Mount Etna!

[nyker]

In case anyone was looking to climb Mount Etna in the near future..... you will probably have to wait.

It has been active recently, the recent main eruption occurring on Dec 24, the closer view below taken on this past Friday- my original plan for the trip to Sicily was to summit Mount Etna, but given the recent activity the summit is understandably off limits currently.

The top photo I took from closer to Siracusa several miles away but you can see how big the ash cloud is! The second pic I took while climbing up as far as I could and was taken from an older crater rim and was essentially the effective summit for the current period. You can see the gas/steam/smoke from the new crater and the old one.

The last image is a cell phone shot of the viewfinder from my camera zoomed in at max zoom showing the lava flow at night, unfortunately I only had a short wide angle lens so don't have any better lava shots.

There was also a 4.8 magnitude earthquake which shook Catania quite a bit (interestingly the quake was of volcanic origin, not tectonic). This mountain is huge and is a beautiful place. I'd love to come back when it settles down.

[Jay521]

Thanks for posting this. I was stationed in Sicily in the late 60's and this brought back a lot of memories. As I recall, there was a ski area on Etna and the mountain was always smoking and people said it was one of the few ski areas where one could get dirty skiing.

[nyker]

Not a bad place to be stationed! I hear the skiing off Etna is pretty popular. There was a big lava flow in the mid 60s- did you see that? It apparently covered the north side of the mountain.

[cougar]

nice shots, I enjoy hiking volcanoes. I hope to make it there someday, Nero d'Avola is one of my favorite wines. Cities so close to active volcanoes around there, especially Naples built on Vesuvius. Looks like the scenery will blow you away.

[Jay521]

Not a bad place to be stationed! I hear the skiing off Etna is pretty popular. There was a big lava flow in the mid 60s- did you see that? It apparently covered the north side of the mountain.

As I recall, there were relatively recent lava flows all over the mountain. I was there in '69 and whatever damage the mid 60's flow had done to roads anyway had been repaired.

Yeah - Sicily was a neat place to be stationed. A whole lot nicer than where they sent me after that... Vietnam...

[nyker]

Here is a a shot from the town with the lava flow! Really wish I had brought a longer lens with me. I had thoughts of Pompeii....

[Trotter]

However, Mt Aetna in Colorado, which is named after the Mt Etna, is still available to climb!

I think it was aptly named, they look similar

https://www.14ers.com/13ers/peak.php?peakkey=980

[nyker]

and probably with much less chance of erupting!

[peter303]

Mt Vesuvius (4200') has a hike along the summit rim about a third of the way around the top. It is reachable taking the train from Naples to Herculaneum stop. Then take the bus to Vesuvius National Park near the top. I dont know if there is a hiking trail to the top. The bus road has too many Italian drivers using it to feel comfortable hiking. There was some steam in places along the hike. I believe the last minor erruption was in the 1940s.

The archeological site at the rail stop is well worth seeing. It is like Pompeii (which a few train stops further), a little smaller, and better preserved. It is notable for having a library of carbonized scrolls. They have just started reading the scrolls with high resolution tomography and unwrapping software. Otherwise the scrolls disintegrate into soot if one touches them.

[summit2sea]

Yeah - Sicily was a neat place to be stationed. A whole lot nicer than where they sent me after that... Vietnam...

I swung through Sig several times, one time on my way to Iraq. Subsequently dated a nurse stationed there for a while too, so came out a few more times, Catania and Syracuse were awesome places to explore.

I climbed Etna about 10 years ago, slightly active with an occasional burst of dust and rock coming from one spot. Ground was hot enough that it burned if you put your hand down for too long. Last time I was there, 2012'ish there were actual lava flows visible from Catania.

[Jay521]

Yeah - Sicily was a neat place to be stationed. A whole lot nicer than where they sent me after that... Vietnam...

I swung through Sig several times, one time on my way to Iraq. Subsequently dated a nurse stationed there for a while too, so came out a few more times, Catania and Syracuse were awesome places to explore.

I climbed Etna about 10 years ago, slightly active with an occasional burst of dust and rock coming from one spot. Ground was hot enough that it burned if you put your hand down for too long. Last time I was there, 2012'ish there were actual lava flows visible from Catania.

Now, Sigonella is a Naval Air Station. When I was there in the late 60's, it was a Naval Air "Facility" - the difference being that there was no hospital per se (we flew patients to Naples) and housing and other facilities were very limited. I lived off base (in Misterbianco) for most of the time I was there. And there were no Navy nurses (damn!)