Sicilian Volcanoes Hike by Michael Hayes

The following is an account of a recent trip to Mount Etna by Michael Hayes, a member of Ballyhoura Bears Walking Club.

Black ebony-like rock and ash, volcanism, pyrotechnics, island hopping and Italian food: these are the ingredients that make up a week's hiking trip to Mount Etna (3329m: varies with eruptions) and the Aeolian archipelago NE of Sicily. If that is not enough there is over 5000 years of history with almost every Mediterranean power laying claim to this rich volcanic soil.

We were a small group of 15 with Irish, English, Canadian and 1 New Zealander led by Luca our Sicilian guide during the last week of May. Arrival day was also warm-up day with a 2 hour walk over the lava flows of the 1928 eruption. Strewn chaotically, sometimes over pine forest these twisted lumps of black perforated rock would be the pattern for much of the week. Then to our mountain retreat for our first taste of mouth watering sicilian food.

Adverse weather prompted a plan swap for the next 2 days and further disappointment with prohibition of Etna's summit by local police due to activity.

Day 2 then was a drive up Etna's slopes to 1900m and a hike exploring the lateral eruptions along the fissure lines of the 2002 eruption. We get a sense of this precarious ground as we see the remains of the Piano Provenzana ski resort. I become aware one of our younger members is a trained geologist.

Day 3 we take a cable car to about 2500m but the weather is more than I bargained for with strong winds, penetrating rain and poor visibility. Besides I am cold even with heavy fleece and outer layers. We move up quickly walking on ice and some snow to explore the various craters (130 recorded eruptions) but no view of the active part. There are 4 distinct craters on top whose burning lava has reached the sea. The long decent comes via the Valle del Bove, a bowl shaped chasm with precipitous lava cliffs 900m high, and climbing out the “Schiena del Asino” (Asses Back). Much of it was like skiing down a black slope of scree (gaiters important here).

Day 4 was a 0400 rise, an hour's drive to Milazzo port to catch the hydrofoil for another hour to Stromboli( 942m rising from the sea) the most northerly of the islands, a classic cone shaped volcano with 3 underground chambers which has given its name to a type. We rested till five in the afternoon. The lower terrain is quite fertile with splashes of that scarlet bougainvillea so reminiscent of the mediterranean. Climbing upwards the first 500m has reed type grass as tall as me. Continuing to the black volcanic area I note the crimson sky sunset mirrored on the sea is a good omen for weather to come and so it proved for the remainder of week. Approaching the summit we hear the explosions from the lateral craters on the other side. Luca says some are internal. They come into view as dusk arrives and we see the red hot lava spurting out lighting up the night sky. Then suddenly a massive explosion with a much higher concentration of football size lumps of lava on fire maybe going 500 feet above the crater and spreading out like a huge umbrella. We were on the highest peak looking at this spectacle which seemed no more than a few hundred metres away: a lower mountain opening its mouth and spewing out fireballs. This was to happen at 25 minute intervals. An eerie feeling came over me when I sat on some basalt to eat my sandwich and felt the slightest tremor, constant under my seat. We stayed for 3 hours before descending with head torches down the black scree.

Another hydrofoil to Lipari on Day 5 stopping at the small island of Panarea to climb Punta del Corvo (421m). Lipari has a beautiful harbour and an interesting vulcanology museum. Day 6 we take a small ferry to Vulcano (Vulcan: son of Zeus) where we climb the "Grand Craterre"rim (400m) and descend into the dormant crater. Back up to walking the rim and I am regretting not bringing a face mask as I have to dodge the sulphurous fumes from the fumaroles (vents). We finish with a mud bath and a swim but alas: the promised 10 years younger transformation from the special mud did not occur. Hydrofoil back to Sicily (Day 7) and climbing Rocca Novara (1340m) before our last supper together near Taormina. This time it was more like home scrambling up limestone but with magnificent views of Sicily.

Why did I do this? We look around us and above us but I thought I should feel the pulse of what is below us. There, less than the equivalent of an hour’s drive is molten magna, flowing, churning, convecting with temperatures similar to the sun's surface and pressures exceeding a million times that here on the surface. All trying to find a weak spot up. I hope the Ballyhoura upper-crust is strong, geologically speaking of course. For sailors “terra firma" has a special meaning, for this ex-sailor_ not anymore!

In sunshine on the coach to the airport I see Etna in all its glory as the steam billows upwards from the top, I begin to kick myself for not allowing an extra 2 days for a second attempt.

Michael Hayes
May 2011