Nevado de Toluca

 (text in ENG)

The lake of the Sun

  Last weekend we went for a little bit of hiking to the nearby 4680m high mountain, Nevado de Toluca. We were there last year in July once, but at that time we only climbed up to the top. (Which (excluding the fact that the air is quite thin at that height) was not a big climb, as you can go up the way by car and it is only a few kilometers to the top from the parking lot.)
  However, from the top, you can climb down into the "mouth of the volcano" where - as this volcano is not active any more - there are two big lakes: the lake of the Sun (as it is round) and the lake of the Moon (as it has a curved shape).

  But this time we went further than the last time, after climbing up to the rim, we descended to the mouth of the volcano. Of course, we took Zorro, our dog. Well, as it is said: "ignorance is a bless", as our dog is not aware of the relation of height and air-thinness, he seemed not to bother the thin air at all: he was running and fooling around just as on 2500 meters. Well, maybe a little less crazy...

Zorro (that little spot in the middle) and the mountain

  Funnily, on the way to the lake we met three Japanese colleagues - it was so strange that among the places in the whole city, among 25 million Mexicans, we meet at this place! It felt so meant-to-be that we had to take some pictures for keepsake.

Nissan reunion on the top of the mountain!

  As our dog loves to swim, he couldn't resist the beautifully transparent (and quite shallow) lake in the bottom of the basin. After a little consideration, he started to swim in the freezing water. It seemed that he liked it as he went back 2-3 times! Of course, he was in the spotlight for everybody!

Zorro is swimming in the freezing water

  We first went to the lake of the Sun (on the left hand side) and with our soaking dog, went to see the other one, the lake of the Moon. Unfortunately the way to the lake from that side was very steep so we gave up to descend to the shore. From the lake of the Moon we climbed up back to the rim and walked back to our car.

Me with the lake of the Moon in the back

  However, there are still other rails going around - around the lake, to other peaks of the mountain. It turned out to be a really cool hiking place! Definitely we will go back to try out some other tracks as well.

For more pictures, click on the link! →Nevado de Toluca and Zorro