Popo is a no-no

With Columbus Day off, Raul and I decided to get out of the house, but not go too far since the kids would be home from school that afternoon, so we planned a trip to Parque Nacional Iztaccíhuatl-Popocatepetl, or what I like to call "Popo Park." When we left, the skies were clear, but after getting turned around downtown, by the time we were on the Puebla road, clouds were starting to move in, and the the smoking summit of Popo was obscurred. After a beautiful drive up the mountain to the Cortez Pass where the ranger station is located, there was absolutely no vista whatsoever, but we paid the access charge anyway, and hiked around the countryside. The only thing worth photographing was the flora (though we startled a number of rabbits but couldn't catch them on film).

At the top is what is called in Spanish Cardo Santo -- holy thistle.

Lupins

One of the things I like about Mexico, even in temperate Mexico City and even on the side of a snowy volcano is that there is always something blooming. Even if it is freaky alien flowers.

On the Amecameca road there was this great hill (?), our only mountain that we were able to capture.

The dry season has turned out to be fairly wet, so we'll have to try this again when the weather figures out what it is doing.