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Five Bikemovement video clips from last summer’s experience are available online at: http://bikemovement.org/documentary/topics.php

 photos: Mexico, numero uno

Even though the others couldn’t make it, I was really excited about having a chance to hike the Ixta, a volcano about an hour from Mexico City and Puebla that’s 17,000 ft high and the 7th highest mountain in North America.  Some people advised me that it’s sort of dangerous to go alone, but I had been hearing that for a while and decided to take my chances.

I left the house a little later than planned, putting me on the trail at 8am instead of 7.  I didn’t have any trouble getting to the trailhead, as the bus driver directed me towards the caseta (park sign-in).  I was alright for the first section, which mainly consisted of switchbacks on the main trail.  There were other smaller trails jutting off to the sides, so I decided to stay on the largest and it felt right.

After this section, the larger section of trail continued off to the left where a smaller fork went to the right.  I decided to stay on the wider route, as it looked like there had been more traffic there recently.  I walked for maybe even an hour on this road and felt like I was going around the mountain, not up it.  Finally, a van passed with a family inside and I asked them about the right trail.  They told me I was walking toward Puebla, not up the volcano.  Graciously, they said I could ride with them back to the correct route. 

Back on track, I met an older man hiking alone who directed me where I needed to go.  I walked with him for a little while, but he was sort of slow, so I went ahead.  Unfortunately, somewhere up there, I decided to take another wrong turn to the left on a similar road north and around the mountain.  After walking this road for a while, I stopped, sort of frustrated, and had a snack and drank some water.  It was now late morning and I pretty much gave up the idea of summiting the peak as it felt like I had lost 2-3 hours. 

I decided to hike up one of the ridges and see if I could get a better glimpse of where I needed to go.  My improved perspective showed that I had indeed again gone north of the peak, so I decided to try to aim right for the base of the mountain above the tree line and hope to hit the trail. 

I started bushwacking, up and over a lot of small, steep ridges, crossing a few more “roads” that seemed to cut across the mountain, and finally hit the main trail where there were a bunch of families walking to the top.  Here I learned that the trail was well marked, going straight for the base of the peak.  It was now about 12:30, and I knew that if I didn’t summit by 3, I would need to turn around. 

I was pretty exhausted from the bushwacking and ambivalent about getting to the top, so I decided to take a little nap.  The mountain was looming right above me, with huge snow-capped peaks and a clear view as the trees receded into rocky terrain.  I fell asleep pretty easily, and decided it wasn’t a good idea to go for the summit, even though I only had 2000 feet or so to go.  I didn’t have a headlamp, and the idea of coming back in the dark or spending the night didn’t sound too appealing, so I headed back down around 2pm. 

A bit farther I came to this cement building that was sort of a shelter/lookout, so I went up to check it out.  I found a bunch of Mexican guys, fathers and sons, hanging out and enjoying hte afternoon.  They invited me to join them, which I did for a little while looking up at the mountain.  They wanted me to drive back down with them, but I insisted on walking, as driving down steep mountain roads with a bunch of guys I didn´t know wasn´t the best idea.

So I continued, walking down to this large camping area with two big pool of water and a ton of people.  Fifteen minutes later down the trail, I heard footsteps pounding from behind with screaming voices.  I turned to see two teenagers, probably around 15-16 years old coming at me with masks and 6” knives in their hands.  They started yelling at me to give them my backpack, money, camera (thankfully I didn´t have my expensive work camera), etc.  I yelled back, telling them no, inching back closer to the edge of the trail as they surrounded me.  One picked up a stick and started swinging it at me, hitting me in the leg.  I pulled the first thing I reached from my pocket, which happened to be a 200 peso bill ($18) and handed it to them, saying “No hay mas!…”

They didn’t believe me, and the one swung his knife a little closer, so I took off running into the woods.  I glanced back and saw the one throw the stick at me, but they couldn’t keep up and slowed down.  I figured that I could probably outrun then in the woods and if I went on a route that was tough to follow, I would be alright.

I ran down the bank and away from the trail as fast as I could, trying to quickly find another way out, knowing that I probably had more than two hours to the bottom.  I found myself at the edge of a canyon that steeply dropped off for a few hundred feet, and realized that I could safely descend this way.

I decided to stop and rest for a little bit to gather myself, and then slowly and quietly started cutting the slope diagonally upwards back towards the trail that headed down and out.  I picked up two large walking sticks to fend off the teenagers if they returned. 

Finally I made it back to the trail, and using some of the smaller routes that I had seen in the morning, quickly descending towards the trailhead and glancing back every few minutes. 

I finally made it back to the check-in booth and informed the park workers of my situation.  The radioed back up the mountain to report the incident, and apologized repeatedly to me.  After talking with them for a little while, they gave me 100 pesos for my troubles.  On the way out I bought an ice cream bar to celebrate my crazy day.  All in all, I had only lost less than $10.

I made it back to the house as the sun was setting, and my family (or at least my mom) seemed a bit troubled when I told them the story.  “Porque en mi pais?” she said… The older guys sort of enjoyed it as an adventure tale.  Next Saturday, we’re hoping to return with a group of people and try to summit.  I’m pretty sure that if I wouldn’t have been hiking alone and an American, I would have been fine. 

Other than this experience, my time in Mexico has been going pretty much as planned.  I´ve been spending a bunch of time with my host family, who has three guys, two close to my age.  We´ve also been doing a lot with the La Paz congregation, attending services and hanging out with the youth.  During the days, I´ve been working a bit via the internet and visiting various local mission sites of the church to learn more about the La Paz network.

Check out the photos…

Chocolate at Brenda’s

A January Spring in Philadelphia

PPC’s first Sunday in the new building

Here are a few new photo albums of recent experiences:

New Year’s in New Orleans, LA via Harrisonburg, VA and Meridian, MS

Philadelphia

Franconia Conference young adult gathering at Caruso’s in Souderton, PA