Country: Italy
Region: Sicily
Time of visit: June 2021
Duration of visit: 6 hours
My rating: MUST SEE
Website: https://www.etnaguide.eu/
Mail: guidetnasud@gmail.com
First, some info from Wikipedia about Mount Etna: "Mount Etna is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, it is one of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe. Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 (459 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km (87 miles). This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Mount Etna is one of the world's most active volcanoes and is in an almost constant state of activity.In June 2013, it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Eruptions of Etna follow multiple patterns. Most occur at the summit, where there are five distinct craters – the Northeast Crater, the Voragine, the Bocca Nuova, and the Southeast Crater Complex currently (as of 2019). Other eruptions occur on the flanks, which have more than 300 vents ranging in size from small holes in the ground to large craters hundreds of metres across. Summit eruptions can be highly explosive and spectacular but rarely threaten the inhabited areas around the volcano. In contrast, flank eruptions can occur down to a few hundred metres altitude, close to or even well within the inhabited areas. Numerous villages and small towns lie around or on cones of past flank eruptions. Since the year AD 1600, at least 60 flank eruptions and countless summit eruptions have occurred; nearly half of these have happened since the start of the 20th century.
Volcanic activity first took place at Etna about 500,000 years ago, with eruptions occurring beneath the sea off the ancient coastline of Sicily. About 300,000 years ago, volcanism began occurring to the southwest of the summit (centre top of the volcano), then activity moved towards the present centre 170,000 years ago.
Etna's most destructive eruption in modern times happened in 1669 and produced lava flows that destroyed at least 10 villages on its southern flank before reaching the city walls of the town of Catania five weeks later, on 15 April. The lava was largely diverted by these walls into the sea to the south of the city, filling the harbour of Catania. A small portion of lava eventually broke through a fragile section of the city walls on the western side of Catania and destroyed a few buildings before stopping in the rear of the Benedictine monastery, without reaching the centre of the town".
The Etna trekking was the second stop on our Sicilian journey.
I am an art lover and when I plan a trip my first expectations (not the only ones) are about the works of art that I will see along the way. If I'm about to leave for Amsterdam, days before leaving, my mind starts being flooded of images of Rembrandt's engravings, savouring in advance what my eyes will see in the following days; if I'm leaving for Madrid I can't help thinking of going to the Prado Museum and spend hours in front of Goya's masterpieces.
This time things went differently; as I was planning my trip, I had seen some amazing pictures of landscapes posted on Tripadvisor by trekkers on Mount Etna; weeks before departure the prospect of seeing the giant of fire up close began to haunt me day after day. For years I have had a latent curiosity for geology, a subject that sooner or later I will deepen, and wherever I go I stop to observe the conformation of the land, the composition of the rocks, trying to guess how the stratifications of different rocks and the shapes of the mountains were formed. Volcanoes play a fundamental role in many geological formations, but I was not prepared for the effects that the continuous eruptions of Etna over the centuries have had on the territory of the province of Catania.
It is quite usual for me to set expectations too high for what I'm about to see on a trip and end up being disappointed. I can't help it: when I set the destination of my next trip, I NEED to read everything about it, and the more I read the more my expectations fire up. Sometimes reality doesn't match expectations. This was not the time at all...
Our first day of visit to the town of Catania had left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I had seen many landscapes of Catania with the huge profile of the volcano lying just beside the town;
as I was walking along the streets of Catania I expected to see the bulk of the mountain emerge from time to time in the glimpse between two buildings, just as in Paris, every now and then, you see the Eiffel Tower appear suddenly behind some palais. Nothing. Maybe the summer haze was to blame, but I kept wondering how could such a giant disappear.
In Catania it is evident how the presence of Etna has determined the landscape and orography of the region; even at a distance of 20 km, the entire terrain is of black lava rock, which assumes different conformations depending on the geology of the area. In some buildings in Catania the lava rock literally comes out from the foundations of the buildings,
in Aci Trezza it takes the form of columnar basalts as in the most famous Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland,
at the Benedictine Monastery of Catania the lava, which was stopped by an ambitious engineering work of the monks, it becomes a black wall 10 meters high that laps the outer walls of the convent, but it is as soon as you leave the town of Catania to the north and arrive in the countryside that separates Catania from Belpasso that the enormity of the natural phenomenon of the volcano becomes evident; very often the road is literally carved through rock walls up to 6 meters high and even in the flat areas, on both sides of the road you can see nothing but black lava rock, sometimes in gigantic and smooth boulders, other times in heaps of porous stones the size of footballs; if in the surroundings of Catania the lava rock gives way from time to time to formations of another kind and to a bit of vegetation, as you begin to climb along the walls of the volcano the black color gradually becomes more and more dominant.
As you get closer to the volcano, the damage caused by the continuous eruptions of the volcano also begins to emerge, more and more evident.
We left Catania on the evening of our first day, exhausted after a whole day of walking and... well... eating... and we spent the night in the small town of Belpasso in order to be in the ideal position to reach, the next morning, the Rifugio Sapienza from which the trekking routes and guided visits to the top of Mount Etna start.
We chose Belpasso because it was the right compromise between proximity to the volcano and cost of rents and it was a very good choice because for a very cheap price we found a very nice and cozy apartment where my children even found a Playstation waiting for them...
