Hiking up a Cinder Cone: Wikiloc reveals secrets of Volcano with Six Names
- Details
- Published on Friday, 25 October 2013 12:04
- Written by John Pint
Two weeks ago the Reporter featured an article on Wikiloc, a Google-Earth Program which shows you hiking and cycling trails close to home and all around the globe. I decided to test out Wikiloc by searching for a good hike convenient to people living both in Guadalajara and Ajijic.
I went to Google Earth and zoomed in on the wide Circuito Sur highway which is easy to access from both areas. The first thing I saw was a track going up a big volcano located just south of San Isidro Mázatepec. By pure chance, this volcano had been pointed out to me by geologist Chris Lloyd as a good example of a cinder or scoria cone. “There are three main types of volcanoes,” Lloyd told me, “and you can find all three of them close to Guadalajara.” One, he explained, is the stratovolcano, like El Volcán de Tequila, which has a graceful Mt.-Fuji shape and oozes lava. Then there is a maar volcano, featuring a violent explosion, caused by magma coming into contact with underground water, shooting huge quantities of ash and rocks straight up into the air, and leaving a bowl-shaped hole (a caldera) behind. The Primavera Forest is located inside what was once just such a caldera. And finally, we have the cinder or scoria cone, which has a rather squat shape and produces a great heap of tough, light-weight, often red cinders.
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