Marvelling at the natural beauty of Mt Etna as we hike to the summit!

With much to do and see, we headed out of the fantastic Camping Jonio and up into the foothills of Mt Etna… through Nicolodi and northwards into the national park… hectic driving as normal and a few hair y moments… but we were soon up into the careering hairpin bends underneath he imposing yet majestic sight of a snow capped Mt Etna….

Arriving before 10.30am we had the pick of the parking spaces and a chance to get an early entry into the cable cars which we duly took… climbing the foothills with ease and enjoying the snow laden slopes of Etna…

But one at the top we were glad we had prepared and the Berghaus stuff came to the rescue… it was bitterly cold (from shorts/t shirts at the coast to full winter gear… in under an hour!). A phenomenally strong wind swept across the mountain but with visibility set fair, we headed upwards…

Mount Etna

With cross country skiers going past, or walkers with snow shoes on… we felt under dressed but both girls were troopers and headed on with little protest… after over 2hrs of walking… we finally reached the major crater and ascended…. carefully!!!

The lava slopes were under a foot of snow and the footholds were dangerous to say the least… but after a slow but steady climb we arrived at the crater!!! Snow lay around the red rocks whilst the distant murmur of the volcano was felt as too was the smoke around the perimeter…

Sadly the wind was now a howling gale and we needed a sharp exit… so the painfully slow climb down followed by a walk with less than 5m visibility tested everyone… but finally back at the cable car station we enjoyed the falling snow and a chance to gather our breaths…