"El Pico de Orizaba" a Mexico Travel Page by KristyB

El Pico de Orizaba reaches to 18,800 feet. I had never summited any mountain before reaching the summit here. We went in March so there was no snow until we reached Jamapa Glacier at over 16,000 feet.

I would not necessarily recommend this as first summit, but I made it up fine and back down without any major physical problems. We camped out in the hut at 14,000 feet the first night, got up at 4am and set out to camp up at 16,000 feet for the next night. That next night I woke up with a very heavy chest and pressure on my lungs but after being up for awhile and breathing, I started feeling better.

I would recommend going up with Senor Reyes, their family built the road to the hut and the hut itself. They are very knowledgeable and helpful.

This is sunset from 16,300 feet, just below the Jamapa Glacier. We woke up feeling horrible and not wanting to summit at all, but after walking around camp for an hour and a cup of hot chocolate later, we were feeling up for the task.

We summited that morning and it was one of the best experiences of my life.

We drove from Tlachichuca (where we started our Orizaba ascent) through Mexico city and over to the coast. I have to say that driving in Mexico was not even close to being as bad as everyone said it would be, however, driving through Mexico City was AWFUL. I don't recommend doing that unless you have to. We didn't really have a map.

I highly recommend bring a map with you and following the toll roads as much as possible.

When we reached San Blas we found a wonderful family-run hotel and the next day we took a jungle boat tour to Tovara Springs.

There we saw herons, egrets, crocodiles, turtles, fish, eagles, and a plethera of other animals. This was a great experience as well.