We’ll spend the day exploring Mexico City and visiting the National Museum of Anthropology, which houses the largest collection of traditional Mexican art in the world—including the famous Aztec Stone of the Sun.

Built between the 1st and 7th centuries A.D., Teotihuacan is characterized by the vast size of its monuments – in particular, the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, laid out on geometric and symbolic principles. As one of the most powerful cultural centers in Mesoamerica, Teotihuacan extended its cultural and artistic influence throughout the region, and even beyond. We’ll enjoy the day, exploring the pyramids and colorful murals.

We’ll wake up early today and make our way over to La Malinche, a 14,000 ft. peak which we can hike in a day. This will expose us to high altitude, in order to prepare for the days ahead. Overnight in a 4-star hotel in Mexico City.

We’ll wake up early today and make our way over to El Nevado de Toluca. This is the only volcano in Mexico with crater lakes, and they are among the highest of their type in the world. The two lakes are called the Laguna del Sol (Lake of the Sun) and the Laguna de la Luna (Lake of the Moon). A number of important archeological discoveries have been made here, which are related to ceremonies that were performed here in the pre-Hispanic period. We’ll spend the day exploring the lakes using ROV (remote-operated vehicles) and make an attempt on the summit, weather and time-permitting. Overnight in nearby city or back to Mexico City.

Today we’ll travel to the small town of Amecameca (8,070 ft.). We’ll spend the afternoon in this colorful town getting permits and buying last minute supplies, and after an early dinner we will travel to Altzomoni’s hut at 13,000 ft. (base of Iztaccihuatl).

Today we will take a day hike to the the third “Portillo” at 14,700 ft. or the “Grupo de los cien” hut (15,042 ft.) and return to lower elevation to spend the night and further our acclimatization. This hike is a maximum of 5 miles long with 2000 vertical feet gain. We’ll have some time to talk geology and volcanology here, given the fantastic surrounding landscape.

Today is the day to climb to the top of Iztaccihuatl (17,126 ft.)! The normal route takes us up a beautiful ridge with spectacular views. Our ascent includes some scrambling (class 3 terrain) up rock and crossing glaciated terrain (with little or no crevasse fall danger). Crampons and ice axe may be needed depending on snow conditions. The largest glacier on Izta highlights the summit and we’ll take some time to collect our samples there. This is the top of the 7th highest point in North America!

The views from this route are outstanding with Popo volcano to the south, Orizaba and La Malinche to the East and Nevado de Toluca to the west. This climb requires 4,400 ft. of elevation gain and though the mileage is not long (less than 8 miles) it is challenging due to the altitude (the last mile is all above 16,500 ft.). That evening, we return to Amecameca to enjoy a hot dinner at a great restaurant and spend the night at a wonderful hotel in the forest (with hot showers and comfortable beds).

Upon return to Mexico City, we can enjoy great live Mariachi music and the best tequila at the most famous and traditional cantina in all of Mexico: The Tenampa in Garibaldi square. Plan to depart for home on this day in the evening. If interested, we can also arrange extra sightseeing (at your own expense).