Climbing Pico de Orizaba (18,500 ft) this week down in Mexico with Dad and ATY. Very awesome trip. The short version:
day 1: fly to mexico
day 2: bus to Puebla, bus to Tlachichuca. spend most of the day practicing how to pronounce Tlachichuca.
day 3: truck to Piedra Grande (14k)
day 4: dayhike to scout tricky route to 16000'
day 5: siesta!
day 6: start at 12:30am, summit around 7, back down by 11. we all climbed nice and strong after three nights at 14k and the dayhike to 16k. gorgeous views of sunrise from the crater rim.
day 7: back out to MEX.
day 8: rock piles at Teotihuacán, fly home.
I never thought I'd actually be glad to get back to LA, but compared to Mexico City the air here is fairly clean...
Again, a most awesome trip. Definitely the hardest climb I've done.
Photos of the climb and Teotihuacán.