We visited Mount Etna on Saturday on our way to Taormina.  Mount Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe.  Viewing it from the freeway,  it truly dominates the landscape of eastern Sicily.  We were very lucky, the mountain had had clouds at the top for a number of days but as we got closer, the high clouds disappeared and left the peak clear and cold.  As we started our ascent to the Mount Etna gondola by car around twists, turns and hairpin curves, it felt like we were on another planet.  The environment shares the same rugged, ugly and treeless appearance as the Calbuco Volcano we visited in the lakes district of Patagonia, Chile.  Once again, like Calbuco,  both are home to active ski resorts – a big shocker that a ski area exists on a very active volcano in Sicily.

Traveling up the mountain, we finally arrived at a parking area with loads of touristy nick-nack shops, a few restaurants and a gondola.  Unfortunately, we arrived too late to trek any of the mountain, so we opted for the gondola plus a special massive jeep-truck ride and tour after the gondola ride.  The old and slow gondola only took us partially up Mount Etna to about 7,000 feet.  It was a very pricey $145 adventure as there were about 75 people with only one guide for about a 45-minute tour at 9,000 feet.  One can make the 5 1/2 hour round-trip hike further up to the edge of the active crater at the peak (11,000 feet)  if you hire a private guide and leave early in the morning.  We got lucky and actually experienced a loud burst of yellow sulfur clouds spewing out of one of the craters at the very top.  Our guided tour was at one of the craters that was created in the 2002 eruption.

We were surprised to discover that the most recent and apparently, quite spectacular eruption occurred December 3, 2015 – just 5 months ago!  It had sent plumes of fire and ash into the sky, almost a mile high.  Our guide told us that the eruption caused the closure of the nearest airport and left several villages covered in a layer of thick ash.  Due to this recent eruption, the entire mountain was covered with volcanic ash & pumice with the snow underneath.   As a result, we were told that trekking the mountain was quite challenging due to all the loose rock.  The hikers that we did see trekking up and down the mountain were going at a very slow pace.  Some were trekking the 2000 vertical feet from the gondola to our tour location.  We had considered that hike but it was probably good we did not undertake it as we watched a few hikers sliding down the mountain.

Then off to Taormina, Sicily’s favorite resort destination.