This keyboard layout is unlike any I´ve seen before, so this is going to be brief.

James and I have arrived in the sleepy town of Amecameca, just east of Mexico City. For the last two days we have been staying in a refugio alpino on the slopes of Nevado de Toluca. Yesterday we successfully reached the summit of the volcano, some 15,300'+ in elevation. This marks the highest summit I have ever climbed, though the hike itself was not particularly difficult. No snow or ice, warm weather, clear skies (above the smog of Mexico City).

With any luck, I'll break that altitude record the day after tomorrow, when we climb Izta. Right now we´re awaiting the arrival of the other two climbers in our team, Sarah and David, who are coming in from California this evening. In the meantime, we´re eating blue corn quesadillas made from scratch in the local market. Yum. I may gain 10 pounds before we leave for the mountain tomorrow morning.

Sadly, this internet cafe does not feature computers with SD card slots, or I´d upload a picture or two.

Anyway, so far the trip has gone very well. Wish me luck on the hike to the Ayoloco hut the day after tomorrow; this will probably be the most difficult day of the entire trip, because I´ll be carrying a full camp pack, including 8 liters of water, up approximately 600m over 4.5km, with a final elevation of 14,900' or so (pardon my units mash).

After that carry, assuming I make it, the summit push will be done with a light pack and from the looks of it (I can see the mountain from where I´m sitting), there is only about 80m of glacier ascent to worry about.

So we´re off to eat more local cuisine, off I go.