Climbing the Etna: First Steps

The Etna is, with about 3,300 metres above sea level, the highest active volcano of Europe. UNESCO accepted it into its list as World Natural Heritage! According to mythology, the god Hephaistos/Vulcanus has his forge under the volcano; also the philosopher Empedocles is said to have ended his life by throwing himself into the volcano. So maybe we were not in bad company? :P

The first steps were quite civil as we started from a road ... it was already cold, but we were thrilled to begin our adventure!

We chose to walk up the fastest route to the hilltop following the lift (it. funicolare).

After a while, the only plants left to see were these humble grasses and mosses.

Having wide fields of stone and clouds of dense fog before us was an invitation to push forward ... see how we did it in my next post!

Photo gallery