A Prolonged Foray to Europe: Hiking Mount Etna (Due Volte)

Between Siracusa and our next destination of Taormina in the northeast of Sicily lay Mount Etna.

This is not Mount Etna.

But it is a little old caldera from a prior eruption that happened to be located on the side of the road near the trailhead we were targeting.

So we popped up for a quick look. Meh.

Mount Etna climb Day 1: Schiena dell’Asino on the south rim of the current caldera.

The initial trail was composed of old lava, which made for pretty slow progress initially.

But the substrate evolved into cinders as we climbed – easier on the soles, but holy shit did this stuff pour into your shoes, resulting in a rather different flavor of discomfort.

Still, some nice views as we approached the rim.

And an old lava flow. Given Mount Etna’s not-infrequent eruptions, this could have been from last year or last century.

Mount Etna is Europe’s largest and most active volcano, erupting frequently for thousands of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates interact beneath the island.

Helpful trail blazes.

Getting closer. . .

And behold, the underwhelming view of the caldera from the south:

Still – a good hike!

A well-deserved lunch at the top; we picked up sandwiches from a little town on our drive, which worked out to be just what we needed.

Oasis for the night well downslope from Etna:

Minibar wine grown nearby from Mount Etna volcanic soil.

And a dinner rather unlike our lunch.

Our destination off in the near distance seen the next morning from our terrace:

Mount Etna hiking Day 2: Serracozzo, reached from the trailhead at Rifugio Citelli (which had plenty of parking, which was great).

A little local wildlife spotted as we began:

Fantastic day for a hike, seriously. Or at least it started that way. . .

And more fields of granular, sock-seeking cinders:

More old lava flows:

A year before our visit in June 2023, dramatic lava fountains and ash plumes flowed from Etna in February and May 2022.

And a feature on the hike we had no advance knowledge of (we just thought this had a reasonable starting point with a different finale on the caldera’s rim):

Grotta di Serracozzo, a lava flow tunnel formed during the 1971 eruption.

We would have noticed the unusual formation and then kept hiking had it not been for this older Italian hiker motioning us over. He didn’t speak English, but kept pointing down to this and making hiking signs with his fingers. So we clambered down.