Ruth just added it up... including yesterday, we have been to the Mexican wintering grounds of the monarch butterflies eight different times, at four different locations. Yesterday, we went to the Piedra Herrada sanctuary located on the old highway between Valle de Bravo and Toluca.
There are six different locations in the mountains of Michoacan and Mexico State that are open to the public, and six more known locations that are closed to the public.
It's always a different experience though because of weather conditions. It's something like maple syrup production in Canada... ideally, you want very cold nights, with lots of sunshine and warmth the next day. Time of day is important. You want to arrive at the top at the warmest part of the day, preferable between 1pm and 3pm. We arrived at the parking lot at 11:30am, and by the time we bought our tickets and did the hike up it was after 1pm when we got to the top.
And time of year makes a difference as well. Typically, the butterflies are less active in November and December because they have just completed a long flight and are resting. In early February and March they are more active and just getting ready for a long flight.
So we've experienced a lot of conditions in the 8 times we've been... but yesterday was one of the best! We got really lucky with the weather... it was cold and clear overnight, and warm and sunny during the day. So the butterflies were more active than normal!
Our guide Maria.
The entrance fee is now 150 pesos ($11.40 CAD, $8.30 USD) per person. Your group is assigned a guide, which is mandatory. We joined a group of Mexicans, so there were maybe 10 or 12 people in our group.
Our group, heading up hill.
It's about a 3 km hike one way, but it's a tough climb for some people because you are starting at 2,900 meters (9,500') and ending at 3,230 meters (10,600') so there is some elevation involved. They will also take you by horseback most of the way (extra charge), but you still have to do climbing at the end to reach the majority of the monarchs.
For the first while, there is a walking path and a separate one for horses.
But eventually they merge.
Starting to see some butterflies in the sunny sections of the path.
I took a few videos... here's the first one...
One of the things that is amazing is how concentrated the colony is. Millions of butterflies congregate at a cluster of about 20 pine trees near the top of the mountain. And despite the roundtrip journey between Canada and Mexico sometimes taking up to five generations of butterflies, the butterflies return to the same clump of trees every year!
You start to see more and more the closer you get to the cluster of pine trees near the top.
They like these yellow flowers.
We arrived at the cluster of pine trees.
We were lucky there was no other group immediately behind us.
When it's busy, they limit your time there.
Amazing!
More videos...
This is the first time we've been without a good zoom camera, so all photos and videos were done with my smart phone. Overall, I'm pretty happy with them. Don't forget you can click on any photo to make it full size, and click again to zoom in.
Looking forward to taking daughter Lindsey and family when they come at the beginning of February.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lightning deal on these Men's Winter Pants.
And in Canada...
What a stunning sight! Every time I see photos or video of this miraculous event, I'm in awe. We were fortunate enough to have around 10 Monarchs successfully eclose here in our yard this past summer. This was the first year we saw a single chrysalis, and they didn't all make it, but most did! I'm planting more milkweed and butterfly weed for next year. It's such a thrill to be able to help this majestic species in some little way.
ReplyDelete