Wednesday started with a rush to catch the early bus to
Mount Etna - we made it just in time. Thank god, because hiking around Etna's craters has to be in the top 10 best experiences of my life so far.
After a 1.5hr bus trip from Catania, winding up the mountain to Rifugio Sapienza at a height of 1900m, we caught the cablecar up the next 600m to reach a height of 2500m. The trip only took about 10min, but it was really fun & the views were amazing.
Some people choose not to pay the 28 Euro for the cablecar & walk up to 2500m. I'm glad we didn't - it takes 2hrs & is extremely steep. You can just see one person attempting the hike to the left of the hut in this photo. I felt pretty good cruising over him in our little car.
From 2500m, most people pay an extra 25 euro & catch a 4WD jeep up to the current safe height of 2900m. We decided to hike the 5 or 6km climb & I'm so glad we did. On the way up we followed the winding road, enjoying the stark landscape & glimpses of Etna's peaks. I'd class this as medium difficulty. There are some fairly steep sections, but they are frequently interspersed with flat runs. The hardest part was the lack of oxygen - the air gets pretty thin up there, so my breathing was pretty fast & shallow.
I was fascinated by the lavic rock formations - much of Catania & the other towns surrounding Etna are built with this stone, but it's actually really lightweight.
After a week of temperatures over 30 degrees, it felt wrong to dress in long pants & a jacket, but our guidebook specifically commented on the silly groups of freezing tourists, so we heeded its advice. Lucky, because as you can see in this photo, there were constant freezing mists rolling up the mountainside. Once I got into the stride of walking I heated up quickly, but the mists came over very quickly.
Near the top was the first warning sign - it's very easy to forget you're actually walking on Europe's most active volcano.
There weren't many people hiking up from the cablecar, but once I reached the top, there were loads of people. It's a huge space, so it didn't feel too crowded, but there were frequent scenes like this - they remind me of ants.
The twin peaks of Torre di Filosofo (The Philosopher's Tower).
The 4WD jeeps everyone was catching up the mountain.
This is as close as we could get to the active area of the volcano. At first I was disappointed as I wanted to see some lava flowing, or at least a little bit of volcanic action.
Proof that I made it to the top :-)
The whiteish-yellow part on the mountain was either snow or something hot - we weren't sure. The puff of smoke to the right of it is the steam escaping.
After a quick rest & a bit to eat we headed off to explore the other craters in the area. Here are some more ants.
I mentioned above that I was disappointed I couldn't see any volcanic action from the top of the climb. As we came over the hill to this view I was so happy. I listened in on one of the tour groups for a few minutes - apparently this crater was formed by the 2002 eruption & it still has a large steam vent - which is the white stuff you can see. The gas has a slightly sulfurous smell, but it wasn't too bad.
More proof. I absolutely love the approach to safety in Sicily - they are so laid back. This string fence is all that separates the hordes of tourists from a steep fall into the crater.
Some more gas.
Looking back to the philosophers tower.
From high up, the volcanic landscape looks moon-like.
The ground looks like it's really fine black sand - but it's probably more like the rocky stuff we saw on our ascent.
After we saw the first crater I spotted a couple of people on the far side of a second crater. I couldn't wait to get over there.
This bit was my favourite - there were only a few people attempting to get around the narrow rim (which at times was only one person wide, with no warning signs or fences - more evidence of the Sicilian mindset). The views down to the road we had walked up earlier were stunning. From up there, I could appreciate how far we had climbed.
Looking back across the second crater - this one was closer to the red volcanic rock we are familiar with in Australia.
This is one of the narrow bits - the drop down either was terrifyingly steep, but the adrenaline kept me going - I was stepping pretty damn carefully though - slow and steady wins the race.
The view from the edge overlooking another crater - I'm not sure when this one was formed.
From here, I couldn't see any other people & I felt so amazing, like it was just me & the mountain. It's a cliche, but I truly felt at one with nature, which I don't think I have ever experienced before.
A closer view of the crater.
Looking down the side - the fall was 200m or more, so I tried not to look down too often. At this point the ground started to get warm - the yellowish patches you can see are hot to touch.
The views in every direction were breathtaking.
I hung out at the top for a while, taking some photos, & eventually some more people came along. They were kind enough to take my picture - this is me desperately trying to balance & resist the strong wind that had picked up.
You can just see some of the steam rising off the side of the crater in this photo.
This bit of the walk was interesting - the ground was really warm - I could feel the heat coming through my shoes. There was a steam vent that I had to walk over. The yellow bits are really hot - I know, because I couldn't resist reaching down to touch the ground. I got a burnt hand for my trouble :-)
More volcanic scenery.
When I started out on this part of the walk there were only a few people attempting it. Pretty soon a tour group came along though - I love this shot of them lined up along the rim.
Looking back the other way were even more of them.
The landscape was so breathtaking I couldn't stop taking photos - the ones here are only a fraction of the number I have on my computer.
I was in total awe of the scenery.
Final shot of the steam vent - I promise.
When I got back to the main area, I sat down and within about 2 minutes, a thick fog had rolled in, completely covering the philosophers tower. It was really eerie, and what made it stranger was that it had completely cleared after another 10mins. It made me appreciate how people get into trouble in landscapes like this - we're just not used to such dramatic changes in the weather.
From the top of the crater I was able to spot the pedestrian 'path' back down the mountain. It was a much more direct route than the road we took on the ascent. We decided to give it a go & it was actually really fun - the path wasn't marked, but the rock was slightly finer so we could work out where to go. This rock was really crunchy underfoot - it sounded & felt like walking on cornflakes (or what I imagine walking on cornflakes would feel like - funnily enough I've never actually tried it). At the same time it felt like walking on snow, because the rock is so light & we were sinking into it with each step & kind of half stumbling, half running back down. By the time we reached the bottom my legs were black from the sand & I'm still shaking the black dust out of my shoes days later. I wonder if Australian customs will mind if I accidentally smuggle some Etna dust back in my hiking shoes?
When we got back to the top of the cableway, we went into the visitor centre to buy some tacky souvenirs & check out the photo & video exhibition (we didn't do this beforehand for 2 reasons - firstly we were worried we wouldn't have time as we needed to be up & back before 4.30pm - amazingly there is only 1 local bus off the mountain each day. Secondly, we figured we didn't need to scare ourselves silly before we got up there, just in case we chickened out.
There were heaps of amazing photos in the exhibition - I can't remember if these are from the 2001 or 2002 eruption, but they show the lava flowing around the visitor centre that we happened to be standing in.
I can't recommend a visit to Mount Etna enough - for me it's the highlight of Sicily.
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