Mount Etna Eruption 2000
On June 1st 2000 I was part of trekking group who were to hike across the summit area of Etna. The route we were to take is shown ,on the summit image, as a white path from left to right which passes in front of the smoking crater in the foreground. We made it to the slope on the left before retreating. Previous to this we had observed some small but impressive lava fountains erupting from the southeast crater from a vantage point on the rim of the Valle de Bove. Reluctantly we tore ourselves away after spending an extra 10 minutes here- a vital 10 minutes as it turned out.
The picture below was taken by Paul, a fellow trekker, of this activity at the SE crater- we were quite a way away! Having finally left the SE crater we headed for the summit area in a big Mercedes overland truck , driving along an ash blackened road with banks of ash layered snow on either side.
We got out at about 10000 feet.We began walking to the summit area , the altitude meant that it was a bit puffy and I found myself at the back plodding up a long ash blackened slope with rocky lava and snow patches.
As a I neared a crest I looked up to see a pure white puff of cloud coming from the ridge in front of me and then within a second a vertical jet of red hot lava getting taller shooting straight up into the air. The people ahead of me started to come back towards me - I'd only just got there!! I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures as they ran towards me . The guides were telling us to run and keep running back the way we had come - on rough ground this was a bit tricky but all aches and pains go when you are running for your life and the threat of being barbecued!!
We ran for a long time and a long way .The Guides Mobile phones ringing to check we could see the eruption!! and to check we were ok. The cloud behind us filled the sky and was getting taller and taller and the lava jetting 100s of meters into the air . I could see lava bombs flying through the air up to 800-900m above the crater and some bombs apparently landed up to 2km away. The eruption cloud below shot up over a mile into the sky and was the biggest eruption of that year so far.Tephra showers fell to the SE of the volcano as the wind was blowing this way. We eventually ran to the truck which had been sent up to rescue us. We originally thought it was the Bocca Nova crater which had erupted but it turned out to be the SE crater we had seen earlier. The vent had clogged during the time we were driving and walking up the mountain this blockage was then blasted out of the volcano at 10.15 . Right on CUE!!
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