We all collapsed early, overcome by fatigue and the next morning, when we woke up, the volcano gave us a very special welcome.
During the night, everything had been covered with black ash! The volcano is there and it's alive and kicking...
We quickly left the house for a hearty breakfast: I mean a HEARTY breakfast, we are in Sicily after all! Belpasso is the original home of a rather famous Sicilian confectionery firm: Condorelli; and their shop is just a few minutes from our apartment! It's time to start making Sicilian breakfasts properly!
The cake counter is a feast for the eyes...
we sit at the table and each of us gives vent to their food fantasies: someone deepens the theme of granita with brioche, someone else (my younger son, who's got a screw loose) decides to taste the granita (sweet) together with the arancino (salty) ... anyway, at the end of the holiday we will all agree that this is one of the places where we have found the best quality food!
After a good sleep and an amazing breakfast, we were in the best conditions to face the volcano. In less than half an hour we got at the Sapienza Refuge where our ascent to the volcano would begin. There are many offers and itineraries to visit Mount Etna, from the more commercial ones, which take tourists by bus almost to the craters and then offer them a snack based on typical products, to the more adventurous ones, which leave out food and comfort for a most authentic approach to the volcano.
After some research I had decided to entrust myself to the Gruppo Guide Alpine Etna Sud; the choice was spot on, the trekking up the walls of the volcano was a great experience and our guide was a pleasant and knowledgeable companion; walking along the walls of the volcano and conquering the top little by little allows you to gradually discover it and experience it as it would not be possible by letting yourself be deposited directly on the summit. Boots, socks, anorak are provided directly by the guides, the only things to bring are water, food and a camera!
Upon our arrival, at 10 AM, the guide shows us on a map what our route will be. The weather conditions are not the best but they are sufficient to allow us to start the climb; there may be some fog. The volcano is active these days and erupted the previous evening and we will probably see a lava flow from one of the lower craters!
Starting from Rifugio Sapienza it is necessary to travel a first section by cable car, to get to about 500 meters below the summit crater, at the altitude of 2.500 meters. From there begins the walk, which will last a total of 5 hours up to 200 meters from the summit crater and back; in those days, due to the activity of the volcano, access to the summit crater was not allowed, the maximum altitude allowed was 200 meters from the summit.
At the end of the day, the Health app on my smartphone stated that I had walked 10 km with an altitude difference of 300 meters, corresponding to 89 floors.
The texture of the ground is a cross between the sand of a beach and the gravel; it is composed of small fragments of crumbled lava rock;
the foot sinks with every step, even if not like on fine sand, and this makes the walk more strenuous. The temperature is cold, for June, at the top it must have been about 5 degrees. The average slope could be, I guess, around 12%.
Along the way we cross some craters formed during eruptions of recent decades and now inactive; they may be inactive, but white smoke comes out of the rocks!
Unfortunately, contrary to the anticipations, we were unable to see any lava flows, but from time to time, along the way, the giant signaled his activity with a puff of smoke.
The visions that unfolded before the eyes during the ascent, the lunar landscapes, the mind-blowing devastation, the unnatural palettes of colors, the unreal silence, the total absence of life, were something otherworldly and breathtaking; scenarios reminiscent of the engravings of Gustave Doré for Dante's Comedy, the landscapes of The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the photographic report of the annihilation of the World Wars; no words would do justice to the majesty of the landscape so I let the images speak for themselves.
Gallery
For me the walk was extremely tiring, but it must be said that I am definitely out of shape, I have not done any sports for more than a year and during the lock down I gained 10 kilos and I was carrying a heavy backpack full of photographic equipment with me. All in all, if I made it, almost everyone can make it.
I got to the top using the last drop of all my energies and then I collapsed to the ground to rest. The cipollina (a little pastry parcel flavored with the sweet taste of onions that I bought at Condorelli's) that I consumed along with a bottle of water during the stop at the top seemed to me the best thing I had ever eaten. I was so tired and so hungry ... and as I took the first bite of my meal a choir of angels began to sing Handel's Messiah.
During the descent we took a path closer to the slopes of the volcano in order to overlook the Valle del Bove. The Valle del Bove is a major horseshoe-shaped depression some 5 km in diameter and over 1000 meters deep, carved into the eastern flank of Mount Etna; thousands of years ago (maybe 50.000), Etna's eastern flank suffered a catastrophic sector collapse, similar to that of Mount St. Helens on 18 May 1980. This means that a part of the volcanic edifice slid sidewards, forming a voluminous avalanche of rock, which rushed towards east, devastating and burying all that lay in its path, and possibly slamming into the sea. A huge depression was thus formed in the side of the volcano, now known as Valle del Bove: what an amazing view!
After a short stop to admire the view of the Valle del Bove we quickly descended (finally descent!) to return to the Refuge, greet our guide and enjoy a well-deserved rest in front of yet another granita.
After a trip by car of about forty minutes, we spent the rest of the afternoon idly sipping an aperitif in front of the sea of Aci Trezza; in retrospective, it was a wasted afternoon that could have been used more constructively; we were rather tired but whoever wants to repeat my experience, and happens to be in slightly better athletic conditions than I am (so I am talking to the 80% of the world population), should bear in mind, in planning their trip, that it is possible, after the trekking to Mount Etna, to still have a fraction of the afternoon available for other activities.
Anyway, what an experience!
Map
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