A two week trip to southern Mexico to target four of the country’s 27 ultra prominent peaks (with a side trip to El Salvador). Previous trips had taken me to much of the country, including Orizaba and high peaks around Mexico City. The southern part of the country had security concerns formerly, but friends were there recently and had figured out four new peaks. It was time for a revisit.
Originally we’d hoped to include two ‘virgin’ peaks near the southwest coast. Cerro los Conchas was quickly ruled out as too dangerous, due to cartel activity. We’d found a local driver who would take us to Cerro Tiotepec, but after we’d booked flight tickets the security situation there turned ugly too. Instead, we visited Cerro el Volcán Negro (2461m), a nice hike along a wooded ridge, as a day trip from Acapulco.
So our first ultra prominent summit was Sierra de Santa Martha (1680m) near the east coast. It turned out we were supposed to get permission in advance from the local community. A small “donation” settled matters!
Transferring to Oaxaca state, we first climbed Cerro Nube Flane, at 3721m the highest peak of the trip. It seems the locals don’t get out much – we had to clear a few fallen trees from the road as we made the long drive up on dirt roads. The route starts through a former rabbit farm, now mostly deserted, on a path initially, then through lovely open pinewood, an eight hour round trip hike. There was a nervous moment when we met a man with a rifle! He was friendly, however – not even a donation needed.
Cerro Zempoaltépetl (3390m) is easier to climb than to pronounce: 3 hour round trip on a good path. Quite busy on top: locals sacrificing a chicken! Lacking fowl, we were told a few coins would be acceptable. Nice viewpoint, too.
El Aguacate Oeste (2820m) was our most remote peak, a five hour drive on unpaved roads, 4×4 needed in places; we’d sourced a pickup with some effort. The hike was only an hour each way, with a little dense brush at the summit. Our truck broke down on the descent due to an electrical issue. Fortunately a local was able to get us going again and we made it back to Oaxaca that evening.
Our last morning was in tourist mode, exploring the fascinating Monte Albán (1920m), an important Zatopec site for over 1000 years with a population peaking at 24,000 inhabitants. It was a bonus peak too, although unclear where the natural highpoint was! In the afternoon we coaxed our SUV (we still had one working vehicle) close to the summit of Cerro Yatin Noreste (3360m), for a short hike to our final Mexican summit.
On the way home I detoured to El Salvador for a day, as I was missing Chaparrastique (2130m), an ultra prominent peak I’d missed previously due to volcanic activity. It was quiet this time – except the guide decided it was too windy to summit. I seemed a little deaf that day … the peak was duly bagged. Volcán de Conchagua (1225m) was the final peak of the trip, with a gorgeous view across Bahia de la Unión to Nicaragua.