Pico Teyotl

In Nahuatl, Teyotl means "where stones are born", a fitting name for this rocky summit rising beside Iztaccíhuatl, in the Sierra Nevada that divides the Puebla-Tlaxcala valley from the Valley of Mexico. It reaches about 4,600 metres, ranking it fifth among the country's highest mountains, and it lies inside Iztaccíhuatl-Popocatépetl national park. Administratively it falls in San Salvador el Verde, a Puebla municipality that climbs from 2,300 metres on the valley floor to more than 5,200 at the summit of the "Sleeping Woman", Mexico's third-highest mountain, on its western edge.

For mountaineers, Teyotl is a serious objective. Near the top stands a hut bearing its name, recorded at about 4,340 metres, and one of the most cited routes starts from Parque Dos Aguas: some 31 km with about 1,955 metres of ascent, rated difficult; another variant follows the Teyotl ridge from the same trailhead, and those who have done it call it very demanding. Neighbouring Iztaccíhuatl has even more technical lines, such as the Arista de la Luz, with unstable ground, or Las Agujas, with rock climbing and exposed sections that call for experience and full gear.

Below, the municipality that contains it lives from farming and forest. San Salvador el Verde comes from Xopalican, "green place", and covers about 109 km², with rains from May to October of around 1,000 mm a year and frosts in the high parts between December and February. Its fields grow cabbage, onion, coriander, broad beans, wheat, maize, tejocote, pears, apples and walnuts, plus flowers such as gladioli, chrysanthemums and roses, and much of the land is managed forest. The municipal seat is about 40 km from Puebla city and 85 km from Mexico City.