Hanken, James 1978 Journal Hotel Mansión Imperial, Oaxaca, Est. Oaxaca, Mexico 16 Dec got reached the ridge nor entered the pine forest visible on top. The road at this point was in generally good shape except for scattered segments which had been completely washed away. Apparently after building this road the gov't decided to not to maintain it and use other routes to get to the top. Upon returning to Ascensión Mitla the tour guide told us that one can reach the upper area via the Zaachila road : the well - developed series of roads we found there must run S along the upper plateau to this area. The weather today was again generally clear and warm, as has been the case for most of the trip except for a few days earlier in the week which were heavily overcast and cold, with a little light rain encountered while in the mountains. Today we leave for Mexico City. 17 Dec 17 Dec We arrived in Oaxaca the evening of the 13th and spent two frustrating day hassling with the permit office unsuccessfully to get any collecting permit. We drove the evening of the 15th to a spot just outside of Ayumbilla where we camped. Yesterday we worked the Lagunas del San Bernardino area to get the elusive thorny "weirdio", (if it exists at all) and got ~60 but only one juvenile Pseudosmyrea