Xinantecatl

Xinantecatl (Naked Lord)

The Nevado de Toluca National Park is located southwest of the city of Toluca, Mexico State. It was decreed a park in 1936, primarily to protect the Nevado de Toluca volcano, which forms nearly the park’s entire surface and is the fourth highest peak in Mexico. It is 135 km from Mexico City. The volcano has been long extinct and has a large crater in which are two shallow lakes. There are a number of archeological sites in the park, including the lakes themselves, which contain numerous offerings of copal and other items that were deposited during the pre-Hispanic period. The park offers activities such as hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding as well as limited skiing facilities. Due to its altitude, the summit of the Nevado is significantly colder than the surrounding area. [Wiki]

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Xinantecatl Volcano

“Nevado de Toluca” is a large stratovolcano in central Mexico, located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Mexico City near the city of Toluca. It is generally cited as the fourth highest of Mexico's peaks, after Pico de Orizaba, Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. It is often called by the Nahuatl name Xinantecatl which is usually translated as “The Naked Lord”.

The volcano has a 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) wide summit caldera which is open to the east. The highest summit, 4,680 metres (15,354 ft) Pico del Fraile (Friar's Peak), is on the southwest side of the crater and the second highest, 4,640 metres (15,223 ft) Pico del Aguila (Eagle's Peak), is on the northwest. There are two crater lakes on the floor of the basin at about 4,200 m (13,800 ft), the larger Lago del Sol (Sun Lake) and the smaller, but deeper, Lago de la Luna (Moon Lake).  [Wiki]

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Beautiful Danger

Popocatepetl is an active volcano and, at 5,426 m (17,802 ft), the second highest peak in Mexico after the Pico de Orizaba (5,636 m/18,491 ft). Popocatepetl is linked to the Iztaccihuatl volcano to the north by the high saddle known as the Paso de Cortés, and lies in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt.

The name Popocatepetl comes from the Nahuatl words popōca 'it smokes' and tepētl 'mountain', thus Smoking Mountain; the name Don Goyo comes from the mountain's association in the lore of the region with San Gregorio (St. Gregory), "Goyo" being a nickname-like short form of Gregorio.

Popocatepetl is 70 km (43 mi) southeast of Mexico City, from where it can be seen regularly, depending on atmospheric conditions. The residents of Puebla, a mere 40 km (25 mi) east of the volcano, enjoy the views of the snowy and glacier-clad mountain almost all year long. The volcano is also one of the three tall peaks in Mexico to contain glaciers, the others being Iztaccihuatl and Pico de Orizaba.

Popocatepetl is one of the most violent volcanoes in Mexico, having had more than 20 major eruptions since the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. A major eruption occurred in 1947 to begin this cycle of activity. Then, on December 21, 1994, the volcano spewed gas and ash which was carried as far as 25 km (16 mi) away by prevailing winds. The activity prompted the evacuation of nearby towns and scientists to begin monitoring for an eruption. In December 2000, tens of thousands of people were evacuated by the government based on the warnings of scientists. The volcano then made its largest display in 1200 years. [Wiki]

Iztaccíhuatl

A legend tells the tale that many years before Cortés came to Mexico, the Aztecs lived in Tenochtitlán, today's Mexico City. The chief of the Aztecs had a beautiful daughter named Iztaccíhuatl.  The people were enchanted with Izta and her parents prepared her to someday be the Empress of the Aztecs. Izta grew up and fell in love with a captain of a tribe named Popocatépetl or Popoca. Popoca asked for the Emperor's permission to marry his daughter and he agreed to the arrangement under one condition: in order to marry his Izta, Popoca had to bring the head of an enemy chief back from the war.

Popoca went off to fulfill his destiny. Several months passed and an adversary of Popoca sent a false message back to Izta that her loved one had died in battle. When Izta heard her lover's fate she was overcome by the news, refused to eat and died of grief.

Popoca returned victorious, but upon hearing of Izta's passing he could not be consoled. He carried his beloved to the mountains and put her down to rest, then plunged a dagger in his broken heart. The gods covered them with snow and changed them into famous peaks in Mexico. Together in eternity are Iztaccíhuatl's mountain "La Mujer Dormida" (Sleeping Woman), and Popocatépetl's volcano, still active today raining fire on Earth in blind rage at the loss of his beloved. [Wiki]

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Thanks for visiting, please be sure that I read each and every one of your kind comments and I appreciate them all / Gracias por su visita.

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