Mount Etna Tour, May 3, 2002
| My bus tour is approaching Mt. Etna. Note the snow on the right flank but not on the left. | |
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Our big bus took us to the base of the ski area where we transferred into smaller 4WD buses to ascend Etna. |
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View to a huge secondary cone.
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Left is a very much smaller secondary cone and below is a
tiny vent or fumarole. You can feel the heat when you pass your hand rapidly
over it. |
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A newspaper stuffed into a vent bursts into flame! I could feel the heat through the soles of my shoes. Needless to say, I am having a great time! |
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Bending down, I picked up this souvenier that was too hot to be gripped tightly. I dropped it into my jacket pocket and could feel the heat through the fabric for several minutes. |
| The lava flow must have kept this store warm for quite awhile!
The story goes that the owner was inside thowing water on the lava coming
through the window. (I am very skeptical about the accuracy of this story) |
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This was as high as tourists could go, shucks! |
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This is the crest of Mount Etna. Fumes continue to escape. The last eruption was July 2001. Below is some information gleaned from the 'net. |
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"Wednesday, 18 July 2001, a number of new vents opened on the southern flank of Mt. Etna. The lowest vent at an altitude of 2,100 meters has projected a huge lava flow towards the town of Nicolosi. The lava front is approximately 2 miles from my home. We are prepared to evacuate, but we are still carrying on with life as usual. Water bombing from helicopters and planes was attempted last week to try and slow the lava advance and keep wild fires to a minimum. According to experts, the current flank eruption might continue for weeks to come. Etna has accumulated an enormous amount of magma since it began re-inflating after the 1991-1993 flank eruption. Seismic activity is also continuing. This is a HUGE flank eruption, with up to 10 million cubic meters of lava emitted so far." |
A way cool satellite photo of the Etna ash cloud. |
The lava flow ruined the ski area! This is the upper lift station. I asked
if they would rebuild it and the response was "yes, but there is no hurry
because it takes about 4 years for a flow of this size to cool enough for the
snow to stay".
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The morning of tramping around on hot lava gave me a thirst. Here is our tour at a winery starting with champagne and canapes. |
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Etna looms behind the winery. |
| We were served lunch in courses with a red wine, a white and a rose. |  |
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Lunch was followed by a tour of the winery then we returned to the ship. |
