We reach Stromboli. It looks like an Island a little bit lost, looking for its place in the sun. From the Sicilian Mainland town of Milazzo, we pass by the other islands: Volcano, Lipari and Panarea similar to how a young child may pass over the spinach to get right to the ice cream. On the top of Stromboli lies the most active volcano in Europe. Let me tell you about our story of our trip up to the volcano.
So they say you should start walking at 5:30 and you should go with a guide. We take the advice and go with the trekking company called magmatrek. Here are the materials we would need to hike the volcano:
Helmet (1950's construction worker edition)
Head lamp
Hiking shoes
Change of clothes
All of the travel books said that this would be a moderate hike. They couldn't have been more wrong. By the time we had reached the top of the crater, we had been walking for almost 4 hours on a steep uphill. David, our guide, is nice enough. He works at both Stromboli and on Mount Etna guiding tours. He shows us the observatory that records seismic data of earthquakes and volcano eruptions. The last major eruption in Stromboli with lava flow was in 2002. It killed hundreds of people and caused tidal waves 40 feet high. Usually, lava flow is restricted to what is called the Sciara del fuoco (literal = street of fire). Indeed the crators of Stromboli fire up almost constantly as they pass down this pathway called Sciara del fuoco. It's a path on the island where all lava and pumice flows from the crater down to the base of the island into the sea. This cycle of eruption->lava flow-->sea happens constantly. If little eruptions do not happen all the time, gasses become trapped for extended periods of time and eventually will explode just like the button on your way too tight jeans if you try to put them on.
Sitting up at 3000 feet, I gaze out to the show that is about to begin. Someone forgot to tell me that the 4th of July came early. It turns out that over the past ten years or so, 5 smaller craters have been formed at the top of the summit. Each one of these craters erupts every 10 minutes or so. It makes old faithful look like your neighbor's broken down sprinkler system.
So we watch the show. Orange and red and yellow lava spew out the top in rapid fashion. It disperses mid-air and drops down into ash some 300 meters safely away from us. It is truly amazing. You can imagine the lava chambers filling up with magma and gasses until it can confine it no longer. With fireworks that seem to last forever, and the setting sun giving away in the background, it's hard to imagine anything more beautiful.
Travelling Lisa and Travelling Toby manage to get some pictures and video footage. Teresa is so moved, she starts to cry. I look at it similar to how one looks at a campfire late at night. I have no idea what this means, but I'd though I'd put one more metaphor out there.
The downhill descent is by no means easy. We are given masks to wear, which will all prevent us from breathing in too much sulfur dust. We walk down a black, sandy hardened lava field as I am instructed to put on my hed lamp and helmet. I can barely see the person 3 feet in front of me. While also coulding my night vision, the lava dust begins to clog my hiking shoes. Pebbles begin to feel like boulders as the rocks fill up the open space - jarring at my ankles with an exacto knife.
After 15 minutes, we finally clear the lava fields and are allowed to dump out the rocks. I'm not as scuffed up as I thought. The whole experience reminds me of skiing down Beaver Bowl at Alpine Meadows ski resort: Big, wide and full of rocks.
We get back into Stromboli town at 11 PM. We are dog tired. We muster enough energy to eat Pizza and go to bed. Every step was worth it. They call really active volcanoes "Eruption Stromboli". Now I can see why. It is the greatest show on earth.
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