###CONVERT_TEXT###
Queen of Etna's Caves - Grotta del Gelo
excursion / hiking to the most beautiful of Etna's lava caves
Stromboli to Etna Oct 08 (part 5): Excursion to Grotta del Gelo
It's just before sunrise and we're at 3000 m a.s.l. Night frost has covered the summit area. We are ... [info]
(1083 Hits)
(1083 Hits)
By the time we have arrived on the NW side of the summit craters, the sun has risen and Etna drops h... [info]
(2634 Hits)
(2634 Hits)
Sunlight and shadow play over the surfaces of barren lava fields, still covered by thick frost. (Ph... [info]
(888 Hits)
(888 Hits)
As we descend on the north side along rugged aa lava flows from NE crater during the 1970-80's, we c... [info]
(1013 Hits)
(1013 Hits)
We're on the NE rift zone; to our left, a pit crater, a few hundred meters upslope the still smoking... [info]
(2379 Hits)
(2379 Hits)
Frost between bundles of grass (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer) [info]
(1008 Hits)
(1008 Hits)
After about 30 minutes, we reach the spatter cones on the eruptive fissure from a spectacular fissur... [info]
(1002 Hits)
(1002 Hits)
This funny-looking spatter cone needed an extra lateral pressure valve when it was active... (Photo:... [info]
(1102 Hits)
(1102 Hits)
Small and large hornitos / spatter cones nicely arranged along the "bottoniera"-type fissure from 19... [info]
(1059 Hits)
(1059 Hits)
Most hornitos are hollow inside. This one has a narrow entry... (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer) [info]
(1777 Hits)
(1777 Hits)
A large lava channel near the eruptive fissure looks almost as if from last week. (Photo: Tom Pfeiff... [info]
(989 Hits)
(989 Hits)
After about 1 hr, we have reached the large lava field of the huge effusive eruption from 1614-1624,... [info]
(1310 Hits)
(1310 Hits)
After about 1,5 hrs into the hike, we are approaching a new, more recent, fissure system: black lapi... [info]
(1558 Hits)
(1558 Hits)
The first tree we encounter, a single birtch growing from the lapilli-covered ground. (Photo: Tom Pf... [info]
(938 Hits)
(938 Hits)
View towards forested Monte Spagnolo. In the right of the frame, Randazzo town is visible. In the ba... [info]
(942 Hits)
(942 Hits)
A deep pit crater above the 1981 eruptive fissure. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer) [info]
(889 Hits)
(889 Hits)
