Happy Valentine's Day! Greetings from La Malinche. We checked out of the hotel this morning just before a huge crowd descended on the Zocalo to celebrate the holiday. The city center has been transformed into a huge tribute to the holiday, with a sound stage and fifty foot tall heart. Getting our bags out to the vans was quite a project as many of the streets are closed. Traffic was light getting out of the city though and Ixta was in full view. There is much more snow than I've ever seen on it so the climbing conditions should be great. Once we arrived at La Malinche we hiked for about 4 hours. There were clouds building and distant thunder but we were still able to get to above 13,000 feet. Now we're settled into our cabanas and ready for dinner and a good night's sleep. I'll check in tomorrow from the Altzimoni Hut on Ixta.