Adventure-Travel

Spent most of this morning at the Basilica de Guadalupe. This photo does not do enough justice to how much this old church is actually falling apart.

Took a couple days off work for a short break. M flagged a quick trip to the Tula ruins. Just about a couple hours from the city, these ruins were a nice quick visit. There was barely anybody out here as opposed to the crowds at the Teotihuacán pyramids. On the way back we did a quick stop in Tepozotlan for brunch. Once back in the city, S wanted to roller blade and we head to Parque Americana for some good wheel time. I’m so glad we got these rollers! I’m definitely getting better at it. ...

Spent a good few hours out in the woods along with the girl scouts. M is not a leader this year so we took a step back and had a great time just enjoying the outdoors. S had a slow start and was heavily resisting for the first hour or so. She suddenly flipped once we reached the mid point and didn’t want to stop! She clocked around 5.2 miles in 3 hours and this would be one of her longest hikes in quite some time now! Super proud and she did earn her ramen! ...

I’m writing this, sick to the core at 0300, rallying between sweating out the sheets and freezing to the bones. It’s been a rough couple days. Oddly enough I didn’t feel one ounce of pain during the alpine hike I did on Saturday. We summited Nevado de Toluca on Saturday and this would be one of my best hikes so far. Just two hours from Mexico city, this hike has something for everybody. First off, just getting to the alpine lakes from the base, which takes about 20 minutes, opens out the playground. One can literally see the whole terrain and trails that surround the pristine alpine lakes. We decide to head clockwise and summit Pico del Fraile (15388’). The climb up is reasonably straighforward and its mostly choosing your path to get to the peak. ...

S was having a rough day on Saturday and was scrunched up against me all day. Around 1900 I checked my work phone and saw that Mo had texted earlier that morning asking if I would be interested in hiking Pico de Aguilar the next day. I wanted to confirm immediately but given S’s health I wasn’t quite sure. Decided to take a call the next morning and hit the bed. Thankfully, on Sunday morning, S seemed to have almost recovered and I decide to head out to meet Mo at his place. With some starting troubles (literally!) we finally leave for Ajusco around 0830. ...

Got my ass royally whooped last weekend on Izta. The plan was to camp at La Joya until 0000 on Sunday and push for the summit by 0800. With around 4500’ to climb, I knew this would be challenging. What I was not ready for, was the elevation sickness that hit me at about 14000'. La Joya is at around 13000’. We got here around 1200 on Saturday, setup camp and did a short 1.5 hours acclimatization hike to Portillo 1 and got back to La Joya for dinner and rest around 1600. I’m usually able to sleep well despite the surroundings. Today however, I sense a mild headache and am not quite able get much sleep for some reason. ...

The only regret I have from our recent trip to Maui is my zero involvement in any of the trip planning. We could have gone kayaking to see the whales up close. Such a missed opportunity…Next time I guess!

Some good time up in the air above the Teotihuacán pyramids. Flight was super smooth and with us landing right over a cactus field, the ending was even better!

Working with S on her first ever Junior ranger activity sitting right above the clouds. The park ranger sneaked in an ’eating vegetables’ pact in her oath and handed over a pretty cool wooden badge.

Super short hike up to the overlook. Absolutely mesmerized to see the Tradewinds holding down the sea of clouds!