Explosive Stromboli Part 2

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted. It’s easy to get distracted here and to forget to do things like blog, even with mom bugging me to do so nearly continuously.

So, I left you all at the point when I’d relaxed the day away, before my trek up the volcano! At 3:30, I left my room and went to the MagmaTrek office, to check in for my climb. I was told to take a yellow helmet, and wait at the square. At 4:15, my group would be leaving from there. So, I found a yellow helmet, and sat in the square. I had a 2 liter bottle of water already, but decided to get a second one from the restaurant there. I was actually really nervous at this point. I was sure I could do the trek, but since I have asthma, and they say this trek is not for asthmatics, I was nervous. But as soon as our guide came, that nervousness passed, and excitement returned! I was about to go see Strombolian explosions! He counted us, saying it was generally considered polite to come back with the same number of people that you go up with, and then, we were off!

The hike was nice. It was very scenic, and a little tough with the constant uphill direction, so I took a couple puffs of my inhaler. No big deal. I was taking lots of pictures and loving it. We all were. There were some stairs, or at least the path became stair-like, and I wasn’t a big fan, but no big deal. I got this.

Then, after around half an hour, we had our first break, and I listened to our guide talk with interest, hoping for some new knowledge about the beautiful volcano. None really came, well, no new geology knowledge came. However, new knowledge did come, I suppose. I learned about two fires on the flanks, one of which, the most recent, was human caused. The other less recent was caused by a volcanic bomb landing on vegetation. For those of you that don’t know, a volcanic bomb is a piece of rock that is thrown out of a volcano during certain eruption types that is 60 mm or bigger across.

After he told us a little bit, we continued on. Now, the hike was getting tough. But, it’s ok, I told myself. I can do this. My muscles were aching, and beginning to protest, but my asthma wasn’t doing too badly. Next, I noticed my heels were hurting. But nothing was too bad. Just keep going. It’s alright. Then, we got another break (breaks were every half hour or so), and I gulped down at least a liter of water. Our guide talked again. Kind of interesting, blah blah blah, just breathe. It’s all good.

The next time we started hiking, I was lagging. I was falling to the back of the group, and now my heels were screaming in protest with continuing going uphill! Blisters were definitely forming. And the awkward way of walking I had developed to try to avoid adding to the blisters was adding to the muscle ache. At our next break, I had gotten so slow that the guide came and talked to me. Talk about embarrassing! I told him about the blisters, which really did seem like the reason I was going so slow to me. He told me to take my shoes off so he could take a look, and they weren’t really bad blisters, but we still had a ways to go, so he put some tape on each heel, over the blister, and I pulled my shoes and socks back on.

Now, with the pain of the blisters subdued, it became obvious that the real reason I was so slow, was in no way the blisters. It was my pathetic muscles, as I was, apparently, completely out of shape still, despite the weight I’ve lost in Europe and all the walking I’ve been doing here. Now, my muscles were screaming in protest, rather than my heels. And now, I was beginning to feel faint. Not good. I was convinced I was going to die. I wouldn’t die of exhaustion, but I was sure I would randomly pass out, and then proceed to fall all the way down the mountain, bouncing off of rocks and everything. ‘No! Don’t think like that! You can do this! You HAVE to do this! You aren’t just doing this for you! You’re doing this for Dusty, too! And for mom! You’re doing this for Dusty and mom. And for Ian. And for Allie. And for Rachel. And for all the geology majors. And for everyone that reads your blog. And for all your friends. Not everyone can do this, most people you know don’t get to. You’re doing this for them! So do it! Oh my word, I’m gonna die. I’m gonna pass out and die! No!’ I told myself, going in circles and listing off everyone that was counting on me, in any way, getting to the summit of Stromboli.

Finally, we were almost there. It was dark, and there was a shelter ahead, where we were going to take our last break, before reaching the summit. But this last bit was in ash, which was defeating me by making me slip down faster than I was climbing up. But Dusty, mom, Ian, Kerry, Allie, and everyone else kept going through my mind, until I made it. I did it! I survived! And we took a nice rest, before finishing up the summit, which was easier after a longer than normal break. And there it was.

As soon as we reached the summit, we could see the explosions. They were beautiful! It was SO COOL!!!!! There were fountains of red hot rocks spraying out of different vents every so often. A Strombolian explosion is a specific type of eruption. In this type of eruption, no lava is erupted. So, it is a type of pyroclastic eruption, in which only solid materials come out of the volcano. This particular eruption type is explosive and shoots out red hot rocks from the vents. So stinkin’ cool! Also, there were two vents that were continuously on fire. Flames just came out of them, and didn’t stop! It was awesome!

After watching for almost an hour (I think), we started our trip down. My muscles were all so much more willing to move from the start, after an hour rest. But the rest wasn’t even necessary, as the path down was almost entirely downhill. Go figure. And, to top it off, it started off as essentially a sand dune! Except technically, it was made of sand-sized ash, rather than sand. Bounce! Bounce! Bounce! I bounced down the volcano flank, in the dark, and thoroughly enjoyed it! The path was a little harsher on my knees, as they were used to the dune like feel, rather than walking on solid ground, but it was still much better. We got to MagmaTrek, and returned our helmets, and then departed. I got back to my room, took a shower, and collapsed.

On Saturday, I had been hoping to go for a long hike, or two, across the island, but when I got up that morning, I knew it was not going to happen. Upon hiking up the short path to the square to return my rented gear to Totem Trekking, I discovered that my legs had absolutely no desire to work. I made it there and back, and then collapsed on my bed and watched TV in Italian, and worked on understanding what was being understood. One word I learned while watching Grey’s Anatomy was “spingere”, which was when I vowed to never give birth in Italy, as I would be laughing rather than pushing as the word for push (spingere) sounds so absolutely bizarre.

On Sunday, I worked on some paper stuff throughout the day, and went down to the port to find out when I needed to be there on Monday, and to look into a boat ride around the island. By the time I got down there, there was only one option left for the day: a boat ride near sunset to Sciara di Fuoco, which is one of the sides of the volcano. It’s actually the side underneath the vents, which is made up of pyroclastic materials, materials like rocks and ash that have been thrown from the volcanic vents. Sciara di Fuoco is also where, in 2003 (I believe), a landslide occurred when the volcano emitted. The landslide actually began below the surface of the water, and created a tsunami in the area. So, I was excited to go on this boat ride, especially since I’d be able to see some more explosions! The boat took off at 7:00 pm, or so, and I had a fantastic evening, though my camera failed to take many good pictures.

Next up, is the island of Vulcano! I'll try to get this one and my first post about Sicily up soon, but (obviously) this tends to be easier said than done!

Ciao ciao!