There is a certain amount of consternation regarding a two-week unguided climbing expedition to a country where I don't speak the language. And because we can't bring fuel on the airplane, we have to do some shopping once we get there. I'm going to be relying on James for this, as he is reasonably fluent in Spanish. On the first day, we'll be tooling around the town of Toluca, trying to find a grocery store and somewhere that sells white gas. All of this will have to be done with our ~70 pound packs in tow. I'm not very excited about that. Once we get our supplies and then find a cab that will take us to the climber's hostel on Nevado de Toluca, then it's all good. The guide book for the volcanoes makes it sound like it's really easy/common practice to get a cab to come pick you up at the hostel (30 miles outside of town), though these arrangements have to be made in advance.
I still can't shake predictions of the nightmare scenario where we finish the climb and have no way to get back to town, and no one is there to give us a ride. But of course this is peak climbing season in Mexico, and Nevado de Toluca is also a popular state park-esque destination for the locals. I don't expect a problem, but I'll still worry about it a bit, since I have zero control over these arrangements due to my not habla-ing the espanol.
Here's the itinerary, if anyone is interested:
Dec 26: I drive from Los Alamos to Las Cruces, NM, and meet climbing partner James at his house. We drive to Juarez, Mexico, and get a hotel for the night.
Dec 27: At the unreasonable hour of 3am, we get up and drive to the Juarez airport to catch our flight to Mexico City, which arrives at 10:30am. We catch a bus that goes directly from the airport in Mexico City to the town of Toluca. We attempt to find food, water, and gasolina blanca. Then catch a taxi to the Nevado de Toluca climbers hostel.
Dec 28: Alpine start, climb Nevado de Toluca (15,016'). Return to the hostel and rest, meet other climbers, etc. Spend a second night here to acclimate (the hostel is at approximately 13,000').
Dec 29: Catch a taxi back to the bus station in Toluca, then a bus to the town of Amecameca. Check into our hotel, stash gear, buy more supplies, meet climbing partners Sarah and David, who arrive from San Diego that morning. Evening on the town.
Dec 30: Take a taxi to La Joya, stash some food and water for the bivuoac after the climb. Hike to the Ayoloca hut, a 4 hour hike with 2,000' of gain, ending at an altitude of about 14,000'. Hope that there is room in the 6-person hut for all four of us. Unlikely. If not, some/all of us will set up bivies outside of the hut. Spend the evening acclimating.
Dec 31: Alpine start, climb Iztaccíhuatl (17,158') via the Ayoloca "glacier" (it has largely disappeared this year, leaving a 3,000' morraine/scree slope to climb). Return to hut, collect stashed sleeping/cooking gear, walk out to La Joya. Bivy here for the night.
Jan 1: Slack day. If weather is bad on Izta, we may push the schedule forward a day. Otherwise, we may just take a rest day either at La Joya or in Amecameca.
Jan 2: Take busses to a small town near Orizaba whose name is currently escaping me. Stay at the climber's hostel. The hostel hosts sell supplies and make us dinner. Spend the night at the hostel.
Jan 3: The hostel provides 4WD transport to the Piedra Grande hut on Orizaba. This hut sleeps 60 people and should be able to accomodate us w/o the need for a bivy. Spend the night at the hut (~14,000') acclimating and meeting other climbers.
Jan 4: Alpine start, ~2:00am, climb Orizaba, return to hut, meet hostel host for 4WD trip back to the hostel. Dinner and sleep at the hostel again.
Jan 5-6: Slack days/rest days. No specific plans.
Jan 7: Return to Mexico City, fly back to Juarez, drive to Las Cruces, crash at James' house.
Jan 8: Drive back to Los Alamos.
