616_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

We both loved the hike, and we was really lucky with the weather. To be able to see the blue and green colors of the lakes the sun has to shine. Plan you trip according to the weather and bring warm clothes, because the temperature was only between 5-10 Celsius during the day. Usually the weather is clear in the morning and more clouds will gather during the day. Carrying our thermal bottle with warm tea for a break before heading back to the tent.

DSC01645_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

Back at the tent we napped for 1½ hour and was only awakened by the alarm. It was late in the afternoon and Esben got a fire going while I was studying the tourist book “Mexico” from Lonely planet. The book covers all of Mexico and is 900 pages and by having it on my computer it does not take up extra space. The disadvantage is that I have to turn on the computer every time I want to read in it. The best thing is that the computer has a “Search function” (Ctrl+f) in the pdf-file, which makes it so easy to look for specific things and places.

P5081855_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)  DSC01707_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

Enjoying the fire while the sun is setting

DSC01676-HDR_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

After a good nights sleep we got up in the morning to go to Mexico City. We had been invited by Garry to stay at his place, who lives 45 minutes west of downtown Mexico City.

P5091872_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

P5091874_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)  P5091882_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

As we got closer to Mexico City more and more roads showed up on the GPS, and it was really hard to tell if we were on the right road heading in the right direction. What makes it even more difficult is the combination of free roads and toll roads. Read more about our experiences with toll roads in Mexico here: “Toll roads, driving and navigating in Mexico”.

P5091889_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

We were really happy that we had to meet up with Garry at the BMW/KTM dealer west of his place in Mexico City, so we only had to follow him through the traffic. In the left picture you see Garry in the blue Jacket on his Yamaha 1200 taking us to his place. After one hour we was at his place, and could park the motorcycles behind the gate and take of the luggage.

P5091891_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)  P5121970_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

We had only had breakfast that day, and we were invited to eat Garry’s homemade shepherds pie with freshly baked bread from the bakery just up the street.

P5091895_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)  P5091893_thumb The volcano “Nevado de Toluca” (on the road to Mexico City)

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