This is one of the most climbed mountains in Mexico due to its proximity to Mexico city and the beauty of its two lakes in the crater. Many people visit this mountain in weekends weather to summit or just to see the lakes and normally it doesn’t need much technical gear but when snowed things change, specially in its sharp and rocky ridges.

There are several routs to summit this volcano, or even you can take some private transport to drive you very close to the entry of the lakes. For us, the best option is to begin further down in the forest following the route called “cañada del Oso”. If you know your way it will take you to the main summit called “Pico del Fraile” (monk peak) about 3-4hrs. It is a really beautiful summit that looks down to the 2 lakes in the crater called “Laguna del Sol” and “Laguna de la Luna”.

To go down you can choose between going back down the same way, or to the opposite way walking towards the lake. This will take you a lot more time. Another much more challeging route is to head for the secondary peak “Pico del Aguila” (eagle peak), just 20m – 180ft lower, following the rocky ridge to end just where the easy entrance to the lakes is.