One year ago I visited Stromboli. Since this time the summit
appearance changed a lot and the activity at present was rather high,
what you can see in the report of Thorsten. Therefore I decided a
short trip to the volcano. After a long bad weather phase the weather
changed to the full moon phase to its positive. Even a southern wind
provided a dry and clear air which dissolved the notorious steam bell
of the Stromboli craters. Beside that, the Stromboli activity has been
in the best mood.
But the eruptions were no longer on that high-energy level as still as
a few weeks before, but the activity was particularly multiform. Ash
eruptions and ejection of large cinders in an interval of only few
minutes didn’t let you get bored.
Fascinating were also the spontaneous, bubble like lava ejections at
the beginning of an explosion. Under a loud bang often a radial
ejection with enormously high speed and wide range took place at the
western hole of the east pipe.
After the complete blockage from April was released in the meantime
you can work the whole night relatively relaxed.
The upraising lava quantity was much enough, to
give in order during the daylight the sufficient red contrast.
Mt. Etna
impressions
Because the journey took place over Catania the opportunity existed to
visit the unspectacular however nevertheless enormously persevering
lava stream in the Valle de Bove. The way from the cable car way to
the new eruption was simple and harmless, and it showed also fresh
traces in the still plentifully existing snow. Numerous from there
photographed and published pictures show the well-known, but at
present inactive small craters along the crack. However the descent to
the lava discharges some hundred meters down was rather riskily and
rarely implemented. Particularly the transition from the snow into the
warm loosen AA-lava brought a high risk of breaking thought. The one
or other AA-lava-embrace was quasi pre-programmed…
Although the numerous and rather small lava out-pours seemed very
calmly and only a little dramatically, the landscape with the special
red-light tendency was phenomenal. Particularly at night, when the
area dipped into a multiplicity of colours the temperature dropped
down with an unbelievable speed far under the minus range, and all
small creeks suddenly got frozen.