A short page Mexico's most active volcano, no 'one of' about it. 4000 years in existence, this geological baby is growing in one of the calderas of the Colima Volcanic complex, sitting pretty on the Pacific coast. The city of Colima, only 30km distant, is built upon a 2500 year old debris avalanche from the volcano's south flank. Currently exploding several times a day, and with episodic lava domes and flows, this is definitely one to keep your eye on. Clearest views during are during the dry season, November - April. Has snow in January if you're lucky. Last Plinian eruption 1913, next one, shortly.... Co-star of at least 1 German documentry. Good huh? :) This page has relatively little information on access to the summit as it's really dangerous and the monitoring staff and civil protection guys would get upset.

Getting There (or not)

Getting there? Excellent question! Colima isn't very well known within Mexico let alone outside it. It has its own airport, and there are other transportation hubs in nearby Manzanillo and Guadalajara. From there it's by any number of bus incarnations. ETN do a mean ham, cheese and jalapeno sandwich. Unfortunately for any summit baggers there's a rather large exclusion zone around the volcano for your own safety. Access is virtually not existent, you can't drive up it like Mauna Loa nor sit around at the top and watch it explode like Stromboli. The lower flanks are largely covered with private farmland where visitors are unwelcome. Best (more of less safe, though don't hold me to that) views are from the 6km distant Nevado de Colima. Risk of death in summiting at present? Decent. Risk of death in general, pretty high. This thing has had major eruptions with almost no warning.

All (red) taped up

Covered in the stuff, for good reason. Don't even try. Unless you have a helicopter or light aircraft, in which case you might find a rather startling number of friends. It really is an ash infested jungle of hazards with very little stable structures to climb anywhere. Rock will crumble in your hands, the ground will vanish from under your feet. This is particularly true in the dry season. Ropes aren't really much good, there's not a lot you can tie one to that won't shift when weight is applied. That includes other people. A route open one morning will have gone by that very afternoon. Anything you do build is likely to get destroyed at somepoint or another, if not by volcanic material from the sky, then lahars running along the ground. You will need a Plan A, B, C, D, and E, if not the rest of the alphabet as well. The volcano can sometimes go for many years with little or no activity, in which case get your taco stand in at the top before anyone else does. Oh, and get insurance.

Camping and wildlife

Camping is fairly risky business - always the chance of your tent catching fire as lapilli comes down or trampled as cows go for a random stampede. Death also common from chigga dermatitis - i.e. scratching yourself to death, not to mention dehydration, pointy animals, lahars, rockfalls, the odd pyroclastic flow, and general impossibility to rescue you.

Numerous types of birds and animals can be seen at Volcan de Colima. Cows and horses perhaps are the most common, with several lizard species, scorpions and rattle snakes also sometimes seen. Humming birds and vultures are both common sights, as are dead armadillos. Not being natural climbers, once they fall into a barranca they tend to have trouble getting out of them. Puma tracks are frequent sights, the pumas themselves are almost never sighted. Insects, especially of the blood drawing biting kind are limitless. And of course bobcats, this is a great journal article about them. Read on!

Weather

Wet season character - Reliable in an unreliable sort of way. Ignore forecasts during and just expect rain, and lots of it in the afternoons. Wind direction usually to the west, this has a very strong influence on ash distribution. Unlikely to see the volcano at all from distance between 11am and 5pm. 4000m of volcano behind some of the biggest clouds you've ever seen.

Dry season character - Reliable in a reliable way. Rain is extremely rare, occuring maybe only once a month if that. January is more prone and snow may cap the volcano at this time. Night temperatures noticably colder, known to be down to at least -8C at 4000m at night, though reports of -15C. Wind chill can be exceptional as the location is close to the coast and nothing else as high for a very long way. Wind direction usually to the north east.

Current volcano activty

Current seismicity here....

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Live streaming video here....

Images



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