Monarchs

We made the pilgrimage in February of this year. We did it as a day trip with Jesus Lopez who was excellent. He times your arrival for mid-day when the butterflies are active. It's a full day. But it was fine as a day trip.

At the Refuge, you are assigned a "minder/guide" who walks with you in the interest of environmental protection.. The climb begins at about +/- 7500 feet and goes up about 1000 more. Someone can correct me if I'm off by some.

The climb begins with 625 stairs. I counted them. It was challenging but we took our time. After the stairs, there is an additional climb along a path which was a fairly easy walk.

You can by-pass the stairs by going most of the way on horseback. Horses and guides are available at the trailhead area. There is still some path walk when you leave the horses. Since we walked, I can't speak for the ride up.

As fellow old farts, I can say that we got it done. We went on Sunday and saw many families making the trip. Many quite elderly people and people with mobility issues included. I figured if they could do it, by God, so could I. We went the day after we arrived in Morelia from Chicago. Probably not our best idea since we had not yet really acclimatized from the mid-west flatlands to a much greater altitude. If I did it again, I'd wait a day. So that my lungs adjusted.

If you have anything specific, I can check my notes.