Mt. Etna

The journey started when the moon and stars were still out. 5:30am. We ate a quick breakfast and everyone tried to convince John to come with us, but he didn't. Ha. We walked the 45 minutes into Paterno and then took a bus to Nicolosi, then we went from there up to Mt. Etna.

Had to snap a pic of this pup.

Starting the journey.

We got off the bus, checked out the area, and talked with some people to figure out what way we wanted to go up. There were trams going up near the top, but that wasn't our style. We decided on a lesser known trail away from the touristy spots. 

Goodness coming to this point and seeing this huge cup with the clouds rolling in.... yuuup that was extraordinary. 

Boom. Sounded like a grenade going off in the distance. 

Love this pic. Everyone in awe. 

The krew.

We met a little group and a tour guide who told us how to maneuver the terrain from this point because there wasn't a trail most of the way up. 

It was so rad on certain parts clouds would pass right through us. I'd stop and pull my shirt up and get some nice fresh air oh yeeeah. 

One of my favorites.

A French group up ahead sitting down for some lunch with Mt. Etna. 

We got to this point but couldn't go much further because the top part is kinda off limits unless you go with the van service. 

Soaring in the clouds.

Posting up for lunch, which we made the night before. Rice, vegetables, and soy sauce. Yummy.

Epic descent.

We carve our own path down the mountain. Much more exhilarating than following a path. The ground was perfect for sliding down, especially on some parts.

This part was epic just skiing down on our feet. So much fun. 

We took the 4:30pm bus into Nicolosi and when we arrived we found out there were no more buses going into Paterno until the next day! We had to backtrack and get a ticket all the way to Catania (east coast) and then back to Paterno. While we were waiting for the bus I was sitting down and they were all standing talking to someone they had just met, and they turn around to see me saying to some random lady, "Looo sonooo una verdurraaaaa... melaaanzaaana!" (I am a vegetable... eggplant!) And the lady was actually trying to help me find some eggplant hahah. After that some people called me melanzana. I kinda want to change my middle name to melanzana. Andrew Melanzana Marcum. Has a nice ring to it.