Waking the next morning, the crew met in the hotel restaurant for a hearty breakfast before packing up the Suburban and an accompanying car (packed full of 7 days of camping & climbing gear) and beginning the trip out of Mexico City. Our first objective was Amecameca, a small town a few hours outside Mexico City at the base of Mexico's Volcanoes National Park. This was our last supply-stop and a chance to absorb a little local culture. While our porters were off buying gallons and gallons of water and white gas, we took the opportunity to wander around the town square, through the local market and around the church. While the crush of people wasn't quite what it was in Mexico City, it was still a teeming crowd of folks, buying and selling and going about their lives.

Just to the east of Amecameca, though, was the most interesting aspect of the stop to most of us - the peaks of Iztaccihuatl ('The Sleeping Lady') and Popo ('The Smoking Warrior'). Iztaccihuatl, or 'Izta' was our first climbing objective, and from town the profile of the mountain did indeed take on the form of a sleeping figure. The head, breast, knees and feet were easy to pick out against the sky. Just to the south of Izta is the more traditionally cone-shaped Popo, emitting a light plume of steam from its' crater. Due to volcanic activity, Popo is currently closed to public climbing.

After our stop in Amecameca it was time for lunch at an excellent restaurant just outside of town. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the place, but the fresh food just kept on coming. Being our last 'civilized' meal for a few days, everyone took the opportunity to chow down. After lunch, it was on to the national park and La Joya, the pass between Izta and Popo. This was an amazing place. Even at 12,200', the two volcanoes loomed large on opposite sides of the pass, with Popo looking especially awe-inspiring. From this angle, Izta was a jumble of ridges and summits. Eric traced out our route along the west side of the mountain. After taking care of the inevitable administriva of the park system, we trundled up the road towards Izta and our ultimate objective for the day, our base camp, just below the main trailhead for Izta but still at almost 13,000'. After shooing off a herd of wild cattle (wild cattle? Who knew?), we were able to get set up for the evening. Eric provided a few handy pointers for setting up tents and maintaining an efficient camp. As the sun slowly set and the wind picked up, we enjoyed a hearty pasta dinner in a small cook-tent and then turned in for what ended up being a somewhat unsettled night. The winds kept picking up in intensity, buffeting our tents and keeping most folks aware. And our wayward herd of cattle returned during the night, mooing up quite a racket!

...on to Day 3