Paso de Cortes, an easy jaunt up to 3670m

Leaving Puebla I took a roundabout 25km to the foot of Paso de Cortes.  This is where the pavement ended (on the east side of the pass) and the hardpack dirt (silt if you're a Geo like me) began for the incline.

The next 25km was a series a twists and turns gradually climbing about 2000m through pine forest (I am in Mexico here?) to the top of the pass between two (unfortunately that day, mostly obscured by clouds) volcanoes.

Ixtaccihuatl (5230m) is the northernmost, of which I caught a glimpse of its glaciar capped peak from the top of the pass, and Popocatépi is the southernmost (5436m), of which I did not see.

There were clouds, a little drizzle and even a little hail on the way up!

There were some covered picnic areas at the top where I parked the bike under and had lunch. I actually felt a little out of breathe as I was walking around taking photos.

The road on the way down (to the west - towards Amecameca) was lovely - paved and twisty, and over all too quickly - 10km or so.

Unfortunately the next 80km or so section was not as pretty, with busy traffic clogged roads lined with what seems like an endless string of industrialism all the way to Teotihuacan.

Heading up there's actually a bunch of places you can stay. I imagine the weekends are pretty busy up here.

At the top it was 8 degrees!

Heading back down on the pavement.

Location: Cuauhtémoc, Mexico

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