Migration is Natural — My Journey to the Monarchs
I found myself ugly crying at the top of a mountain surrounded by millions of monarch butterflies, but I’m getting ahead of myself. For a couple years now I’ve had a dream of seeing the monarch butterfly migration outside of Mexico City (CDMX). In January 2026, I finally made my bucket list dream come true with a dear friend, Jill. We hired a private tour to bring us to the Piedra Herrada Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. We started the day with our tour guide Ady and our driver Memo. It’s a 3 1/2 hr drive west. We hiked up the mountain, my steps slow and my sweat pouring down my face as it was a very steep and long climb. 3.3 miles round trip, 1,400 feet of elevation gain, and the elevation at the top is 10,335 ft.
The Weight of the Mountain
When I got to the top I had a deep grief wash over me and cried because I was overwhelmed with emotion. To accomplish such a big dream, to make it to the top on my own 2 legs, to see these beautiful magical beings hanging in huge clumps together and have them flying all around us while very aware of what was going on back home in Minnesota with ICE and the kidnapping of people was heartbreakingly heavy too.
Life, Death, and Indigenous Roots
Also, the butterflies come to the area to mate and the males die after mating, their life cycle complete. Often we ignore in the US what death brings. We’re taught to fear it and not talk about it and yet it’s something that happens to all of us and everything. To appreciate the beauty in the end and the beginning of the next generation was really powerful. The males can be identified by two small dots on their lower wings.
Our guide Ady was such a delight and really made my whole experience. We shared about our indigenous cultures and roots and discovered we have many beliefs in common. About migration, about life and death, about being relatives to trees, plants and animals and that they are taking care of us as we should also take care of them.
The Visit of Relatives
On the hike down Ady and I were visited by a beautiful hummingbird. In Anishinaabe culture hummingbirds are relatives who’ve passed that are visiting us in this world. Ady shared that the story of the Monarchs plays a large role in the story of Dia de los Muertes. It’s said that the monarchs are relatives who’ve passed, come back to visit (much like my story I was raised with about the hummingbirds).
And the orange of their wings along with the orange of the marigolds is reflected in the colors of Dia de los Muertos. 🧡 The more I travel the more I come to understand how much we all have in common.
Migration is Normal
The longer I sit with the gift of being able to be in community with the Monarch’s the more appreciation I have for their long multi-month, multi-country travels they do. Migration is natural, it’s normal and it’s part of being alive. The more I sit with the depth of what this experience meant to me and what it means to all, the more I want to go back and visit the other sanctuaries as well (there are 4 of them!). What a magical reminder that the world is FULL of real magic and beautiful magical moments, that beings human/animal/inset are all interwoven and interdependent, AND how lucky we are to live and have life and be able to witness these moments and meet these moment whole heartedly.
Chi miigwetch, Amy Cullen | Miigwetch Designs