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Ascent of Nevado de Toluca on 1984-02-18

Climber: Frederick Johnson

Other People:	Solo Ascent
Date:	Saturday, February 18, 1984
Ascent Type:	Successful Summit Attained
Motorized Transport to Trailhead:	Car
Peak:	Nevado de Toluca
Location:	Mexico
Elevation:	15354 ft / 4679 m
Ascent Trip Report Yesterday in Mexico City I picked up a VW "Bug" at Hertz and drove via Toluca to Nevado de Toluca (Xinantecatl) National Park, off Rte 130 from Toluca to Sultapec, entering at Temascaltepec. I spent the night at a campground-lodge at about 12,000', where the caretaker, Sr. Sanchez, and his two sons were the only other occupants. This morning I drove the surprisingly good dirt road around the mountain to park near Lago del Sol (13,780') in the crater of this long-extinct volcano. I started my climb of Pico de la Fraile (Friar's Peak) by the standard route at 9:00A, following a good use trail up to the crater rim, then alternating between it and the crater slopes to the rocky summit (12:30PM). There were several short stretches of Class 3 terrain. A covering of hard snow higher up required careful footing and judicious use of the ice axe. I had crampons, but didn't use them. The view was striking from the summit pinnacle, north across the crater to the lower peak, Pico de la Aguila (Eagle's Peak- 15,157'), down into the moonscape crater with the two alpine lakes, Lago del Sol and the smaller Lago de la Luna, and Ixta and Popo rising prominently above the haze in the distance. I was back at the car by 3:30PM. By now there were numerous visitors in the crater, but no one else had climbed Nevado de Toluca today. I returned to Mexico City by 7:30PM after a satisfying solo ascent of Mexico's 4th highest peak.