Of Volcanic Craters and Mystical Lakes

“What was I thinking when I signed up for this trek?” I said to myself. We were a group of seven heading toward the volcanic crater of Nevado de Toluca. At a height of about 4000 meters, the oxygen level was not helping the lungs of one who had spent a major portion of her life in the plains. The temperature was around 5-7 degrees Celsius, so it was not helping either.  However, it was after an hour and a half’s trek and a slide down the mountain trail that I realized all this was worth the view. The view of the beautiful Nevado de Toluca, with its two beautiful lakes, and its highest summit the Pico del Frial.

For me it was nature at its best. We were standing inside the crater, and all around us we could just see mountains towering upon us. The cool breeze brushing our face, the biting chill all of a sudden reduced to a pleasant kiss on the cheek. There were patches of lush greenery and then again rocks and volcanic remains covered major portion of the topography. In front of us lay “Lago de la Luna” or the Moon Lake. Blackish-green in color, the Moon lake is deeper of the two lakes. We were told that there have been stories of skeletons being found in the lake, according to the legend, these were people who had been sacrificed to please the volcanic mountain.

We then trekked around the Moon lake to reach the “Lago del Sol” or the Sun Lake. The Sun lake happens to be bigger in area, and is a beautiful shade of emerald. It was here with the backdrop of the Pico del Frial, I saw the most beautiful landscape ever, come to life. The clouds came down to touch the surface of the lake, as if in a silent agreement to make the place look heavenly for us. The silence around us made the place all the more mystical and surreal.

We then decided to head back to the edge of the crater to start our trek upwards, and it was then that we lost our way and had one hell of a fun time playing explorers and finding our way back.  It was a beautiful brush with nature in one of its truest form. Standing inside a crater, which once had led volumes of lava out from the belly of the earth and covered a city in its ashes, gave me goosebumps.