Monday, March 9, 2009

Nieve at the Nevado de Toluca - Snow in Mexico

I have been reading so many blogs recently with great descriptions and photographs of snow, that I was feeling a little left out. So I decided to join in and write a post about SNOW in MEXICO in the month of MAY!! Yes here it is... the ocular proof and only 90 minutes away from Mexico City, at the scenic location of one of Mexico's volcanoes - Nevado de Toluca.
As you first ascend the weather is mild, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, the clouds are fluffy....

and not many layers of clothing are needed...

But as the rough rugged road twists round and round, and climbs higher and higher, and the altitude (4690m) starts kicking in, boy does the weather get wilder and wilder... first the cloud cover..

Then the fog....

Next the hail....

And as the temperature drops, and the icy hail rains down unrelentingly, the layers go on...


And finally after sun, cloud, fog and hail, comes the sprinkling of snow....in all its pristine beauty..

Once up at the crater, there are two lakes called El Sol and La Luna, and there are infinite trails for some tough intrepid hiking, or softer clambering over rocks and boulders....

Don't fancy anything quite so strenuous?? Simple.... hop a cab in this drive-through crater... there is always a friendly VW beetle taxi absolutely anywhere in Mexico!!....


If you don't have a car, the easiest way to get to the crater is to take a bus from Mexico City to Toluca (Observatorio Bus Station - one hour ) and then negotiate with a taxi driver. They will drive you up to the crater, wait while you hike about for two or three hours, and then bring you back for 800 pesos per cab ( $80 before the devaluation!)

Now when I check out all the MYWORLDTUESDAY postings this week in Finland, Norway, Winnipeg, USA etc, I won't feel so left out. Don't you just love the diversity Mexico has to offer??

13 comments:

hitch writer said...

aahh... seems you had a lot of fun.... thanks for sharing the pics... lovely destination !!

ninja said...

An excellent post!

Leanne said...

That made me smile... a cute green cab to drive you around. What an amazing journey. ? was that an extra ordinary day or does it snow at Nevado de Toluca regularly.

SandyCarlson said...

EVERYTHING is possible! How beautiful.

Janie said...

A drive-through crater on top of a mountain is an interesting concept. We have some of the same diversity here in Utah, where we live at 5000 feet but have 13,000 foot peaks within 50 miles.
Great post to show us the beauty of the Mexico City area!

Cecile/DreamCreateRepeat said...

What a fun outing! I'm glad we got to share. One of my inspirational web-reads just had an essay on field trips for grown=ups....this was a great one, from the looks of it! ; )

Fly Girl said...

Diverse indeed! I had no idea. Nevado de Toluca reminds me of when I climbed Corcavado to see the Christ statue in Rio. It was balmy when we started out but at the top, you could see your breathe and people were wearing parkas!

A Cuban In London said...

That was a lovely post. Beautiful pictures and I gather that the air, though chilly, felt pure. Many thanks.

Greetings from London.

Hey Harriet said...

I do love the diversity that Mexico has to offer. While scrolling down the lovely images I felt the need to layer-up while viewing them! What perfectly formed little hail stones! I like their shapes. Nothing like the hail we have here. I love the idea of the VW bug taxi too! That's such a cool way to travel around. Another wonderful post :)

Catherine said...

Hi everyone...thanks for stopping by with all your appreciative comments...and yes leanne it regularly snows at the crater throughout the year due to the high altitude...

Marites said...

WOW! that's Mexico? quite interesting pictures and post you got especially having a cute cab to take you around those mountains:) My, they must be sturdy.

Anonymous said...

some winters there is enough snow to snowboard. 1992-93 was epic! Descents from right below the summit, and also various other walls.

Anonymous said...

some winters there is enough snow to snowboard. 1992-93 was epic.